News Article: Malkin Opens up about 18-19 season

[Dipsy Doodle]

What numbers bear out?

How many Russians have we iced since Gonch left? How does that compare to other teams?

 

[Gurglesons]

How many Russians have we iced since Gonch left? How does that compare to other teams?

There’s 24 Russians in the league. So.....

You’re confusing a time when KHL talent was being paid better than NHL players and they could stay home. Of course our team wasn’t taking those financial risks.

More Russians are now coming over due to the decrease of financial stability in the K.

 

[Empoleon8771]

We seem unusually averse. I think the numbers bear that out.

Eh, the Penguins haven't drafted a Russian since Pavlychev in 2015, but that's not nearly as low as other teams. Just looking at Anaheim because they're the first team alphabetically, they have drafted one Russian (a goalie) since 2002.

 

[Gurglesons]

Eh, the Penguins haven't drafted a Russian since Pavlychev in 2015, but that's not nearly as low as other teams. Just looking at Anaheim because they're the first team alphabetically, they have drafted one Russian (a goalie) since 2002.

I’m sure there was an uptick in the last couple drafts, but this is largely due to the K.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

What I’m gathering is that this was unprofessional af. Sullivan’s relationship with Kessel deteriorates into a disaster. Sullivan at best lets Malkin be continuously dragged into it and management doesn’t stop that. JR works himself up so badly he’s thinking of trading Malkin until Crosby steps in.

Meanwhile, Malkin while wearing an A is afraid of talking to his teammates and no one notices? I imagine a number of said teammates were intimidated by Malkin being Evgeni ****ing Malkin. Him not talking probably didn’t help but they sure as hell wouldn’t bridge that gap. So management, long-standing players and coaches missed that?

This isn’t “get Geno a Russian.” There’s an underlying problem if all of this is going on with any player let alone a star.

Yeah I agree. The lack of communication throughout the whole team seems pretty palpable. From GM to coach from coach to player, etc.

It sounds a little victim-ish but Malkin has always sort of struck me as a bit of an afterthough to this team. Again... thank the heavens for Sid.

 

[Empoleon8771]

How many Russians have we iced since Gonch left? How does that compare to other teams?

I mean, you're the one making the claim, it's your job to bring up support points for that claim. It isn't our responsibility to do the research for your argument.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Is this a straight quote from Don Cherry? Who are these Russians?

He seemed to have no problem with offensive only forwards in Kessel, Sheary, And Guentzel on the way to two cups.

It’s pretty obvious that the issue with Kessel was far beyond his on ice play. Same thing with Sprong.

Sullivan’s entire system is predicated on offense only.

Yeah, that would also fall under the "party line" designation. Something tells me that stuff like Radulov being late for a morning skate or Kuznetsov's antics or Kovalchuk speaking out against his coach etc wouldn't go over well with Sully.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

I mean, you're the one making the claim, it's your job to bring up support points for that claim. It isn't our responsibility to do the research for your argument.

Believe what you like. We've had precisely one regular Russian on the roster post-Gonch.

 

[Gurglesons]

Believe what you like. We've had precisely one regular Russian on the roster post-Gonch.

When there are 20ish russians in the league that is fairly obvious.

 

[Gurglesons]

Yeah, that would also fall under the "party line" designation. Something tells me that stuff like Radulov being late for a morning skate or Kuznetsov's antics or Kovalchuk speaking out against his coach etc wouldn't go over well with Sully.

Because that stuff has gone over so well on those teams??? Not really sure what your point is here besides blaming Sullivan for Sprong and Kessel.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Eh, the Penguins haven't drafted a Russian since Pavlychev in 2015, but that's not nearly as low as other teams. Just looking at Anaheim because they're the first team alphabetically, they have drafted one Russian (a goalie) since 2002.

Yep. Anaheim's in about the same boat we are.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

OK... so what is there scouting situation re: Russia?

Serious question... I don't know.

I do know they've tried one Russian FA from the K in the last like... 15 years. Or really I guess one Russian at all, period.

I'm not into like... collecting them. It just seems odd even taking into consideration their small league percentage.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

When there are 20ish russians in the league that is fairly obvious.

Theres a scarcity of Russians. We also seem averse to them. I'm talking about a 9 year sample size here.

 

[Deport Ogie]

I was curious about this Russian dearth thing so I looked at Detroit because if there's any team recognized for it's Russian contingent, its the Wings. Over the last 10 years, Detroit has rostered exactly 3 Russians, one of whom was Pavel By God Datsyuk. Exclude him and the other ones have played a grand total of like, 60 games.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Because that stuff has gone over so well on those teams??? Not really sure what your point is here besides blaming Sullivan for Sprong and Kessel.

