Do we have legitimate reason to worry?

[rkhum]

As it stands right now, subject to change I don't see it is our year.
It was presented as if this was a matter of acquiring 1-2 wingers as a face lift.
But, I see a lot issues with the team's foundation.

Take a look at Chicago, then compare it to us, who in our minds is supposed to be what they have been and done.

Chicago has 2 all star forwards (Kane and Towews) to go with Sharp/Hossa/Saad for excellent skill support, a solid, purposeful bottom 6, along with Keith and Seabrook.

The Pens have a better duo in Crosby and Malkin but:
-Can they ever be healthy at the same time, enough?
-The Pens cast on the forwards is much worse. They have Perron who is ok, but otherwise an aging Kunitz, injury prone Bennet, and unknown in Hornqvist (can he stay healthy).
Their bottom 6 is much weaker than Chicago.

But perhaps the biggest problem I see with Pittsburgh is the loss of Maata.
The Pens have a bunch of Hjalmersson type defenseman, good, mobile puck movers, but they have no PPQB nor any stout, ironclad defenseman.
Keith and Seabrook are horses who excel at defending in their own zone.
We don't have that, and never did.
We scrapped by at times with role players like Scuderi/Gill who could PK and be a 5/6 dman focused just on protection. But we had a PPQB in Gonchar.

This team is soft at defense, all mobile puck movers, no tough defenseman who can match up and clear the crease.
When they play good teams with depth (Rangers) we cannot get the puck out of the zone, when they play teams with speed (Islanders) their AGE gets exposed. Hard to believe a team with Crosby/Malkin/Letang/mobile d struggles with speed, but the Pens do because of poor drafting.

There is no "Saad" on the Pens, a young, hungry, skilled player for the forwards. The Pens have one of the oldert teams.

We've been completely misguided and inaccurate in evaluating just how much talent the Pens have on the club.
People talk Crosby/Malkin/Letang+Kunitz/Hornqvist(Neal)/Sutter but dig a bit deeper and you've got two of the three best stars (Crosby+Malkin) along with a very good mobile, skating, passing defenseman who isn't a PPQB or stopper (Letang), and then a bunch of wingers/bottom 6 retreads/vets.

I feel like the Pens in regards to their forwards are acting like the pre-lockout Rangers...just signing/trading for vets/hired guns and depleting the farm system....which in my view is why they lack speed/hunger.

Something like this take a lot more than a tweak, it takes drafting, replenishing, and a culture switch.
We gave up one 1st rounder, let's hope we DO NOT trade away more picks.

In short, the Pens lack:

-Top six consistent skilled talent
-Bottom 6th depth
-Forward youth
-Defensive defenseman who can skate
-PPQB

you can get away missing 1-2 of those (the 2009 Pens did not have a top four defensive defenseman) but not much...and this is if Fleury continues his strong play and they stay healthy.

Sucks.

 

[Til the End of Time]

^^^ the post above me breaks it down, but bottom line is that the pens just arent built for the playoffs, in any area except for top two centers.

the pens are pretty much the antithesis of a club built for playoff hockey.

 

[jmelm]

When 100% healthy, we are ARGUABLY (but not certainly) the best team in the East. Boston, Tampa and even the Rangers and Islanders are right there. Even if we were 100% healthy this year, we may not be the best.


So take that, subtract Maatta (who's one of our top-2/3 Dmen), and subtract our ability to trade Martin for much needed forward help (they won't have the balls to move him with Maatta out), and we're now a clear notch weaker than we should be.


So we're not even the clear-cut best in the East, and we clearly don't stack up against the best teams in the West. If everything went right for us, in particular, GREAT and consistent goaltending (big questionmark) and an otherwise healthy line up, at best we get out of the East. No way are we a legit Cup challenger as currently constructed. We simply do not have the depth and secondary scoring, and I think we are still soft and lacking some size/physicality.

 

[PaulieWalnuts]

It also doesn't help that every team in the NHL knows when they get rough with us, we either get undisciplined in an effort to retaliate and take a penalty or we turtle and they just keep hitting the gas. When other teams can simplify their games, we can't seem to make that happen. Out work, out battle, pucks to the net hockey that results in dirty goals is not something that happens with regularity (especially with Sid and Geno in the lineup). Teams stand up at the blue line and smother us because they know we don't have enough players who are willing to dump the puck in and go get it, which may result in taking a beating in an effort to win that battle. This team, and it starts with it's leaders, don't seem to exude much heart when someone is pushing them around.

