I think there's three of us that think that hahah
- MattStrat

LOL, you me and who, madmike?

Rutherford was pretty bad in 17-18, but in 18-19 I see JJ as an outlier but outside of that had a good year. Cullen signing was bad, but at that price he could have easily been scratched so I put that on Sully.

JJ being heavily sheltered on the 3rd pairing wouldn’t be bad if he wasn’t making $3.2 mil/year for 4 more years. That cap space could clearly go into acquiring a player that actually has a positive impact on the team. The other problem is that JR went out and used the little cap space we had left to acquire another 6th dman making 4 mil/year. This team could had simply not signed JJ, traded Sprong for Pettersson, and not trade Oleksiak.

Dumo-letang
Pettersson-Schultz
Oleksiak-Maatta

I think this defense makes a significant difference in the playoffs and you’re saving about $5 mil by keeping Oleksiak over JJ and Gudbransson.
- drummer829

Maatta and Oleksiak played a decent amount together and were pretty bad. I do agree that Oleksiak might have been fine in the spot they got Gudbranson for and saved some money.

I still feel the biggest problem with Riikola and Oleksiak was they both were playing mostly second pair with Maatta which was over their heads (and in Riikola's case the wrong side) and we saw Maatta can't keep a third pairing guy afloat.

Maatta and Oleksiak played a decent amount together and were pretty bad. I do agree that Oleksiak might have been fine in the spot they got Gudbranson for and saved some money.

I still feel the biggest problem with Riikola and Oleksiak was they both were playing mostly second pair with Maatta which was over their heads (and in Riikola's case the wrong side) and we saw Maatta can't keep a third pairing guy afloat.
- Tojo.

And if they still had Maatta pegged as a 3rd pairing guy, they could trade him like they did for Kahun and went bargain hunting for another Dman with the $12 mil in cap space. Oleksiak at $2 mil is so much better than Johnson and Gudbransson at their cap hits. I guess it’s kind of a moot point now, but there was no reason why JR had to panic and acquire guys like Reaves, Johnson, and Gudbranson because they lost to the capitals, who ended up winning the cup.

LOL, you me and who, madmike?

Rutherford was pretty bad in 17-18, but in 18-19 I see JJ as an outlier but outside of that had a good year. Cullen signing was bad, but at that price he could have easily been scratched so I put that on Sully.
- Tojo.

You got it! Hahah

Rust, JJ and a pick for Zucker. Done.
- MattStrat

They would probably ask us to take on Viktor Rask as well.

Rust/Jacko/1st RP for Zucker/V.Rask

Oh good another JJ circle jerk.
You've all gone insane, JJ is not important to the teams success. JJ wasnt the reason the Pens got swept, they lost because they had no team identity. They played no discipline hockey and constantly forced plays right into the Isles counter attack. When the chips were down the team packed it in, last years team lacked the necessary leadership to right the ship.

JR makes one bad signing and people are calling him among the leagues worst?! He built back to back Stanley Cups, probably could have gotten the third if Malkin wasnt injured in the first round.

JR knows what it takes to win the cup, he is proven that by winning 3! Name another GM in the game that can say the same.
- stackthepads

I agree with you that the team lacked identity. It has lacked an identity since they won the cup. The GM went in a completely different direction from the model that made the team successful. Maybe you should stop jerking GMJR off. Got a little jizz in your eye and can’t see the game straight.

I think there's three of us that think that hahah
- MattStrat

I just think the Stanley Cup is hard to win.

F no. Perhaps a 3rd RP...
- Barnaby36

I would prefer to have a proven nhl player over a mid to late round pick that may never see the show.

Honestly I'd be surprised if there is that type of trade. Who is really rebuilding? Ottawa, but they have a cheap owner who probably wouldn't use cap space that way. Kings and Ducks probably should. Detroit, but they've been bad for a while so probably don't want the back end of JJ's contract. Other than that, every team expects to be competing for a playoff spot next year.
- Tojo.

The Ducks already have a ton, and I do mean a ton of young talented forwards. New Jersey is still rebuilding. As we already know the JJ buyout doesn’t look bad and is even easier to swallow a year from now. I think Dorion would do it if he got a first coming back, he would likely keep JJ at least for a year and let one of the kids season a bit longer. I could see LA taking it, Minnesota for sure, Buffalo in a heartbeat, I think Yzerman would do it since he knows his team isn’t close, wouldn’t surprise me if he did it to swap out an Abdelkader type.

