Olli Määttä will stay with Pens (it's 40 roster games, not him playing 40.)

[wgknestrick]

I think this decision shows Shero/Bylsma do reward young players if they truly show they are the best player for the available position. A lot of people took them to task for jerking around Tangradi, but it turns out that he just sucks.

Tanner Glass exists and is on the roster = huge gaping hole in that logic. Show me any young player and I will show you a player that is better than Tanner Glass. I wish it was the way you say.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Tanner Glass exists and is on the roster = huge gaping hole in that logic. Show me any young player and I will show you a player that is better than Tanner Glass.

I like this game. Kevin Vellieux. Your move.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

Tanner Glass exists and is on the roster = huge gaping hole in that logic. Show me any young player and I will show you a player that is better than Tanner Glass. I wish it was the way you say.

Well yeah Tanner Glass is awful, especially for that contract. However, he's a 4th line banger. It's not like Beau Bennett is being held back because of Tanner Glass, they play different roles.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

His normal spot is on the third line when it should be top 6. Look at how the Blackhawks handled Brandon Saad. They didn't jerk him around on the third line. His pedigree dictated that he plays with other top 6 forwards, so they played him with Kane and Toews. Sure worked out in the playoffs, didn't it?

Every team has different openings, and isn't it possible Saad is also a better player than Bennett? Emerson Etem, a comparable to Beau Bennett is playing on the 3rd/4th lines in Anaheim. Are they ruining him? I think Beau Bennett is the first forward prospect in a long time that has shown any semblance of offensive skill so pens fans are a bit impatient and want him in the top 6 asap. It's not going to ruin his career if he plays with Sutter and Kobasew. It might even be good for him considering he'll have to drive that line.

 

[Pens1566]

Every team has different openings, and isn't it possible Saad is also a better player than Bennett? Emerson Etem, a comparable to Beau Bennett is playing on the 3rd/4th lines in Anaheim. Are they ruining him? I think Beau Bennett is the first forward prospect in a long time that has shown any semblance of offensive skill so pens fans are a bit impatient and want him in the top 6 asap. It's not going to ruin his career if he plays with Sutter and Kobasew. It might even be good for him considering he'll have to drive that line.

Agree. Saad is without a doubt better than Beau. And even then, he has spent time on the blackhawks 3rd line. In fact, he moves around quite a bit.

 

[Shockmaster]

Every team has different openings, and isn't it possible Saad is also a better player than Bennett? Emerson Etem, a comparable to Beau Bennett is playing on the 3rd/4th lines in Anaheim. Are they ruining him? I think Beau Bennett is the first forward prospect in a long time that has shown any semblance of offensive skill so pens fans are a bit impatient and want him in the top 6 asap. It's not going to ruin his career if he plays with Sutter and Kobasew. It might even be good for him considering he'll have to drive that line.

We don't know if Saad is better than Bennett because Bennett hardly gets a look in the top 6 because he's a young guy and he hasn't "earned it."

As for the bolded, how will it help him? He has top 6 pedigree and he's playing with third liners that don't have any type of finish. How is that going to make him better? What would make Bennett better is playing with other players who have top 6 pedigree, like Crosby or Malkin.

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

Great news for Maatta.



Not so much for Despres. He was last seen in disguise raiding Tim Hortons

 

[Freeptop]

We don't know if Saad is better than Bennett because Bennett hardly gets a look in the top 6 because he's a young guy and he hasn't "earned it."

As for the bolded, how will it help him? He has top 6 pedigree and he's playing with third liners that don't have any type of finish. How is that going to make him better? What would make Bennett better is playing with other players who have top 6 pedigree, like Crosby or Malkin.

Well, except for the fact that Bennett has spent the overwhelming majority of his even-strength shifts this season on Malkin's line.

 

[Shockmaster]

Well, except for the fact that Bennett has spent the overwhelming majority of his even-strength shifts this season on Malkin's line.

Sure, because Neal is hurt. He was pegged to start on the third line before that. It shouldn't take someone getting hurt for Bennett to play top 6.

 

[stardog]

Well that certainly didn't take long for this thread to get hijacked into something discussed in virtually every other thread on this board.
Tanner Glass, Beau Bennett, yada yada yada...
Congrats again to Olli Määtta! You deserve this and I'm looking forward to watching you grow as a player!

 

[Darth Vitale]

If you guys don't think the likes of Bennett, Jeffrey, Strait, Bortuzzo, Despres et al get dicked around by this regime, especially vis-a-vis mistake-prone veterans, then let's just end this here. Agree to disagree.

OK we disagree. Especially since Bennett, Despres and Bortuzzo are not remotely comparable to the other two (three if you include Tangradi, which I think you did earlier) in terms of discussing how young players should be handled, based on what they bring. Apples and oranges.

 

[billybudd]

I like this game. Kevin Vellieux. Your move.

Lol. Shane Endicott still count?

 

[WayneSid9987]

Bob McKenzie reminded me on twitter today just how close we were to not getting him. Calgary picked 21st and went off the board with Jankowski. Pen's snatched Maata up at 22nd. Ty Feaster.

 

[Ogrezilla]

 

[Ogrezilla]

Where would Despres play right now? He's not better than Niskanen or Maatta at the moment so he doesn't deserve to be up here. Bortuzzo fills a different role.

Bennett is being handled just fine. I don't see the problem.

Strait probably should've been traded instead of waived, but he never would've played in Pittsburgh's defense corps anyway.

Bortuzzo's time is now and he's playing great. He played okay last year but the pens didn't trust him for a stretch run and in the playoffs. Again, what's the huge issue here?

None of these guys are ruined. And none of these guys are so special that you have to give them preferential treatment and force them into the lineup.

