Dreger: Matt Hunwick on trade block

[Sidney the Kidney]

It is if your a decent team and up against the cap

Your trying to dump him after one year for cap reasons and you think someone is going to step up and take a bad defensemen off your hands for two more seasons and give you an asset for there troubles?

Think about that for a second

Chicago did just that when they dealt Daley to the Pens for Rob friggin' Scuderi. Scuderi was playing at an ECHL level at that point.

 

[firstemperor]

Sounds like someone who hasn't watched Oleksiak at all. Oleksiak's skating and puck moving talents are both actually really good, which is why he has been phenomenal for the Penguins. He's a 6'7" physical monster who skates well and moves the puck well.

Sounds like someone who's being overly defensive.

No one would classify Oleksiak as a "really good" PMD before his move to the Pens, the idea that he's good now (which has been made obvious by Pen's fan in this thread, and an obvious upgrade over Hunwick) says more about Hunwick, and the notion of signing him to that deal in the first place- then it says about Oleksiak.

You don't sign a player like Hunwick to that term with the idea he's going to be expendable in half a season.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Sounds like someone who's being overly defensive.

No one would classify Oleksiak as a "really good" PMD before his move to the Pens, the idea that he's good now (which has been made obvious by Pen's fan in this thread, and an obvious upgrade over Hunwick) says more about Hunwick, and the notion of signing him to that deal in the first place- then it says about Oleksiak.

You don't sign a player like Hunwick to that term with the idea he's going to be expendable in half a season.

Who cares what they'd classify him before he came to the Penguins? He came to the Penguins and has fit incredibly well there. You just don't know what you're talking about. They didn't have the idea he'd become expendable in half a season, they got the opportunity to add Oleksiak (who they had been scouting for a couple of years) and they added him.

Again, unless you've actually seen Oleksiak play, don't comment on him. His strongest attributes are that he's absolutely huge and physical, he skates well and he moves the puck well. He's a PMD, just a really damn big and physical one. Just because you wouldn't have called him a PMD before he came to Pittsburgh doesn't mean he's not one. That's not me being overly defensive, that's me calling you out for not knowing what you're talking about.

Leafs fans, I have a question here: what are you trying to accomplish? No one cares if you think Hunwick sucks. If you want to ignore what Penguins fans are actually saying about what the Penguins situation has been with their defensemen, why even engage in this thread? Penguins fans are explaining what has happened with the Penguins defensemen. Are you really that insecure where you need to rub it in someone's face that another team signed a guy that they upgraded on early in his contract? Oh no, the Penguins added a young defensemen who started thriving when he came to the Penguins, which made Hunwick expendable. Why is that such a problem for you?

 

[firstemperor]

Who cares what they'd classify him before he came to the Penguins? He came to the Penguins and has fit incredibly well there. You just don't know what you're talking about. They didn't have the idea he'd become expendable in half a season, they got the opportunity to add Oleksiak (who they had been scouting for a couple of years) and they added him.

Again, unless you've actually seen Oleksiak play, don't comment on him. His strongest attributes are that he's absolutely huge and physical, he skates well and he moves the puck well. He's a PMD, just a really damn big and physical one. Just because you wouldn't have called him a PMD before he came to Pittsburgh doesn't mean he's not one. That's not me being overly defensive, that's me calling you out for not knowing what you're talking about.

Seems the point flew over your head.

And of course the generic, "you must have never actually seen him play".

 

[Empoleon8771]

Seems the point flew over your head.

And of course the generic, "you must have never actually seen him play".

Or maybe you're just not making a legitimate point?

Seriously, why are you even posting in this thread? Penguins fans have explained what has happened with Hunwick in here. He started out the season playing well, got hurt and started struggling after that. The Penguins acquired Oleksiak (who can play RD and has been playing extremely well for the Penguins), which made Hunwick expendable. They need cap space to help their center depth, so Hunwick is a logical guy to be traded. Why is this such a problem with you? Why are Leafs fans so insecure that they have to go chest thumping in a thread that isn't about the Leafs?

 

[Killswitch7187]

Is this a Hainsey thread? Leaf fans on this topic must be trying to feel better/fabricate retribution about the Kessel fleecing or something.

