Pre-Game Talk: 2013 Training Camp, with 100% More Bob Evans!!!

[Your Boy Troy]

This is misleading because it implies that this Cup contender has 12 forwards and 6 Dmen better than the kid getting cut, which is not the case. Just look at the GP of some vets vs. kids over the last 3 years. Whether it was for regular time or an injury call up, there are many cases where vets undeservedly got time over kids.

12-13:
Craig Adams - 48
Tanner Glass - 48
Deryk Engelland - 42
Simon Despres - 33
Joe Vitale - 33
Beau Bennett - 26
Dustin Jeffrey - 24
Mark Eaton - 23
Eric Tangradi - 5 (traded to WPG)
Brian Strait - 0 (Waived)

11-12:
Craig Adams - 82
Deryk Engelland - 73
Joe Vitale - 68
Richard Park - 54
Dustin Jeffrey - 26
Eric Tangradi - 24
Simon Despres - 18
Mark Letestu - 11 (traded to CBJ because of numbers)
Brian Strait - 9
Robert Bortuzzo - 6
Colin McDonald - 5

10-11:
Craig Adams - 80
Mark Letestu - 64
Chris Conner - 60
Dustin Jeffrey - 25
Eric Tangradi - 15
Joe Vitale - 9
Tim Wallace - 7
Ryan Craig - 6
Nick Johnson - 4 (waived)

I bolded the guys who got too many games, IMO. Conner in 10-11, Park in 11-12 and Eaton and glass in 12-13 are the ones that really stand out to me as horrible roster management. Connor, Park and Eaton (unsigned) have combined for a total of 20 NHL games and 5 points after their extended seasons with Pittsburgh. Tangradi, Strait, Johnson and Letestu went on to be NHL regulars on other teams and it looks like DJ will be joining this list in the near future.

I do not see your point about Deryk Engelland during the 2011-2012 season. Did you not watch him play during that season?

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

I do not see your point about Deryk Engelland during the 2011-2012 season. Did you not watch him play during that season?

Engo was his fine 3rd pairing self that reg season (then blew in the POs). On the other hand Des had a great camp only to be sent down and get less than 20 games.

 

[Crafton]

so Das Kuhn and Sill survived this round of cuts. nice that they're getting extra work with the NHLers.

 

[Gumbercules]

so Das Kuhn and Sill survived this round of cuts. nice that they're getting extra work with the NHLers.

Agreed. I haven't been following camp too closely, but this seems like especially good news for Kuhn considering the last couple of seasons.

Also interesting to see that Ruopp survived the cut, but Harrington did not. Ruopp isn't a sexy prospect (doesn't put up points, no WJHC experience, not a first rounder), but the organization seems to like him a lot.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Bobby "God" Farnham still hanging in there, too.

Maybe I'm crazy, but given the forwards who have survived cuts so far (Farnham, Sill, Zolnierczyk, Kuhnhackl, etc.), maybe there's more competition for bottom six spots than they're letting on?

 

[Crafton]

'God' Farnham also can't be sent down because he's injured. then again, i'm willing to grant that he's still up 'on the merits'

same applies to Dumoulin.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Oh, I didn't know/forgot. I guess people would rather talk about how Fleury might play in seven months or how Bylsma will handle the lines than God's health.

 

[billybudd]

This is misleading because it implies that this Cup contender has 12 forwards and 6 Dmen better than the kid getting cut, which is not the case. Just look at the GP of some vets vs. kids over the last 3 years. Whether it was for regular time or an injury call up, there are many cases where vets undeservedly got time over kids.

10-11:
Craig Adams - 80
Mark Letestu - 64
Chris Conner - 60
Dustin Jeffrey - 25
Eric Tangradi - 15
Joe Vitale - 9
Tim Wallace - 7
Ryan Craig - 6
Nick Johnson - 4 (waived)

I bolded the guys who got too many games, IMO. Conner in 10-11, Park in 11-12 and Eaton and glass in 12-13 are the ones that really stand out to me as horrible roster management. Connor, Park and Eaton (unsigned) have combined for a total of 20 NHL games and 5 points after their extended seasons with Pittsburgh. Tangradi, Strait, Johnson and Letestu went on to be NHL regulars on other teams and it looks like DJ will be joining this list in the near future.