 

[CanadianPensFan1]

The thing that is most worrisome is the exorcism of the ghosts that haunt the ice of Consol, resulting in a ridiculous amount of stupid injuries at every turn.

 

[BobCole]

The thing that is most worrisome is the exorcism of the ghosts that haunt the ice of Consol, resulting in a ridiculous amount of stupid injuries at every turn.

This.

We can all complain that the team is too soft or mentally weak (I partially buy those arguments). But no honest person can say that those (perceived) weak spots have hurt our team more than injury has since 2010. This team's achilles heel for the last several years has been its inability to stay healthy.

 

[FRUSTRATEDPENFAN*]

What are we worrying about?

Being Cup contenders? Probably worrying some

Winning the Metro? Yea, get your worrying pants on

Making the playoffs? Not in the least.

Being Cup contenders is what matters though just making the play offs for this team isn't good enough. Who could the beat in a serious New York Islanders , Rangers , Washington , Montreal , Tampa , Boston , Detroit its not looking like we could beat any of them right now

 

[spcastlemagic]

^^^ the post above me breaks it down, but bottom line is that the pens just arent built for the playoffs, in any area except for top two centers.

the pens are pretty much the antithesis of a club built for playoff hockey.

We barely seem built for regular season hockey now

 

[vyktor]

As it stands right now, subject to change I don't see it is our year.
It was presented as if this was a matter of acquiring 1-2 wingers as a face lift.
But, I see a lot issues with the team's foundation.

Take a look at Chicago, then compare it to us, who in our minds is supposed to be what they have been and done.

Chicago has 2 all star forwards (Kane and Towews) to go with Sharp/Hossa/Saad for excellent skill support, a solid, purposeful bottom 6, along with Keith and Seabrook.

The Pens have a better duo in Crosby and Malkin but:
-Can they ever be healthy at the same time, enough?
-The Pens cast on the forwards is much worse. They have Perron who is ok, but otherwise an aging Kunitz, injury prone Bennet, and unknown in Hornqvist (can he stay healthy).
Their bottom 6 is much weaker than Chicago.

But perhaps the biggest problem I see with Pittsburgh is the loss of Maata.
The Pens have a bunch of Hjalmersson type defenseman, good, mobile puck movers, but they have no PPQB nor any stout, ironclad defenseman.
Keith and Seabrook are horses who excel at defending in their own zone.
We don't have that, and never did.
We scrapped by at times with role players like Scuderi/Gill who could PK and be a 5/6 dman focused just on protection. But we had a PPQB in Gonchar.

This team is soft at defense, all mobile puck movers, no tough defenseman who can match up and clear the crease.
When they play good teams with depth (Rangers) we cannot get the puck out of the zone, when they play teams with speed (Islanders) their AGE gets exposed. Hard to believe a team with Crosby/Malkin/Letang/mobile d struggles with speed, but the Pens do because of poor drafting.

There is no "Saad" on the Pens, a young, hungry, skilled player for the forwards. The Pens have one of the oldert teams.

We've been completely misguided and inaccurate in evaluating just how much talent the Pens have on the club.
People talk Crosby/Malkin/Letang+Kunitz/Hornqvist(Neal)/Sutter but dig a bit deeper and you've got two of the three best stars (Crosby+Malkin) along with a very good mobile, skating, passing defenseman who isn't a PPQB or stopper (Letang), and then a bunch of wingers/bottom 6 retreads/vets.

I feel like the Pens in regards to their forwards are acting like the pre-lockout Rangers...just signing/trading for vets/hired guns and depleting the farm system....which in my view is why they lack speed/hunger.

Something like this take a lot more than a tweak, it takes drafting, replenishing, and a culture switch.
We gave up one 1st rounder, let's hope we DO NOT trade away more picks.

In short, the Pens lack:

-Top six consistent skilled talent
-Bottom 6th depth
-Forward youth
-Defensive defenseman who can skate
-PPQB

you can get away missing 1-2 of those (the 2009 Pens did not have a top four defensive defenseman) but not much...and this is if Fleury continues his strong play and they stay healthy.

Sucks.

What bothers me about the D, is that sure the guys we have aren't physical and don't clear the crease, but most of them don't even try to tie a guy up or engage him in any way. Our D are all way too focused on the puck and not the man, IDK if they or coached that way or if it is how they have always played, but I see way too many players unaccounted for in front of our net. You don't need to pound on them and if you can't move them then fine, but at least tie up their stick get body position you know play Defense.

