Ryan Wilson: Still the same Penguins Still the same Penguins

Dominic Hasek probably couldn’t win with this team in front of him. Although I’m been in South Africa for a bit so I haven’t watched a game in a while so maybe blom sucks?

I would love to buy low on Cozens and Crouse.

Ponaromov is probably the most digestible baby pen to trade imo. Will have to see him fight first though because that mcgroats fight was hilariously bad. I wish I knew him in real life so I could bully him into boxing lessons.

Dominic Hasek probably couldn’t win with this team in front of him. Although I’m been in South Africa for a bit so I haven’t watched a game in a while so maybe blom sucks?

I would love to buy low on Cozens and Crouse.

Ponaromov is probably the most digestible baby pen to trade imo. Will have to see him fight first though because that mcgroats fight was hilariously bad. I wish I knew him in real life so I could bully him into boxing lessons.
- 10inchTerror

Pens should have won that yesterday. They totally outplayed the Rangers. Bloom f'n sucked and Igor was unreal. At one point the shots were like 25-5 for the Pens.

All situations HD scoring chances were 25-8 for the Pens hahaha

https://moneypuck.com/predictions.htm

.8% chance to make the playoffs
6.8% chance to get 1st pick (lottery be praised!)

I find that weird given we're 6th worst in percentage points. After the last 2 nights, if we're trading for players, I'd be very happy to see it all be young defensive prospects, even if we're going with quantity, crossing our fingers, and hoping 2 work out.

Call up Tristen Jarry and play him every game. EVERY GAME. So, what if he sucks?
I say, who cares. Does anyone besides his mama?

What if he actually shows up, surprises us and is tradeable for a bag of pucks.

Jarry's presence is screwing with development time for Blomqvist and Murashev and is a thorn under the saddle right now.

There are many other problems on this team that mostly relate around the lack of physical play... but the Jarry situation can be fixed. First, by calling him up and second - by playing him every game.

We should probably be bringing up Larsson and sending Blomqvist back down. Our team is terrible and him just getting roasted is just setting back his development. I would also support bringing up Jarry to see if he can string together a few games and bump up his untradeable status to tradeable with incentive.

I have never seen a GM mismanage the goaltender position so badly.

1. Our big $ #1 is in the minors.
2. Our best prospect (Murashov) is sitting in the ECHL.
3. Our 2nd best prospect has not been getting enough starts and is getting roasted when he does get in. Combined NHL/AHL, he likely isnt going to get even 40 starts.
4. We re-signed Ned based on a hot streak at the end of last year and he has been awful.

Its not all the goalies fault, this team is really lacking in both talent and heart. Its just that I haven't seen the GM make one good decision along the way.

I believe Ned was resigned with the purpose of trading him to a playoff team in need of a solid backup. The issue is that now his play is sinking and probably has no trade value. Jarry is untradeable unless you’re trading him for some stupid contract like Darnell Nurse or something.

It seems like the plan was to have Blomqvist sit behind Jarry, but that has completely gone sideways. Even if Jarry was mediocre, that would be fine while the team was rebuilding and could probably trade him with a year or 2 left on his deal.

Dominic Hasek probably couldn’t win with this team in front of him. Although I’m been in South Africa for a bit so I haven’t watched a game in a while so maybe blom sucks?

I would love to buy low on Cozens and Crouse.

Ponaromov is probably the most digestible baby pen to trade imo. Will have to see him fight first though because that mcgroats fight was hilariously bad. I wish I knew him in real life so I could bully him into boxing lessons.
- 10inchTerror

I've been on the Crouse train for quite some time. He is having a bad season but he is a nice player and fits the power forward role we badly need to fill. I'll gladly take him at a lower cost coming off a bad season. He still has two years left at $4.3M and is only 27. Great target for us.

I believe Ned was resigned with the purpose of trading him to a playoff team in need of a solid backup. The issue is that now his play is sinking and probably has no trade value. Jarry is untradeable unless you’re trading him for some stupid contract like Darnell Nurse or something.

It seems like the plan was to have Blomqvist sit behind Jarry, but that has completely gone sideways. Even if Jarry was mediocre, that would be fine while the team was rebuilding and could probably trade him with a year or 2 left on his deal.
- drummer829

I was perfectly fine with signing Ned, but the two year deal signaled to me that Dubas had a deal for Jarry lined up... why would you get him for 2 years unless you had a legit path to opening up a spot for Blom?

Now, we might be in a position where we need to buy out Ned and pay to unload Jarry.