Anyway.

Hunwick can be dumped, it just might cost giving a little bit more with whatever rental deal we make. Instead of 3rd + prospect, it might become 2nd + prospect, etc. Or if nobody is offering the 1st that BUF wants for Kane because of no market/teams preferring other, cheaper winger options, JR could just do 1st + decent prospect + Hunwick instead of 2nd + decent prospect. (Not saying that'll happen, don't jump on me - just a hypothetical on the top of my head.)

Regardless, JR is far more creative than anybody on this message board. If he wants to get rid of Hunwick truly, I'm sure he'll find a way. Hunwick is pretty much the ONLY body that can/SHOULD move out for salary - and other GMs know that more than likely.

So it won't be as easy as the Scuderi deal as my fellow Pens fans have mentioned. Just the desperation is imminent and known. But it isn't world-ending like others are suggesting, either.

 

[firstemperor]

Or maybe you're just not making a legitimate point?

Seriously, why are you even posting in this thread? Penguins fans have explained what has happened with Hunwick in here. He started out the season playing well, got hurt and started struggling after that. The Penguins acquired Oleksiak (who can play RD and has been playing extremely well for the Penguins), which made Hunwick expendable. They need cap space to help their center depth, so Hunwick is a logical guy to be traded. Why is this such a problem?

I made two posts in this thread prior. The first post was that Hunwick should have been better for the Pens. What does that imply? Never stated that he sucked. I seem to share some similar sentiments of hopeful optimism you may have had for him initially

Now you seem to be blaming Leaf fans for being insecure? How ironic is this statement? You are the one instigating and engaging others on here because you seem to be overly defensive, not others. Those are my thoughts.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I made two posts in this thread prior. The first post was that Hunwick should have been better for the Pens. What does that imply? Never stated that he sucked. I seem to share some similar sentiments of hopeful optimism you may have had for him initially

Now you seem to be blaming Leaf fans for being insecure? How ironic is this statement? You are the one instigating and engaging others on here because you seem to be overly defensive, not others. Those are my thoughts.

It's not ironic at all, because I'm not going into Leafs threads talking about how much their players suck and how I was right about them sucking.

Penguins fans have explained what their situation has been on defense. Hunwick has been fine on the year overall, they just need cap space and Oleksiak coming in made him redundant. If you don't want to believe that, that's a you problem.

 

[brewski420]

Sounds like someone who's being overly defensive.

No one would classify Oleksiak as a "really good" PMD before his move to the Pens, the idea that he's good now (which has been made obvious by Pen's fan in this thread, and an obvious upgrade over Hunwick) says more about Hunwick, and the notion of signing him to that deal in the first place- then it says about Oleksiak.

You don't sign a player like Hunwick to that term with the idea he's going to be expendable in half a season.

When Oleksiak was acquired Hunwick was concussed after a good start. Expectations for Oleksiak at the time were low but was seen as a reclamation /change of scenery move. He has exceeded every expectation to where he cannot be taken out of the lineup at Hunwicks expense and others for that matter. If you need to use that to fulfill a certain fanbases obsession with reducing Hunwicks value while propping up Hainsey than so be it

I made two posts in this thread prior. The first post was that Hunwick should have been better for the Pens. What does that imply? Never stated that he sucked. I seem to share some similar sentiments of hopeful optimism you may have for him initially

Now you seem to be blaming Leaf fans for being insecure? How ironic is this statement? You are the one instigating and engaging others on here because you seem to be overly defensive, not others. Those are my thoughts.

It was not Pens fans that instigated this by calling out the poster you have responded to early on in this thread and have consistently been stearing it back to this subject regarding Hunwick and Hainsey. You know what fan base it was. It has been a waste and off topic typical of said.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Now you seem to be blaming Leaf fans for being insecure? How ironic is this statement? You are the one instigating and engaging others on here because you seem to be overly defensive, not others. Those are my thoughts.

You might want to read the number of posts from Leaf fans that consist of some variety of "still think Hunwick's better than Hainsey? Eh? Eh??" in this thread to see why Pens fans are being "defensive".

