Our older D-men are complacent, and comfortable. How does RS not see this?

[Waffle Fries]

I wasn't thrilled about signing Scuds. I wanted Despres to play with Letang because they always seemed to bring out the best in each other and it made Letang play a more responsible game (he even said so himself.) I feared that having Scuds would make Letang more reckless.

But I warmed up to the idea of having him on the team. He looked good before his ankle injury. Since then he's been pretty inconsistent. I'm not sure what his issue has been. However because of injuries, he hasn't really been able to do what he was actually brought in to do and that's play alongside Letang. Everyone except Paul Martin looks terrible next to Orpik, and Scuds has been there entirely too much lately.

I'm not sure how to fix Scuds, I don't think he suddenly forgot how to play hockey well. While he is a problem, I don't see him as the problem on defense. That title belongs solely to Brooks Orpik.

 

[The Tang]

Nothing has changed with Scuderi; he's played like this his entire career. I don't know why it's only being noticed now...

As for Orpik, his fall off has been uncanny. It's hard to imagine he's the same person that was a key part of our cup run. I've always been a fan of his, but even I can't defend the way he plays anymore

 

[ArcticFox]

Orpik was wortless last year to. But he is even worse this year and draging down Martin, or Martin is tired always cleaning up after the pos.

This is how you talk about a man who has helped giving the younger fans a recent/one more cup?

 

[Farnham4top6]

This is how you talk about a man who has helped giving the younger fans a recent/one more cup?

He is laziest player in the league, always trying to hurt MAF by pushing opposition players into him, attacks opposition players after they have scored, always blames someone else for the problems when he is the main problem etc..

 

[Ziggyjoe21]

Besides Orpik the D is fine. I see no worries.

-Martin is still a legit top 2, rock solid Dman.
-Letang is having an off year, but his value is based on his career, not just these past few months.
-Scuderi is what he always was, a mediocre #4 Dman. I don't mind Shero signing him because he's what we needed in the playoffs. I just think he's a bit over his head playing with Letang.
-Niskanen is fine.
-Maatta is solid.
-Bort is fine.
-Engo is fine for a #7 Dman.

Letang, Niskanen, Martin, Maatta can all play the PP well.
All Dmen can play the PK well.

The emergence of Maatta and Niskanen, and the signing of Scuds, make up for Letang's issues.

I have no complaints about anything besides Orpik.

 

[SteelFish87*]

There's nothing RS can do at this point. We had to stick with what we have and hope Orpik and Scuds step it up in the playoffs

Then we must let Orpik walk after the season. If we re-sign him, I will flip out

 

[WVP]

Orpik's not coming back (I'd be shocked) but I'd expect both Niskanen and the Pens want to make a deal. So we'll have:

Scuderi - Letang
Despres - Martin
Maatta - Niskanen

would be a great start for next year if Despres can get his game together and on the same page as the staff. Puck movers everywhere.

 

[vodeni]

There's nothing RS can do at this point. We had to stick with what we have and hope Orpik and Scuds step it up in the playoffs

Then we must let Orpik walk after the season. If we re-sign him, I will flip out

another urban myth being perpetrated for so long....as if they can just switch...The only way they don't show how awful they are is if we play some kind of collapse down low, or trap options where they don't have to worry about speed of the game or taking puck out of the zone in a half meaningful way....

 

[ArcticFox]

-Martin is still a legit top 2, rock solid Dman.
-Letang is having an off year, but his value is based on his career, not just these past few months.
-Scuderi is what he always was, a mediocre #4 Dman. I don't mind Shero signing him because he's what we needed in the playoffs. I just think he's a bit over his head playing with Letang.
-Niskanen is fine.
-Maatta is solid.
-Bort is fine.
-Engo is fine for a #7 Dman.