The other thing is that since Gonch left our d has been a rudderless ship. We need a leader on the back end, Orpik was crap in that role with his do as I say not as I do glare, and LeTang is way to inconsistent in his own game. No leadership and it shows, How about maybe even a Defenseman behind the bench.

 

[KIRK]

We barely seem built for regular season hockey now

Another 10 games exactly like the ones the Pens, Rags, Bruins, and Caps have had (and once the Rags make up their 3 games in hand), and the Pens are 4th in the division and 8th in the conference.

Still, I think the Pens make the playoffs. I do. But . . .

The 9th place team in the conference, Florida, has 50 points. They're 12 points back but have 3 games in hand. Despite having lost 5 in a row, they actually haven't lost ground to the Pens in the last 10 games. If the Pens don't pull out of it over the next 10 games, then the Panthers are one quick hot streak from making me nervous.

 

[mikethelegacy]

Another 10 games exactly like the ones the Pens, Rags, Bruins, and Caps have had (and once the Rags make up their 3 games in hand), and the Pens are 4th in the division and 8th in the conference.

Still, I think the Pens make the playoffs. I do. But . . .

The 9th place team in the conference, Florida, has 50 points. They're 12 points back but have 3 games in hand. Despite having lost 5 in a row, they actually haven't lost ground to the Pens in the last 10 games. If the Pens don't pull out of it over the next 10 games, then the Panthers are one quick hot streak from making me nervous.

12 points is a ton of points, though. It would take a Maple Leaf calibre event to lose that many spots. I think we are a lock for a playoff spot, but if we are even missing one key guy from our lineup come playoff time, we are screwed. I think we are a good team when healthy, but definitely a fragile team, that's for sure...

 

[WayneSid9987]

Best case scenario is Sid/Geno become better 2-ways players as they age and the structure is built up around them. Much like what was done with Getzlaf/Perry in Anaheim or Thornton/Marleau in SJ.

 

[KIRK]

12 points is a ton of points, though. It would take a Maple Leaf calibre event to lose that many spots. I think we are a lock for a playoff spot, but if we are even missing one key guy from our lineup come playoff time, we are screwed. I think we are a good team when healthy, but definitely a fragile team, that's for sure...

I agree, which is why I said I see the Pens making the playoffs.

As I said, if the next 10 games for the Pens, Caps, Rangers, and Bruins (and the other playoff teams) are exactly like these last 10 and the Rangers make up those 3 games in hand, then that projects to the Pens being 8th in the conference with 24 to play.

Now, that said, only team on the outside I see that maybe could close the gap is FLA. But, it's 12 points. On the other hand, they've got 3 games in hand, and even falling into a swoon these last 10 games, the Panthers haven't lost pace.

If they hit a quick hot streak, if Malkin misses the short west coast swing . . .

I'm not saying there's reason to go into a panic, just saying 'yeah, there's legitimate reason to worry, when you look at the standings and how the Pens are losing.

 

[WayneSid9987]

I'll worry when i see a Cup Calibre roster underperforming.

 

[SEALBound]

Take a look at Chicago, then compare it to us, who in our minds is supposed to be what they have been and done.

Chicago has 2 all star forwards (Kane and Towews) to go with Sharp/Hossa/Saad for excellent skill support, a solid, purposeful bottom 6, along with Keith and Seabrook.

The Pens have a better duo in Crosby and Malkin but:
-Can they ever be healthy at the same time, enough?
-The Pens cast on the forwards is much worse. They have Perron who is ok, but otherwise an aging Kunitz, injury prone Bennet, and unknown in Hornqvist (can he stay healthy).
Their bottom 6 is much weaker than Chicago.

This team is soft at defense, all mobile puck movers, no tough defenseman who can match up and clear the crease.
When they play good teams with depth (Rangers) we cannot get the puck out of the zone, when they play teams with speed (Islanders) their AGE gets exposed. Hard to believe a team with Crosby/Malkin/Letang/mobile d struggles with speed, but the Pens do because of poor drafting.

There is no "Saad" on the Pens, a young, hungry, skilled player for the forwards. The Pens have one of the oldert teams.

