Line Combos: HFPens Decided - 2021 Starting Lineup and Discussion

[Flying Dego]

Sully already stated he has Erod to fill in top 6.

Poulin ain't coming this year. We have too much talent blocking him...

 

[Jacob]

I think Sully is just pumping these guys tires. He played Lafferty over Rodrigues. Lafferty is younger and signed longer, that won’t change.

And he’s not gonna be like “Jankowski stunk last year so if he can even be a decent 4th liner for us we’ll consider that a win.”

If anyone goes from bottom 6 to top 6 it’ll be McCann and then Tanev in that order. They won’t put a 13th forward in the top 6, unless they’re trying to get fired.

 

[Pancakes]

If we are going to pay Tanev for 10 years at a premium price for his play... then he needs to be more than a 4th liner who turns the puck over for the series clinching goal against in the playoffs. He was our unsung hero in the regular season but he was f***ing brutal in the playoffs. So... we HAVE to see him on a L3 situation w/ Hornqvist out. He has to be impactful in that energy component.

I have almost completely blocked out every memory of that series this past year. I can't even remember how we lost or how it went other than that Price played well.

As for this season...I dunno. I'm gonna watch, but it's hard to get as excited as I normally would. Not having fans just puts such a damper on things. And to be clear, I am NOT advocating for having fans. Until the population at large gets vacccinated that's obviously a horrible idea. I'm not even sure having a season and traveling is a good idea even without fans in the buildings. But the NHL has gotta make money, so it's gonna try.

In terms of the actual season, my biggest questions are:

1) How do Sid/Geno look. Does age finally start to claim them?

2) How do our goalies play? If Jarry/Desmith stumble, we probably do not make it. We're not good enough to overcome bad goaltending.

3) How does the team respond to Sullivan? The past few playoffs have not been encouraging. Maybe it was just the team playing their worst at the worst time. Or maybe it's a symptom of something deeper going on and Sully's message is starting to fall on deaf ears. It's hard to say because our regular season last year was still quite good. 7th in the entire NHL or w/e. But the playoffs were such a stinker. But the playoffs also happened in a bubble with no fans and much less emotion than is normally there, so it's hard to get a true read on things. But that same type of environment will exist this year so if that was part of the reason the Pens struggled they better figure that aspect of it out because we very well may not have fans for playoff games this season either.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Holidays, he might have wanted to be home for them before the gauntlet bubble.

I'm aware of that, but he had Christmas with family already. Didn't have to stay for New Years.
Other NHL players flew over early and made the sacrifice. It's part of being a pro.

 

[Rakell67]

My opening night lineup prediction:

Guentzel Crosby Rodrigues
Zucker Malkin Rust
McCann Jankowski Tanev
Lafferty Blueger Sceviour

Dumoulin Letang
Mathesson Marino
Pettersson Ceci

Jarry

 

[Ugene Magic]

I've got you overzealous TB guys a present. I'm sure I'll see these around on your phones as screen savers.

You guys are so JOBLU...

And... F...you, JOBLU can get his own, damn, RUM!


P.S. Don't leave your phones sitting around, people probably will try to give him rum.

 

[Ugene Magic]

I'm aware of that, but he had Christmas with family already. Didn't have to stay for New Years.
Other NHL players flew over early and made the sacrifice. It's part of being a pro.

Why does flying over early make him a pro? I'm willing to bet he's been dealing with this for a bit. Covid has been slowing everything down. We are not him and we don't know what red tape he's been going through.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

They’re discussing it because they literally said exactly what you are saying. If Jankowski produces at a 30 pt pace and brings his defensive game he’ll be the 3C if not they are perfect you fine running Blueger there.

Tanev was on a 30 pt pace while basically disappearing offensively for two months and Bleuger was on a 26 pt pace while being largely used in 80% of our defensive starts in his first full year in the NHL.

They didn't say anything about moving Blueger to 3C. If anything, they'll simply do what they did last year by upping the 4th's minutes and call it a day.

If those numbers from Tanev and Blueger justify calling them a 3rd line in your eyes, godspeed. But our offense is going to get ugly quick if our scoring lines aren't both humming.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

I think Sully is just pumping these guys tires. He played Lafferty over Rodrigues. Lafferty is younger and signed longer, that won’t change.

And he’s not gonna be like “Jankowski stunk last year so if he can even be a decent 4th liner for us we’ll consider that a win.”

If anyone goes from bottom 6 to top 6 it’ll be McCann and then Tanev in that order. They won’t put a 13th forward in the top 6, unless they’re trying to get fired.

This is a coach who played ZAR in the top 6 like he was a blue chipper, and defends every goober move he makes with the meaningless catch-all "we put the players on the ice who we think give us the best chance to win".

And then there will be no follow-up questions.

 

[Gurglesons]

They didn't say anything about moving Blueger to 3C. If anything, they'll simply do what they did last year by upping the 4th's minutes and call it a day.

