I think they’ll give Galchenyuk first dibs on the first PP and if he acquits himself well he’ll be there...if not then Jake, but Jake is good at ES scoring for a lot of reasons that don’t necessarily translate to the PP...he’ll be fine if he’s not on that unit...
Confirmed with Link: Kessel and a 4th to Arizona for Galchenyuk and PO Joseph
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I think they’ll give Galchenyuk first dibs on the first PP and if he acquits himself well he’ll be there...if not then Jake, but Jake is good at ES scoring for a lot of reasons that don’t necessarily translate to the PP...he’ll be fine if he’s not on that unit...
BlindWillyMcHurt
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I'm pretty sure the team has already said they intend on putting all of Malkin, Crosby, Guentzel and Hornqvist on the first unit while Gooch works with the second unit to start. But who knows how long that actually sticks. I'm sure Galchenyuk will get some looks here and there. Honestly as little as people seem to want to hear it, I think Hornqvist will naturally transition off the top unit as his play continues to slide this year and the issue will naturally "solve" itself... if you want to call it that.
AuroraBorealis
Back-to-back hater
Problem is that Galchenyuk's a lefty, so he's not one-timer option in Phil's spot. His biggest strength gets neutered. You can use him on the right, but then you got the same problem with Sid switching to the left half-wall and being a lefty.
For that reason I'd prefer they use Jake. He does a lot of things better than Gally, like zone entries, zone clear prevention and being stingy with turnovers.
I see only one solution to fix the handedness issue, but it's something Sully would never do. Use Schultz on the left wall. His shot's hard and accurate. Doesn't hesitate to wire one-timers. He can score backdoor Ryan Whitney style.
I suppose you could use Bjugstad there, but that's probably asking too much. Same goes for Rust. These guys just aren't PP1 caliber.
I think what'll end up happening is Guentzel will start in Phil's spot. Sully probably feels he owes it to him after making him a second choice for the first unit, despite him scoring 40 last year. He'll want to keep him happy. If Jake fails then Galchenyuk will step in.
It's realistic to expect our PP conversion rate to drop. However, we're likely to cut the SHGA in half. That will make up for it, a little.
Yeah, I mean there may be intimations they want Jake there..idk..I don’t think he’d be bad, I just think his special skill is hockey IQ to generate opportunities at ES...he’s not really skilled in the traditional sense with booming shots or nifty dangles etc...and imo the PP setup rewards traditionally skilled players and PP IQ is a little different...my preference is to have Letang manning Phil’s old spot with Schultz at the point, but I don’t think Sully prefers having two D men ...we’ll see...Gally on the PP would definitely force a different set up and likely Geno at the point or Phil’s half wall, which he’s done before...
I think Jake could be used in place of Horny depending on whether the latter is in decline but I’d still start Horny on PP1 until proven otherwise...
I don't recall the team saying anything, but that seems to be where they're going based on the beat writers' reports.
And I think that even if Horny slides, I'm not sure it opens up a space for Galchenyuk. As you've said, he wants to be where Malkin and Crosby want to be. That can be made to work, I know I've suggested ways of doing so, but if that's an option they like, why not go there to begin with? If they're happy with Guentzel being the net front presence, why not start there?
If Horny slides, I think there's a possibility they keep the rest of the PP the same and look to someone else to be a physical net front presence, and I think Galchenyuk's big chance would come from them not finding the right balance/set-up with Crosby/Malkin/Guentzel and deciding to mix that up.
Or, you know, the nigh-inevitable injury.
BlindWillyMcHurt
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Yeah I mean... injuries will always be a thing especially with this group.
I actually think Guentzel is pretty handsy around the net, though obviously not in the same way as Horns or quite as effective. But I certainly see what you mean about what the team might be looking for if Horns is either ineffective or injured. Though nobody on this roster immediately springs to mind for that role, these things tend to make themselves clearer as the season progresses.