Nurse is massively overpaid/overrated, but I'd pull a Jarry & Gryz for Nurse trade in a heartbeat. At least he can be an overpaid 2LD. Jarry cant even be a backup in the NHL for us right now. I highly doubt Edmonton would do it, they need certainty in net, not a wildcard.

Bob MacKenzie is reporting that he believes Marner is going to free agency. Not saying he is going to leave Toronto, but at this point is willing to listen to offers (and would probably let Toronto match).

I don't love Marner, but can't deny the skill and he had the two most clutch moments in the 4N, OT winner and set up McDavid on the finals winner. If we wanted to retool on the fly, this is a major shortcut. I have no doubt Dubas would love to get him and was the one who signed him to his last big extension.

https://moneypuck.com/predictions.htm

.8% chance to make the playoffs
6.8% chance to get 1st pick (lottery be praised!)

I find that weird given we're 6th worst in percentage points. After the last 2 nights, if we're trading for players, I'd be very happy to see it all be young defensive prospects, even if we're going with quantity, crossing our fingers, and hoping 2 work out.
- coohill

If Pitt won the lottery and got bumped to 1st overall who are you guys taking?

I believe Ned was resigned with the purpose of trading him to a playoff team in need of a solid backup. The issue is that now his play is sinking and probably has no trade value. Jarry is untradeable unless you’re trading him for some stupid contract like Darnell Nurse or something.

It seems like the plan was to have Blomqvist sit behind Jarry, but that has completely gone sideways. Even if Jarry was mediocre, that would be fine while the team was rebuilding and could probably trade him with a year or 2 left on his deal.
- drummer829

It's my recollection that Murashov surprised the Pens when he wanted to come over this season. I think we had already signed Ned at that point. Adding Murashov created the log-jam.

Back to the earlier point form Sufi-Judge... I have no problem with bringing Jarry back up. Let him get pummeled. I'm getting concerned about having any young tender (Blom) backstopping this mess. I keep saying it... This is the worst defensive Pens team since the early Mario days. That burden should be shared equally by Dubas and Sullivan. So sick of Sully....

It's my recollection that Murashov surprised the Pens when he wanted to come over this season. I think we had already signed Ned at that point. Adding Murashov created the log-jam.

Back to the earlier point form Sufi-Judge... I have no problem with bringing Jarry back up. Let him get pummeled. I'm getting concerned about having any young tender (Blom) backstopping this mess. I keep saying it... This is the worst defensive Pens team since the early Mario days. That burden should be shared equally by Dubas and Sullivan. So sick of Sully....
- madmike71

Yup

At 5 on 5 the Pens are 2nd overall in higher danger chances for but 7th worst in higher danger chances against. They are 3rd worst in SV% and 9th worst in HDSV%. They have the 2nd worst PDO (sh!tty shooting % and sh!tty SV%) in the league. Not only do they give up a lot of chances, their goalies are sh!t this season. Bad combo. In the other end of the ice they are one of the best at getting chances but cant finish.

My biggest concern about the Dubas hire was how he always seems to mess up the goaltending/goaltending evaluation ....it seems those fears were warranted.

If Pitt won the lottery and got bumped to 1st overall who are you guys taking?
- 10inchTerror

I was hoping McQueen with the 5th/6th pick. Schaefer if we had the 1st pick.

Side notes:
-Ottawa may not be in on Karlsson because of his signing bonuses. Vegas and Florida are in on him. Dallas hasn't had a lot of interest as of yet.


-Grzelcyk has the price tag of a 2nd/3rd pick

- Beau is getting showcased in hopes to bump his trade value.

-They don't want to trade Rakell and they have set an very unrealistic trade value on him currently.
-A few teams called on Glass, but we want to keep him.

-Also very interesting tidbit. If we trade Karlsson don't be surprised if we use up that cap space quickly because we have some interest in Seth Jones.

I do wonder if a 3 way trade would make some sense with Chicago.

PK Subban, railed on the PENS… saying, *… they’re undersized, undermanned. They’re soft in every area. In the (defensive) zone. They’re soft in the corners, the front of the net.* All directed at Dubas.
Dubas should get some of the blame but Subban gave SILKY Sullivan a *Get Out of Jail Free card*.

Last year the power play was also in the tank until a coach was fired - it got better.

If SILKY is FSG's boy… Dubas can't do anything.

There are many times when we see defensemen pinching in when they shouldn't - many times when the games situation isn’t managed from the bench. Such as, a slim lead with a couple minutes to go and you can see the breakaway coming. The situations don't appear to be managed well… and that's on the head coach. Watching both Letang and Karlsson pinching in not letting the game come to them is fixable by the head coach. You have a system and should trust it. It appears they wing it.