Martin is the no.2 surprise of this teams D-men, I'm amazingly happy he's bounced back.
Letang is not having an off year, that would imply he's playing bad. Letang is just playing wrong, he thinks he's an offense only RW. And to be honest he's always been utter **** playing D in the low slot: only Fanoof is more of a pylon in the league.
Scuderi analysis is spot on but at his age and our system he needs to be traded for something asap. Any return will be fine, a 5th round pick or whatever. Along with Brooks being bought out hopefully this will solve alot.
Niskanen is fine? Fine? No my darling he's the no.1 surprise on this teams D. His attitude and effort is just absolutely amazing, such concentration and focus I love it. Not to mention he's also managing to chip in on offense as well. As far as I'm concerned Nisky-Maatta should be our second pair after Letang-Martin.
While I have alot of love for Bort and Engo I really don't trust them enough to make them our regular bottom pair. I'd be OK with Bort since he's very solid on D but I want a fast tough two-way guy on his side. Engo as the 7th along with some baby-pens will be fine for 2-3 years.

 

[vodeni]

Besides Orpik the D is fine. I see no worries.

-Martin is still a legit top 2, rock solid Dman.
-Letang is having an off year, but his value is based on his career, not just these past few months.
-Scuderi is what he always was, a mediocre #4 Dman. I don't mind Shero signing him because he's what we needed in the playoffs. I just think he's a bit over his head playing with Letang.
-Niskanen is fine.
-Maatta is solid.
-Bort is fine.
-Engo is fine for a #7 Dman.

Letang, Niskanen, Martin, Maatta can all play the PP well.
All Dmen can play the PK well.

The emergence of Maatta and Niskanen, and the signing of Scuds, make up for Letang's issues.

I have no complaints about anything besides Orpik.

Did you just forget about 47????? or else....

 

[Speaking Moistly]

Martin is the no.2 surprise of this teams D-men, I'm amazingly happy he's bounced back.
Letang is not having an off year, that would imply he's playing bad. Letang is just playing wrong, he thinks he's an offense only RW. And to be honest he's always been utter **** playing D in the low slot: only Fanoof is more of a pylon in the league.
Scuderi analysis is spot on but at his age and our system he needs to be traded for something asap. Any return will be fine, a 5th round pick or whatever. Along with Brooks being bought out hopefully this will solve alot.
Niskanen is fine? Fine? No my darling he's the no.1 surprise on this teams D. His attitude and effort is just absolutely amazing, such concentration and focus I love it. Not to mention he's also managing to chip in on offense as well. As far as I'm concerned Nisky-Maatta should be our second pair after Letang-Martin.
While I have alot of love for Bort and Engo I really don't trust them enough to make them our regular bottom pair. I'd be OK with Bort since he's very solid on D but I want a fast tough two-way guy on his side. Engo as the 7th along with some baby-pens will be fine for 2-3 years.

This is the last season on his contract, he doesn't need to be bought out. Just don't re-signed him.

 

[Ziggyjoe21]

Did you just forget about 47????? or else....

I didn't forget about Despres. He only plays if there's an injury. If everyone is healthy Engo is #7 Dman, Despres is in press box. If there are injuries then Despres MIGHT jump over Engo depending if the injured Dmen are puck movers or not.

From what we hear, the Pens aren't high on Despres, and obviously don't give him much of a chance to prove himself.

Barring injuries, Despres won't sniff the playoffs.

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

i would like to say that i most certainly did not "fist pump" when i heard about the scuderi signing

Same. I was more like "I guess this means Shero's moving Orpik cause there's no way they'll both be on the team."

 

[ObsessedCreative*]

I did, and I wrote as much here.

This isn't because I think Scuderi is bad or suddenly fell off a cliff.

When Scuderi was "The Piece", the Penguins played a completely difference system.

Since then, every player in Scuderi's ilk - defensive, not the "skate the puck out of danger kind - has struggled mightily.

There was absolutely no reason to think that all of these players were fine the day before they arrived in Pittsburgh and fine the day they left Pittsburgh and just had a weird bad spell in between.

There is something about the system - and I'm not smart enough to tell you what - that makes players like Scuderi and, yes, Orpik (whom I think is bad but would be less bad in, say, LA) look worse than they are.

So yea, I said Scuderi would be bad from the get-go, and it really had nothing to do with him.

Dan Bylsma's hurry up 7 seconds out of the zone STRECH pass garbage is a "system" that leaves a very high margin of error (turn overs / interceptions / pick offs) thus instead of making a smart and "safe" play he forces all guys (despite the type of D-man they are and game they play) to use his "brilliant" bull-**** methods...

