Salary Cap: Wet Hot Canadian Sutter (Is No More)

[Shady Machine]

Why isn't he good for a 3rd line? We have wanted more talent in our bottom 6 for years.

I guess he doesn't grind enough *****es down.

 

[Penguinator]

Good post Shady & let's not all forget how successful this team was with a lesser roster before the injury plague forced MJ to juggle the lines.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

This talk about not needing BB skill is odd...

Their farm is so barren of skilled fwds, that their top call up will be an undersized FA. Wrap your heads around that for a second.

All they have to show for losing Orpik, Nisky, Martin, Despres, and their 2011 and 2013 first rounders is Lovejoy and Guentzel. That is ****ing sad.

I'm not sure where people's heads are at, but this team can't afford to piss away anymore assets. If BB continues to be a walking IR, then they have to cut their losses. However, this org has to do everything in their power to develop BB, because if they extract little value out of him, that is yet another blow to an org that can't ill afford it.

 

[ColePens]

but the roster is unquestionably better

No doubt.

I don't know. I mean even if you make the most nonsensical line choices, there are still too many skilled forwards to have them be bad. You have the following guys that could be top 6 players, at least in a pinch, and actually produce:

Sid, Geno, Kessel, Hornqvist, Perron, Plots, Bennett, Bonino, Kunitz, Dupuis, Fehr.

Let's say these are the lines:

Kunitz-Crosby-Kessel
Plots-Malkin-Hornqvist
Bonino-Fehr-Dupuis
Wilson-Sundqvist-Perron
Bennett

That's obviously not the way any of us would write up the lines, but they still look like a pretty big upgrade from the past few years. This forward roster is pretty close to idiot proof.

Like I said.. I've seen dumb decisions kill a team before. I think the team finally has a nice make-up of talent.

 

[Zero Pucks]

Why isn't he good for a 3rd line? We have wanted more talent in our bottom 6 for years.

It needs more Tanner Glass's and Craig Adam's.

 

[Quatro Quatro]

"I'm not sure the Pens are better this year than last year"

- general boards, proving once again that people should have to pass an iq test to log on

It feels really good to be so hated again.

 

[Coach Travis]

It feels really good to be so hated again.

Yeah, no worse spot to be in than "Everybody's 2nd Favourite Team". When you're not a threat, you're okay with everybody.

 

[IcedCapp]

It feels really good to be so hated again.

was there a time when the Pens weren't blindly hated on this board?

 

[Chili Goal]

Murray had a really, really good season, but it's still a small sample size. Plus, with that type of performance, he has shown NHL starter upside. Why risk stunting his development by having him ride pine for 60 games next year?

These things can be changed mid-season, too. Say Zatkoff does fine in his relief appearances, while Murray continues to play well in the A. Some other team suffers a goalie injury, maybe we trade Zatkoff there, promote Murray and allow Jarry to ramp up his starting time in WBS.

Point being, while possible, none of these players is sentenced to spending the year anywhere.

 

[SEALBound]

Assuming we re-sign Perron and one of Plotnikov or Bonino become a top 6 wing, I just don't see room for Bennett. He's not really ideal for a 3rd line. I'm not saying trade him immediately.. but eventually.

This is blatantly false. This is the old regime thinking that the 3rd line is reserved solely for defense.

You need to get past that. JR wants 4 lines that can score. That means BB is ideal for ANY line.

Cooke-Staal-Kennedy is dead. Move on. Sutter is gone. The shut down 3rd line theory needs to be gone too.

We also need to stop worrying about 3rd line vs 4t line. At this point, with our depth, who cares? Our 4th line isn't Glass-Adams-XXXX anymore where putting him there for 10min/game could hurt him. No, we have VERY capable players on all lines. If anything, we have a 3A and 3B bottom 6 now that can be mixed and matched.

Perron-Sid-Horny
Plots-Malkin-Kessel
Bennett-Fehr-Dupuis
Kunitz-Bonino-Sundqvist

is what I'm envisioning once everyone is healthy and assuming that the roster stays as is.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

was there a time when the Pens weren't blindly hated on this board?

2002-2004.

Most fans were indifferent and felt sorry for us.

I waged a one man battle to make everyone on here hate our entire fanbase, but I failed... the suck was too extreme, the apathy too much.

 

[888 98 twins]

In order for Bennett to be ideal for any scoring line he needs to start.... Scoring.

 

[NjPensfan]

This is blatantly false. This is the old regime thinking that the 3rd line is reserved solely for defense.

You need to get past that. JR wants 4 lines that can score. That means BB is ideal for ANY line.

Cooke-Staal-Kennedy is dead. Move on. Sutter is gone. The shut down 3rd line theory needs to be gone too.

We also need to stop worrying about 3rd line vs 4t line. At this point, with our depth, who cares? Our 4th line isn't Glass-Adams-XXXX anymore where putting him there for 10min/game could hurt him. No, we have VERY capable players on all lines. If anything, we have a 3A and 3B bottom 6 now that can be mixed and matched.

Perron-Sid-Horny
Plots-Malkin-Kessel
Bennett-Fehr-Dupuis
Kunitz-Bonino-Sundqvist

is what I'm envisioning once everyone is healthy and assuming that the roster stays as is.

I'd like to see..

Kunitz-Sid-Kessel
Perron-Malkin-Hornqvist
Plotz-Fehr-Bennett
Bonino-Sundqvist-Dupuis

I know, I know...there are factors to this working...If Kunitz can come back from his dreadful season, this would give a nice balance of sand paper and scoring...if horny can gel with Geno...if Perron can score...

 

[SEALBound]

I'd like to see..

Kunitz-Sid-Kessel
Perron-Malkin-Hornqvist
Plotz-Fehr-Bennett
Bonino-Sundqvist-Dupuis

I know, I know...there are factors to this working...If Kunitz can come back from his dreadful season, this would give a nice balance of sand paper and scoring...if horny can gel with Geno...if Perron can score...

That's not bad either but I don't think that maximizes what assets we have.

I think Kunitz is too old and broken down to keep up with Sid and Kessel. 2009 to 2012 Kunitz would have been fantastic there...2015 Kunitz...not so much.

Plotnikov is a complete wild card for me right now. I have no idea what to expect but with so many comparisons to Kulemin, I think we need to start him next to Malkin for a lot of the same reasons we all wanted Kulemin there for it. With that, I don't think Plotnikov and Hornqvist on the same line works. Two similar styles. Plotz is a guy that could REALLY work out well for us. Meshing with a fellow countryman man like Malkin could be really sweet. I really think he needs to be started there to see how it pans out.

I like the 4 line and the 3rd line except switch Perron to 1, Plotz to 2, Kunitz to 3. I believe Kunitz has very much earned himself a bottom 6 position.

 

[SUBdrewgANS]

I'd like to see..

Kunitz-Sid-Kessel
Perron-Malkin-Hornqvist
Plotz-Fehr-Bennett
Bonino-Sundqvist-Dupuis

I know, I know...there are factors to this working...If Kunitz can come back from his dreadful season, this would give a nice balance of sand paper and scoring...if horny can gel with Geno...if Perron can score...

How do you break up Sid-Hornqvist? Those 2 play so well together, I'll never want to see them apart.

 

[SEALBound]

In order for Bennett to be ideal for any scoring line he needs to start.... Scoring.

Hate to knock Bennett anymore than I at times do, but this is a very true statement. When given the chance he does look good...but the points on the scoresheet just aren't there yet. And when it comes down to it...getting on the scoresheet is how you win games.

I think he needs to turn some heads early in the season.