That's a lot of work for a GM who has huge blunders in his resume and an unproven coach. A lot of stars have to align for the Pens if they want to have success in the future. Just remember that Crosby and Malkin are not getting any younger, the window of opportunity is closing a little bit every year as they age.
For sure, it's a lot of work for any GM, the job isn't easy. Shero was considered one of the best and made a ton of mistakes, which eventually costed him his job. Crosby and Malkin will only get older, you're right. However, They will be 28 and 29 to start next season, it's not like they'll be 35 and 36, they will be in a few years, but not now. The window gets closer to closing each year for every team, it did for Detroit, it's closing for the Sedins, Toews and Kane, Getzlaf and Perry, etc.
You mention the Pens youth but with the exception of Maatta and Pouliot, they are a long way from becoming impact players in the NHL. Right now, the lack of depth is what hurts the Pens most. If Crosby and Malkin are not stepping up, no one is.
The Pens still have plenty of youth and quality in the pipeline, we don't have to have impact players who are considered tops in their position, but just players who are good enough to contribute consistently. Guys like Harrington and Dumoulin are solid young defensemen, the Pens believe both will be good for them very soon.
I also think Kasperi Kapanen will surprise people, I think he can become an impact player in the NHL, very fast with an accurate shot, he's been compared to Patrick Sharp, I mean he is
very fast, Sid and Malkin will enjoy playing with him.
The goaltending is not very reliable either. Fleury played well this year, but he can **** the bed real quick for his team.
I think a goalie is fine as long as he has the right goalie coach, there's something to be said about a goalie/goalie coach duo. Dubnyk didn't just become a Vezina candidate overnight, he learned from a great goalie coach in Sean Burke in Arizona. Holtby has the great Mitch Korn as his goalie coach, for year our goalie coach was Gilles Meloche, when he stepped down, we promoted a guy named Mike Bales, who is also a very good goalie coach. Ever since that happened, Fleury has been a very reliable goalie.
The injuries are not just a result of bad luck. The team is built with injury prone players. Letang and Malkin have yearly subscriptions to the infirmary. Management should look in free agency for players with very little injury history.
Agree and disagree, but you can't really prevent concussions. So you can put anyone in Letang's (this year) or Crosby's (2011 Winter Classic) position and they are out with a concussion, guaranteed. The Letang injury was bad luck because as Doan hit him, his skate caught the ice weird which caused him to violently fall back head first into the boards. I agree about Malkin, there's always something wrong with that guy, whether it's his ankle, shoulder, whatever. When we played Boston back in March, Malkin to such an innocent shove and he was down on all fours, like wtf?
I do think the Pens will be better off in terms of injuries, there is a new performance center opening up in the fall, and I'm sure a new training regimen being overseen by Gary Roberts will do wonders for this team.
There is a thread on the main boards discussing how bad the Pens are at drafting. In the past 10 years, only Crosby, Malkin, Letang, Muzzin (gone), Staal (also gone) and Sutter were drafted directly by the Pens. They need better scouts to find the talent outside of the 1st round. It doesn't help that JR traded a 1st round pick for Perron.
The Penguins drafting has been very bad, no denying it, the guy in charge of those drafts just lost his job last year. Shero was not a very good drafter despite being on a Nashville staff that found gems in the draft. However, I really do think Shero's latest drafts have shown improvement and will be good. I really like his 2012 picks, Pouliot, Maatta, Murray and Sundqvist being the most notable names, others are Blueger, Marcantuoni, and Zlobin. In 2013, he took Tristan Jarry and Jake Guentzel in the 2nd and 3rd rounds.
There are more players than the ones you listed that are NHL players, and also you should consider who they were turned into. Sutter wasn't picked by the Pens but he was a product of the Staal trade. Staal turns into Sutter, Dumoulin, Pouliot, Goligoski turns into Neal and Niskanen which turned into Hornqvist and Spaling, Bortuzzo (2007 3rd) turned into Ian Cole (2007 1st).
Other names drafted by the Pens are Simon Despres, Chad Johnson, Brian Strait, Joe Vitale, Mark Letestu (UDFA), Ben Lovejoy (UDFA). Still not that many, but they can find NHL players.
We lack depth in the NHL, but not in terms of prospects. Like I mentioned earlier, I think trading our 1st for Perron was really smart considering we have a few prospects/young NHL players at each position. Bennett + Kapanen + Sundqvist at forward. Maatta + Pouliot + Harrington + Dumoulin on defense. Murray + Jarry in goal. What we didn't have was an NHL top 6 winger, and I think trading our 1st for a guy who is 26, signed to another year and is a NHL proven top 6 winger is a good move, especially since we've had 6 1st round picks in the past 7 drafts. If you look at other teams and who they traded their 1st for, how is the Perron move bad? I think the Pens got more value out of the pick than trading for Vermette, Sekera, Santorelli/Franson,. Also it's not like when we traded our 1st for a UFA 35 year old Iginla, Perron is young, proven, and can be a staple in our top 6 for years to come.