Injury Report: Nick Bjugstad Out for Season

[HandshakeLine]

Totally agree, man. Totally agree. I see this guy being signed for like 1 year/2m by a team and killing it on a non-playoff team and somehow playing 70 games. This is just your classic Derrick Brassard like player. A player you think is a decent "gamble" to bring in and just is absolute garbage in terms of fit.

You saw parts of his game where you realize why he is good. But putting it together consistently... NEVER happened. People give Simon crap and he was like an 800k player. I'd take Simon at 1-2m over Bjugs 24/7 365.

Man, I was kinda stoked when we got him because I thought he had potential in Florida, and he's just... not had a good run of it here. At all. Serves me right.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I was pretty damned happy with that trade when it happened. More for McCann and his potential but I figured Bjugstad could maybe do a poor man's Staal impression. Which frankly is asking very little.

Nope.

 

[Pens x]

He has been such a disappointment here. I knew he was mostly a cap dump, and so many people around here liked his game, but I just never liked what I saw. He really was a poor man’s Jordan Staal, except drastically overpaid. He was even less physical and looked like a giraffe on skates at times.

Hopefully we’ve seen his last game as a Penguin.

 

[Ryder71]

We still have a bunch of competant young guys in the AHL who don't have a post season, though. Bjugs was depth, but it's not like we're losing a ton of production without him, even when he was healthy.

Also, on a related note, has anyone seen @Honour Over Glory lately? Last I saw him he was muttering something about a "cricket bat".

But this scenario all but gives McCann 3C. And that won't change even if he struggles. Sure we have young guys who could step in as bottom six contributors. But not 3C specifically.

 

[Ginormousthumbs]

Just move on from this frigging guy in the summer.

Only 3 1/2 weeks away.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Even with McCann's struggles he'll fill in fine at 3C for now, especially with a rather stacked top six.

I mean... I get placing an emphasis on that position but it constantly amazes me how MUCH Penguins fans obsess over the damned third line center.

It really isn't their fault though... the team and it's asinine endless quest to fill that void with horrible, ill-conceived fits is mostly to blame.

 

[Ryder71]

Even with McCann's struggles he'll fill in fine at 3C for now, especially with a rather stacked top six.

I mean... I get placing an emphasis on that position but it constantly amazes me how MUCH Penguins fans obsess over the damned third line center.

It really isn't their fault though... the team and it's asinine endless quest to fill that void with horrible, ill-conceived fits is mostly to blame.

How can he be ''fine'' if he struggles? Third line pivot is a very important position, no matter how you slice it. You can't go weeks without scoring and expect to win much of anything. And McCann has shown he can go through long periods without much in the way of producing. With Bjugstad out we have no real option anymore.

 

[Jules Winnfield]

Whoever said it earlier was right. Bjugstad is a guy that looks ok on a shitty team and then put him on a good team and he's out of place. He's in the mold of Nik Antropov and Alexei Ponikarovski. Big guys who ate minutes on subpar talented teams which made them look better than they were. Once they got on good teams they looked awful.

 

[HandshakeLine]

But this scenario all but gives McCann 3C. And that won't change even if he struggles. Sure we have young guys who could step in as bottom six contributors. But not 3C specifically.

Don't get me wrong, I think that McCann's not ideal as a 3c, but I think he's sufficient. It's not like Bjugs was producing very well there when he was healthy, anyway.

I do wish we still had Kahun, though.

 

[ColePens]

He has been such a disappointment here. I knew he was mostly a cap dump, and so many people around here liked his game, but I just never liked what I saw. He really was a poor man’s Jordan Staal, except drastically overpaid. He was even less physical and looked like a giraffe on skates at times.

Hopefully we’ve seen his last game as a Penguin.

Calling him a poor man's Staal is downgrading Jordan's actual impact to the game. As Blind/HSL said - we all thought it was at least a good gamble to try him out. And pooooooop. Nothing. But even right away, I was more content w/ McCann because I KNEW he'd fly.