We've been completely misguided and inaccurate in evaluating just how much talent the Pens have on the club.
People talk Crosby/Malkin/Letang+Kunitz/Hornqvist(Neal)/Sutter but dig a bit deeper and you've got two of the three best stars (Crosby+Malkin) along with a very good mobile, skating, passing defenseman who isn't a PPQB or stopper (Letang), and then a bunch of wingers/bottom 6 retreads/vets.

I feel like the Pens in regards to their forwards are acting like the pre-lockout Rangers...just signing/trading for vets/hired guns and depleting the farm system....which in my view is why they lack speed/hunger.

Something like this take a lot more than a tweak, it takes drafting, replenishing, and a culture switch.
We gave up one 1st rounder, let's hope we DO NOT trade away more picks.

In short, the Pens lack:

-Top six consistent skilled talent
-Bottom 6th depth
-Forward youth
-Defensive defenseman who can skate
-PPQB

you can get away missing 1-2 of those (the 2009 Pens did not have a top four defensive defenseman) but not much...and this is if Fleury continues his strong play and they stay healthy.

Sucks.

Chicago has been able to build that support due to the relatively low contract values of Toews and Kane. That enabled them to have Sharp and Hossa - who was also signed to a very long term low hit contact. We tried to sign him but to no avail. Toews+Lane used to equal $13mil. Sid and Geno were 17.4mil. That's a $4.4mil winger. There's your Sharp. Getting Hossa for $5.2mil relative to what he brings was a major win for them as well. Those 4 were a great offensive core. Saad was icing on the cake who worked out well.

However, when both of their new contracts kick in at something around $10-11mil each...that's going to cut down on the depth they are able to keep. Very similar to what happened to us when Sid and Geno signed their contracts. Helps also that their top dmen are at 5.8 and 5.2mil. They have good contracts. Very long term contacts have their advantage...but they are also high risk. After Hossa Shero didn't seem like he wanted any part of long term deals sans Sid and Geno. It's those mid term, high money contracts that kill us and give teams like Chicago the advantage over us. We sign the Kunitz and Dupuis and Scuderis of the world to high-ish money for 3-4 years. That's whats killing us.

Be interesting to see how Chicago goes about compensating for T&K's new contracts...

^^^ the post above me breaks it down, but bottom line is that the pens just arent built for the playoffs, in any area except for top two centers.

the pens are pretty much the antithesis of a club built for playoff hockey.

When healthy our bottom 6 is

Downie-Sutter-Bennett
Spaling-Lapierre-Comeau/Adams

That's a far cry from what we've recently been icing. That's a capable bottom 6.

When 100% healthy, we are ARGUABLY (but not certainly) the best team in the East. Boston, Tampa and even the Rangers and Islanders are right there. Even if we were 100% healthy this year, we may not be the best.


So take that, subtract Maatta (who's one of our top-2/3 Dmen), and subtract our ability to trade Martin for much needed forward help (they won't have the balls to move him with Maatta out), and we're now a clear notch weaker than we should be.


So we're not even the clear-cut best in the East, and we clearly don't stack up against the best teams in the West. If everything went right for us, in particular, GREAT and consistent goaltending (big questionmark) and an otherwise healthy line up, at best we get out of the East. No way are we a legit Cup challenger as currently constructed. We simply do not have the depth and secondary scoring, and I think we are still soft and lacking some size/physicality.

Maatta being injured really killed us. That took away a tradable asset in Martin to get strengthen a weakness. Thems the breaks sometimes.

It also doesn't help that every team in the NHL knows when they get rough with us, we either get undisciplined in an effort to retaliate and take a penalty or we turtle and they just keep hitting the gas. When other teams can simplify their games, we can't seem to make that happen. Out work, out battle, pucks to the net hockey that results in dirty goals is not something that happens with regularity (especially with Sid and Geno in the lineup). Teams stand up at the blue line and smother us because they know we don't have enough players who are willing to dump the puck in and go get it, which may result in taking a beating in an effort to win that battle. This team, and it starts with it's leaders, don't seem to exude much heart when someone is pushing them around.

I believe the speed of other teams and simply finishing the hits is what gives us the fits. Islanders, Rangers, Caps, Philly...they play with speed and finish their hits. Yes there is a little after the whistle to antagonize us but it's the teams decision not to do that back. And I believe that is wrong. We don't raz Tavaras, Nash, St.Louis, Giroux...and it affects the game. We don't fight back when we should. Am I saying we need to goon it up every game, no. But when it comes time to push back, we don't. Then our emotions boil over and its bad. Controlled aggression is something we are bad at and we need to solve it. Anyone can do it too. Downie does. Perron does to a very small extent...beyond that we are sackless.

