the previous discussion about who sits on the PP is interesting. I'll make only one observations. The PP unit clicked at a very high level among the best in the league until Sid came back, at which point it failed with regularity and gave up lots of shorthanded chances. Too many cooks in the kitchen.
- Emperor Filonius

Any time you make major changes to a PP it takes time to adjust. Sid's injury affected a lot of variables within the team, the PP was no exception. Furthermore I believe he did take himself off of the #1 unit during the playoffs, I cant think of too many elite players who would put the team first like that and sit themselves from the PP.

With Sid being as healthy as he is going to be moving forward, its time to get him back into the dirty areas down low where he does his best work. Let Geno work the half wall. More times than not the guy on the half wall and the guy down low flip spots anyways.

When the guy on the half wall passes down low he usually cuts to the net for a give and go, it is usually not available but what it does is it keeps the penalty killer honest and completely frees up the passing lane to the point man.

The guy cutting screens the goalie, and the low man creeps up the boards past the hash marks while the defensemen walks the blue line. You let the high penalty killer make your defensemens decision. Either he gets in the shooting lane and you slide it back to the half wall guy, or you get a hard wrister on net with the screen already in place. If it gets to the half wall guy again, he needs to attack the seam hard and find his 2 on 1, it will be there somewhere. If they cover everybody even better, should be a freebie quality shot on net. Its not hard when you keep things simple.

Anybody who wants Crosby and Malkin on the team long term (I include myself in that) should understand that it is imperative that they play together on the PP and be successful. You can NEVER split PP units evenly. Neither player is going to be thrilled about getting the short end of the stick.

Any time you make major changes to a PP it takes time to adjust. Sid's injury affected a lot of variables within the team, the PP was no exception. Furthermore I believe he did take himself off of the #1 unit during the playoffs, I cant think of too many elite players who would put the team first like that and sit themselves from the PP.

With Sid being as healthy as he is going to be moving forward, its time to get him back into the dirty areas down low where he does his best work. Let Geno work the half wall. More times than not the guy on the half wall and the guy down low flip spots anyways.

When the guy on the half wall passes down low he usually cuts to the net for a give and go, it is usually not available but what it does is it keeps the penalty killer honest and completely frees up the passing lane to the point man.

The guy cutting screens the goalie, and the low man creeps up the boards past the hash marks while the defensemen walks the blue line. You let the high penalty killer make your defensemens decision. Either he gets in the shooting lane and you slide it back to the half wall guy, or you get a hard wrister on net with the screen already in place. If it gets to the half wall guy again, he needs to attack the seam hard and find his 2 on 1, it will be there somewhere. If they cover everybody even better, should be a freebie quality shot on net. Its not hard when you keep things simple.

Anybody who wants Crosby and Malkin on the team long term (I include myself in that) should understand that it is imperative that they play together on the PP and be successful. You can NEVER split PP units evenly. Neither player is going to be thrilled about getting the short end of the stick.
- Gunner Staal

Exactly! It HAS to work WITH Sid AND Geno or there is no point and eventually the one sitting out will no longer be happy. Yes Sid took himself off the number one unit because he upset the chemistry this season. But they have to find a way to make it work. The downlow position is all well and good for Sid, but the problem with that is that it hasnt never worked in the past. This is why I think we need a change on the PP. Back when Sid was healthy and the pens were trying to make Geno and Sid work on the same side it was too obvious for the killing team as to what they were doing. I remember that pass from Sid to Geno from the far boards just inside the blueline all the way to the near boards top circle that Geno slapped top shelf. I want to see that more often. I wanna see Geno pounding the onetimers, and I trust that Sid might be one of the only players in the league to consistently set it up with that long pass through sticks.

Edit--On top of all this. Placing Sid on the left boards will help when Geno does miss the target on the one-timer. Many times Geno will be picking the corner and of course there will be misses. With Sid's skills over there to reign in the puck after a wide shot, it will allow the pens to keep the pressure on without losing the zone. I just see so many benefits. I think Sid will always be in motion, trying to get into the slot for possible one-timers himself from the left D-man. He can still get down low on the left side for backhand tips and dishes to the slot. He has one of the best backhands in the game after all. He can always pull the trigger on a killer wrister to keep the goalie honest. I just want to see something different and see what happens.

. The downlow position is all well and good for Sid, but the problem with that is that it hasnt never worked in the past.

