Joe Morrow vs Derrick Pouliot

[Dipsy Doodle]

I know a lot of people will disagree... but I absolutely think it has to be Malkin, there.

He's got the vision and shot, but he seems very unengaged when he's placed there. Has a lot of trouble holding the line too.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

On the right half wall?

I would agree wholeheartedly if we were talking about the point.

But Malkin on the half wall, to me, is peas and carrots.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

On the right half wall?

I would agree wholeheartedly if we were talking about the point.

But Malkin on the half wall, to me, is peas and carrots.

Oh crap, my bad. Got confused.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

S'alright... I was reasonably sure that's what you meant.

Malkin is very un-natural on the point. It was always sort of cringe-worthy to watch that occasional little experiment in action. Especially because you knew the entire time that he was absolutely golden on that half wall and the team was basically just spinning it's wheels.

It's an interesting issue to have but I still think with the right instruction and plenty of actual practice (my understanding is that the team actually works very little on it's powerplay during scrimmage/practice/camp) that it should work itself out. Talent generally trumps all and having Crosby and Malkin on the same sheet of ice should never be a problem.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

I think we have two in-house candidates to replace Sullivan, and that's Niskanen and Letang. Not necessarily in that order, either. I think one of Malkin or Crosby should play the right point, and maybe they should just keep alternating and shifting during the power play, in constant motion.

We also have two long-range candidates to play that Sullivan role, in Bennett and Zlobin. I said LONG RANGE, so don't kill me for this.

Point being, I wouldn't trade for something as specific as this role.

 

[Tender Rip]

I think we have two in-house candidates to replace Sullivan, and that's Niskanen and Letang. Not necessarily in that order, either. I think one of Malkin or Crosby should play the right point, and maybe they should just keep alternating and shifting during the power play, in constant motion.

We also have two long-range candidates to play that Sullivan role, in Bennett and Zlobin. I said LONG RANGE, so don't kill me for this.

Point being, I wouldn't trade for something as specific as this role.

I am not going to kill you for this..... but I will say that considering Letang and Niskanen options to play the halfwall on the PP and go into the corners down low is slightly absurd to me .
.... and even talking about future guys like Bennett and Zlobin replacing what was always a short term 'here and now' solution in Sullivan, that makes even less sense.

We have needed a RH threat for the PP for many years now (if nothing else just to insure that opponents can't focus entirely on closing down one side of the ice), and while Sullivan was disappointing as a trigger man in that sense, he sure had a purpose and overall gave a needed dimension to the PP.
More so because we didn't have a D-man who was a natural at running a PP, because Sullivan contributed a lot as a passer. Now we don't have that QB, we don't have a RH threat, we don't have anyone with size to be in front of the net (unless Tangradi wins that spot, and who is counting on that?) and we have the same conundrum as always with superstars preferring the exact same spot on the unit.

Ultimately, it just doesn't seem to be an issue that is treated as an organizational priority. Right or wrong.

 

[Ogrezilla]

I know a lot of people will disagree... but I absolutely think it has to be Malkin, there.

I absolutely agree. Malkin on the half wall, Sid either on the point or down low. And I don't want to put our franchise 8.7 million dollar player in the crease that often. Sid can certainly pass well enough to run the PP from the point. And even if he doesn't have a bomb of a slapshot, he should be able to get shots on net if they don't respect it. Malkin on the right wall, Letang over on the other point and Neal sneaking around gives Sid a passing option in pretty much every direction. We just need Letang to keep his shots on net so he doesn't clear the zone every time he takes a shot.

Ultimately, it just doesn't seem to be an issue that is treated as an organizational priority. Right or wrong.

I think its because we have so much talent out there that it should never be a weakness; so it never gets "fixed." I think it should be a priority to straighten it out because the powerplay should be an overwhelming strength with Sid, Geno and Neal out there. I think the personnel we have could be great; we just need to straighten out who is playing where and stick to it. Sid and Geno could do some rotating and whatnot, but for the most part one of them needs to take the wall and the other needs to go somewhere else. The obvious choice being the point despite not being the ideal spot for either as far as shooting goes.

 

[SEALBound]

I'm just not 100% sold on DP...yet. He's having an impressive season sure but...I'm just not that excited about it...again...yet. I remember Letang and knowing deep down that he would explode. There was that...I dunno...gut feeling, that spark. I didn't have it with Gogo.

I have that feeling with Morrow, Harrington, and Maatta. Despres...a cautious one. Pouliot...the same. Dumoulin...not really for some reason.

