Salary Cap: Faux News: Fehr and Balanced Off-Season Pens coverage

[Hottubber]

Smid is interesting. Tough to judge him. Could suck. Could fill that need in the top 4.

I think his play may have slipped a bit since leaving the Oilers and I know he had a couple injuries last year. But they are loaded with d and I think its a pretty decent deal all around

I also would like to see Smid on the PK and can shelter one of the younger d-man on the 2nd or 3rd pair

 

[Beauner]

What do we need? Just a LW?

Nah. Another D I'd say. That 4th line LW spot should be filled by Wilson, Sundqvist or Farham. Let the kids play for once.

 

[RobRossi]

what does everybody think of this?

A bottom six comprised like this offers the best of both worlds:
Bonino-Fehr-Bennett
Kunitz-Sundqvist-Dupuis

Obviously kunitz at fourth line left wing is the point of contention but him being there makes it so we can move him, insert in wilson, and go on without a hitch.

Bonino can play left and that to me is a pretty darn good third with some much needed youth in the fourth.

 

[drpepper]

what does everybody think of this?

A bottom six comprised like this offers the best of both worlds:
Bonino-Fehr-Bennett
Kunitz-Sundqvist-Dupuis

Obviously kunitz at fourth line left wing is the point of contention but him being there makes it so we can move him, insert in wilson, and go on without a hitch.

Bonino can play left and that to me is a pretty darn good third with some much needed youth in the fourth.

Both Bonino and Fehr seem to be better centers. Plus Fehr is out to start the season.

Bonino-Fehr-Bennett has Fehr doing all the heavy lifting in terms of speed (they other two are bad skaters) and defense (Bennett and Bonino are at best average).

I think his play may have slipped a bit since leaving the Oilers and I know he had a couple injuries last year. But they are loaded with d and I think its a pretty decent deal all around

I also would like to see Smid on the PK and can shelter one of the younger d-man on the 2nd or 3rd pair

Unless Smid is a #3 defender and Scuderi is going the other way, I say no more defenders.

Pens have 8 defenders (Letang, Maatta, Cole, Lovejoy, Scuderi, Dumoulin, Erixon, & Clendening) that are waiver eligible and Pouliot. Plus they have 7 defenders that should be slotted #5-7. The Pens have no space for defenders and certainly no space for a bottom pairing defender.

 

[Waffle Fries]

I am all aboard a Bonino-Bennett line. With the way Bonino drives play and sets up his linemates, I think that is a great way to get Bennett going and to use his creativity. If Kunitz is the trigger man that is fine with me.

While I do advocate shipping Kunitz out, if he is here, that is a role I am perfectly comfortable with him in.

I agree. Bonino likes to shoot, Bennett likes to be the set-up guy. Both are pretty creative, it seems like a really natural fit. I'm fine with Kunitz in the bottom-6, I'm just afraid that if he plays well in that role he'll be moved up.

Posted it in the last thread but if we can unload Scuderi somehow

Kunitz for Smid + 2nd

Flames have 9 d right now and will need to deal someone. He makes 3.5 so its a bit of a savings

I would do it. I'm mixed about Smid, but having three seconds would almost definitely allow us to move up to the 1st round if we wanted to.

what does everybody think of this?

A bottom six comprised like this offers the best of both worlds:
Bonino-Fehr-Bennett
Kunitz-Sundqvist-Dupuis

Obviously kunitz at fourth line left wing is the point of contention but him being there makes it so we can move him, insert in wilson, and go on without a hitch.

Bonino can play left and that to me is a pretty darn good third with some much needed youth in the fourth.

I'm not a fan. Between Bonino and Fehr, Bonino is the one who is weaker on the wing. I also would much rather the line Fehr centers to be molded as a shutdown line. That wouldn't be the case with Bonino and Bennett as his wings.

I really think that the bottom six should be built around the pairs of Bonino-Bennett and Fehr-Dupuis.

 

[billybudd]

what does everybody think of this?

A bottom six comprised like this offers the best of both worlds:
Bonino-Fehr-Bennett
Kunitz-Sundqvist-Dupuis

Obviously kunitz at fourth line left wing is the point of contention but him being there makes it so we can move him, insert in wilson, and go on without a hitch.

Bonino can play left and that to me is a pretty darn good third with some much needed youth in the fourth.

Fehr's game took off when he started playing with Chimera. He left Wash, was bad, came back, rediscovered it playing with...Chimera.

Dupuis isn't the same player, but he's similar enough that they should probably be a pair unless someone gets hurt or all our other left wings bomb with Sid and Kessel.

