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

[Shaffer]

I've watched a couple highlight videos as of recent. Adam Johnson and Ethan Prow have looked really good. For anyone who watches WBS: Who has stood out?

 

[vikingGoalie]

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.

well Molinari was a beat reporter at one point. Yes they report what's going on with the team, and I get that you don't wanna piss off the people who you rely on to feed you bits of info so you can pay your rent.
But even guys like Sam Werner is parroting this crap and he is NOT the beat writer that is mackey for the post.
Pretty much no one puts any deep thought or analysis into what they write anymore...

 

[Freeptop]

Sullivan has talked a couple times about Sprong on the Pens' biweekly "Mike Sullivan Show" on the radio. When he has, he's been pretty consistent, and specific, about what he wants from Sprong. Every time he's talked about what Sprong needs to do to play with Crosby (he always is the one that brings up playing Sprong with Crosby, I should note), and it has nothing to do with his defensive play in his own end.

He's brought up his play on the boards below the goal line on the forecheck, and he's brought up give-and-go's with Crosby. That's not, "he's not backchecking", that's "he's not helping with puck possession." If he's just expecting other players to get the puck, and then he'll shoot it, well, that's not going to cut it in on the Penguins these days. Frankly, it shouldn't. If all you can do is shoot the puck, that's not enough, because if you can't get the puck, you won't get the chance to shoot it.

It's worth noting that this is the difference between Sprong and Simon or Aston-Reese. The latter two will pursue the puck into the corners on the forecheck and force turnovers. They can't shoot the puck as well as Sprong, but they're making sure the team has the puck more often.

That said, Sullivan does seem to have perhaps too short of a leash with Sprong over this. Of course, Crosby doesn't seem to particularly appreciate wingers who don't do those things, either... And if you've managed to annoy both Sullivan and Crosby, well, that's pretty much guaranteeing a trip back to WB/S.

 

[WheresRamziAbid]

well Molinari was a beat reporter at one point. Yes they report what's going on with the team, and I get that you don't wanna piss off the people who you rely on to feed you bits of info so you can pay your rent.
But even guys like Sam Werner is parroting this crap and he is NOT the beat writer that is mackey for the post.
Pretty much no one puts any deep thought or analysis into what they write anymore...

Guys like Mackey and Yohe and Bombulie are supposed to. Theyre not getting paid to analyse theyre getting paid to report.

Guys like Rossi (haha), DK, Collier are the ones that are SUPPOSED (hahahahaha) to be analysing. They just suck chiefs big salty balls at it.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Sullivan has talked a couple times about Sprong on the Pens' biweekly "Mike Sullivan Show" on the radio. When he has, he's been pretty consistent, and specific, about what he wants from Sprong. Every time he's talked about what Sprong needs to do to play with Crosby (he always is the one that brings up playing Sprong with Crosby, I should note), and it has nothing to do with his defensive play in his own end.

He's brought up his play on the boards below the goal line on the forecheck, and he's brought up give-and-go's with Crosby. That's not, "he's not backchecking", that's "he's not helping with puck possession." If he's just expecting other players to get the puck, and then he'll shoot it, well, that's not going to cut it in on the Penguins these days. Frankly, it shouldn't. If all you can do is shoot the puck, that's not enough, because if you can't get the puck, you won't get the chance to shoot it.

It's worth noting that this is the difference between Sprong and Simon or Aston-Reese. The latter two will pursue the puck into the corners on the forecheck and force turnovers. They can't shoot the puck as well as Sprong, but they're making sure the team has the puck more often.

That said, Sullivan does seem to have perhaps too short of a leash with Sprong over this. Of course, Crosby doesn't seem to particularly appreciate wingers who don't do those things, either... And if you've managed to annoy both Sullivan and Crosby, well, that's pretty much guaranteeing a trip back to WB/S.

Alot of rookies do well in the regular season and then hit that wall come playoff time..hoping their plan with Sprong was to play him in the postseason this whole time...letting him work on those other aspects of his game in WBS, and called up for playoffs giving the Pens another dangerous goal scorer.

Even with all of the talent we had last year we still went stretches where goals were hard to come by, until Guentzel came thru...often. he was the x factor last year

Dont think Sprong can repeat Guentzels performance, but i can see him netting 6-8 goals..if given the chance. Especially if we play tampa. Seeing the type of goals Vasy let up last night...Sprong would light him up on that side.

