WBS Penguins 2017-18 Season Thread: Pens out in first round, black aces are up

[Peat]

He's ours, but we loaned him back to the Wolves. I have no idea why.

Not enough space at a guess. This was the most recent forward line up at WBS mentioned in the thread

Johnson-Blueger-Sprong
Di Pauli-Dea-Thomas
Wilson-Quinney-Kostopoulos
Sestito-Jooris-Cramarossa

I'm admittedly not an expert, but I'm not sure who Lindberg displaces there, particularly since Haggerty would normally displace one of those guys (was he injured that game?) and Lafferty's now here. There's also Tiffels and Gardiner for added depth.

 

[AverageJoeFan]

Maybe a silly question, does anyone know if these games are televised somewhere or live streamed on a site?

 

[wej20]

Maybe a silly question, does anyone know if these games are televised somewhere or live streamed on a site?

AHL has a streaming service, it is very expensive and the quality isn't good.

 

[AverageJoeFan]

AHL has a streaming service, it is very expensive and the quality isn't good.

Thanks...

 

[FreeBobbyFarnham]

WBS up 4-2 after 2. Goals from Trotman (assisted by Sprong), Kostopoulos (assisted by Quinney), Cramarossa (assisted by Lafferty with his 1st AHL point!) and Blueger.

 

[vodeni]

Sprong is not setting AHL on fire thats for sure,

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Sprong is not setting AHL on fire thats for sure,

Hes already done enough imo...

 

[chethejet]

Sprong is still maturing and is playing at a higher level and more hockey than he has in awhile. The Pens will work on what he needs to do both physically and mentally as to on ice needs. Rust, Guentzal and others had far more experience than Sprong. But possibly next year or so, he will be on the big club.

 

[Jacob]

Very positive sign that they think enough of Lafferty to plug him into the lineup immediately, and that he’s contributing.

 

[Peat]

Sprong is still maturing and is playing at a higher level and more hockey than he has in awhile. The Pens will work on what he needs to do both physically and mentally as to on ice needs. Rust, Guentzal and others had far more experience than Sprong. But possibly next year or so, he will be on the big club.

No possibly about it as he has to go through waivers next year.

 

[The Old Master]

Johnson-Blueger-Sprong.

so did they give up on Johnson playing center?

 

[wgknestrick]

Is Sprong just brutal defensively? I just ask this because he is leading WBS in points (indicating he should be producing plenty of "+s"), but is also "leading" with the worst +/- on the team (indicating even worse production of on-ice GA). It being such an extreme is what is causing concern because we can't have (2) Letang types on this team and hope to win. This looks to be similar to Guentzel/Sheary -ish defensive problems. He isn't ever going to crack the NHL lineup being a huge negative at 5v5.

He's obviously scoring, but why isn't the team able to keep the GA down when he's on the ice?

 

[AverageJoeFan]

No possibly about it as he has to go through waivers next year.

Not a contract buff by any means, but is there still a two way contract he could sign? Not sure if that is still a thing or ....

 

[Jacob]

Two-way and waiver eligibility aren't really connected.

 

[AverageJoeFan]

Two-way and waiver eligibility aren't really connected.

So, assuming the Pens sign Sprong to a contract, he HAS to play at the NHL level or be claimed off waivers then? Making sure I understand this. Thank you.

 

[Jacob]

I guess a 3rd option is he could not be claimed by another team, but yeah.

 

[vikingGoalie]

Pretty much we either play him or lose him to waivers or trade him. WHY some of us thought it was important to get a proper look at him this season. That and I speculate on Sprong's confidence level at this point. He is not scoring as of late (like 8 games or so). He is still a point per game player despite that, and 3rd in goals/points for rookies in the AHL. But it has to be deflating to be brought in and score, show some flashes and then sent right back down. Watch injuries occur and others get called up.
All the while you are watching Simon, who was doing great, then in his first stint in the NHL he was benched because he wasn't playing well, but got a second chance.

Not Sprong, you stop shooting the puck enough and it's off to the AHL with you. I will be honestly shocked if he is on the team next year, It feels like Rutherford likes him, Sullivan absolutely does not. I'd say it's a better chance then not that he's packed up in a deal for another player. Billy G. apparently thinks he is developing fine and speaks of consistency and all that. So who knows. But from a fan perspective we only see the play on the ice. The play on the ice IMO didn't dictate sending him back down to stay until next season.

 

[AverageJoeFan]

For whatever reason I thought two-ways affected the waivers and that isn't true at all. I also think someone claims him if for whatever reason he isn't on the NHL roster for 18-19. Either way, I think Spong gets to play in the NHL next year unless he completely falls apart.

