Expectations and Predictions for 2013. Be as off the wall as you want to be

[Jaded-Fan]

Not sure why this thread was closed ( http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1314517 ), but with the season starting in 9 days (rumor is in Philly on the 19th, I believe at 1 pm), good time to gather some thoughts together in a thread on what you think will happen in the upcoming year.

As for some of my thoughts:

1) No reason to doubt that we will again be among the top five scoring and PP teams in the league.

2) But one of the surprises will be the defense. I expect a bounce back year, with a top ten defense to go with the top five offense.

3) We are going to add at least one player before the season starts, most likely a trade. The player will be a defenseman. We also are not going to pay a lot for him in terms of prospects.

4) Sutter will outscore Staal causing massive consternation among the less intelligent Carolina fans, who do not realize that Pittsburgh’s system is goal oriented being first in the league last year and Caroline was middle of the pack. Nor will they notice the huge things Staal brings to the game beyond scoring in their haste to hammer their GM for Sutter outscoring him. Sutter will be used more than people think on the PP as a pylon in front of the net upping his totals.

5) Tanner Glass will become a forever hero when on the 19th he cleans the clock of Hartnell on his first shift as a Pen.

Click to read more...

 

[Darth Vitale]

4 and 5 sound like destiny to me.

Hmmm. I'll say this:

+ Whether we play well or subpar, Shero will make a big trade before the deadline that will swap out Martin for another D who is both tougher and cheaper than Martin, and a F... absorbing some of Martin's hit for the other team and shipping out some prospect talent to bring back a somewhat expensive F that someone else can't afford / doesn't want to buy out (say $3-4M range).

+ Shero will ship out two top D prospects (Morrow and Despres (or 1 stud prospect and our 2nd)) for some "not quite a playoff team's" 1st round 2013 pick, giving us two in a draft deep with F talent, and possibly a lottery pick.

+ We'll finish 4th in the East... and make a nice playoff run anyway.

+ Geno will best Sid in scoring with a comparable number of games. Because he's DGeno Unchained.

 

[MonsterSurge]

Joe Vitale will dive in Philly's bench. Glass will see Vitale beating up the entire team and he will jump Bryzgalov for no reason. Engellland will then go after Craig Berube and throw him into the crowd.

#nailedit

 

[Darth Vitale]

It will be truly amazing to see Vitale and Glass on the same line. They're going to **** some people up this year.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

One thing I can almost guarentee, I do not see us entering the season with the same linup we have now. We add at least one player, a defenseman or wing, within the next week. May have a deal in place already, just can not make it until after Sunday and the players signing off on the new CBA.

 

[Darth Vitale]

TSN seems to think there's going to be a trade bonanza early in the season (my words not theirs) because of the new CBA arrangements.

 

[Gumbercules]

TSN seems to think there's going to be a trade bonanza early in the season (my words not theirs) because of the new CBA arrangements.

I wouldn't be surprised if their was a lot of early action either. There is not really enough time for a wait and see approach to assessing your team this year, so any GMs who see a perceived weakness will likely be compelled to act quickly.

 

[MonsterSurge]

It will be truly amazing to see Vitale and Glass on the same line. They're going to **** some people up this year.

Toss Zach Sill on that line and BAM!

 

[mpp9]

I wouldn't be surprised if their was a lot of early action either. There is not really enough time for a wait and see approach to assessing your team this year, so any GMs who see a perceived weakness will likely be compelled to act quickly.

That's the way I see it too. Put the best possible team together asap so you go into the playoffs on a roll.

 

[Dangles78]

Joe Vitale will dive in Philly's bench. Glass will see Vitale beating up the entire team and he will jump Bryzgalov for no reason. Engellland will then go after Craig Berube and throw him into the crowd.

#nailedit

On a serious note...him and Rinaldo have the most punchable faces ever.

I bet they take mirror pictures together....

 

[MichiganWolverines]

I could see Ray Shero getting a physical shutdown defenseman like Robyn Regehr at trade-deadline. I also see Ray Shero getting a veteran winger to play with on a line Sidney Crosby.

 

[Malkin112*]

- Malkin and Crosby will not play PK
- DB gets boot in the ass
- Crosby gets 1,87ppg, Malkin gets 1,71ppg
- Neal start to lose his hair and will be completely bald in PO
- Fleury will be send AHL
- Lentang will be healthy all season long
- Paul Martin becomes transvestite and change hes name to Paula

 

[MichiganWolverines]

Toss Zach Sill on that line and BAM!