OT's and shootouts don't appear to be practiced any more - they used to. They appear to wing that too.

Shooting the puck with everyone on the perimeter - that's fixed by the coaching staff. But it isn't. It's the SOS for 5-years now.

If Pitt won the lottery and got bumped to 1st overall who are you guys taking?
- 10inchTerror

Has to be Schaffer at #1. But I'd also say that I'd be listening if a team in the top 5 wanted to trade up. Lets say San Jose loses out and ends up with the #4 pick... If they LOVE Schaffer and want to trade say the #4, Dallas 2025 1st & they take back Jarry's contract... I'd probably do that.

Shaffer is a level above everyone else... possible in 4 years he looks like Quinn Hughes. So there is some big risk with not taking him but there are still some really good players at the top and we get an extra shot in the 1st. Because SJ has so much cap space, adding in Jarry because it adds a ton of value for us at not much cost to them.

I was hoping McQueen with the 5th/6th pick. Schaefer if we had the 1st pick.

Side notes:
-Ottawa may not be in on Karlsson because of his signing bonuses. Vegas and Florida are in on him. Dallas hasn't had a lot of interest as of yet.


-Grzelcyk has the price tag of a 2nd/3rd pick

- Beau is getting showcased in hopes to bump his trade value.

-They don't want to trade Rakell and they have set an very unrealistic trade value on him currently.
-A few teams called on Glass, but we want to keep him.

-Also very interesting tidbit. If we trade Karlsson don't be surprised if we use up that cap space quickly because we have some interest in Seth Jones.

I do wonder if a 3 way trade would make some sense with Chicago.
- 123Kid

McQueen is getting a lot of buzz right now. I still think Martone could end up being the best player in the draft, but he is going to need a few years. I usually worry about some of the more physically mature guys translating their game to the NHL (where they can't just bulldog everyone) but Martone doesn't play a power game. Really good hands for a big guy, can pass and can snipe. But he coasts too much and needs to work on his motor. I liken him to Draisaitl, who took a few years of development to come into his size and round out his game.


For whatever reason, I was also thinking in my head we could go after Jones. He is overpaid for what he is as a player, but just like Karlsson, I think he would be a lot better playing on a competitive team.

I've been saying Florida makes sense for Karlsson... I dont even think this necessarily makes sense, but I'd go Jones, Lundell, (buyout Knight for peanuts) & $9M of cap dump for Karlsson, Bloomqvist, Glass, McGroarty & a mid 1st.

PIT - Jones, Knight & Lundell
FLA - Karlsson, Blomqvist & Glass
CHI - Jarry, Hayes, Samskovich, McGroarty & NYR 1st.

I'm pretty high on Lundell but Florida can get by without him once healthy. Glass gives them a stop gap. They would probably prefer to trade their 2026 1st over Sams. Chicago has a ton of open roster spots & cap space heading into next year, they can handle taking on Hayes & Jarry and they get some prospects to throw in the lineup next season rather than just draft picks. I'd imagine if they did this they would be going out an offer sheeting Bouchard out of Edmonton.

FA-Crosby-Rackell
FA-Malkin-Rust
Bunting-Lundell-Tomasino
Heinen-Lizotte-Accari

FA-Letang
Pickering-Jones
Graves/FA-Descharnais/Brunicke * maybe we luck out and get Schaffer

PK Subban, railed on the PENS… saying, *… they’re undersized, undermanned. They’re soft in every area. In the (defensive) zone. They’re soft in the corners, the front of the net.* All directed at Dubas.
Dubas should get some of the blame but Subban gave SILKY Sullivan a *Get Out of Jail Free card*.

Last year the power play was also in the tank until a coach was fired - it got better.

If SILKY is FSG's boy… Dubas can't do anything.

There are many times when we see defensemen pinching in when they shouldn't - many times when the games situation isn’t managed from the bench. Such as, a slim lead with a couple minutes to go and you can see the breakaway coming. The situations don't appear to be managed well… and that's on the head coach. Watching both Letang and Karlsson pinching in not letting the game come to them is fixable by the head coach. You have a system and should trust it. It appears they wing it.

OT's and shootouts don't appear to be practiced any more - they used to. They appear to wing that too.

Shooting the puck with everyone on the perimeter - that's fixed by the coaching staff. But it isn't. It's the SOS for 5-years now.
- sufi-judge

Don't forget Sullivan didn't want to fire Reirdon after the season. The PP was a dumpster fire and Sullivan wanted to keep the guy who was responsible for it. Says all you need to know about how the team is being run. FSG is willfully blind.