It's also helpful for matchup purposes to put your two best defensive forwards on the same line. Johnston likes pairs, Fehr and Dupuis should probably be one.

 

[mpp9]

Yeah. I like that model for the bottom six.

 

[AjaxTelamon]

Fehr's game took off when he started playing with Chimera. He left Wash, was bad, came back, rediscovered it playing with...Chimera.

Dupuis isn't the same player, but he's similar enough that they should probably be a pair unless someone gets hurt or all our other left wings bomb with Sid and Kessel.

It's also helpful for matchup purposes to put your two best defensive forwards on the same line. Johnston likes pairs, Fehr and Dupuis should probably be one.

Absolutely, otherwise how do you really match up properly with any of our lines? Bonino and Bennett being a pair makes sense too, but on a line 3b, if you want to call it that, that gets favorable zone starts against weak QoC where their lack of speed and strength won't be as much of an issue.

Kunitz / Fehr / Dupuis would be our strongest defensive line by a country mile, with the possibility of slotting in Sundqvist in place of Kunitz as an intriguing possibility, aside from the stylistic point that three righties on one line tends to look like a mess (see BB/Sutter/Downie). But it was effective, so what the hell.

 

[td_ice]

Ummm... political talk is not welcomed here. Period. The thread title is a pun. It's simply a play on words. Stop being so sensitive and let's get back to hockey.

Exactly....because there is nothing to Fehr, but Fehr itself.

 

[drpepper]

Absolutely, otherwise how do you really match up properly with any of our lines? Bonino and Bennett being a pair makes sense too, but on a line 3b, if you want to call it that, that gets favorable zone starts against weak QoC where their lack of speed and strength won't be as much of an issue.

Kunitz / Fehr / Dupuis would be our strongest defensive line by a country mile, with the possibility of slotting in Sundqvist in place of Kunitz as an intriguing possibility, aside from the stylistic point that three righties on one line tends to look like a mess (see BB/Sutter/Downie). But it was effective, so what the hell.

Who's playing with Bonino and Bennett?

Bonino and Bennett need a better skater and defender with them.

 

[billybudd]

Absolutely, otherwise how do you really match up properly with any of our lines? Bonino and Bennett being a pair makes sense too, but on a line 3b, if you want to call it that, that gets favorable zone starts against weak QoC where their lack of speed and strength won't be as much of an issue.

Kunitz / Fehr / Dupuis would be our strongest defensive line by a country mile, with the possibility of slotting in Sundqvist in place of Kunitz as an intriguing possibility, aside from the stylistic point that three righties on one line tends to look like a mess (see BB/Sutter/Downie). But it was effective, so what the hell.

Yeah, there's a lot of nice pairs that can be made on the roster, but I'll be damned if I know who the third guy should be on any line.

 

[IcedCapp]

Only thing I think this team needs right now is cap space. You're not, imo, going to be able to get a significant upgrade at either F or D with the assets and space this team has. They have a ton of F depth and youth at D. Play it out until January, see where things stand, go from there.

Outside of Scuderi and Kunitz being on the roster, this has been a perfect off-season. Take care of that and go collect your GM of the Year award.

 

[888 98 twins]

Who's playing with Bonino and Bennett?

Bonino and Bennett need a better skater and defender with them.

Really, it should be

Plots-Fehr-Bennett
Dupuis-Bonino-Sundqvist

Physicality, speed, and skill on each line. If it's the end of a game and you need to shut someone down, run Dupuis-Bonino-Fehr out there.

 

[EVGENIMERLIN]

Only thing I think this team needs right now is cap space. You're not, imo, going to be able to get a significant upgrade at either F or D with the assets and space this team has. They have a ton of F depth and youth at D. Play it out until January, see where things stand, go from there.

Outside of Scuderi and Kunitz being on the roster, this has been a perfect off-season. Take care of that and go collect your GM of the Year award.

If he can move at least 1 of those 2 before training camp you have to call this off season a Euphoric victory.

If he can get something in the realm of a 2nd rounder or decent Fwd prospect for Kunitz then Iced Capp's for everyone. I don't see him being able to move Scuds which is a drag.

 

[Coach Travis]

If it's between Kunitz and Scuderi, we keep Kunitz. It's debatable that any of our forward prospects could step up and replace him right now and he'd fill in pretty admirably in a Bottom 6 role. Meanwhile we have a few young D-Men who can out-perform Scuderi.

 

[mpp9]

Only thing I think this team needs right now is cap space. You're not, imo, going to be able to get a significant upgrade at either F or D with the assets and space this team has. They have a ton of F depth and youth at D. Play it out until January, see where things stand, go from there.

