Series Talk: Will the Pittsburgh Penguins qualify for the 2024 playoffs?

[Buddy Bizarre]

I fully expected that Petry would help Geno and the 2nd line create more offense. Offensively Karlsson is a world ahead of him in that regard. I also expect the PP to be greatly improved. We had 3 issues last year, a horrific PP, black hole offense from our bottom 6 and subpar goaltending. We addressed 2 out of 3 for sure, remains to be seen if Jarry bounces back from injuries and inconsistencies. My only concern in Ruh playing regularly and a toilet paper soft defense.

I'll keep banging this drum: it's not the Defensemen who are the SOLE culprits on this team. It's the Forwards who screw the pooch repeatedly.

I'll offer you any top 4 NHL Dmen and if you grafted them onto last year's team, you'd see maybe a 10 goal against reduction. There are only 2 Dmen on the ice at any moment...the forwards allow more lanes and opposing threats than I've seen in some time

Jake, Sid and Geno were the biggest offenders the past 2 seasons

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Age only led to poor performance in Carter's case. Dumo's failing play was a combination of focus issues and past injuries, limiting his mobility.
Letang had a down year but that was more mental than physical. Probably will be much improved this year.
Rust didn't suck because he turned 30. He sucked because he couldn't put the puck in the f***ing net on his chances, and he had a casual attitude for a large chunk of the year. Probably because he had the contract already.

Like sure, Sid and Geno are old and would produce more in their mid 20's. But they still played above their cap hits, easily. So who cares?

Youth is only gonna save this team if those players are actually better than the older guys. The NHL doesn't award you standings points because you put a few early 20's guys in the lineup.

I'll keep banging this drum: it's not the Defensemen who are the SOLE culprits on this team. It's the Forwards who screw the pooch repeatedly.

I'll offer you any top 4 NHL Dmen and if you grafted them onto last year's team, you'd see maybe a 10 goal against reduction. There are only 2 Dmen on the ice at any moment...the forwards allow more lanes and opposing threats than I've seen in some time

Jake, Sid and Geno were the biggest offenders the past 2 seasons

Zucker's defense was crap too, as was Rakell's in the 2nd half, and Rust's in the first half.

 

[Zirakzigil]

I'll keep banging this drum: it's not the Defensemen who are the SOLE culprits on this team. It's the Forwards who screw the pooch repeatedly.

I'll offer you any top 4 NHL Dmen and if you grafted them onto last year's team, you'd see maybe a 10 goal against reduction. There are only 2 Dmen on the ice at any moment...the forwards allow more lanes and opposing threats than I've seen in some time

Jake, Sid and Geno were the biggest offenders the past 2 seasons

True, but Geno having guys behind him who handle the puck like a grenade dont help. We also havent had a true PP QB since the Gonchar days. Just the fact of not having Dumo stapled to Letang is going to be a vast improvement on our back end.

Jake was a big issue last year post injury, he was very perimeter. Rust was also a waste of space regularly.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

True, but Geno having guys behind him who handle the puck like a grenade dont help. We also havent had a true PP QB since the Gonchar days. Just the fact of not having Dumo stapled to Letang is going to be a vast improvement on our back end.

Jake was a big issue last year post injury, he was very perimeter. Rust was also a waste of space regularly.

Sid just playing up his average on the PP would go a long way. That was his worst PP year. He got hot down the final third of the season, but the damage was done by that point.
Being better at faceoffs on the unit in particular is essential. He really struggled at that.
Karlsson may be a magician for us, but he can't do squat without controlled O- zone time.

 

[Peat]

Sid just playing up his average on the PP would go a long way. That was his worst PP year. He got hot down the final third of the season, but the damage was done by that point.
Being better at faceoffs on the unit in particular is essential. He really struggled at that.
Karlsson may be a magician for us, but he can't do squat without controlled O- zone time.

55% by the numbers. Obviously doesn't distinguish between clean and struggle bus, but not sure he struggled. And the unit got enough controlled o-zone time to generate as many shots and chances as they usually did, give or take.