And i still think he will be called up in the playoffs. Drouin style.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I've watched a couple highlight videos as of recent. Adam Johnson and Ethan Prow have looked really good. For anyone who watches WBS: Who has stood out?

That's good to see with Johnson, I think you'll see him as a guy who challenges for a NHL spot next season. When he was signed, the Penguins were saying that he would have been the ZAR of this year had he played in college this year, so I'm really glad he has been playing well. His AHL production for a 23 year old is pretty mediocre (25 points in 53 games), but I think you'll see him have a pretty strong season next year.

Sullivan has talked a couple times about Sprong on the Pens' biweekly "Mike Sullivan Show" on the radio. When he has, he's been pretty consistent, and specific, about what he wants from Sprong. Every time he's talked about what Sprong needs to do to play with Crosby (he always is the one that brings up playing Sprong with Crosby, I should note), and it has nothing to do with his defensive play in his own end.

He's brought up his play on the boards below the goal line on the forecheck, and he's brought up give-and-go's with Crosby. That's not, "he's not backchecking", that's "he's not helping with puck possession." If he's just expecting other players to get the puck, and then he'll shoot it, well, that's not going to cut it in on the Penguins these days. Frankly, it shouldn't. If all you can do is shoot the puck, that's not enough, because if you can't get the puck, you won't get the chance to shoot it.

It's worth noting that this is the difference between Sprong and Simon or Aston-Reese. The latter two will pursue the puck into the corners on the forecheck and force turnovers. They can't shoot the puck as well as Sprong, but they're making sure the team has the puck more often.

That said, Sullivan does seem to have perhaps too short of a leash with Sprong over this. Of course, Crosby doesn't seem to particularly appreciate wingers who don't do those things, either... And if you've managed to annoy both Sullivan and Crosby, well, that's pretty much guaranteeing a trip back to WB/S.

This more or less perfectly sums up why Sprong isn't in the AHL. People act like Sullivan has some vendetta against him, but that's not it at all. He's a 20 year old rookie in the AHL that needs to work on his game outside of when he has the puck. He probably improved his defensive game in his last season in the Q and so far in the AHL, but he still needs to improve his play away from the puck. The Penguins flat out don't need Sprong enough where they have to call him up when he's not doing everything they want.

Sprong has issues that are similar to Neal when he was in Pittsburgh. Sure, he can score goals, but he's not going to help you outside of that. He's a guy that's going to score on a **** ton of shots if you get him the puck. He's not going to help you get the puck, though. And in Neal's case, that wasn't even completely true either, he was big and did have some grit. You can make that work if you have a wrecking ball like prime Kunitz or a speedster like Hagelin opposite of him (or if you just really need goals), but why rush him when you're not having issues scoring?

 

[Shaffer]

That's good to see with Johnson, I think you'll see him as a guy who challenges for a NHL spot next season. When he was signed, the Penguins were saying that he would have been the ZAR of this year had he played in college this year, so I'm really glad he has been playing well. His AHL production for a 23 year old is pretty mediocre (25 points in 53 games), but I think you'll see him have a pretty strong season next year.

He's very fast and got a bunch of scoring chances, aka what highlights show.

 

[vikingGoalie]

Alot of rookies do well in the regular season and then hit that wall come playoff time..hoping their plan with Sprong was to play him in the postseason this whole time...letting him work on those other aspects of his game in WBS, and called up for playoffs giving the Pens another dangerous goal scorer.

Even with all of the talent we had last year we still went stretches where goals were hard to come by, until Guentzel came thru...often. he was the x factor last year

Dont think Sprong can repeat Guentzels performance, but i can see him netting 6-8 goals..if given the chance. Especially if we play tampa. Seeing the type of goals Vasy let up last night...Sprong would light him up on that side.

And i still think he will be called up in the playoffs. Drouin style.

here's the thing though. I think we have ONE callup left. If we don't use it on him then we won't see him until WBS is outta the playoffs, and their playoffs start a week AFTER the big club's. I have little faith that they will use their one and only callup left on Sprong. I'm not saying this kid is the messiah, but he obviously has talent and huge potential, he has the potential to fill in that scoring from young talent that always is needed for a Cup. From a fan's perspective it makes little sense that he was not given more of a chance. 8 games, then banished to WBS until next season. what a waste of his last year on an ELC contract. Objectively it makes little sense, there has to be some personal bias, or attitude issues, or ??? and now it looks like he is in a funk and probably because of not being called up, so my idle speculation is that we are in danger of ruining this prospect or at least making it so he won't find his way here.

maybe GMJR will prove me wrong and they will call him up for the playoffs, I sure hope so....