I think Gooch will get worked in at some point, regardless. Either because he's ripping it up as ES with Malkin and they want the hot hand or for the exact opposite reason and they want to build confidence. Ha.
I actually think Guentzel is pretty handsy around the net, though obviously not in the same way as Horns or quite as effective. But I certainly see what you mean about what the team might be looking for if Horns is either ineffective or injured. Though nobody on this roster immediately springs to mind for that role, these things tend to make themselves clearer as the season progresses.
I think Gooch will get worked in at some point, regardless. Either because he's ripping it up as ES with Malkin and they want the hot hand or for the exact opposite reason and they want to build confidence. Ha.
CheckingLineCenter
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Very underrated point. Despite having a strong conversion %, our PP actually had the 4th worst GF% in the league last year. Nashville extracted a better goal share than us with their miserable PP1, which is pathetic.
That said I’d put Chucky in Kessel’s spot and Jake or Horny down at the net. Much is made of his one timer but Galchenyuk has a lethal wrister too imo.
I think we need a new thread for discussing Phil and Chucky. Everytime I log in and see a green tag this high I get palpitations that we finally moved JJ only to experience the sudden letdown that there's nothing going on.
Turin
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There’s a reason why the entirety of all the elite power plays 1. Have 1 defenseman and 2. Use their top units a ton. It’s just way more effective that way. Any strategy that cuts the icetime of Crosby, Malkin and Letang is a bad one.
Honour Over Glory
Fire Sully
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I wish.
I really do hope Kessel does insanely well in Arizona. I am skeptical about "Chucky"...when I used to just watch HNIC when the Pens weren't playing while here, I have to admit, he never stood out to me in games, Gallagher always did but Galchenyuk always looked like a guy that would start something and get 70% of the way to doing something awesome and then just didn't and his career has sort of been that way for the last 5yrs.
I am not expecting fireworks from the kid, I'd probably be content if he can score 25 goals to be honest, but I don't know if I see him back with the team next year given he's a UFA.
The cap would need to go up a lot and the Pens would need to dump a lot of salary to make a few things work.
JJ though - There were times he was worse than some of the other guys we had and the team kept playing him, for a team that strokes itself to accountability talk, I can't stand that shit and I am curious if they play that shit this year if he's still here. I would put money on Riikola, Almari, and Joseph out playing his ass in camp and during the season if they got a call up.
AuroraBorealis
Back-to-back hater
Yeah 2 D-men would be best. I would prefer Letang at the point in that scenario because he's an expert at keeping it in the zone. It's what he does best on that unit. Won't happen though. It's a shame because prioritizing PP2 deployment for Schultz is stupid. They only get on the ice for like 40 seconds, and most likely half of that isn't in the offensive zone. For shifts like that you can just use Riikola and Pettersson. Whatever.
Ogrezilla
Nerf Herder
Chucky certainly isn't as good as Phil at making things happen on his own. I'm curious to see what he can do if he's a secondary guy on his line though.
pistolpete11
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Putting Chuck or Jake on the top PP is trying to fit a square peg into a round hole if you ask me. With Phil gone, there's no question they are the next most talented options, but there's more to making a PP work than just stacking it with as much talent as you can. Unless you want to completely redesign the PP, my first try would definitely be Letang in Phil's spot and Schultz at the point.
billybudd
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You can have 2 defensemen and run a quality powerplay. At least 1 has to be able to score reliably from distance, though, and the other has to be an ace powerplay mind. Ideally, they'd be opposite-handed from one another.
You don't see it as often because that combination is rare on the same team in the salary cap era, so teams will "borrow" a forward to perform one function or the other, but when teams do have that (Subban/Markov and Suter/Weber would be two good examples from a capped league), it works great.
Turin
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Putting Schultz over Galchenyuk or Guentzel on PP1 because of handedness is overrating the crap out of handedness and forgetting about the whole ability to score thing.