Conner got 60 games because he was one of the only people who wasn't hurt that year. And I believe Wallace and Craig were our last two NHL contract forwards while they were up. As in: there was no other forwards who had an NHL deal and could have played because they were all on IR.

Tangradi and Johnson came up and promptly got concussions, Jeffrey and Letestu blew their knees out (etc).

 

[JTG]

I had my Bob Evans this morning.

 

[WayneSid9987]

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Chicago Blackhawks
Sept. 23, 2013 - Preseason Game 5 at CONSOL Energy Center

PENGUINS LINEUP
Goaltenders
29 MARC-ANDRE FLEURY – G
37 JEFF ZATKOFF – G

Position Players
2 MATT NISKANEN – D
3 OLLI MAATTA – D
4 ROB SCUDERI – D
9 PASCAL DUPUIS – F
12 CHUCK KOBASEW – F
14 CHRIS KUNITZ – F
15 TANNER GLASS – F
17 DUSTIN JEFFREY – F
18 JAMES NEAL – F
19 BEAU BENNETT – F
22 MATT D’AGOSTINI – F
39 HARRY ZOLNIERCZYK – F
41 ROBERT BORTUZZO – D
46 JOE VITALE – F
47 SIMON DESPRES – D
51 DERRICK POULIOT – D
58 KRIS LETANG – D
71 EVGENI MALKIN – F
87 SIDNEY CROSBY – F

http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=683620&cmpid=pit-twt-penguins

 

[cygnus47]

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Chicago Blackhawks
Sept. 23, 2013 - Preseason Game 5 at CONSOL Energy Center

PENGUINS LINEUP
Goaltenders
29 MARC-ANDRE FLEURY – G
37 JEFF ZATKOFF – G

Position Players
2 MATT NISKANEN – D
3 OLLI MAATTA – D
4 ROB SCUDERI – D
9 PASCAL DUPUIS – F
12 CHUCK KOBASEW – F
14 CHRIS KUNITZ – F
15 TANNER GLASS – F
17 DUSTIN JEFFREY – F
18 JAMES NEAL – F
19 BEAU BENNETT – F
22 MATT D’AGOSTINI – F
39 HARRY ZOLNIERCZYK – F
41 ROBERT BORTUZZO – D
46 JOE VITALE – F
47 SIMON DESPRES – D
51 DERRICK POULIOT – D
58 KRIS LETANG – D
71 EVGENI MALKIN – F
87 SIDNEY CROSBY – F

http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=683620&cmpid=pit-twt-penguins

Kunitz - Crosby - Dupuis
Bennett - Malkin - Neal
Kobasew - Jeffrey - D'Agostini
Alphabet Soup - Vitale - Worst player in the NHL

Letang - Scuderi
Second worst player - Maatta
Despres - Bortuzzo - Pouliot

My guesses.

 

[WayneSid9987]

Kunitz - Crosby - Dupuis
Bennett - Malkin - Neal
Kobasew - Jeffrey - D'Agostini
Alphabet Soup - Vitale - Worst player in the NHL

Letang - Scuderi
Second worst player - Maatta
Despres - Bortuzzo - Pouliot

My guesses.

Practice lines today:

Pittsburgh Penguins ‏@penguins 9h

#Pens back in colored jerseys. Black: 14-87-9, White: 19-71-18, Gold: Glass-Vitale-Kobasew, Gray: Zolnierczyk-Jeffrey-D'Agostini
https://twitter.com/penguins/status/381776719805698048

 

[Nietzsche Zone Play]

if that Niskanen barb is even half serious, there's one less poster whose opinion I value.

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

Practice lines today:

Pittsburgh Penguins ‏@penguins 9h

#Pens back in colored jerseys. Black: 14-87-9, White: 19-71-18, Gold: Glass-Vitale-Kobasew, Gray: Zolnierczyk-Jeffrey-D'Agostini
https://twitter.com/penguins/status/381776719805698048

Glass on the 3rd line?

**** DB

 

[Ugene Magic]

Glass on the 3rd line?

**** DB

Like they have enough guys to fill in two squads.

Black team and a white team.

