GDT: Columbus vs Pittsburgh

[Speaking Moistly]

Not really. You save 925k by burying Scuderi, then take 550k back on in Samuelsson for a net gain of 375k. That translates to about 1.7M in deadline cap space - not nearly enough for anything significant.

It's better than a 22 man roster meaning no one can be brought up without LTIR being used.

 

[jmelm]

. I'm really hoping Sundqvist gets a chance on the 4th line with Goc. He wouldn't look out of place at all.

The thing with Sundqvist, just like Megna (which is why the latter was likely sent down to WBS even with Bennett's injury), is that these two guys have some more untapped offensive upside. Playing either of those guys on a 4th line role, as opposed to playing in the AHL or Sweden (in the case of Sundqvist) allows them to further develop that offensive ability, rather than having it shuttered completely. The Pens are obviously smart enough to know this, and there's no way Sundqvist makes the team unless he's playing top 9.

I don't see the Pens (a) keeping 14 forwards or (b) burying Scuderi to keep Samuelsson (Harrington, maybe Dumoulin, but not Ulfie Jr . . . Ulfie Jr, IMO, would clear waivers).

The point is: Samuelsson isn't that great, so who cares if we're handicapping his development by having him play 7th D? With Harrington or Dumoulin, you don't put guys of that quality as 7th Dmen who won't get ice time, as opposed to playing 20+ minutes per night and on both special teams in the AHL.

 

[Antaris]

Sundqvist is more or less guaranteed topline duty in Sweden, which would make sense for him to develope his offensive game.

My take is that he'll spend the season in Sweden, next year make the top 9 (or play in the AHL and get called up)

 

[Speaking Moistly]

It's because of the cap space that they won't carry 14. They may start with 14 if both Kapanen and Sundqvist get cups of coffee, but they're going to hold as much cap space as they can. They'll go with a roster of 22.

Yeah, well, maybe I wanted insurance from ever having to watch Adams again. Anyway, it was about opening up cap space, not carrying 14 forwards for the season.

 

[WayneSid9987]

Much prefer energy/agitators on the 4th line. Carcillo(getting a contract) or Farnham. Theres room for Sundqvist though if Downie doesn't really pan out here. He could play on the 3rd line wing regularly imo.

So getting him to stay in NA and play in WBS wouldn't be a bad idea at all. Downie doesn't pan out or gets injured and Sundqvist can come up.

 

[deakka]

With Sid, Kunitz and Dupuis all dressing up for tomorrows game. Does that mean Kapanen wont get a look with sid? i wouldnt want some shifts here and there. Either put him there full time, or not at all.

These "you get 2 shifts with Sid, prove youre worth it" probably puts more pressure on Kapanen.

But who knows what MJ thinks about KCD tho.

 

[Rocket of Russia]

Random note from the game: one shift in particular where Despres was carrying the puck out to the blue line as a Columbus forward cut off the boards high, looping from the center of the blue line to the boards, only for Despres to pivot backwards and carry the puck back into the defensive zone as the Columbus forward's forecheck was rendered useless. Instead of a forced pass through the neutral zone that got easily picked off Despres used his shiftiness and skating to possess the puck and try again. He then did the exact same thing not a second later, made a pass to his partner, who hit a forward with open ice. I just smiled.

 

[Zen Arcade]

-Harrington and Sammy were stuck in there own zone just about every shift from what I remember of the game. It was noticeably bad. They need split up as neither is good enough with the puck.

That's on Samuelsson, in my opinion. He failed to get the puck out at least half a dozen times yesterday. He's a better player than he's shown thus far, but he's not doing himself any favors with that sort of stuff, even Chorney looked better than him yesterday.

The one positive thing that came from this was that when those pucks didn't get out, the Pens still had plenty of support in the defensive zone. No one was trapped cheating in no man's land, they still had the numbers and they still protected the scoring areas. If Bylsma's system is still in place, a couple of those turnovers are in the net, yesterday a lot of them didn't even result in shots.

 

[Shady Machine]

Random note from the game: one shift in particular where Despres was carrying the puck out to the blue line as a Columbus forward cut off the boards high, looping from the center of the blue line to the boards, only for Despres to pivot backwards and carry the puck back into the defensive zone as the Columbus forward's forecheck was rendered useless. Instead of a forced pass through the neutral zone that got easily picked off Despres used his shiftiness and skating to possess the puck and try again. He then did the exact same thing not a second later, made a pass to his partner, who hit a forward with open ice. I just smiled.

He tried that last year and was benched. So happy Bylsma is gone

 

[jmelm]

Random note from the game: one shift in particular where Despres was carrying the puck out to the blue line as a Columbus forward cut off the boards high, looping from the center of the blue line to the boards, only for Despres to pivot backwards and carry the puck back into the defensive zone as the Columbus forward's forecheck was rendered useless. Instead of a forced pass through the neutral zone that got easily picked off Despres used his shiftiness and skating to possess the puck and try again. He then did the exact same thing not a second later, made a pass to his partner, who hit a forward with open ice. I just smiled.

This is definitely a hallmark of Johnston's game, and a stark difference between Johnston & Bylsma.

 

[Michael8771*]

Kunitz-Crosby-Kapanen
Sundqvist-Malkin-Hornqvist
Dupuis-Sutter-Downie
Spaling-Goc-Comeau

Why the hell not?

Because you're rushing two young Euro's who very likely need more seasoning.

 

[Zen Arcade]

Because you're rushing two young Euro's who very likely need more seasoning.

That line up is also incredibly soft.

I still like

Comeau-Sutter-Downie
Sill-Goc-Carcillo/Farnham

as the bottom six.

 

[wej20]

Kunitz-Crosby-Kapanen
Sundqvist-Malkin-Hornqvist
Dupuis-Sutter-Downie
Spaling-Goc-Comeau

Why the hell not?

I like how Sundqvist has played so far but what has done to earn a shot on Malkin's LW over Spaling, Downie or Dupuis for that matter.

 

[penguins2946*]

I like how Sundqvist has played so far but what has done to earn a shot on Malkin's LW over Spaling, Downie or Dupuis for that matter.

Dupuis hasn't played yet, Downie has sucked and Spaling doesn't have the upside to put him in the top-6.

 

[ColePens]

let's move back to the other thread