Empoleon8771
Registered User
I'd say the top powerplay unit right now should be Letang at the top, Malkin and Crosby on the half-walls (Malkin in Kessel's spot), Galchenyuk or Guentzel in the slot and Hornqvist in front of the net. I'd actually be tempted to put Galchenyuk on the top PP unit first, but I understand why Guentzel would probably get the first look there. One of those guys will be serving in the Oshie powerplay role on the top unit.
AuroraBorealis
Back-to-back hater
Ever played ice? Try ripping accurate one-timers when hard passes are coming across your body and your stick is facing the boards. There's a reason the whole PP schematic was built with all 4 perimeter players sticks facing towards the inside. A significant portion of PP goals are off one-timers. Forcing goalies to move laterally. Even if it doesn't go in directly, that quick shot is the reason the team scores a lot of the time.
Imagine a left-handed Ovechkin on the left boards. The feeds wouldn't be in his wheelhouse. He'd have issues with timing and coordination. You'd get vastly different results.
I mean sure, handedness isn't everything but it's a lot more vital for a PP than it is 5v5, considering how stationary the players are. Besides, Schultz can rip it pretty good. If he's given east-west passes with some net to shoot at and no bodies in the lane, he can bury those.
If one timers were everything we'd have never had Kessel in that left circle to begin with.
AuroraBorealis
Back-to-back hater
Didn't say everything. Said very important. Historically, the best PP's have great one-time options. Washington has Carlson and Ovechkin. Even Oshie is a pretty good 3rd option. Tampa (1st place last year with 28.2%) had Stamkos on the left and Kucherov on the right.
Here's the Stammer highlights:
He scored 19 PPGs. 14 were one-timers.
Kessel's a special case. They wanted the PP to run through him, meaning he wouldn't get the last touch. The trigger man was Malkin. And they did have Kessel with his right shot facing the inside, so as to give him a better angle with his snap shots.
Let's not pretend that the fan base didn't get frustrated with his refusal and inability (due to his floppy stick) to one-time the puck for years. So many open nets gone a-begging. He and the unit simply had enough skill and chemistry to succeed despite that problem. Kessel opted to cradle the puck when the chance presented itself and they had to start from scratch all the time.
And yet missing this very important option, the Pens PP finished in the top 5 for PP% the last three years. Which was also true of the three years we had Neal, where unless I've missed something we didn't have a right hander in the left circle. Looking at these results, I a) Don't care how frustrated the fanbase got b) Don't see any problem going out there with three left-handed forwards.
Empoleon8771
Registered User
Personally, the powerplay structure I think would be best is recreating this powerplay unit from 2013-2014:
But I think the thought of Malkin at the top of the point makes some people queasy. Instead, I expect them to have a powerplay very similar to what they had in 2014-2015:
Not having a right handed guy on the left half-wall isn't exactly a death sentence for a powerplay.
But I think the thought of Malkin at the top of the point makes some people queasy. Instead, I expect them to have a powerplay very similar to what they had in 2014-2015:
Not having a right handed guy on the left half-wall isn't exactly a death sentence for a powerplay.
Yeah, I don't see why it's so difficult to understand we'd go back to the "Neal years" PP and insert Gally in his spot. This ain't rocket science.
pistolpete11
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Nobody said it's death sentence or it can't be done, but there's an advantage to it. And it's not like those of us who are proponents of it are saying to add Gudbranson just because he's RH. We're saying Justin Schultz who's a very good PP player in his own right.
I read rossi's article today and was curious to see what pittsburgh fans thought of Kessel. AG is going to be a disappointment. He is what is at this point. Much like the leafs were handcuffed on who they could trade Kessel to, the same thing applied to the penguins. We traded Phil because we needed to get rid of his offence to tank, but also because of his attitude. I dont pretend to know the intricacies of Pittsburgh offence but I do know that it will be very hard to replace the points that Phil gives you. Last year was a let down for the penguins but I dont think that it was Phil's fault exclusively. Not enough to get traded in the form of an ultimatum atleast
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