3D

[Louis Hensler]

I know you'll correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't Riikola/Ruhwedel be a better bottom pairing than Johnson/Schultz? What am I missing?

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[The Great Mighty Poo]

I know you'll correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't Riikola/Ruhwedel be a better bottom pairing than Johnson/Schultz? What am I missing?

Stuff, and some things.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

The way they're all playing right now?

Yep.

 

[ziggyjoe212]

Johnson is a solid #5-6 Dman and a great PKer. It's not his fault he was asked to play top pair with Letang during the injury bug.

There is literally zero reason to scratch JJ for either of those 2. Now Schultz on the other hand....

 

[Malkinstheman]

JJ could be serviceable on the bottom pair. Schultz is an absolute atrocity on both ends of the ice.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Johnson is a solid #5-6 Dman and a great PKer. It's not his fault he was asked to play top pair with Letang during the injury bug.

There is literally zero reason to scratch JJ for either of those 2. Now Schultz on the other hand....

Riikola has been very good.

 

[CactusPens]

I know you'll correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't Riikola/Ruhwedel be a better bottom pairing than Johnson/Schultz? What am I missing?

About $8,750,000.

 

[EightyOne]

Just dress two more forwards.
Roll 4D

Lol

 

[Empoleon8771]

Their defense for next year should be:

Dumoulin-Letang
Pettersson-Marino
JJ-Riikola

And they should move JJ after next year.

 

[SEALBound]

Johnson is a solid #5-6 Dman and a great PKer. It's not his fault he was asked to play top pair with Letang during the injury bug.

There is literally zero reason to scratch JJ for either of those 2. Now Schultz on the other hand....

While I agree...I would easily scratch JJ for Riikola. Rudwedel...maybe, maybe not.

I want to see how JJ-Schultz does moving forward in a more sheltered 3rd pairing role.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Their defense for next year should be:

Dumoulin-Letang
Pettersson-Marino
JJ-Riikola

And they should move JJ after next year.

In a cap crunch year, JJ and Bjugstad are the natural candidates to be moved.

I don't imagine it will happen, but it should happen.

 

[Louis Hensler]

While I agree...I would easily scratch JJ for Riikola. Rudwedel...maybe, maybe not.

I want to see how JJ-Schultz does moving forward in a more sheltered 3rd pairing role.

I haven't studied it, but it seemed every time the Pens were scrambling on their heels last night, JJ/Schultz were out there.

 

[Empoleon8771]

In a cap crunch year, JJ and Bjugstad are the natural candidates to be moved.

I don't imagine it will happen, but it should happen.

The Penguins cap crunch doesn't seem as severe now with the new cap projections.

 

[Andy99]

I haven't studied it, but it seemed every time the Pens were scrambling on their heels last night, JJ/Schultz were out there.

they were...that pair needs a stick of dynamite thrown between them...I don't care if it was one game, it was Ottawa and they still sucked...I don't want to see either of those players out there again...bottom competition or not...both Riikola and Ruh have played better than both JJ and Schultz...Sully has to see that...

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

The Penguins cap crunch doesn't seem as severe now with the new cap projections.

That's a positive development. But when people have been talking about needing to move one of Murray or Jarry to accommodate the cap, the idea of retaining JJ invites criticism.

I still think JJ is roster dross and should be moved at the first opportunity. 3.25 million dollars can be put to much better use.

 

[SUBdrewgANS]

Just dress two more forwards.
Roll 4D

Lol

Based on the title of the thread, I think we should roll 3D and have a 5th forward line.

 

[vodeni]

Johnson is a solid #5-6 Dman and a great PKer. It's not his fault he was asked to play top pair with Letang during the injury bug.

There is literally zero reason to scratch JJ for either of those 2. Now Schultz on the other hand....

Great PKer is a synonym for "he sucks but we will keep him in the line up for God knows what reasons". There is no such a thing as a great PKer. The closest to a good PKer would be Tanev and Rust and Bluegs guys with great speed that make their PP tenative....not pylons that just stand there and occassionaly follow forward in the corner for no particular reason. We got through a bunch of great pkers Gladams, etc...that should have never seen ice...

 

[Andy99]

Great PKer is a synonym for "he sucks but we will keep him in the line up for God knows what reasons". There is no such a thing as a great PKer. The closest to a good PKer would be Tanev and Rust and Bluegs guys with great speed that make their PP tenative....not pylons that just stand there and occassionaly follow forward in the corner for no particular reason. We got through a bunch of great pkers Gladams, etc...that should have never seen ice...

Plus, Dumo and Marino are back and both PK...no reason JJ needs to be in the lineup just to PK....same with Schultz re the PP...it's not like Marino or Riikola haven't been as good or better options this year on the PP2...

 

[EightyOne]

Based on the title of the thread, I think we should roll 3D and have a 5th forward line.

Sully gonna change the league again!

 

[Andy99]

One other thing to note is that JJ-Schultz weren't playing 3D minutes last night..yes, JJ left for his child's birth but Schultz played 19 minutes, in fact, every other D played 19-20 minutes except Letang...if Sully is going to being playing all three pairs around the same minutes, then JJ-Schultz is not really a third pairing, which makes them even worse...

 

[Will Hunting]

Johnson on the 3rd pair I can stomach even though I feel like Riikola is obviously better. The real problem is Schultz tho. Riikola over Schultz in a lineup would go a long way but there is literally no chance of that happening under Sullivan. The guy that prefers Trotman over Riiko on some nights, let alone Schultz or even Ruh.

 

[vodeni]

One other thing to note is that JJ-Schultz weren't playing 3D minutes last night..yes, JJ left for his child's birth but Schultz played 19 minutes, in fact, every other D played 19-20 minutes except Letang...if Sully is going to being playing all three pairs around the same minutes, then JJ-Schultz is not really a third pairing, which makes them even worse...

they all have the same TOI in the first period. I even brought that up in the GDT, I was surprised to see that Sully treats them all equally (kind of make sense if they decided to ease Dumo and Marino in)

 

[ChaosAgent]

Escalation of commitment - Wikipedia

 

[ziggyjoe212]

Great PKer is a synonym for "he sucks but we will keep him in the line up for God knows what reasons". There is no such a thing as a great PKer. The closest to a good PKer would be Tanev and Rust and Bluegs guys with great speed that make their PP tenative....not pylons that just stand there and occassionaly follow forward in the corner for no particular reason. We got through a bunch of great pkers Gladams, etc...that should have never seen ice...

JJ is 2nd on the team in SH ice time per game, tied with Letang. He gets more PK time than Dumoulin and Tanev. Pens' PK is currently top 10 in the league.

And of course there is such a thing as a great PKer. Do you even follow hockey? Some players literally exist in the league for their PK abilities, like Craig Adams.

 

[Andy99]

they all have the same TOI in the first period. I even brought that up in the GDT, I was surprised to see that Sully treats them all equally (kind of make sense if they decided to ease Dumo and Marino in)

Interesting to see what he does going forward... it’s nice to have Letang’s minutes reduced but not for JJ and Schultz to get more time...