I also wanted him from LA too. Toronto would be foolish to get rid of any imo until they sort out their issues and see then how he fits but if we are gonna go after defence I’d rather have a solid lefty. With the emergence of Marino I think our right side is pretty damn good.
- 10inchTerror

I'm not too particular which side. A lefty would help more now, they could use a righty more long term, so I could see either side. I was really just saying Muzzin isn't a realistic target at this time.

I'm not too particular which side. A lefty would help more now, they could use a righty more long term, so I could see either side. I was really just saying Muzzin isn't a realistic target at this time.
- Tojo.

I understand that he’s not realistic. I don’t think either of them are.

I understand that he’s not realistic. I don’t think either of them are.
- 10inchTerror

Entirely possible.

Has there been any word on Bjugstad’s injury?
- Rinosaur

His Derrick Brassard mask is glued on and won’t come off. Going to see a specialist in exotic binding agents on Tuesday.

I’d rather pry a lefty out of Toronto if I was going after someone. Muzzin is in a Co tract year and I’d rather make a sacrifice to get a left D to either get rid of jj or Pettersson. Obviously prefer jj but I wouldn’t want both on similar contracts.
- 10inchTerror

Why would we get rid of a cost controlled left handed Dman?

I don't follow the Leafs but how is Kap doing? he had 20G last year. If Barrie sucks as a leaf and deal is to be had, if you could get Barrie + Kap....worth it?

Why would we get rid of a cost controlled left handed Dman?
- j.boyd919

Well in this fictional scenario it is to upgrade one of them to muzzin (or similar player) The right side is much stronger than the left so if I were to make a trade it would be for a left D, not a righty like Barrie. Dumo isn’t going anywhere so thems the options.

I think next year Pettersson will see a lot more grief if his decision making doesn’t improve because he’s going to be getting a decent raise. If jj was only a mil I wouldn’t dislike his game so much. Don’t want to have two players like that in my fictional arm chair gm world.

Is it strange Peterson was better with Guds thanShultz?

Is it strange Peterson was better with Guds thanShultz?
- Grinder47

I guess Pettersson was the offensive D-man playing with Gudbranson. With Schultz he can't be that guy. That said I really like Pettersson and Schultz and hope they stay with the team.

Whats been wrong with Pettersson and Schultz's play?

Whats been wrong with Pettersson and Schultz's play?
- MattStrat

Idk maybe they are too similar? Maybe Petterson is a bottom pair guy? Maybe an off year? Who knows

Is it strange Peterson was better with Guds thanShultz?
- Grinder47

No, like my above post. Could be those things, he was mostly third pair last year.

Idk maybe they are too similar? Maybe Petterson is a bottom pair guy? Maybe an off year? Who knows
- 668710

Im asking because I dont think they've been bad together, in fact I think they've been good. No other two D men have come close to spending that much time together on the Pens this season (almost a 100 more mins than 8-58) and their underlying numbers together seem to be good.

So is it their production that have people saying this?

Im asking because I dont think they've been bad together, in fact I think they've been good. No other two D men have come close to spending that much time together on the Pens this season (almost a 100 more mins than 8-58) and their underlying numbers together seem to be good.

So is it their production that have people saying this?
- MattStrat

There's probably some overanalyzing going on as tends to happen on this board, myself included, especially when guys are about to get paid.

They've been ok. They have good possession stats but their relatives are slightly negative which would back up how some of us feel the forwards are masking them. They tend to give up more scoring chances than the other pairs and are often involved in one of those early goals against. Production as you said isn't that great with 5 ES points each.

They've been fine, much better than last year's second pairs, but it's not a strong pairing. Good enough, but a place you'd like to improve, IMO.

There's probably some overanalyzing going on as tends to happen on this board, myself included, especially when guys are about to get paid.

They've been ok. They have good possession stats but their relatives are slightly negative which would back up how some of us feel the forwards are masking them. They tend to give up more scoring chances than the other pairs and are often involved in one of those early goals against. Production as you said isn't that great with 5 ES points each.

They've been fine, much better than last year's second pairs, but it's not a strong pairing. Good enough, but a place you'd like to improve, IMO.
- Tojo.