Here's the major issue with the roster as I see it:

Our top lines are not constructed with enough support to take the pressures off Sid and Geno. They just are not. Perron and Hornqvist may be able to save Sid however...if they ever get the look. Bennett and Comeau or Kunitz and especially Spaling, are NOT saving Geno. So obviously the wing situation is bleak. It's solved with one major wing trade, like a E. Kane. Run Kane and Geno then you can afford to have a lesser piece like a Bennett or Comeau.

Then the 4th. They, right now, merely exist. They don't add anything to the game other than serving as a placeholder while the other lines rest. Sill and Adams add nothing. Their hitting nor "energy" aren't turning tides in the games. They aren't scoring, they can't be trusted on defense against top lines...it's just a mess. Lapierre for Goc didn't help but maybe he can be a step towards the right direction. Get bigger, get grittier, get hittier. Pick something you want that line to do and design them to do it. Sill-Lappy-Adams is a cluster fudge that is not capable of carrying out any specific assignments. Like I said...they merely exist right now.

The biggest issue with the team right now, as is...the 3rd line. We do not have a strong third line. The absolute best we can hope for is Downie-Sutter-Bennett. They were good, no doubt, but they are not playoff good. They are not going to add the clutch goals at the right time. They are not Cooke-Staal-Kennedy which was absolutely a difference maker in the playoffs.

Downie is good to have there, Bennett provides the much needed skill...the issue is Sutter. He's not what we need as a Cup winning 3C. We need more. Hence Shero trying to get Kesler. It made sense. He's a passenger. He's not driving possession, he's not providing elite shutdown services, he's not providing offense, he's not providing playmaking abilities...right now, he's merely a placeholder. We need to get better there. We may have to pay...

This is where the organization is hurting. If we have to overpay for a 3C to put us back up top, for example Vermette or make the trade for Hanzal, we don't have the cheap depth to come in and off set those costs. Best we could hope for is for Kapanen or Sundqvist to be ready for full time duty next year. Spaling isn't making the line better...no one in WBS is going to either except perhaps Rust or heck even Ebbett for a short term. The lack of forward prospects is just a killer right now.

Like any season, there are ways to make things right. You just have to make the moves. For example:

Kunitz to CAR for Tlusty+3rd
That 3rd+4th/prospect or Dumo alone to VAN for Kassian
Sutter+Kap/Sun+Harrington to EDM for Hall

Perron-Sid-Horn
Hall-Geno-Tlusty
Kassian-Vermette-Bennett
Comeau-Lappy-Downie

Letang-Maatta
Ehrhoff-Despres
Scuds-Pouliot

MAF/TG

Boom. Donezo.

 

[Richard]

I'm sorta tired of the wingers excuse. Sidney Crosby isn't playing with AHLer's out there or something. Kunitz, Perron, and Hornqvist are all good NHLers. Guys like Bennet, Sutter, and Downie can make plays and contribute as well.

I am worried; because the Penguins have sunk so much money into Crosby and Malkin that they have to carry the load. Let's ignore Malkin for this discussion.

Sidney Crosby isn't worth his paycheck. It's that simple and its KILLING the Penguins. No one wants to talk about it but Crosby has drastically declined. Crosby is playing with better talent than ever over a full season (Hossa for what 15 games?) and he is doing nothing with said talent.

I am most concerned because Crosby isn't even the best forward on the Penguins when Malkin is out. The Pens played better without Crosby than with him. If he can't stop making lazy, halfhearted cross rink passes and lazy backchecks then you have to do something. He doesn't drive to the net. He doesn't shoot.

What to do? I dunno but I certainly wouldn't want Crosby on my team right now for his caphit. He's a one hit (pass) wonder.

What happened to his drive and determination?

 

[WayneSid9987]

I'm sorta tired of the wingers excuse. Sidney Crosby isn't playing with AHLer's out there or something. Kunitz, Perron, and Hornqvist are all good NHLers. Guys like Bennet, Sutter, and Downie can make plays and contribute as well.

I am worried; because the Penguins have sunk so much money into Crosby and Malkin that they have to carry the load. Let's ignore Malkin for this discussion.