 

[Ryder71]

Don't get me wrong, I think that McCann's not ideal as a 3c, but I think he's sufficient.

I do wish we still had Kahun, though.

I loathed that Kahun trade. And McCann and he had a real good thing going there.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Bjugstad is more like a bigger Spaling than a poor man's Staal

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

How can he be ''fine'' if he struggles? Third line pivot is a very important position, no matter how you slice it. You can't go weeks without scoring and expect to win much of anything. And McCann has shown he can go through long periods without much in the way of producing. With Bjugstad out we have no real option anymore.

I think you need to have some competence there, sure. I don't see it at all as a "very important position."

Bjugstad was not an option at any point, anyway. As inconsistent as McCann can be... he can at least keep up. And I would posit that these days the successful trend seems to be actually taking care of your scoring lines first and with a Sid AND Geno on your roster why the hell wouldn't we?

Please don't take this the wrong way because it's not meant to be directed towards you but I often think that people wring their hands over relatively unimportant things like third line centers to like... sound more coach-like or something. Much like faceoffs and dedicated penalty killers... it's an overblown talking point, IMO.

 

[Jules Winnfield]

Calling him a poor man's Staal is downgrading Jordan's actual impact to the game.

How about a socialist version of Staal?

How about the type of Staal you can buy on Alibaba for $2.99?

 

[The Great Mighty Poo]

I honestly can't see him on the roster past next years trading deadline.

 

[K Fleur]

Bjugs is barely a poor man’s Jared Staal.

 

[ColePens]

How about a socialist version of Staal?

How about the type of Staal you can buy on Alibaba for $2.99?

Bjugs is 100% what you get when you buy Jordan Staal on wish.com.

 

[Ryder71]

I think you need to have some competence there, sure. I don't see it at all as a "very important position."

Bjugstad was not an option at any point, anyway. As inconsistent as McCann can be... he can at least keep up. And I would posit that these days the successful trend seems to be actually taking care of your scoring lines first and with a Sid AND Geno on your roster why the hell wouldn't we?

Please don't take this the wrong way because it's not meant to be directed towards you but I often think that people wring their hands over relatively unimportant things like third line centers to like... sound more coach-like or something. Much like faceoffs and dedicated penalty killers... it's an overblown talking point, IMO.

Can you think of a Pens championship team where by the 3C was largely invisible?

I think you're WAY off on this one.

 

[HandshakeLine]

How about a socialist version of Staal?

How about the type of Staal you can buy on Alibaba for $2.99?

The 差不多 Staal.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

We were 5-line deep... and then Penguins stuff happened.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Lotta Staal talk here so I thought I'd have a look-see what he's been up to in recent years.

Holy shit.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Can you think of a Pens championship team where by the 3C was largely invisible?

I think you're WAY off on this one.

20016-2017. Bonino was largely a non-factor.

 

[Peat]

I come onto the board because I see something on twitter about Pens injuries and I see its Bjugstad, and I'm all

Only issue is that doesn't make moving him next season any easier.

But, well, can't lose what you never had. Just wasn't fit this season. I think people underplay how useful he was last season but that was last season and in a slightly different system to boot. And it's all completely academic as that's him down in a Pens jersey most like.

 

[Jules Winnfield]

I honestly can't see him on the roster past next years trading deadline.

The Pens are going to buy him out or shit can him somewhere. They have too many other salary decisions to make to decide to add/subtract players who are contributors to the team versus having a chunk of money tied up in a guy that is often injured, doesn't fit with the style of play guy in Barfstad.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Can you think of a Pens championship team where by the 3C was largely invisible?

I think you're WAY off on this one.

Depth always steps up one way or the other in the post season, third center 4th LW... whatever. This is nothing new. Happens every year. It doesn't mean this team needs to be spending like 4M in cap space plus the assets to acquire on their third center every season. I may be off but I'm pretty confident I'm not. I think this fanbase has been conditioned this way over the years. Obviously everyone's mileage may vary and that's fine.