Who knows, maybe they ask for a 1st and Simon or ZAR. It’s hard to say what the MV is for these useless cap dumps

JJ being heavily sheltered on the 3rd pairing wouldn’t be bad if he wasn’t making $3.2 mil/year for 4 more years. That cap space could clearly go into acquiring a player that actually has a positive impact on the team. The other problem is that JR went out and used the little cap space we had left to acquire another 6th dman making 4 mil/year. This team could had simply not signed JJ, traded Sprong for Pettersson, and not trade Oleksiak.

Dumo-letang
Pettersson-Schultz
Oleksiak-Maatta

I think this defense makes a significant difference in the playoffs and you’re saving about $5 mil by keeping Oleksiak over JJ and Gudbransson.
- drummer829

Your D pairings would look a whole lot better with Cole next to Schultz and Petts with Oleksiak

They would probably ask us to take on Viktor Rask as well.

Rust/Jacko/1st RP for Zucker/V.Rask
- Barnaby36

Just my guess but I think they would want a bit more

I agree with you that the team lacked identity. It has lacked an identity since they won the cup. The GM went in a completely different direction from the model that made the team successful. Maybe you should stop jerking GMJR off. Got a little jizz in your eye and can’t see the game straight.
- j.boyd919

Changing direction is how you stay ahead of the competition.
2016 pens were faster than everyone by 2018 that was no longer possible since the rest of the league caught up and Pens got bullied out of the playoffs.
Now in 2019 a team of bigger players won the cup again. A direction that JR wanted to take the team but Sully didn’t.

Now the Pens are stuck trying to play outpace everyone against teams that are faster than us.

Side note: I LOVE that when I open my TSN app and it shows the daily scoreboard that it stills has the score from the Blues game from a week ago lol - eat poop Bruins!

Changing direction is how you stay ahead of the competition.
2016 pens were faster than everyone by 2018 that was no longer possible since the rest of the league caught up and Pens got bullied out of the playoffs.
Now in 2019 a team of bigger players won the cup again. A direction that JR wanted to take the team but Sully didn’t.

Now the Pens are stuck trying to play outpace everyone against teams that are faster than us.
- stackthepads

Except in 2018 it wasn’t a lack of physicality that lost the Caps series, it was a lack of defensive depth because we traded away Cole and didn’t replace him - this combined with the fact that we got horrendously outcoached. There were sooo many oddman rushes against, why? Trotz broke our strong D pinch by sprinting the weak side winger and by making breakout passes to the middle which beat our forecheck and left our strongside D in the dust. We never had F3 high enough. A year later and our systems in the playoffs still looked terrible

Changing direction is how you stay ahead of the competition.
2016 pens were faster than everyone by 2018 that was no longer possible since the rest of the league caught up and Pens got bullied out of the playoffs.
Now in 2019 a team of bigger players won the cup again. A direction that JR wanted to take the team but Sully didn’t.

Now the Pens are stuck trying to play outpace everyone against teams that are faster than us.
- stackthepads

Lol wut. Yeah staying ahead of the competition worked out real well the last 2 seasons.

They would probably ask us to take on Viktor Rask as well.

Rust/Jacko/1st RP for Zucker/V.Rask
- Barnaby36

I remember reading the GM loves Hornqvist.

Kevin hayes getting 7mill per is pretty wild

Kevin hayes getting 7mill per is pretty wild
- burgh4life87

They have so many cost controlled RFAs as long as they don’t hand out too many NYC’s I think they’re going to do well. Hayes is going to step in likely as the 2C and get lots of minutes and will get one of their solid forwards. They have too many D and now can deal from a position of huge strength and there are plenty of goalies on the market for them

Kevin hayes getting 7mill per is pretty wild
- burgh4life87

I just read it’s 7.14AAV btw

I just think the Stanley Cup is hard to win.
- j.boyd919

This is also true. All you can do is put yourself in position as a contender, but inopportune injuries or just a bad matchup can knock you out.

Kevin hayes getting 7mill per is pretty wild
- burgh4life87

Not impressed by the Flyers off-season moves so far. Braun for 2 picks is a downgrade from Gudas, they're essentially paying Niskanen 7M this year, and Hayes has been basically a 40+ point center.

Kevin hayes getting 7mill per is pretty wild
- burgh4life87

Bad contract

Not impressed by the Flyers off-season moves so far. Braun for 2 picks is a downgrade from Gudas, they're essentially paying Niskanen 7M this year, and Hayes has been basically a 40+ point center.
- Tojo.

Yeah at least we’re not the damn flyers.

It is looking like JJ will not be traded.

The question is, does JR do anything else to upgrade the D?

Letang-Dumo
Pets-Shultz
JJ-Guds
Rudy-Rikolla

IDK, its a lot of hope that Riccola and Pets make a big jump....Isnt there some Swedish Dman in the farm?

Kevin hayes getting 7mill per is pretty wild
- burgh4life87

Wild is one way to put it. Comical is another.