 

[AverageJoeFan]

Pretty much we either play him or lose him to waivers or trade him. WHY some of us thought it was important to get a proper look at him this season. That and I speculate on Sprong's confidence level at this point. He is not scoring as of late (like 8 games or so). He is still a point per game player despite that, and 3rd in goals/points for rookies in the AHL. But it has to be deflating to be brought in and score, show some flashes and then sent right back down. Watch injuries occur and others get called up.
All the while you are watching Simon, who was doing great, then in his first stint in the NHL he was benched because he wasn't playing well, but got a second chance.

Not Sprong, you stop shooting the puck enough and it's off to the AHL with you. I will be honestly shocked if he is on the team next year, It feels like Rutherford likes him, Sullivan absolutely does not. I'd say it's a better chance then not that he's packed up in a deal for another player. Billy G. apparently thinks he is developing fine and speaks of consistency and all that. So who knows. But from a fan perspective we only see the play on the ice. The play on the ice IMO didn't dictate sending him back down to stay until next season.

He did fine when he first went back, but yes as of late it seems he is either in a slump or has lost his mojo. He's not shooting a ton there at this point either from what I see.

This is what confuses the crap out of me. Billy G, according to that Mackey article thinks Sprong is exactly where he should be in his development and you have to believe JR likes him enough to had not traded him away on TDL. If HCMS really doesn't like him then the Pens are doing themselves no favors by NOT trading him.

I also can't understand why others were given second chances while Sprong is not. That tells me either HCMS and/or other key players do not like him. I dunno, HCMS has won two cups hard to challenge his perspective, but not a fan of this decision at all.

 

[wej20]

No possibly about it as he has to go through waivers next year.

Next season is his last waiver exempt year. So he could potentially start next year in the AHL.

 

[AverageJoeFan]

Next season is his last waiver exempt year. So he could potentially start next year in the AHL.

You sure about that? 17-18 is his last contract year and he turned 20 in March. His clock started in 15-16...

 

[Empoleon8771]

Very positive sign that they think enough of Lafferty to plug him into the lineup immediately, and that he’s contributing.

That's not really unique with Lafferty, it's like that a lot for guys turning pro from college. Troy Josephs played in 13 AHL games last year after turning pro, he only played in 3 AHL games this year (33 ECHL games).

 

[vikingGoalie]

He did fine when he first went back, but yes as of late it seems he is either in a slump or has lost his mojo. He's not shooting a ton there at this point either from what I see.

This is what confuses the crap out of me. Billy G, according to that Mackey article thinks Sprong is exactly where he should be in his development and you have to believe JR likes him enough to had not traded him away on TDL. If HCMS really doesn't like him then the Pens are doing themselves no favors by NOT trading him.

I also can't understand why others were given second chances while Sprong is not. That tells me either HCMS and/or other key players do not like him. I dunno, HCMS has won two cups hard to challenge his perspective, but not a fan of this decision at all.

that's where I'm at. Also Mackey AND JBomb both made comments in articles about Sprong not being a Sullivan kinda guy. Whatever that meant. But since then they all just parrot whatever B.S. the org feeds them. The only reporters I've seen that will question the coach/gm decisions from time to time is Molinari and Jesse. The rest seem to be just guessing or just taking whatever low hanging fruit there is to put some click bait out.

 

[AverageJoeFan]

that's where I'm at. Also Mackey AND JBomb both made comments in articles about Sprong not being a Sullivan kinda guy. Whatever that meant. But since then they all just parrot whatever B.S. the org feeds them. The only reporters I've seen that will question the coach/gm decisions from time to time is Molinari and Jesse. The rest seem to be just guessing or just taking whatever low hanging fruit there is to put some click bait out.

It's frustrating as a fan. You have to wonder what exactly is a Sullivan type of guy? Rowney I guess....I do digress.

I get so tired of the talking heads. Even MM is more or less following the same path.

 

[WheresRamziAbid]

that's where I'm at. Also Mackey AND JBomb both made comments in articles about Sprong not being a Sullivan kinda guy. Whatever that meant. But since then they all just parrot whatever B.S. the org feeds them. The only reporters I've seen that will question the coach/gm decisions from time to time is Molinari and Jesse. The rest seem to be just guessing or just taking whatever low hanging fruit there is to put some click bait out.

They are beat reporters, its there job to report, including but not limited to giving out information from the org.

Its is not their job to editorialize. Thats what opinion columnists jobs are.