Sidney Crosby isn't worth his paycheck. It's that simple and its KILLING the Penguins. No one wants to talk about it but Crosby has drastically declined. Crosby is playing with better talent than ever over a full season (Hossa for what 15 games?) and he is doing nothing with said talent.

I am most concerned because Crosby isn't even the best forward on the Penguins when Malkin is out. The Pens played better without Crosby than with him. If he can't stop making lazy, halfhearted cross rink passes and lazy backchecks then you have to do something. He doesn't drive to the net. He doesn't shoot.

What to do? I dunno but I certainly wouldn't want Crosby on my team right now for his caphit. He's a one hit (pass) wonder.

What happened to his drive and determination?

To be fair to Sid, he's been injured alot lately. Wrist and now a LBI.
He was arguably Team Canada's top 2 or 3 forwards at the Olympics which was the last time he was truly healthy.

 

[FRUSTRATEDPENFAN*]

Are most people on here penguin fans or fans of Crosby and even malkin because there is a difference If your truly a fan of the team and not a certain player everyone is tradable if it makes the team more complete and better overall

 

[Joejosh999]

Jesus God please learn some grammar and punctuation.
It will make people take you more seriously. And may even help you graduate HS and get a job someday.

 

[SEALBound]

I'm sorta tired of the wingers excuse. Sidney Crosby isn't playing with AHLer's out there or something. Kunitz, Perron, and Hornqvist are all good NHLers. Guys like Bennet, Sutter, and Downie can make plays and contribute as well.

I am worried; because the Penguins have sunk so much money into Crosby and Malkin that they have to carry the load. Let's ignore Malkin for this discussion.

Sidney Crosby isn't worth his paycheck. It's that simple and its KILLING the Penguins. No one wants to talk about it but Crosby has drastically declined. Crosby is playing with better talent than ever over a full season (Hossa for what 15 games?) and he is doing nothing with said talent.

I am most concerned because Crosby isn't even the best forward on the Penguins when Malkin is out. The Pens played better without Crosby than with him. If he can't stop making lazy, halfhearted cross rink passes and lazy backchecks then you have to do something. He doesn't drive to the net. He doesn't shoot.

What to do? I dunno but I certainly wouldn't want Crosby on my team right now for his caphit. He's a one hit (pass) wonder.

What happened to his drive and determination?

Crosby is worth 8.7mil. Look around the league at other contracts out there. Tell me one team that would make 8.7mil in room to get him if they could...

I see frustration in Sid's game. True he doesn't drive the net like he used to...but if that hasn't been apparent to you after his concussion issues...then you've missed a lot. He's also 28...not 18. You have to expect him and Geno to slow just a bit. Either way, he's still an elite player. Still the best in the league.

The frustration comes in with how much obstruction they are letting creep back into the game. Only any given night Sid gets obstructed in a way that would have resulted in 5-6 penalties in 2005 to 2007. Cup years were meh. Now it's a joke. Everything the league wanted to get away from is back. Look at all the stars production...everyone is down. Sid and Geno are still right at the top.

Sid was amazing when he didn't have to worry about holding, hooking, and slashing...if he did he did while on the Powerplay.

Health...get the team healthy. We go through this every year. We should be used to it by now.

 

[vikingGoalie]

i wonder if (was it Cole?) our inside source guy knows anything about crosby's wrist.

We hear how the wrist is fine. But I call B.S. on that.
Last season his scoring fell off a cliff, everyone said he was fine. Reporters said he was fine, etc, etc. We find out after the season his wrist needed surgery to fix it. He opted to go with an injection.

Beginning of the season his wrist is feeling fine, he scores most of his goals then.

Scoring falls off a cliffs (again), everyone insists the wrist is fine.
He goes off for an injection on a "lower body" injury.

Sorry his faceoffs have gotten markedly worse which requires wrist strength. His scoring is just not there. Yohe commented about how he is taping up his wrist more then time gone by but he shrugged it off as him just protecting it.

Once again. B.S. Sid's wrist is buggered and he is going to get off season surgery to correct it. Where there is smoke, there is fire....

there's my reason to worry. We are heading into the playoffs and Malkin has some nagging injury, most likely he got Jagr's groin and I've seen how that plays out in the playoffs. Crosby's wrist is most likely not right. So a huge part of what makes our team go is hurt. Yes I'm worried.

 

[PaulieWalnuts]

To be fair to Sid, he's been injured alot lately. Wrist and now a LBI.
He was arguably Team Canada's top 2 or 3 forwards at the Olympics which was the last time he was truly healthy.

