Post-Game Talk: 2019 NHL Trade Deadline Thread

[BiPolar Caps]

My favorite two are early on:

Cool, now we have a matching set of Jack Johnsons.

and

It takes real skill to turn Carl Hagelin into this turd.

I'm particularly fond of "We got a 4 million dollar Christmas tree for the next two and half years"

 

[Empty Goal Net]

Can't y'all see, this is the final piece in GMJR's plan to just miss the playoffs and miraculously (!) win the Jack Hughes lottery.

 

[Sam Spade]

I was away and couldn't post but today was GLORIOUS!!

The east (Jackets being the exception) did nothing, but more importantly the Pens, did nothing.

GLORIOUS!!!!

 

[ALLCAPSALLTHETIME]

Seems like Pitt is trying?

I seem to remember hearing before, about how horrible Pitts defense was. We laughed all year, until they dumped their nerd coach. Cup. They lost Letang for the playoffs another year. Cup. Its the system with them.

I am not going to laugh at Pitt getting a lunkhead that can at least stand up in front of his net. They don't need mobile puck movers, do they? Maybe they need lunkheads to eat pucks and punches from Ovi and Willy.

The world needs ditch diggers too. The NHL forgot about that for a few years.

I obviously value role players. EG is somewhat limited in the mold of Orpik. Perhaps a change of scenery will bring out the best in what he is good at. We'll see.

The trouble with the Pens could be that they won't be able to get the puck out of their own zone. If Schultz goes down again then they'll be in real trouble.

If they can't get the puck out of their own end then that will kill their transition game and their skilled forwards will not be doing much.

They've had a bad defense for years but as you say, their system made it work somehow. However, I think it has degraded even further.

I don't think a Montreal style rope a dope is going to work. Could be wrong, I suppose.

 

[RandyHolt]

Guds is a big strong lunker. If anyone wonders why Pitt got him....

 

[RandyHolt]

I obviously value role players. EG is somewhat limited in the mold of Orpik. Perhaps a change of scenery will bring out the best in what he is good at. We'll see.....

Great post. We heard from Pitt and some Caps fans alike how horrible Orpik was. Including the leagues worst D man. I think the problem with him are lingering expectations from his draft position, and current salary.

If all goes to plan, it sounds like he will end up as depth, as the injured guys aren't out for the year.

The salary / term is a bigger longer term concern, but George can collude again, or some other dumb GM will bail out Rutherford. Which drives me bonkers.

I can't be the only one to decide to no longer declare that Pitts D sucks, after they won the cup with a "laugher" D

 

[IafrateOvie34]

I may eat a lot of crow, but I have a feeling the Jackets fall apart. Torts is a hard ass and all the pressure will now be firmly on him, Bob, and the new guys to change the story with that franchise. I just don't see that dynamic working out.

The pressure is certainly on and they needed to do something. They have a pretty good team and growing popularity. They don't want to be like the Caps in early years losing first rounds every playoff. I think back to those old Caps days and I can't help but like them. Of course they're division and conference rivals now. I'm curious to see how it pans out in another decade with kids from the area getting drafted to the NHL from Columbus, etc.

 

[searle]

So what grade does everyone give GMBM for this year's deadline?

Could we add a poll or something?

I'd say a B+, added a couple of interesting pieces to shore up the PK, defensive core and forward depth without losing any important pieces.

Hoping we see Djoos-Jenson which seems unlikely, but either way I think we'll look back at the moved as looking underrated.

Am slightly jealous seeing the other teams swinging for the fences though...

 

[Capsman]

The pressure is certainly on and they needed to do something. They have a pretty good team and growing popularity. They don't want to be like the Caps in early years losing first rounds every playoff. I think back to those old Caps days and I can't help but like them. Of course they're division and conference rivals now. I'm curious to see how it pans out in another decade with kids from the area getting drafted to the NHL from Columbus, etc.

I have always hated Columbus, since the days of the Umberger quote.

 

[895]

I have always hated Columbus, since the days of the Umberger quote.

Can't muster up any feelings for such an irrelevant franchise.

 

[txpd]

Guds is a big strong lunker. If anyone wonders why Pitt got him....

Please. Put Guds on the ice to play defense against Tom and Ov and Kuzy. Please.

 

[RandyHolt]

Please. Put Guds on the ice to play defense against Tom and Ov and Kuzy. Please.

Didn't you say the same thing when they got Justin Schultz?

Maybe let's see him in a new system before counting those chickens. If you want to laugh at his contract, sure go for it.

 

[LesDiablesRouges]

The Pens will be playing both Johnson and Gudbranson. Just let that sink in, plus the fact that their contracts both suck. Two awful players. Long live JR! Would love to smack Pitt round one.

 

[txpd]

The pressure is certainly on and they needed to do something. They have a pretty good team and growing popularity. They don't want to be like the Caps in early years losing first rounds every playoff. I think back to those old Caps days and I can't help but like them. Of course they're division and conference rivals now. I'm curious to see how it pans out in another decade with kids from the area getting drafted to the NHL from Columbus, etc.