They're still there.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

I was curious about this Russian dearth thing so I looked at Detroit because if there's any team recognized for it's Russian contingent, its the Wings. Over the last 10 years, Detroit has rostered exactly 3 Russians, one of whom was Pavel By God Datsyuk. Exclude him and the other ones have played a grand total of like, 60 games.

Based on the '90s.

 

[Gurglesons]

OK... so what is there scouting situation re: Russia?

Serious question... I don't know.

I do know they've tried one Russian FA from the K in the last like... 15 years. Or really I guess one Russian at all, period.

I'm not into like... collecting them. It just seems odd even taking into consideration their small league percentage.

It costs money to scout. Teams like Toronto that have large webs in Europe have scouting departments they pay for.

Pittsburgh is a small market team so they need to be more creative with their spending. They likely have someone based in Finland given their latest signings and then the US.

 

[Gurglesons]

They're still there.

Radulov has been moved twice. Kovalchuk two different teams. Who knows what happens with Kuznetsov but I assume he is on thin ice.

 

[Gurglesons]

Yep. Anaheim's in about the same boat we are.

Like 95% of the league.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Wait, I thought the article gave weight to the “Sullivan having a problem with Kessel” school gf thought?

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Radulov has been moved twice. Kovalchuk two different teams. Who knows what happens with Kuznetsov but I assume he is on thin ice.

These are Russians who fit the bill, off the top of my head, in an admittedly tiny pool. So...not Don Cherry, merely an observation.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Like 95% of the league.

Nah. Not to mention, with our Russian being a generational player, one might imagine that making him comfortable would be a high priority. But again, not many Russians fit the Sully profile, and those who do are probably too good to be made available.

 

[Deport Ogie]

Based on the '90s.

Yes, the Russian Five. My point is that if any team would be comfortable carrying Russian players, it would be Detroit and yet, they have just as few as anyone else. It lends support to the fact that there's just not that many playing in the NHL.

Personally, I'm rooting for Pavlychev anyway despite it being a long shot. Partially because I'm a PSU hockey fan and partially because I like the idea of a 6'8 two way center with a mean streak and decent skating.

 

[Gurglesons]

Nah. Not to mention, with our Russian being a generational player, one might imagine that making him comfortable would be a high priority. But again, not many Russians fit the Sully profile, and those who do are probably too good to be made available.

What exactly is the “Sully” profile?

I’ve CC’d @John Titor @Pens x and @Honour Over Glory for further clarification.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

Yeah I agree. The lack of communication throughout the whole team seems pretty palpable. From GM to coach from coach to player, etc.

It sounds a little victim-ish but Malkin has always sort of struck me as a bit of an afterthough to this team. Again... thank the heavens for Sid.

I think people have a tendency to overstate how much Malkin is an afterthought. Highest cap hit on the team, full NTC, Bylsma was straight up afraid to try Neal with Crosby, Hornqvist was going to be tried with him first, Guentzel debuted with him and whatever else. He’s more the second priority behind Crosby than anything terrible and it doesn’t appear to be a crushingly distant second. Maybe in a perfect world they’re totally equal but it’s not some terribly neglectful situation where Malkin has been treated badly for over a decade. Last year sounds like it was the worst where JR f***ed up with JJ and Schultz got hurt so Malkin got to bear that mess, Kessel was a problem and Sullivan was making things worse. That was bigger than just Malkin, though.

They’ve had other illustrious showings with players recently. Throwing Letang with basically no offseason after neck surgery into his regular workload. Seemingly no communication about Reaves between Sullivan and JR. Playing Murray injured last season when he was average AHLer thrown into the NHL bad. Sullivan having some kind of blood feud with Kessel and the fact that he’s reportedly had problems with Cole and Sprong. JR running his mouth about knowing why JJ was scratched in Columbus and crying about people being mean about JJ.

The bigger concern for me is that they just don’t get it and it’s inevitable that more players than Malkin have been hurt by it. If they don’t recognize the problem then they’ll likely go through this with Malkin again. Someone should have noticed Malkin’s issues and addressed it, someone should have told Sullivan to keep things between him and Kessel, and someone should have smacked JR when he started freaking out. Honestly, Malkin and his English sounds like a problem where therapy would help. I doubt the org could have directly tackled him being afraid of speaking but someone needed to notice.