We're trying to gauge the trade value of Hunwick, but almost every Leaf fan that's posted in here seems to think they're in the Polls section of HF in a thread titled "Hainsey vs. Hunwick: Who is better?"

 

[firstemperor]

It was not Pens fans that instigated this by calling out the poster you have responded to early on in this thread and have consistently been stearing it back to this subject. You know what fan base it was.

Again, I never stated Hunwick sucked, nor did I respond to said poster first. You seem to be projecting whatever biases a minority of Leaf fans said in this thread on me.

If it matters, I will reiterate what I said about Hunwick (and this has less to do with Oleksiak, as I've said before). I thought he should have been better for the Pens, he played like a top 4 for the Leafs to end last year and into the playoffs, even with a plug like Polak next to him (to be fair, Polak stepped up a bit but it's hard to tell because Hunwick was playing with a lot of confidence to end last year).

He had spurts of being awful earlier last year and close to a full season of being bad (again, to be fair- this was the "tank" year so everyone would have looked bad with AHL players next to them). I think overall, his recency suggested he should have been good......but he probably wasn't as good as he looked to end the year. Nonetheless, he should have been a good PMD with veteran savvy on the bottom-pairing where he was used.

You might want to read the number of posts from Leaf fans that consist of some variety of "still think Hunwick's better than Hainsey? Eh? Eh??" in this thread to see why Pens fans are being "defensive".

We're trying to gauge the trade value of Hunwick, but almost every Leaf fan that's posted in here seems to think they're in the Polls section of HF in a thread titled "Hainsey vs. Hunwick: Who is better?"

The problem with HF and why they hate a fanbase is our fanbase is incredibly large. So if a few opinion's give you a skewed perception, others can lose perspective and project it on everyone. Keep in mind, our fanbase is the largest by far so we have our fair share of idiots as a result. It's not exclusive to any fanbase.

 

[Brobust]

Based on what I saw with Hainsey vs based on what I've seen with Hunwick, I will still go with Hunwick.

As someone who's watched Hunwick for years and now seen 50 games of Hainsey on the 1st pair, I find this to be a mind boggling statement.

Hunwick is a poor man's Kris Russell. He's that bad.

 

[Kiwi]

Chicago did just that when they dealt Daley to the Pens for Rob friggin' Scuderi. Scuderi was playing at an ECHL level at that point.

So one bad trade quite some time ago is setting the market on rubbish defenders with 2 years still to run on there deals now is it?

Your b2b Stanley Cup winners in a cap crunch looking to get out of a bad deal, that isn't exactly a great bargaining position

You just traded a 4th to us to take Fehr on for one year at last year's TDL, that's the situation your in with Hunwick with an extra year tacked on

 

[WayneSid9987]

So one bad trade quite some time ago is setting the market on rubbish defenders with 2 years still to run on there deals now is it?

Your b2b Stanley Cup winners in a cap crunch looking to get out of a bad deal, that isn't exactly a great bargaining position

You just traded a 4th to us to take Fehr on for one year at last year's TDL, that's the situation your in with Hunwick with an extra year tacked on

PIT's roster is the most flexible it's been in years.
Theres many more ways to clear space than just needing to find a taker for Hunwick.

 

[Kiwi]

PIT's roster is the most flexible it's been in years.
Theres many more ways to clear space than just needing to find a taker for Hunwick.

And that's fair, you guys are going for a 3peat so I doubt your GM would balk at giving up a mid rounder to ditch Hunwick's cap hit anyway

 

[pokey10]

Seems the point flew over your head.

And of course the generic, "you must have never actually seen him play".

Well... have you?

 

[CommissionerGordon]

Flames for a 3rd rd pick.

 

[CommissionerGordon]

Sounds like someone who's being overly defensive.

No one would classify Oleksiak as a "really good" PMD before his move to the Pens, the idea that he's good now (which has been made obvious by Pen's fan in this thread, and an obvious upgrade over Hunwick) says more about Hunwick, and the notion of signing him to that deal in the first place- then it says about Oleksiak.

You don't sign a player like Hunwick to that term with the idea he's going to be expendable in half a season.

Hunwick isn't a good fit, and Oleksiak is a better player and fit

 

[CommissionerGordon]

Make it Hunwick for Morgan Klimchuk

 

[Vitto79]

Dudes a 6/7 d being paid too much .