Subject to change obviously...but for right now...Morrow > Pouliot

 

[JTG]

Letang dropped purely because he was in that new aged NHL defenseman, and a lot of teams had adapted yet. He was "undersized" by old NHL standards (and still sort of is). The Pens just got incredibly lucky, and drafted a couple undersized defenseman knowing where the league was going to be heading.

 

[Captain Hook]

Letang was also overshadowed quite a bit by the late Luc Bourdon too. I remember one scout saying a few years ago that Bourdon had all the hype and prototypical size etc. but Letang was the one that always stood out to him. Luckily that scout was in the minority and Letang fell to us in the draft.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

"The Penguins came out of the 2005 draft with two cornerstone players," International Scouting Services' Mike Oke said. "I'm not talking about high-end players. I'm talking about two guys you'll build around for a decade."

His teammate with Val d'Or, late Vancouver prospect Luc Bourdon, was the highest-profile player on that squad. He was chosen fifth overall by the Canucks.
"No disrespect to Luc, but every time I watched Val d'Or play that year, I came away liking Kris better," Red Line Report chief scout Kyle Woodlief said. "The only thing that kept Kris from going higher was nobody really knew how the new rules would affect a defenseman like him."

Read more: http://triblive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/penguins/s_631484.html#ixzz2GlmBAPWa

 

[jmelm]

I'm just not 100% sold on DP...yet. He's having an impressive season sure but...I'm just not that excited about it...again...yet. I remember Letang and knowing deep down that he would explode. There was that...I dunno...gut feeling, that spark. I didn't have it with Gogo.

I have that feeling with Morrow, Harrington, and Maatta. Despres...a cautious one. Pouliot...the same. Dumoulin...not really for some reason.

Subject to change obviously...but for right now...Morrow > Pouliot

So really what you're saying is, that doesn't mean anything. You were wrong about Gogo, and you have feelings about certain players, but that's based on the same feelings you were wrong about before.


But on another level, I get it: from the season right after Letang was drafted, his stock was at a level that no Penguin prospect has been at since. Some fans have imposed this idea on Morrow or others, but not really deservingly so. Nobody in our stable, outside of Harrington, is a sure bet. Certainly not Morrow or Maatta, whom we're not sure if the will project to be top-2 Dmen or bottom-2 Dmen.


Pouliot may not have reached "Letang"-like prospect status yet, but if you look at his numbers, he has improved in pretty much every area of his game and of his stats, even though his team isn't quite as potent as it was last year. All he has done is improve his stock, even earning an invite to the main camp after not getting invited in the summer (rare), and if the coach wasn't Steve Spott, he may well have been the #7 Dman instead of Murphy. What more do you want this player to do at this time?


Maatta has more holes in his game than Pouliot. If Pouliot was Finnish, he would be playing for his team in the WJCs. If Maatta was Canadian, he wouldn't have come close to making that team.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

So really what you're saying is, that doesn't mean anything. You were wrong about Gogo, and you have feelings about certain players, but that's based on the same feelings you were wrong about before.


But on another level, I get it: from the season right after Letang was drafted, his stock was at a level that no Penguin prospect has been at since. Some fans have imposed this idea on Morrow or others, but not really deservingly so. Nobody in our stable, outside of Harrington, is a sure bet. Certainly not Morrow or Maatta, whom we're not sure if the will project to be top-2 Dmen or bottom-2 Dmen.


Pouliot may not have reached "Letang"-like prospect status yet, but if you look at his numbers, he has improved in pretty much every area of his game and of his stats, even though his team isn't quite as potent as it was last year. All he has done is improve his stock, even earning an invite to the main camp after not getting invited in the summer (rare), and if the coach wasn't Steve Spott, he may well have been the #7 Dman instead of Murphy. What more do you want this player to do at this time?


Maatta has more holes in his game than Pouliot. If Pouliot was Finnish, he would be playing for his team in the WJCs. If Maatta was Canadian, he wouldn't have come close to making that team.

I don't know. Maatta has looked DAMN good every time I've seen him play, and that's been in the Memorial Cup, WJC pre-tournament against Canada and the US, and in the WJC. Maybe I place too much emphasis on important tournaments for junior-aged prospects. Maybe he has looked ordinary in the OHL this season (I doubt it). But Maatta is a guy who steps up his game, and I really love that.

I want to see Pouliot in the Mem Cup this season. I want to see a step-up. Until then, I have Maatta ahead of him.

 

[SprootsMasterFlex]

Could you imagine how nasty a pairing of Morrow and Trouba would be. It would be amazing. Nothing against Pouliot but Trouba would've put us over the top... Something tells me that if he was Canadian, he would've made he squad.