 

[Empoleon8771]

Again, Sprong is in WBS because he needs to work on areas of his game required to work well with Crosby. If Sprong is going to stay in Pittsburgh long term, it's going to be with Crosby. He needs to develop things in his game (specifically board play/support in the offensive zone and give and goes) before they're going to give him a full time spot. This is Sprong's last year of being waiver exempt, they're not going to waste that by calling him up prematurely when he still has things he needs to work on with his game.

People are ignoring that the kid isn't even 21 yet. Calm down with acting like Sprong is somehow being wronged. He's having a great rookie season in the AHL, you can be patient with him. Look at what the Red Wings did with Nyquist, Nyquist had 2 full seasons of being over a PPG in the AHL before finally becoming a full time player in his 3rd pro season. He had 139 points in 129 games in the AHL from ages 22-24 and didn't become a full time player until age 24, despite his great AHL production. They did the same thing with Tatar, he turned 23 in the season where he became a full time NHLer after putting up 164 points in 207 games in the AHL in the 3 years before that. They did the same thing with Mantha too, although his AHL production was pretty mediocre.

The Penguins realized they ****ed up with not giving guys like Bennett and Pouliot enough time in the AHL to develop, Rutherford has flat out admitted that. This is a result of that, they're being overly cautious with Sprong and are giving him as much time as he needs. It's the right call.

 

[Tom Hanks]

ZAR-Crosby-Sprong could potentially be a really nice line in the future

 

[vikingGoalie]

Again, Sprong is in WBS because he needs to work on areas of his game required to work well with Crosby. If Sprong is going to stay in Pittsburgh long term, it's going to be with Crosby. He needs to develop things in his game (specifically board play/support in the offensive zone and give and goes) before they're going to give him a full time spot. This is Sprong's last year of being waiver exempt, they're not going to waste that by calling him up prematurely when he still has things he needs to work on with his game.

People are ignoring that the kid isn't even 21 yet. Calm down with acting like Sprong is somehow being wronged. He's having a great rookie season in the AHL, you can be patient with him. Look at what the Red Wings did with Nyquist, Nyquist had 2 full seasons of being over a PPG in the AHL before finally becoming a full time player in his 3rd pro season. He had 139 points in 129 games in the AHL from ages 22-24 and didn't become a full time player until age 24, despite his great AHL production. They did the same thing with Tatar, he turned 23 in the season where he became a full time NHLer after putting up 164 points in 207 games in the AHL in the 3 years before that. They did the same thing with Mantha too, although his AHL production was pretty mediocre.

The Penguins realized they ****ed up with not giving guys like Bennett and Pouliot enough time in the AHL to develop, Rutherford has flat out admitted that. This is a result of that, they're being overly cautious with Sprong and are giving him as much time as he needs. It's the right call.

ok i can buy that. even if the Corsi and other stats showing possesion where extremely good for Sprong when he was up. I guess it's just maddening watching the Rowney's and Sheary's of the world with seeming miles of leash, or how Simon was benched but then given another chance. Where as Sprong was just demoted permanently (Mackey in his Chat today said he thought it would be next season when we see Sprong in the NHL).

 

[Empoleon8771]

ok i can buy that. even if the Corsi and other stats showing possesion where extremely good for Sprong when he was up. I guess it's just maddening watching the Rowney's and Sheary's of the world with seeming miles of leash, or how Simon was benched but then given another chance. Where as Sprong was just demoted permanently (Mackey in his Chat today said he thought it would be next season when we see Sprong in the NHL).

I don't think Sprong wasn't good in the NHL, I don't think it's an issue of Sprong not being NHL ready. I do think Sprong is NHL ready, I just think they're being patient with him and letting him develop the traits he needs to improve in order to fit with Crosby. If you needed him right now, you could call him up and he'd 100% be a NHL contributor. I also think calling him up prematurely puts him at risk to bust like Bennett and Pouliot did, because I do think rushing those two rushing to the NHL is partially to blame for them busting.