If those numbers from Tanev and Blueger justify calling them a 3rd line in your eyes, godspeed. But our offense is going to get ugly quick if our scoring lines aren't both humming.

I’m very confused. So even if Bleuger is playing 3C minutes he will still be the 4th line, because of reasons?

 

[Gurglesons]

This is a coach who played ZAR in the top 6 like he was a blue chipper, and defends every goober move he makes with the meaningless catch-all "we put the players on the ice who we think give us the best chance to win".

And then there will be no follow-up questions.

ZAR was only played in the top six when he was a new prospect and due to injuries. For the 1000th time.

ZAR has been strictly a bottom six forward for two years now.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

I’m very confused. So even if Bleuger is playing 3C minutes he will still be the 4th line, because of reasons?

You should ask Sullivan. He's the one who said they've had trouble filling the 3C spot despite playing Blueger enough minutes to qualify last year, and now wants to try Jankowski there.

ZAR was only played in the top six when he was a new prospect and due to injuries. For the 1000th time.

ZAR has been strictly a bottom six forward for two years now.

One season. And I don't care how many times you say it's because of injury, I don't agree.

Line Combinations - Frozen Tools

 

[YYCLetangStan]

My opening night lineup prediction:

Guentzel Crosby Rodrigues
Zucker Malkin Rust
McCann Jankowski Tanev
Lafferty Blueger Sceviour

Dumoulin Letang
Mathesson Marino
Pettersson Ceci

Jarry

I might swap Sceviour with Tanev but other than that this is mine as well.

 

[Gurglesons]

You should ask Sullivan. He's the one who said they've had trouble filling the 3C spot despite playing Blueger enough minutes to qualify last year, and now wants to try Jankowski there.

He said if Jankowski can put up a 15-17 goal pace along with 30 pts and bring a defensive game he can be a 3C for us. I agree with that assessment as I think most of us will if he scores like that.

One season. And I don't care how many times you say it's because of injury, I don't agree.

Line Combinations - Frozen Tools

So a player that played 31% of his time with Sid or Malkin on the ice is a constant top six winger? Interesting analysis.

Evgeni Malkin - Teammates - On Ice - Natural Stat Trick

For reference, ZAR was the third most common left shot winger for Malkin that year despite.

Hagelin who played 27 games less than ZAR in a Penguins jersey and Pearson who played 1 more.

Our LW depth was basically Guentzel and ZAR for the majority of 18-19 aside from short spurts from Hagelin and Pearson who were traded.

 

[Pens x]

I'm aware of that, but he had Christmas with family already. Didn't have to stay for New Years.
Other NHL players flew over early and made the sacrifice. It's part of being a pro.

And he also just had an almost 5 month break since he last played.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

And he also just had an almost 5 month break since he last played.

Woah we're actually in agreement about something. It's a New Years miracle.

 

[Pens x]

Woah we're actually in agreement about something. It's a New Years miracle.

Lol. I’m surprised everyone isn’t defending Kap, to be honest. When you only have 10 days to gel with a new team, you get there early, especially if you are traveling from Finland during a pandemic. Maybe he figures that Tanev and Rodrigues are his competition for a top 6 roster spot, so there isn’t much pressure.

It’s a bad look nonetheless. Hopefully he can be ready for the start of the season and is good hockey shape.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

He said if Jankowski can put up a 15-17 goal pace along with 30 pts and bring a defensive game he can be a 3C for us. I agree with that assessment as I think most of us will if he scores like that.

Bud, whether Sullivan wants to definitively call Jankowski a 3C now or not, that's the role he's in.

I'm just not sure where anyone thinks the playmaking is supposed to come from on that line. Nobody's been able to answer that. Jankowski is 26 years old and has 28 career assists in 208 games. Marcus Pettersson scored on pace for 24 assists last year.

So a player that played 31% of his time with Sid or Malkin on the ice is a constant top six winger? Interesting analysis.

Evgeni Malkin - Teammates - On Ice - Natural Stat Trick

For reference, ZAR was the third most common left shot winger for Malkin that year despite.

Hagelin who played 27 games less than ZAR in a Penguins jersey and Pearson who played 1 more.

Our LW depth was basically Guentzel and ZAR for the majority of 18-19 aside from short spurts from Hagelin and Pearson who were traded.

Both were gone by February.

McCann and Rust can also both play LW. Only Sullivan's stubbornness prevented it.

 

[KIRK]

Woah we're actually in agreement about something. It's a New Years miracle.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

Let's revisit?

 

[Pens x]

Seeing BART as a third line and Jank, Erod, Sceviour, and Lafferty’s name in general.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Let's revisit?

It's hard to revisit without knowing who's gone. Tell me who we're losing and I'll give you my combos

 

[Randy Butternubs]

It's hard to revisit without knowing who's gone. Tell me who we're losing and I'll give you my combos

I'LL DO THAT THREAD LATER YOU HEATHEN. JUST REVIEW WHAT WE SAID IN JANUARY.

Please.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Removed

 

[Gurglesons]

Remember Jankowski lol.