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

Like they have enough guys to fill in to squads.

Black team and a white team.

I'd literally rather everyone on the 4th line to play on the 3rd line over Glass. DJ and D'Ags especially.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Glass on the 3rd line?

**** DB

They are very obviously using that line as a potential group of 4th liners. Calm down the preseason game is meaningless

 

[Freeptop]

I was looking at the announced lineup for the next game, and I noticed that Adams was in the lineup. I then realized I didn't remember him playing in a single preseason game. So I went back through the lineups announced on the Pens' site, and discovered he actually hasn't been. There's no way he doesn't get into a single pre-season game if he isn't injured.

That also got me looking for other players that haven't been in preseason games, but also haven't been sent down:

Dumoulin, Ebbett, and Kuhnhackl each only got into one game - game 1, to be precise. We already know Dumoulin's injured. I also remember an injury scare for Kuhnhackl in that game. It's not really likely that anyone who was potentially in for an NHL spot would have been held out for this long, so I can only conclude that they're all injured as well.

Edit: I forgot to even look for Ruopp. He hasn't been in a single preseason game. I have a hard time believing he's being kept up on merit if he hasn't gotten into a single game.

 

[ss53mech]

Is anyone else thinking that D'ags looks like a complete mess so far. I mean he's still better than Glass but otherwise he seems to make less useful plays and more turnovers than any player I see during the games so far.

I can even live with him doing the stuff that kind of kills plays (not being in position, missing a lead pass, et cetera) due to a lack of familiarity with the system. But he just doesn't look like a good hockey player out there right now. Anyone else seeing the same thing or am I just a bit depressed and seeing something that's not there?

 

[Sivek]

I was looking at the announced lineup for the next game, and I noticed that Adams was in the lineup. I then realized I didn't remember him playing in a single preseason game. So I went back through the lineups announced on the Pens' site, and discovered he actually hasn't been. There's no way he doesn't get into a single pre-season game if he isn't injured.

He's played in 2 of the 4 pre-season games.

That he wasn't noticed pretty much speaks for itself.

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

https://twitter.com/MikeColligan/status/381930713492099073

Happy to be joining @RobRossi_Trib, @JoshYohe_Trib, @Dejan_Kovacevic and the #TribHKY team for Sunday hockey coverage this season

 

[KIRK]

I was looking at the announced lineup for the next game, and I noticed that Adams was in the lineup. I then realized I didn't remember him playing in a single preseason game. So I went back through the lineups announced on the Pens' site, and discovered he actually hasn't been. There's no way he doesn't get into a single pre-season game if he isn't injured.

That also got me looking for other players that haven't been in preseason games, but also haven't been sent down:

Dumoulin, Ebbett, and Kuhnhackl each only got into one game - game 1, to be precise. We already know Dumoulin's injured. I also remember an injury scare for Kuhnhackl in that game. It's not really likely that anyone who was potentially in for an NHL spot would have been held out for this long, so I can only conclude that they're all injured as well.

Edit: I forgot to even look for Ruopp. He hasn't been in a single preseason game. I have a hard time believing he's being kept up on merit if he hasn't gotten into a single game.

Why? I'm hard pressed to think of a Penguin who's spot on the roster is more secure.

 

[Freeptop]

He's played in 2 of the 4 pre-season games.

That he wasn't noticed pretty much speaks for itself.

Okay, I just discovered that I apparently must be suffering from sleep-deprivation hallucinations, because I checked over the rosters two or three times before and didn't see his name, but I went back and looked again, and now I see his name there...

*sigh*. Well, nevermind that point, then!

 

[doob]

Sorry if this has been asked before, but if Vokoun is out does his salary count against the cap? I thought i read somewhere he was out 3 months last time this happened. Also that if it happens again, the recovery time is longer. So does this mean the Pens are no longer over the cap?

 

[WayneSid9987]

Sorry if this has been asked before, but if Vokoun is out does his salary count against the cap? I thought i read somewhere he was out 3 months last time this happened. Also that if it happens again, the recovery time is longer. So does this mean the Pens are no longer over the cap?

If he's out 3months plus, he'd go on LTIR and wouldn't count against the cap but if he comes back, you'd have to move some money around.