80% of NHL'ers right now are dinged up. If he's that hurt, sit out cause he clearly isn't helping much. We play with more grit and determination when he's out of the line up. We play a simple game and it nets results. Our failed scoring chances are cut in half when he's not attempting to pass through the slot clogged up by 3 guys cross rink.

All in all our team is soft, players hold on to the puck too long, dump it in to areas where no one is, we easily get pinned in our own zone by any team with a physical forecheck. The defense has been a joke. People complain about the 4th line but they're the only ones I see giving 110% effort out there on every shift (regardless of their lack of talent and results).

 

[HandshakeLine]

Are most people on here penguin fans or fans of Crosby and even malkin because there is a difference If your truly a fan of the team and not a certain player everyone is tradable if it makes the team more complete and better overall

I think you need to get laid.

 

[jmelm]

Maatta being injured really killed us. That took away a tradable asset in Martin to get strengthen a weakness. Thems the breaks sometimes.

Yes and no. It only takes away a tradeable asset if we don't have the balls & vision to realize that trading Martin is the right move for this team beyond just this season.

And these are some brutal proposals, no offense...

Like any season, there are ways to make things right. You just have to make the moves. For example:

Kunitz to CAR for Tlusty+3rd
That 3rd+4th/prospect or Dumo alone to VAN for Kassian
Sutter+Kap/Sun+Harrington to EDM for Hall

1) Kunitz trade: if we trade Kunitz, we damn well better be getting a YOUNG player WITH TERM back in return. You find a team that has a young player who isn't quite ready to be an impact player in a Cup run right now (i.e. Silfverberg, DSP, or the like). Tlusty is a nice player, but he's the kind of guy you give up a 2nd rounder for, or sign him as a UFA. Trading Kunitz for an expiring Tlusty does not make us a Cup contender this year, and then puts us in the same problem going forward with a lack of depth and top-end young talent that is close to NHL ready.

2) Trading a 3rd or 4th alone, and/or a B-level prospect who may not play for us or be redundant (i.e. Segalla on D, or a guy like Kuhn, Macaroni, etc. on F) for a guy like Kassian is fine. But trading a guy like Dumo, who projects to be a 10+ year top-4 NHL Dman for a forward who has struggled to the point that he may not be in the NHL or nothing more than a frustrating 4th liner is a BAD move. EDM wanted Dumo for Perron, but settle on a 1st. If that's the kind of value he has (which is consistent with what I've said: he has the value of ~ a bottom-10 first round pick), we can DEFINITELY get a better player for him than Kassian. And I'm all for giving Kassian a try, but not for Dumo.

3) This one is just LOL. Firstly, Hall is NOT being traded. They will trade away every other piece besides this year's 1st before they move Hall: Yak, Eberle, etc.

And when you trade a future superstar player like Hall, you do NOT move him for a package of pieces that do not contain a future or current superstar in return. KK/Sundqvist (likely middle 6 forwards), Harrington (a great #2/3 guy) and Sutter (a great 3rd line C) does not get you a superstar level guy like Hall. Ever.

 

[Coastal Kev]

As it stands right now, subject to change I don't see it is our year.
It was presented as if this was a matter of acquiring 1-2 wingers as a face lift.
But, I see a lot issues with the team's foundation.


This team is soft at defense, all mobile puck movers, no tough defenseman who can match up and clear the crease.
When they play good teams with depth (Rangers) we cannot get the puck out of the zone, when they play teams with speed (Islanders) their AGE gets exposed. Hard to believe a team with Crosby/Malkin/Letang/mobile d struggles with speed, but the Pens do because of poor drafting.

I feel like the Pens in regards to their forwards are acting like the pre-lockout Rangers...just signing/trading for vets/hired guns and depleting the farm system....which in my view is why they lack speed/hunger.

Something like this take a lot more than a tweak, it takes drafting, replenishing, and a culture switch.
We gave up one 1st rounder, let's hope we DO NOT trade away more picks.

In short, the Pens lack:

-Top six consistent skilled talent
-Bottom 6th depth
-Forward youth
-Defensive defenseman who can skate
-PPQB

you can get away missing 1-2 of those (the 2009 Pens did not have a top four defensive defenseman) but not much...and this is if Fleury continues his strong play and they stay healthy.

Sucks.

I haven't seen the comparison to the Rangers before, but man, spot on. I think we are in more trouble than most people know.