Despres is better than Niskanen. Any extra mistakes are made up for by his size and better transition game. And the mistakes could be improved upon if he got to actually play. And lets not pretend Nisky doesn't make a ton of mistakes himself.

Nisky is an all around mediocre player. Despres is a work in progress whose strengths are much stronger than Niskanen's and his weaknesses are maybe half a notch behind Niskanen. And if he never gets to play, he will never get to improve on these problems. If Despres could play the rest of this season in the NHL there is no doubt in my mind that by May he would simply be a better player than Niskanen in nearly every possible way.

 

[vodeni]

Despres is better than Niskanen. Any extra mistakes are made up for by his size and better transition game. And the mistakes could be improved upon if he got to actually play. And lets not pretend Nisky doesn't make a ton of mistakes himself.

Nisky is an all around mediocre player. Despres is a work in progress whose strengths are much stronger than Niskanen's and his weaknesses are maybe half a notch behind Niskanen. And if he never gets to play, he will never get to improve on these problems. If Despres could play the rest of this season in the NHL there is no doubt in my mind that by May he would simply be a better player than Niskanen in nearly every possible way.

he will play, just not for the penguins

 

[Ogrezilla]

he will play, just not for the penguins

and when that happens he will be a much better player than Matt Niskanen can ever hope to be.

 

[JTG]

Good for the young man. I think he has potential to be a top pair defenseman.

 

[vodeni]

and when that happens he will be a much better player than Matt Niskanen can ever hope to be.

...and many other d-man in the league,

 

[Shockmaster]

and when that happens he will be a much better player than Matt Niskanen can ever hope to be.

That's unfortunate since the Penguins tend to fall in love with mediocre/try-hard players while hurting their young players' development at the same time. Glad to see they at least got it right with Maatta.

 

[AjaxTelamon]

Niskanen officially does not have a place on the team anymore, no matter how you cut it. I think it's going to hurt Maatta not having Bort, who is currently a limited player, but a player who keeps things simple enough to succeed in his roll. Niskanen needs some sheltering, and his offensive upside is redundant with Maatta's (meaning jumping up on the play, and 2nd PP time).

So they really need to do something about Niskanen. We can't have two guys that need insulation out there (Nisky and Orpik), and 1 guy who by default will get it (Letang).

And it sucks to have Bort sitting. Maatta and Bort needs to germinate!

 

[mpp9]

Despres is better than Niskanen. Any extra mistakes are made up for by his size and better transition game. And the mistakes could be improved upon if he got to actually play. And lets not pretend Nisky doesn't make a ton of mistakes himself.

Nisky is an all around mediocre player. Despres is a work in progress whose strengths are much stronger than Niskanen's and his weaknesses are maybe half a notch behind Niskanen. And if he never gets to play, he will never get to improve on these problems.

Agreed. How about this.

Orpik for Kuli+1st later in the season. Promote whoever among Despres and Dumoulin is best suited for a shutdown role and legit minutes.

Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis
Kulemin-Malkin-Neal
Jokinen-Sutter-Bennett
Glass-Adams

Scuds-Letang
Despres/Dumoulin-Martin
Maatta-Nisky
Bort

Run 7 D in the postseason. We move on from a player we're not going to re-sign in the offseason, or at least shouldn't. And bring in someone we'd likely target in free agency, and who can be a longterm solution at wing, while getting another quality asset in return.

You have Letang and Martin playing 25+ minutes in the playoffs. Scuds tends to have his ice time go up as well. And you spread the ice time out around the future of our blue line.

Kumbaya 'n at.

 

[Crafton]

anyone read this interview with Jussi?

What was your reaction when you found out he would be staying at the NHL level?

"I’ve very happy for him. Obviously I’ve been talking a little bit with him. I think I’ve been maybe more nervous than him if he’s going to stay or not. I’m really happy for him. Being 19-years-old and if obviously you look at our defensive corps, I don’t think there were too many opening sports with our top seven [defenseman] and he was able to crack in there. That tells the story at how good he’s been. It’s a really big day for him and I’m happy for him."

You mentioned the Olympics. Have you talked to Finland's management regarding him?

"Yeah. I’ve been talking a little it to one of the people in management. Obviously they are scouting a lot too [for] all of our players who are playing [in North America]. I think they’ve seen it already. He’s already playing in the NHL. He’s made the team here. He’s pretty much a lock to make the Olympic team."

http://blogs.post-gazette.com/sport...-13?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

 

[Shockmaster]

Agreed. How about this.

Orpik for Kuli+1st later in the season. Promote whoever among Despres and Dumoulin is best suited for a shutdown role and legit minutes.

Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis
Kulemin-Malkin-Neal
Jokinen-Sutter-Bennett
Glass-Adams

Scuds-Letang
Despres/Dumoulin-Martin
Maatta-Nisky
Bort

Run 7 D in the postseason. We move on from a player we're not going to re-sign in the offseason, or at least shouldn't. And bring in someone we'd likely target in free agency, and who can be a longterm solution at wing, while getting another quality asset in return.

You have Letang and Martin playing 25+ minutes in the playoffs. Scuds tends to have his ice time go up as well. And you spread the ice time out around the future of our blue line.

Kumbaya 'n at.

Don't want Niskanen on the team at all. He needs to go long before Orpik does.

As for Despres, he probably doesn't have much of a future with the Penguins.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Agreed. How about this.

Orpik for Kuli+1st later in the season. Promote whoever among Despres and Dumoulin is best suited for a shutdown role and legit minutes.

Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis
Kulemin-Malkin-Neal
Jokinen-Sutter-Bennett
Glass-Adams

Scuds-Letang
Despres/Dumoulin-Martin
Maatta-Nisky
Bort



Kumbaya 'n at.

Swap Bort and NIsky. He'd be a solid number 7.