Edit--On top of all this. Placing Sid on the left boards will help when Geno does miss the target on the one-timer. Many times Geno will be picking the corner and of course there will be misses. With Sid's skills over there to reign in the puck after a wide shot, it will allow the pens to keep the pressure on without losing the zone. I just see so many benefits. I think Sid will always be in motion, trying to get into the slot for possible one-timers himself from the left D-man. He can still get down low on the left side for backhand tips and dishes to the slot. He has one of the best backhands in the game after all. He can always pull the trigger on a killer wrister to keep the goalie honest. I just want to see something different and see what happens
.
- taleisyreXIII

They have never tried Sid down low on the PP in the past. If Letang wants to be a 7M/yr defensemen with the Penguins he should figure out how to feed Malkin one timers in his wheel house on a regular basis like Gonchar did.

I cant think of too many teams who intentionally put their best players on their strong side during the PP. IMO its not a good idea.

I'm actually not opposed to trying Sid on the left halfwall.

With Neal being a left handed shot, you can't have Sid & Geno both on the right side. It gets us back to that one sided, easy to defend PP.

You put Sid on that left wall, play the umbrella with Letang in the middle, and Malkin on the right wall, Neal in the slot, and Kunitz in front of the net. Sid can go into to the slot and shoot a backhand as well as many people shoot a forehand, and can sneak in for the Whitney Play or deflections/rebounds around the net. It still leaves Malkin with a one-timer from the right side, and with Neal's quick release, he can get fed from both Sid & Geno.

Only drawback is it leaves one defenseman, although Letang can cover a lot of ground. I am still not 100% confident in Letang's ability to quarterback the play though. Gonchar was sooooo good back there at that center point.

Im still saying we need 2 d on the powerplay... i will be happy with any of these guys paired up.. letang, depres, nisk and Z (if we keep him) I would say martin but he gets beat enough on 5v5 i think he would get beat more short handed lol....

are announcements on the new CBA slated for after the playoffs are over? I would really like to see if sid takes a discount due to health reasons (not saying 1 mil for 1 yr like some people said back in dec) but maybe 7.5-8mil for like 5 seasons....


and speaking of sid and staal are we going to do another signing game???

Im still saying we need 2 d on the powerplay... i will be happy with any of these guys paired up.. letang, depres, nisk and Z (if we keep him) I would say martin but he gets beat enough on 5v5 i think he would get beat more short handed lol....

are announcements on the new CBA slated for after the playoffs are over? I would really like to see if sid takes a discount due to health reasons (not saying 1 mil for 1 yr like some people said back in dec) but maybe 7.5-8mil for like 5 seasons....


and speaking of sid and staal are we going to do another signing game???
- nh4442

What CBA announcements? And Sid or Staal can't sign any extension until after July 1st.

I think that if Sid takes any sort of "injury discount", it would be for a short term deal. I'd be happy extending his $8.7 mil for another 2 years, and then go from there to see how he responds over the next couple seasons.

What CBA announcements? And Sid or Staal can't sign any extension until after July 1st.

I think that if Sid takes any sort of "injury discount", it would be for a short term deal. I'd be happy extending his $8.7 mil for another 2 years, and then go from there to see how he responds over the next couple seasons.
- rival22

I doubt either Crosby's or Malkin's Cap Hit is going to go up on the next contract they sign. It'll probably remain steady or even go down due to the length of the contract.

Look around the league; in the 3-4yrs since Sid and Geno signed their deals the going market rate for top F's has settled around $7.5-$8.2M/yr. The only player with a higher Cap Hit than either of them is OV at $9.5M/yr and that deal was signed prior to either Sid or Geno's.

I doubt either Crosby's or Malkin's Cap Hit is going to go up on the next contract they sign. It'll probably remain steady or even go down due to the length of the contract.

Look around the league; in the 3-4yrs since Sid and Geno signed their deals the going market rate for top F's has settled around $7.5-$8.2M/yr. The only player with a higher Cap Hit than either of them is OV at $9.5M/yr and that deal was signed prior to either Sid or Geno's.
- s0rcerer1984

Surprising... with a couple of the big deals signed the last few years, I thought Sid & Geno's cap hits would be further down the list, but yeah, they are still #2 & #3 behind Ovechkin.

What CBA announcements? And Sid or Staal can't sign any extension until after July 1st.

I think that if Sid takes any sort of "injury discount", it would be for a short term deal. I'd be happy extending his $8.7 mil for another 2 years, and then go from there to see how he responds over the next couple seasons.
- rival22

I dont know much about the CBA but i know that it might impact some signings... wasnt sure if it could be settled before the playoffs end or if the players will wait to meet until after the playoffs

I dont know much about the CBA but i know that it might impact some signings... wasnt sure if it could be settled before the playoffs end or if the players will wait to meet until after the playoffs
- nh4442

The current CBA doesn't expire until September. Expect the first announcement regarding the new one to come on 31 August, which will contain the words "Locked Out" in it.

