Post-Game Talk: Pens 2, Leafs 1 - Thanks Flower. Thanks Geno.

[Shady Machine]

Guys, I'm not irrationally and unconditionally defending Rob Scuderi, but how can you criticize his game when Olli Maatta may have a recurrence?!?!?

I don't know what this means.

 

[Empoleon8771]

JR had one import thing to do this offseason: dump the dead weight. He failed.

That was certainly not the only important thing that JR had to do over the summer. Bringing in another top-6 winger (which he did) and address the forward depth (which he did) were just as important as dumping the dead weight.

I would be very surprised for Scuderi to not get bought out after the year, baring some miraculous comeback season for him. The organization has already supposedly tried to move him to 2 different over last summer, so I'm pretty sure that they won't scoff at the opportunity to buy him out if they can't trade him. My guess is that JR didn't think the Pens would need to buy out Scuderi in order to get rid of him last summer. Scuderi's NTC was the only think that prevented that from being true. I'd imagine JR wouldn't take that risk again this year and instead just buy him out. I'd be surprised for them to buy out Kunitz, he hasn't been as bad for as long as Scuderi has been. Scuderi's struggles have been essentially since he came back from the injury in 2013-2014. Kunitz only has around 50 games of sucking to this point. He seems like a guy they'll just let go once his contract is over.

 

[IcedCapp]

I don't know what this means.

search your feelings.

Or, if that doesn't work, i guess tell me and then search your inbox

 

[Shady Machine]

search your feelings.

Or, if that doesn't work, i guess tell me and then search your inbox

I'd prefer to search my inbox.

 

[AR5]

I don't know what this means.

Olli Maata, I'm certain, has no problems with his shoulder or lymph nodes, IC.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

Guys, I'm not irrationally and unconditionally defending Rob Scuderi, but how can you criticize his game when Olli Maatta may have a recurrence?!?!?

Agreed, Maatta needs to be traded for an iron man.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

He's done and nobody wants him. It's just a question of whether he and Scuderi get buried in the minors or bought out in the summer.

I don't know what this organization has done in the past to make people think the above is even a scenario they'd think long and hard at doing. The fact that they're playing lead roles and not even being given sheltered mop up minutes is proof this club sees them as key players, not as players they'll buy out or demote.

 

[Allie Kitsune]

I don't know what this organization has done in the past to make people think the above is even a scenario they'd think long and hard at doing. The fact that they're playing lead roles and not even being given sheltered mop up minutes is proof this club sees them as key players, not as players they'll buy out or demote.

Kunitz, no. He won't get bought out or buried since he's one of ROOT's objects of worship.

Scuderi, however, they DID try to trade off (and nobody wants him), so I can see him possibly getting bought out.

 

[DesertPenguin]

Sid has been gassing himself out doing all the work. He goes back and helps the d then gets the puck up either to Kunitz who makes a bad pass/turns it over or to Kessel who skates it a little bit and then gets challenged so he passes to Kunitz who promptly turns it over.

Very very rarely Sid catches up to KK before the puck is turned over and they maybe get a chance or two.

Rush chances are non existent for that line because Sid can't cheat up ice since he has to be the defensive conscience on that line.

This is what I see also. Sid is constantly digging pucks in the corners, and honestly Kessel has been better than expected at that too, but then the puck goes to Kunitz and he either turns it over or dumps it back to Sid in an area where he needs to muck and grind to maintain possession again. It's Sid and Kessel working to set up Kunitz floating in the slot, and that is all kind's of backwards. All Sid and Kessel need is a guy who can work in the corners for them to maintain possession and feed it back to them. Plotnikov might eventually be able to do that, Dupuis when/if healthy can probably do it, maybe Fehr can do it to, but Kunitz is either unable or unwilling to play that style of game anymore.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Ultimately, in the win/loss column, raw production out of context doesn't matter. At all. You don't win a game by scoring a lot of goals. You win a game by scoring more than you give up. Scoring line, checking line, fourth line, first line doesn't make a difference. Every line either wins its minutes, stalemates or loses them. While it's self-evident that teams should seek to win minutes with a first line, that does not change that stalemating is far preferable to losing them.

If a Nail Yakupov line scores 40 goals on the season, while giving up north of 70, not only is it not helping the Oilers, it is killing them. You might win a half-dozen more games if you just sent out three guys who could play 15 minutes a night to a tie.

Kunitz is stalemating. That's not what you want. Ideally you reduce his minutes in favor of someone that has a better chance of winning his minutes. It is not clear that we have that in even 1 left wing right now, let alone 2.

Plotnikov, so far, has a 2 not-good games, 1 good game, 1 benched game, and 1 game where Liam Neeson was killing his shady ass countrymen. In a 4 game career, that's not alarming, but there's nothing about what he's done that says "get him in there for 20 minutes against the other teams' best D." In fact, his game only improved when we got him away from the other teams' best D.

Sprong isn't going to go on the first line. I'd like to see him tried (not that I know it would work), but it's not happening, unfortunately, so there's no point griping about it.

If Eric Fehr comes back and looks even half way decent in his first game without hurting himself, there's a case to be made to sub him in for the second game. A good case. We already know he can finish. We already know he can play defense. It stands to reason he could score more than Kunitz is without hurting you the other direction even if he has zero chemistry with the other two. Same with Dupuis. We know he can play defense. He can't finish, but he gets to so many danger spots that pucks go in on volume shooting. They're both practicing, so it's only a matter of time until they're back.

Unfortunately, they're not cleared yet, so short of putting Cullen on the first line and letting Rust and friends get crushed worse than any marginal improvement you might see on line 1, there's little to nothing that can be done about Kunitz at present.