When I looked at their relatives it didnt seem too bad at all considering their being compared against pairings with Letang included. Its crazy the stats that pairings have when he's one of them haha.

Idk maybe they are too similar? Maybe Petterson is a bottom pair guy? Maybe an off year? Who knows
- 668710

The questions I had with Pettersson was how much was he helped by not having to be the net front guy and could he form a possession dominant pair with a puck moving guy where it would be hard to clear the zone against them.

Both are issues. I'd say so far he seemed to fit better with a guy like Gudbranson who took away the tough scoring areas but relied on him to move the puck.

When I looked at their relatives it didnt seem too bad at all considering their being compared against pairings with Letang included. Its crazy the stats pairings have when he's one of them haha.
- MattStrat

In Pettersson's case he had really strong relatives last year anyways, though Schultz's were garbage. Guess it balanced out.

Posing this question again...

I never paid super close attention to Barrie, but was he this bad defensively in Colorado or is just the team he’s on now? Because Toronto seems like a defensive mess in general.

Why would we get rid of a cost controlled left handed Dman?
- j.boyd919

Cuz tradez

In Pettersson's case he had really strong relatives last year anyways, though Schultz's were garbage. Guess it balanced out.
- Tojo.

hahaha

The Pens acquired Petts in December and if I'm not mistaken Letang started missing a lot of time in the second half of season. Also, if I'm remembering correctly Dumo missed a chunk of time and overall the Letang-Dumo pair was pretty underwhelming for the season...

So if I'm close to right on all of that it would of definitely effected relatives.

EDIT: Also....JJ-Schultz was a bad pairing.

In Pettersson's case he had really strong relatives last year anyways, though Schultz's were garbage. Guess it balanced out.
- Tojo.

I just think it’s because Schultz is overrated because of his 50 point season. He came back to reality and is nowhere near as good as people make him out to be around here. Generally he needs to be sheltered to excel and on the 2nd pairing, he isn’t going to be as sheltered as if he was playing on the 3rd pairing where he’s less of a liability.

I guess I don't necessarily expect a Kris Letang 2.0 on the 2nd pair. I think any team that's going to be truly competitive and up against the cap is going to have to rely more on balance than just finding studs at every position.

Is Schultz overrated? Yeah, probably, but I think he does what's expected of his abilities and as long as his parter is able to balance out his shortcomings the Pens are in good shape.

I guess I don't necessarily expect a Kris Letang 2.0 on the 2nd pair. I think any team that's going to be truly competitive and up against the cap is going to have to rely more on balance than just finding studs at every position.

Is Schultz overrated? Yeah, probably, but I think he does what's expected of his abilities and as long as his parter is able to balance out his shortcomings the Pens are in good shape.
- Rinosaur

Agree, I think he is well rated with the right compliment (defense first d-man). But without that, hes a little over rated. Still want to see dumo with shultz when letang returns.

Posing this question again...

I never paid super close attention to Barrie, but was he this bad defensively in Colorado or is just the team he’s on now? Because Toronto seems like a defensive mess in general.
- Rinosaur

I won't claim to have watched all their games, but I think he was always pretty bad defensively but good overall at controlling play.

He went from playing behind MacKinnon to the tire fire that Toronto seems to be right now and it gets exposed. Pens could have driven cars through some of the passing lanes Toronto was giving them Saturday because they were so unstructured.

I guess I don't necessarily expect a Kris Letang 2.0 on the 2nd pair. I think any team that's going to be truly competitive and up against the cap is going to have to rely more on balance than just finding studs at every position.

Is Schultz overrated? Yeah, probably, but I think he does what's expected of his abilities and as long as his parter is able to balance out his shortcomings the Pens are in good shape.
- Rinosaur

After watching the Sharks do it last year or even how a team like Nashville has been though, it's a dream I'd like to shoot for. Probably won't happen in a trade, but there are a lot of potential Schultz upgrades on teams that have serious questions about signing them: Pietrangelo, Krug, Barrie, Shattenkirk (still saying this, he's rebounded).

I'd just like to see to see this forward group with a second stud defenseman if possible, buy I'll concede what they have is good enough, and it would be hard to change it up now.