I would also give a lot to see someone do an in-depth video study of why the Penguins failed to live up to expected goals (as happened with Sid on the power play), because when it happens so often, I find it far more likely for there to be a systemic failure rather than multiple individual failures. I dimly recall there being huge, huge problems on the umbrella in terms of being to create a rhythm and forcing other teams to back off, but I'm not sure on the true cause.

 

[Zirakzigil]

Sid just playing up his average on the PP would go a long way. That was his worst PP year. He got hot down the final third of the season, but the damage was done by that point.
Being better at faceoffs on the unit in particular is essential. He really struggled at that.
Karlsson may be a magician for us, but he can't do squat without controlled O- zone time.

I might be blending the last 2 seasons together, but if I remember right, Sid struggled early in the season with faceoffs from his wrist still healing, got better later on. Geno I want to say took a lot of the faceoffs. We really struggled with zone entries on the PP and a general lack of wanting to shoot. Team though if they made 5 pretty passes in a row it was a PP victory or something.

 

[SEALBound]

Sid just playing up his average on the PP would go a long way. That was his worst PP year. He got hot down the final third of the season, but the damage was done by that point.
Being better at faceoffs on the unit in particular is essential. He really struggled at that.
Karlsson may be a magician for us, but he can't do squat without controlled O- zone time.

The PP has been stagnant for a couple of years now because they refuse to actually move their feet. The PP is largely stand in one place, move the puck around the perimeter, and hope that a skilled move or a shot from the point leads to a goal. The complete lack of willingness to try something different is very odd.

But this should be where we see the ultra-competitiveness of Sid come through a bit. With Karlsson, we may actually see them adopt a new style. The pure addition of EK to the 2022-23 powerplay might help a bit...but not that much honestly. They need to work on "plays" and methods to move the puck and players.

Our PP is disgustingly easy to defend against.

 

[Rakell67]

Pens currently have 5 big game players (87, 71, 65, 58, 59).
2016 and 2017, they only had 4
16- (87, 71, 58, Kessel) Guentzel wasn't with the big club.
17- (87, 71, 59, Kessel) Letang was out due to injury.
I think this bodes well, skill is the hardest thing to add at the deadline, Dubas can fill in with what is needed.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

55% by the numbers. Obviously doesn't distinguish between clean and struggle bus, but not sure he struggled. And the unit got enough controlled o-zone time to generate as many shots and chances as they usually did, give or take.

I would also give a lot to see someone do an in-depth video study of why the Penguins failed to live up to expected goals (as happened with Sid on the power play), because when it happens so often, I find it far more likely for there to be a systemic failure rather than multiple individual failures. I dimly recall there being huge, huge problems on the umbrella in terms of being to create a rhythm and forcing other teams to back off, but I'm not sure on the true cause.

NTS tracks situational faceoffs? Nice. 55% is surprising to hear.
This is why I prefer using numbers usually. Memories are unreliable. There's too many games and we create narratives for ourselves.

There's a systemic issue for sure. Doesn't change that Sid's passing and shooting was below his usual standard.
3 PPGs through 46 games. Rakell had 8 by this point. Malkin 6.
Sid's 12 PPP's to Malkin's 20. He started scoring better in late January.

We really struggled with zone entries on the PP and a general lack of wanting to shoot. Team though if they made 5 pretty passes in a row it was a PP victory or something.

Yeah, I often felt that zone entries were f***ed up needlessly, not even really being forced by the opponent.

The PP has been stagnant for a couple of years now because they refuse to actually move their feet. The PP is largely stand in one place, move the puck around the perimeter, and hope that a skilled move or a shot from the point leads to a goal. The complete lack of willingness to try something different is very odd.

But this should be where we see the ultra-competitiveness of Sid come through a bit. With Karlsson, we may actually see them adopt a new style. The pure addition of EK to the 2022-23 powerplay might help a bit...but not that much honestly. They need to work on "plays" and methods to move the puck and players.

Our PP is disgustingly easy to defend against.

It's predictable for sure. For that reason I'd like to see Sid as net-front and to change the flow.
Or use him on the left side (where he's had success before) and make Rakell the net-front, so as to stretch out the focus of the PK'ers.
Think that would trump handedness needs. The LW'er and net-front dudes just aren't getting enough puck touches to make us unpredictable.