 

[Riptide]

I hope someone bites, Pens could use that extra 2.25 million in the offseason to sign Ian Cole, he's such an underrated D-man.

Cole will almost certainly not be re-signing in Pittsburgh - even if we move Hunwick without taking back salary. Cole will just get too much money for it to make sense for us to sign him. Especially not when we can just go with Ruhwedel and Oleksiak as our 5/6D's for less than 2m.

 

[Riptide]

While no one used the words "great" there certainly was a positive vibe around it.

And the signing still doesn't bother me. If it were not for Oleksiak he'd be playing right now instead of being scratched. And even after we got Olek, his play was fine (and better than it had been). Then he got hurt again and Cole got back into the lineup, and he (Cole) has been killing it ever since. But with Oleksiak here, and Ruhwedel once again showing that he can easily handle 17+ minutes a night... there's no reason or role for Hunwick this season or beyond... which when given his cap hit, makes him a prime target to move to save money. But if we can't? It's not the end of the world. Run him on the 3rd pairing with Olek like we did earlier this season and things will be fine. Having too much quality depth on the blueline is not a bad problem to have. And while gaining the 1.5m or so (depending on his replacement's cap hit) would be nice, neither is it a huge need.

 

[Brobust]

Again, I never stated Hunwick sucked, nor did I respond to said poster first. You seem to be projecting whatever biases a minority of Leaf fans said in this thread on me.

If it matters, I will reiterate what I said about Hunwick (and this has less to do with Oleksiak, as I've said before). I thought he should have been better for the Pens, he played like a top 4 for the Leafs to end last year and into the playoffs, even with a plug like Polak next to him (to be fair, Polak stepped up a bit but it's hard to tell because Hunwick was playing with a lot of confidence to end last year).

He had spurts of being awful earlier last year and close to a full season of being bad (again, to be fair- this was the "tank" year so everyone would have looked bad with AHL players next to them). I think overall, his recency suggested he should have been good......but he probably wasn't as good as he looked to end the year. Nonetheless, he should have been a good PMD with veteran savvy on the bottom-pairing where he was used.



The problem with HF and why they hate a fanbase is our fanbase is incredibly large. So if a few opinion's give you a skewed perception, others can lose perspective and project it on everyone. Keep in mind, our fanbase is the largest by far so we have our fair share of idiots as a result. It's not exclusive to any fanbase.

The only reason he wasn't absolutely atrocious towards the end of his time in Toronto, and also the reason why Toronto had a tremendous second half in 16-17, was that Babcock started heavily sheltering the Hunwick-Polak pair.

 

[chethejet]

Regarding Oleksiak, Gonchar coached him in Dallas and knew his capability. Pens liked him as a developing D man as well. Good fit. He has filled a need of size and grit as many thought Cole was gone. Now he is still here and Hunwick who is a good fit as well is simply a health scratch for those reasosns. Pens like Oleksiak more and see him as a improving player going forward. Hainsey did well in helping the Pens win the cup and was a stable player for the most part.

But no question he isn't close to Hunwick as a skater or puck handler. Comparing them is not good since both have much different strengths and weaknesses. If Hainsey is playing 19 to 20 minutes for the leafs in the playoffs, good luck with that. For the right team. Hunwick can bring back a second round pick.

 

[pokey10]

Regarding Oleksiak, Gonchar coached him in Dallas and knew his capability. Pens liked him as a developing D man as well. Good fit. He has filled a need of size and grit as many thought Cole was gone. Now he is still here and Hunwick who is a good fit as well is simply a health scratch for those reasosns. Pens like Oleksiak more and see him as a improving player going forward. Hainsey did well in helping the Pens win the cup and was a stable player for the most part.

But no question he isn't close to Hunwick as a skater or puck handler. Comparing them is not good since both have much different strengths and weaknesses. If Hainsey is playing 19 to 20 minutes for the leafs in the playoffs, good luck with that. For the right team. Hunwick can bring back a second round pick.

I agree with everything except that. Hunwick, IMO, would only bring back maybe a 3rd/4th round pick.