That line would average twenty hits and three fights a game between the three of them.

 

[LetangInTheSO]

4) Sutter will outscore Staal

I wouldn't bet on it. Staal was on an absolutely torrid scoring pace last season, mostly while playing with Cooke and Kennedy. Whether he plays alongside his bro or on the second line in Carlina (w/ Semin?), he will likely tear it up. A 20/20 season from Sutter would be an absolute delight. It's not out of the question for Staal to nearly double those numbers (more likely would be a 30/30 type of season).

As for my crazy prediction, I am guessing that Vokoun plays very well when called upon and calls Fleury's future as a Pen into question...

 

[hctopcheds11]

Wrote this in the other thread but in a shortened season and for not too steep of a price, I think Regher could fit nicely with this team.

 

[Dangles78]

Martin has another down year and is eventually bought out by the Pens.

Don't worry, Gordon Ramsay immediately offers him a job. I hear there is a demand for people who can make scrambled eggs that turn players into 40 goal scorers.

 

[Candyman]

Malkin outscores Crosby
Orpik bounces back, Martin does not
Despres is traded
Sutter plays well, but not out of this world.
Vokoun is our starter in the playoffs
Pens meet Flyers again in playoffs and allow only 4 goals in a 5 game series (Pens win).
Pens win Stanley Cup with Vokoun as goalie.
Engellend wins Conn Smythe
Engellend destroys Hartnell
Engellend destroys Giroux
Engellend destroys Philadelphia, including the liberty bell.
Gary Roberts admires Engellend.

 

[mpp9]

Wrote this in the other thread but in a shortened season and for not too steep of a price, I think Regher could fit nicely with this team.

Not mobile enough. I don't see DB toning the system down.

 

[hctopcheds11]

Not mobile enough. I don't see DB toning the system down.

Every team could use a player like Regehr though. He may not be who he used to be but in a shortened season, he could be effective.

 

[mpp9]

Every team could use a player like Regehr though. He may not be who he used to be but in a shortened season, he could be effective.

Lotta Buffalo fans are down on him. He brings alot of what we could use, but I still say any defenseman we target in a trade is going to be someone management thinks can fit our system. Can't imagine they'd move assets for someone that could end up not fitting our style like Michalek.

 

[BeauKnows19]

I think we're getting another top 4 defenseman. If Orpik and Martin are playing together (as mentioned in the Molinari article) and despres is out of the equation (who was a longshot anyway imo) Niskanen could play, I just don't think he could handle all the minutes Letang plays. I think it will be someone nobody expected. Then at the deadline we get another winger. Fleury and Vokoun will both play good, and will battle for start in playoffs.

 

[ObsessedCreative*]

Lotta Buffalo fans are down on him. He brings alot of what we could use, but I still say any defenseman we target in a trade is going to be someone management thinks can fit our system. Can't imagine they'd move assets for someone that could end up not fitting our style like Michalek.

Sadly, I think you're right and after the past three season, I know our "system" ****in' BLOWS!

 

[UnderratedBrooks44]

My prediction is Neal's pace will be closer to 30 goals than 40. Combined with lower totals and people being unable to come to grips with the fact that it's a shortened season, he'll be chastised because he'll have something like 12 goals with about ten games to go. Whether or not Neal will "get back to where he was" will became a trite topic threaded throughout the offseason.

Also: I see no reasonable way Sutter outscores J. Staal.

 

[PensBandwagonerNo272*]

- Malkin and Crosby will not play PK
- DB gets boot in the ass
- Crosby gets 1,87ppg, Malkin gets 1,71ppg
- Neal start to lose his hair and will be completely bald in PO
- Fleury will be send AHL
- Lentang will be healthy all season long
- Paul Martin becomes transvestite and change hes name to Paula

underrated post ^

I think we get Iggy at the deadline. But we don't win a Cup anyway.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

My prediction is Neal's pace will be closer to 30 goals than 40. Combined with lower totals and people being unable to come to grips with the fact that it's a shortened season, he'll be chastised because he'll have something like 12 goals with about ten games to go. Whether or not Neal will "get back to where he was" will became a trite topic threaded throughout the offseason.

Also: I see no reasonable way Sutter outscores J. Staal.

I would accept 30 goals in half a season.