I doubt either Crosby's or Malkin's Cap Hit is going to go up on the next contract they sign. It'll probably remain steady or even go down due to the length of the contract.

Look around the league; in the 3-4yrs since Sid and Geno signed their deals the going market rate for top F's has settled around $7.5-$8.2M/yr. The only player with a higher Cap Hit than either of them is OV at $9.5M/yr and that deal was signed prior to either Sid or Geno's.
- s0rcerer1984

I'll say this about the contracts though. Crosby and Malkin set an artificial ceiling for other players. Player agents are really in a tough spot when they come to the GM and say well I want 9M/yr. The response would be "haha, do you really think you are better than Crosby/Malkin?" This is the interesting dynamic of Crosby and Malkin's new deals, the NHLPA desperately wants its best players making the best money, it helps every other player who is up for a deal. If Malkin and Sid take 7M/yr it makes it tougher for other players to get 7M/yr. That is how it works.

The current CBA doesn't expire until September. Expect the first announcement regarding the new one to come on 31 August, which will contain the words "Locked Out" in it.
- akane13

I think it would be a "strike" this time, semantics I know.

Another slow day, so why not fill it with outlandish Staal trade rumors? lol

The chatter out of Raleigh still seems to be about Jordan Staal getting traded there. If you were Shero, what would trade would you propose for Staal?

Another slow day, so why not fill it with outlandish Staal trade rumors? lol

The chatter out of Raleigh still seems to be about Jordan Staal getting traded there. If you were Shero, what would trade would you propose for Staal?
- rival22

From Carolina. It starts with Skinner.

Staal to NJ for Parise

Staal to NJ for Parise
- IronCity

Parise is a UFA. You dont have to trade anything.

Parise is a UFA. You dont have to trade anything.
- Gunner Staal

Dump martin's contract. Sign Parise!

But in all honesty if I could have any player playing for the pens along crosby...

From Carolina. It starts with Skinner.
- Ben37

Ron Francis and Jeff O'Neil

Dump martin's contract. Sign Parise!

But in all honesty if I could have any player playing for the pens along crosby...
- IronCity

Assume Martin's contract gets dumped with no bad salary coming back the other way (that is going to be really tough to accomplish) the money saved on Martin's contract will go to Neal's raise and hopefully Staal's.

Assume Martin's contract gets dumped with no bad salary coming back the other way (that is going to be really tough to accomplish) the money saved on Martin's contract will go to Neal's raise and hopefully Staal's.
- Gunner Staal

- canadianpenfan

Why the head shake? Neal goes from 2.8M this year to 5M next year

Assume Martin's contract gets dumped with no bad salary coming back the other way (that is going to be really tough to accomplish) the money saved on Martin's contract will go to Neal's raise and hopefully Staal's.
- Gunner Staal

Not advocating keeping him, but the team is good for next year capwise, even with Martin still around.

Assume Martin's contract gets dumped with no bad salary coming back the other way (that is going to be really tough to accomplish) the money saved on Martin's contract will go to Neal's raise and hopefully Staal's.
- Gunner Staal

Honestly, the way it sits this team really cannot be upgraded. I wouldn't want Staal or Malkin on any other team. Only addition is by subtraction.

I have been defending Martin to everyone who disses him, but after these playoffs and seeing how soft he is, I just can't take it anymore. I wish we signed Volchenkov instead of him. The best option IMO is to ditch Martin somewhere for some silly picks.


Is Prust up for a big pay raise from NY?

Why the head shake? Neal goes from 2.8M this year to 5M next year
- Gunner Staal

I misread. I thought you were giving him another raise. My bad. But still is just how i feel reading all these comments.

Honestly, the way it sits this team really cannot be upgraded. I wouldn't want Staal or Malkin on any other team. Only addition is by subtraction.

I have been defending Martin to everyone who disses him, but after these playoffs and seeing how soft he is, I just can't take it anymore. I wish we signed Volchenkov instead of him. The best option IMO is to ditch Martin somewhere for some silly picks.


Is Prust up for a big pay raise from NY?
- IronCity

The trend in how the game is being called has not helped a player like Martin out at all like it has Volchenkov. I still dont blame Shero for making the Martin signing, it just isnt working out like Im sure he and us fans wanted it to.