That's obvious. But plus/minus is not a direct player stat, and points are accumulated because of direct contributions from players. An even plus minus for a player with 1 ES point in 28 games beside the best player in the world is single-handedly the worst argument I've ever heard for keeping a player on the 1st line. Kunitz is stalemating? No, an even plus minus in his position isn't stalemating, it's just being stale.

The odds of all our other options putting up numbers near as putrid is so low that it's negligible. Trying any of our available scoring wing options is better than sticking with a winger who's being outproduced at ES by a geriatric defensive defenseman, a guy who's out of the league, and multiple goalies.

Accepting that kind of garbage performance over a 3rd of a season because there's no obvious perfect answer is complacent, timid, and incompetent. Not unlike Kunitz.

 

[Pancakes]

This is what I see also. Sid is constantly digging pucks in the corners, and honestly Kessel has been better than expected at that too, but then the puck goes to Kunitz and he either turns it over or dumps it back to Sid in an area where he needs to muck and grind to maintain possession again. It's Sid and Kessel working to set up Kunitz floating in the slot, and that is all kind's of backwards. All Sid and Kessel need is a guy who can work in the corners for them to maintain possession and feed it back to them. Plotnikov might eventually be able to do that, Dupuis when/if healthy can probably do it, maybe Fehr can do it to, but Kunitz is either unable or unwilling to play that style of game anymore.

Yeah it will be interesting to see where Fehr, Dupuis, and Bennett slot in once they come back.

I think finally having a fully healthy forward group (if it ever happens ) could be what finally pushes Kunitz out of the top six simply.

I want to hope so anyways. More likely it will just push Sprong back to juniors, Bennett to the fourth line, and that will be all she wrote.

 

[Old Gregg]

http://penslabyrinth.com/2015/10/19/pittsburgh-penguins-reasons-to-dress-scuderi/

 

[hiptanaka]

http://penslabyrinth.com/2015/10/19/pittsburgh-penguins-reasons-to-dress-scuderi/

LOL brilliant.

 

[AR5]

Woot. Someone followed by Colligan just tweeted this out. Wonder if Mike will give it more publicity!

 

[Zirakzigil]

Agreed, Maatta needs to be traded for an iron man.

I hear Adams is avaliable.

 

[The Old Master]

I hear Adams is avaliable.

don't let our front office see this.........they would think it's a good idea.

 

[MtlPenFan]

So we're back to hating Beau again?

Injuries are injuries. It's a shame, because he could be a valuable player. However, durability is a big part of a player's value, and becauseof his inablity to stay healthy, Beau has been next to useless. That being said, billybudd is missing the point.

Bennett's bones could have been infused with adamantium over the summer. He could have been the best forward on the team during the entire pre-season (which he was) and he could have played EVERY game from the start of the regular season to today like the one he did against Montreal.

He could have scored 2 goals a game, be in the top five in League scoring, and he STILL wouldn't get a look on that first line.

As someone has already stated, the Pens have to be EMBARRASSED into doing the right thing both on and off the ice.

 

[steveg]

I'd prefer to search my inbox.

I was a little confused too...

Perhaps I might search MY inbox...

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

There's always gonna be a collection of dip-shits who hate Bennett because he can't stay healthy. Just ignore 'em and move on about your day. They're neck deep in their DK propaganda anyway.

The guy was never given a legit shot to be an impact top-9 player, let alone top-6, but when he's been healthy he's been great. Especially this season.

 

[Corvidae]

That was certainly not the only important thing that JR had to do over the summer. Bringing in another top-6 winger (which he did) and address the forward depth (which he did) were just as important as dumping the dead weight.

I would be very surprised for Scuderi to not get bought out after the year, baring some miraculous comeback season for him. The organization has already supposedly tried to move him to 2 different over last summer, so I'm pretty sure that they won't scoff at the opportunity to buy him out if they can't trade him. My guess is that JR didn't think the Pens would need to buy out Scuderi in order to get rid of him last summer. Scuderi's NTC was the only think that prevented that from being true. I'd imagine JR wouldn't take that risk again this year and instead just buy him out. I'd be surprised for them to buy out Kunitz, he hasn't been as bad for as long as Scuderi has been. Scuderi's struggles have been essentially since he came back from the injury in 2013-2014. Kunitz only has around 50 games of sucking to this point. He seems like a guy they'll just let go once his contract is over.

We'll have to agree to disagree on the level of importance. I think removing the old guard would have done more by itself than adding Kessel, by a long shot.

 

[Zero Pucks]

I hear Adams is avaliable.

He also has more even strength points than Kunitz the last 28 games.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

I hear Adams is avaliable.

We'll sign him for 5 years at 3M per and make him Kunitz's replacement in 2018-19, no need to trade for that stud.

 

[mpp9]

What the hell happened with Adams anyway. JR basically said he wasn't coming back immediately after the postseason and I've heard nothing after that. No NHL offers. No retirement.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

What the hell happened with Adams anyway. JR basically said he wasn't coming back immediately after the postseason and I've heard nothing after that. No NHL offers. No retirement.

Yeah, I've kind of been wondering the same thing. I mean... I'll count my blessings. Gone is gone. But it just seems a little odd.

 

[Ogrezilla]

What the hell happened with Adams anyway. JR basically said he wasn't coming back immediately after the postseason and I've heard nothing after that. No NHL offers. No retirement.

my guess is Shero had a coach who didn't want him and Bylsma had a GM who wouldn't sign him. I don't think anybody else running a pro hockey team believes Adams is an NHL caliber hockey player.