Speaking of Pouliot, I was curious and wanted to look at his stats recently. Yikes, 7 points in his last 35 games while being a -19. Yikes. He's playing borderline #5/6 minutes (17:49 a game) with sheltered zone starts and he's still getting abused defensively. 3.20 GA/60, dear lord, that's bad. His GA/60 against bottom pair competition is as bad as Letang's GA/60, when Letang has sucked this year and plays against the top line of every other team.

 

[Andy99]

WBS lost tongith4-1 but Sprong had the only goal, and at ES.

Still think he should be given a chance over Sheary....

 

[Shrimper]

Sprong one of a number of scratches today.

Are these games available to watch online other than AHL Live as their prices are ridiculous? Play-off games should be online right?

 

[Gurglesons]

here's the thing though. I think we have ONE callup left. If we don't use it on him then we won't see him until WBS is outta the playoffs, and their playoffs start a week AFTER the big club's. I have little faith that they will use their one and only callup left on Sprong. I'm not saying this kid is the messiah, but he obviously has talent and huge potential, he has the potential to fill in that scoring from young talent that always is needed for a Cup. From a fan's perspective it makes little sense that he was not given more of a chance. 8 games, then banished to WBS until next season. what a waste of his last year on an ELC contract. Objectively it makes little sense, there has to be some personal bias, or attitude issues, or ??? and now it looks like he is in a funk and probably because of not being called up, so my idle speculation is that we are in danger of ruining this prospect or at least making it so he won't find his way here.

maybe GMJR will prove me wrong and they will call him up for the playoffs, I sure hope so....

I feel like they are saving the call up to insure they have seven healthy D and then likely use it on Sprong.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

I feel like they are saving the call up to insure they have seven healthy D and then likely use it on Sprong.

But why use an emergency call-up on Jooris today then? Honest question.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Sprong one of a number of scratches today.

I wonder why.

 

[Gurglesons]

But why use an emergency call-up on Jooris today then? Honest question.

Because, they aren’t going to play Sprong on a healthy roster and we lost a player on our fourth line.

I’m all for Sprong in the top nine, but I don’t think we will see that until the playoffs and only if we see an injury to a winger in our top six.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Because, they aren’t going to play Sprong on a healthy roster and we lost a player on our fourth line.

I’m all for Sprong in the top nine, but I don’t think we will see that until the playoffs and only if we see an injury to a winger in our top six.

Except we don't have a healthy roster right now, and our 4th line looked its best when Sheary was on it, so...

If Sprong's not getting the call now, I have a hard time believing Sully's going to trust him with a call-up in the playoffs unless we have a Homer At The Bat style run of injuries.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

I think WBS may need DeSmith or Jarry back more than we need Murray back. Goaltending seems pretty ugly down there.

 

[Gurglesons]

Except we don't have a healthy roster right now, and our 4th line looked its best when Sheary was on it, so...

If Sprong's not getting the call now, I have a hard time believing Sully's going to trust him with a call-up in the playoffs unless we have a Homer At The Bat style run of injuries.

We are missing Rowney. Everyone in our top nine is healthy.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

We are missing Rowney. Everyone in our top nine is healthy.

ZAR and Simon are hurt too, and I don't buy that Sheary would be playing on the 1st line if ZAR were healthy, given how both were performing.

Again though, that argument's moot because the 4th line looked very good with Sheary and the 1st line is struggling with him. We don't need to replace Rowney with another PK plug.

 

[WDYT]

Good to see Bengtsson back in the lineup too. Although he lacks NHL experience, he may be the best available option as a #8 D. If he can stay on the ice he's got definite NHL potential.

 

[vodeni]

Good to see Bengtsson back in the lineup too. Although he lacks NHL experience, he may be the best available option as a #8 D. If he can stay on the ice he's got definite NHL potential.

he just can't catch a break, I am afraid

 

[HandshakeLine]

Except we don't have a healthy roster right now, and our 4th line looked its best when Sheary was on it, so...

If Sprong's not getting the call now, I have a hard time believing Sully's going to trust him with a call-up in the playoffs unless we have a Homer At The Bat style run of injuries.

I dunno, WC. We have quite a few guys on the roster that came up from WB/S and earned their stripes in the playoffs. Hell, we even put Pouliot in for a few games. I don't think it'd be ideal, but I think honestly Sprong's chances of getting in are better than you're painting it there. But I think it's going to take an injury to Sheary to do it, because there's other options for the 4th line.