I am with Cali. Its a volatile mixture. A goalie the wilts under pressure and a coach that explodes under pressure on a team where they effectively put the pink slip to their house in a one hand pot. What could possibly go wrong?

 

[txpd]

Didn't you say the same thing when they got Justin Schultz?

Maybe let's see him in a new system before counting those chickens. If you want to laugh at his contract, sure go for it.

I don't know. Did I? Are you saying Guds is suddenly going to be good? Ok RH

 

[VaCaps Fan]

Can I become Sidney Crosby’s friend and get signed by the pens...

 

[IafrateOvie34]

I am with Cali. Its a volatile mixture. A goalie the wilts under pressure and a coach that explodes under pressure on a team where they effectively put the pink slip to their house in a one hand pot. What could possibly go wrong?

Falling off is good by me. Add to the fact that playoff loss last year possibly still in their head. Hoping it's still in Tampa's too .

 

[RandyHolt]

I don't know. Did I? Are you saying Guds is suddenly going to be good? Ok RH

I don't know the player but as always its about expectations. And learning from the past. You expect him to do horrible, and be an obvious glaring liability, right? So anything better than that, you are wrong, So, we'll just see what we see. I am not going to buy into the masses proclaiming the premature Pitt D demise.

I'll wager he is better than the punk they would have otherwise been forced to recall from Scranton.

 

[IafrateOvie34]

Didn't you say the same thing when they got Justin Schultz?

Maybe let's see him in a new system before counting those chickens. If you want to laugh at his contract, sure go for it.

Pens do always seem to get the most out of trades even the fringe players. Maybe it was just the Caps/Pens rivalry for me, but the ones you think won't do anything always seem to be Caps killers.

 

[LesDiablesRouges]

Both Johnson and Gudbranson are awful. Oleksiak is arguably better than both and didn’t have that terrible of a contract - however average he may be.

JR has absolutely no answer for Willy, but, he keeps trying to acquire soft goons that can’t play hockey.

Think about a 24-year-old power forward being in the head of an experienced GM.

There is no answer to Tom. He will dominate you and he will wreck you.

JR surely has nightmares.

 

[Kalopsia]

You guys know that old internet story about a guy bartering a paper clip into a house over a series of trades? The Gudbranson trade is basically the culmination of Rutherford doing the same thing in reverse.

• Jan 2, 2015 - Pens trade their 2015 1st round pick (became Mathew Barzal) and Rob Klinkhammer for David Perron
• Jan 16, 2016 - Pens trade David Perron and Adam Clendening for Carl Hagelin
• Nov 14, 2018 - Pens trade Carl Hagelin (250K retained) for Tanner Pearson
• Today - Pens trade Tanner Pearson for Erik Gudbranson

Can't gloat too much since they won two Cups in that span, but I still find that pretty funny.

 

[IafrateOvie34]

Both Johnson and Gudbranson are awful. Oleksiak is arguably better than both and didn’t have that terrible of a contract - however average he may be.

JR has absolutely no answer for Willy, but, he keeps trying to acquire soft goons that can’t play hockey.

Think about a 24-year-old power forward being in the head of an experienced GM.

There is no answer to Tom. He will dominate you and he will wreck you.

JR surely has nightmares.

I remember all the Wilson haters too and how some claimed he would always be a goon. He's a game changer and I love it. Those other teams that hate him are just jealous they don't have him. Now they know how we felt without Stevens. I'm enjoying every bit of this.

 

[hockeykicker]

 

[AussieCapsFan]

I was away and couldn't post but today was GLORIOUS!!

The east (Jackets being the exception) did nothing, but more importantly the Pens, did nothing.

GLORIOUS!!!!

The Pens could miss the playoffs. Especially if Domoulin is out for a while and Letang misses a few games (okay so their offence will suffer without Letang but defensively they may be better haha).
I wouldn't place money on them missing but they are the team likely to be dangling on the bottom of the playoff ladder. Then again Carolina did nothing so they aren't any better either.

Isles must be content with the progress they've made this year (and I think they should be pretty happy with the turnaround). Taking a longer term view.

All in all it felt like one of the more boring trade deadlines in recent years. I was really hoping for a big name to move like Panarin or Bobrovsky.

 

[RandyHolt]

I wonder if anyone can find a tube of a Dman that held up better than Guds did: getting hit by an angry Wilson, and then fighting an angry Wilson, who also appeared to instigate which usually leads to an advantage. I notice no one seems to have commented on that video.

I think teams benefit by having tough players, who typically have lessor skills, despite all the rule changes.

By us winning the cup, teams can no longer expect to keep building a smaller and faster team and escape eventually getting destroyed by one of Ovi Oshie Orpik Orlov or Willy. Yes, winning the cup changes how our opponents construct their lineups. Rutherford is still scrambling to recover by paying Vegas to take Reaves . Apart of the MAF collusion / cap relief, no doubt.

CBus and Pitt both added toughness on the blue. I am surprised fans of Orpik scoff at those types of moves. Again, its all about salary and expectations. If Guds was paid league min, would that change how hard you laugh? Rutherford can get rid of his contract without issue, book it.

No one is still laughing at Orpik, now at 1M.