Outside of Scuderi and Kunitz being on the roster, this has been a perfect off-season. Take care of that and go collect your GM of the Year award.

Team speed as well. Id feel alot better if Kunitz is swapped out to fill that need.

 

[AjaxTelamon]

Who's playing with Bonino and Bennett?

Bonino and Bennett need a better skater and defender with them.

Well:

Yeah, there's a lot of nice pairs that can be made on the roster, but I'll be damned if I know who the third guy should be on any line.

Pretty much sums it up. This roster still needs some finishing, and I don't think they're done. With what they have now, you could use Sundqvist or Plots with Bonino and Bennett as a decent defensive presence on LW, or Wilson who is at least a bit faster than Bonino or Bennett.

But yeah, there are not ideal thirds up and down the lineup.

 

[Ugene Magic]

Team speed as well. Id feel alot better if Kunitz is swapped out to fill that need.

Kunitz actually has speed, it's whether or not he actually lost that and him looking like dog crap being of health issues.

When healthy Kunitz wasn't for lack of speed.

 

[Waffle Fries]

Well Perron and Hornqvist should be on the same line. Then figure out which of the other three left wings fit best with the other pairs.

Perron-Crosby-Hornqvist
X-Malkin-Kessel
X-Fehr-Dupuis
X-Bonino-Bennett

X's: Plotnikov, Kunitz, Sundqvist

 

[StutzlesTapeJob]

I like the bottom six groups being put together. I really want to see Kunitz on a 3rd line and going back to playing a simple - physical - effective game for a player his age speed and skill. Wouldn't mind seeing him go at all, but that is at the core of what i like about the overall group now.

Sounds cheesy, and even JR said it to the press, so the opposite is probably true...but now guys need to compete and stay hungry for slots. What do you think Perron, Kunitz, Duper etc are thinking right now compared to past years? Same thing for 4th line guys? There are theoretically spots open all over the lineup and far more uncertainty than recent years - where it seemed everyone was a bit too comfortable with their spot. No one needed to go the extra mile because there were no good options.

Most of the new guys aren't great, but they could outplay some recent underperformers. In a nutshell i love that we have that now.

My only hope is the coaching staff embraces the opportunity to thrive on competition and doesn't just make it a battle for the bottom 6, with the tried and untrue comfortable in the top 6.

I would still like to see some guys with a naturally more surly and aggressive game to be spark plugs and lead the charge when we have games that aren't going to be "played nice". Caps, islanders, jackets come to mind.

Perhaps a team needing D help for a younger unit would flip the right kind of role player for Scuderi?

 

[SprootsMasterFlex]

Think that's just the natural order of things with Ray.

That the Devils have 6 competent guys on D (or at least 5) and a couple more on the way doesn't necessarily mean he's willing to part with any of them. If he wanted Kunitz, my best guess would be that he would want to trade draft picks. Which I'm not necessarily against.

I recall Gelinas being available. not sure he's the type of D we need though but he'd add some size, righthanded shot and a wicked slapper to our D @ a cheap cap hit.

 

[drpepper]

Well Perron and Hornqvist should be on the same line. Then figure out which of the other three left wings fit best with the other pairs.

Perron-Crosby-Hornqvist
X-Malkin-Kessel
X-Fehr-Dupuis
X-Bonino-Bennett

X's: Plotnikov, Kunitz, Sundqvist

I thought Sundqvist had only really played RW and center. Does Sundqvist have experience at LW?

I think Dupuis should be a LW, and Sundqvist and Bennett should be playing RW.

 

[AjaxTelamon]

I thought Sundqvist had only really played RW and center. Does Sundqvist have experience at LW?

I think Dupuis should be a LW, and Sundqvist and Bennett should be playing RW.

Played mostly LW for Skelleftea last year, euro style. I haven't ever seen or heard of him playing any RW at all.

 

[Gurglesons]

I recall Gelinas being available. not sure he's the type of D we need though but he'd add some size, righthanded shot and a wicked slapper to our D @ a cheap cap hit.

We need a defenseman that plays slightly dirty. We really don't have that element at all in our line-up. Which is fine, but even teams like Chicago and Detroit carry players like Kronwall and Seabrook so players are scared to skate with their heads down.

 

[robopigeon]

In the realm of amazing things that will never, ever happen, imagine we somehow get rid of Kunitz and Scuderi, and then somehow acquire Big Buff:

Maatta - Letang
Pouliot - Byfuglien


In a year or two, that's a perfect top 4 for us. I don't know what else it could need.