 

[PaulD]

Sid just playing up his average on the PP would go a long way. That was his worst PP year. He got hot down the final third of the season, but the damage was done by that point.
Being better at faceoffs on the unit in particular is essential. He really struggled at that.
Karlsson may be a magician for us, but he can't do squat without controlled O- zone time.

the difference will have to come from rhe bottom six .....AND decent goaltending .....Cause both sucked big time last season

Would love to have seen this team come onto the new season with a great goalie combined with a fresh new coach.

 

[KrisLeturnover]

I genuinely think we make a run this year.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Older team could mean even more injuries for a team that is almost always banged up.

They likely make the playoffs but my fear of a rash of key injuries for long parts of the season is my big question mark.

 

[Genetic]

I genuinely think we make a run this year.

Same. But that only happens if rust gets his head out of his ass.

Edit: assuming we stay healthy of course

 

[Headshot77]

I think they cruise to a nice WC1 slot and face the division winning Toronto Maple Leafs in round 1.

Please, just once I'd like to see those two teams face off in the playoffs.

 

[PaulD]

Team missed play offs by hair

Petry out ...Karlsson in.

That's alone would be enough ......Pens are in 2024 play offs

 

[mpp9]

87/71 regression/injuries will make it dicey.

 

[Ugene Magic]

Team missed play offs by hair

Petry out ...Karlsson in.

That's alone would be enough ......Pens are in 2024 play offs

If it was only that simple.

 

[Andy99]

Team missed play offs by hair

Petry out ...Karlsson in.

That's alone would be enough ......Pens are in 2024 play offs

If all other aspects/players remain the same, which they never do lol…hell, I mean the Pens could stay the same except for EK , not have any injuries, have a five point improvement and the Sabres and Senators could have a 15 point improvement and leap frog them…

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I'd be pretty shocked if the Pens missed tbh. It took a whirlwind of perfect conditions to have them miss by a point last year. They replaced a relatively lame Petry with Karlsson, Smith should be as good as Zucker was when he was healthy, Graves in for Dumo is pretty significant. /shrug

I do think Buffalo is a team to watch, especially if this Levi kid is the real deal in goal. But I don't expect Florida to be what they were this spring, and I'm not sure there's a third team in the Metro that's a clear-cut better option than Pittsburgh. NJ and Carolina are locks, but NYR and NYI are just as meh as the Pens, and I don't think any of Columbus, Philly or Washington are a threat to do anything.

This isn't me saying the Pens are dramatically better or we should expect anything more than like a team hovering around the WC spot, but I think it'd take a wild series of injuries and like two more teams in the East making big jumps from a year ago.

 

[metalan2]

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!

In all seriousness, they would easily make the playoffs if Sullivan coached based upon where players should be, who's playing well, etc.

The have a chance to miss because we all know that's not how Sullivan coaches. I'm legitimately concerned Karllson will not be on PP1.

 

[Night Shift]

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!

In all seriousness, they would easily make the playoffs if Sullivan coached based upon where players should be, who's playing well, etc.

The have a chance to miss because we all know that's not how Sullivan coaches. I'm legitimately concerned Karllson will not be on PP1.

PP1?? Sully is already having an erection fantasizing him on PK2.

 

[Jobeycool]

They will make another trade at the trade deadline or sometimes called free agent frenzy.. Hopefully it will not involve Owen Pickering because he is going to get really good or Blomqvist.

 

[Night Shift]

87/71 regression/injuries will make it dicey.

I agree. Sadly Sid is due.

Team missed play offs by hair

Petry out ...Karlsson in.

That's alone would be enough ......Pens are in 2024 play offs

Barring Injarry

 

[PaulD]

Some real bad losses last season.

None worse than blowing a 4-0 lead at home.......to the Red Wings.

A first in Red Wings history.

 

[Ugene Magic]

Basically, everything is forced through the top 2 lines again. Karlsson adds some dynamics, but defense isn't really his forte. Line 3/4 have to play out of their minds or really high above their paygrade to make this work.

Nothing's a given until it is.