 

[Ogrezilla]

Scuds is a tough one. The reaction when he signed was almost uniformly fist-pump. Some people were leery of the length but nobody thought he would stink outta the gate.

I was pretty vocal about not wanting to sign him before it happened. I don't think its the worst signing in the world, but its one that I still wish we had passed on.

 

[eXile59]

Orpik's decline began after the 2nd hernia surgery. That Philly series you will not see worse defense. Several scoring chances and goals were directly his fault.

Why does Shero do nothing? My guess he's become attached to the players on a personal level.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Orpik's decline began after the 2nd hernia surgery. That Philly series you will not see worse defense. Several scoring chances and goals were directly his fault.

Why does Shero do nothing? My guess he's become attached to the players on a personal level.

Its that or he is just completely unable to evaluate talent. I'm not thrilled about either option.

 

[Coastal Kev]

Scuds is a tough one. The reaction when he signed was almost uniformly fist-pump. Some people were leery of the length but nobody thought he would stink outta the gate.

I'm going to go with the theory that these guys weren't signed to look great in the regular season, which as long as you get in means nothing, and their value will be a lot higher in the playoffs, when you are allowed to mug guys. Scuderi was a warrior for LA in their past few playoff runs, and hopefully Orpik is saving himself as well.

Nobody thought he would be awful out of the gate? Take a look at his signing thread, some, including me thought his signing was a disaster. Couple that with Duper, Kuni and Adams and Shero has completely hamstrung the organization for years to come. And it doesn't get better next season, these guys will only slow down even more.

 

[Shockmaster]

Orpik's decline began after the 2nd hernia surgery. That Philly series you will not see worse defense. Several scoring chances and goals were directly his fault.

Why does Shero do nothing? My guess he's become attached to the players on a personal level.

Blind faith in Bylsma most likely. If Bylsma doesn't see a problem with any older vets, Shero will trust his judgement.

 

[eXile59]

Blind faith in Bylsma most likely. If Bylsma doesn't see a problem with any older vets, Shero will trust his judgement.

That's what I'm leaning towards. I do think the ownership is competitive though. I hope if this year passes with out a SCF showing this regime is going to officially be labeled as regular season hero's. The squeeze will be tighter and Shero might be forced to finally step out of his comfort zone. At

 

[TNT87]

Unfortunately Orpik's play has been in a steady decline for a while now. He did play decent in the playoffs last season and hopefully he can do the same this year before he ends his Penguins career.

I didn't mind the Scuds signing other than the length. Again if he can play well in the playoffs and be a steady performer on the blueline then the signing would be well worth it.

 

[Ugene Magic]

So... when Orpik's gone, who's the next one at fault? Scuderi?

I'm going to tell you it is the system, and on top of that it's the forwards lack of being smarter with the puck. There's times where you take big gambles. Being down in a game is one, but at the frequency these guys do it is alarming.

Does it fall on deaf ears when Vets say they want to play defensive hockey?

Bylsma's defensive system is still have the puck in the offensive zone as long as you can. Keep the puck north. Get the puck out as fast as you can. This season it changed a bit, but not enough. The forwards mindset has to be put in place to not take huge gambles with the puck. They can't be thinking offense when the pucks still deep in their zone. Not just one forward but as many as two leave/bolt the zone and take for granted that the D-man will get it up to them. Teams that know our system cut off the boards in behind the forwards jumping up taking away the percentages.

As some said, (I think TR) there's a huge gap between the forwards and D-man. The opposite team just has way to much time picking off outlet passes and waiting for their forwards to get back on side where they just swing right back in the zone before the Pens forwards can even react fast enough to prevent prolong offensive zone time for the other team. They expend so much extra energy with this system in place back tracking, rinse repeat this a few times on a single shift that this system is worse than the one DB said they couldn't do for an entire season. I call his call and his system, bunk.

Bad habbits, rooted in for seasons now.

 

[billybudd]

There's no question James Neal (and half the other players) bolting for the far blueline every time he thinks the D might have the puck makes Scuderi and other D-only-D less effective than he/they should be. It's been this way for a long time.

But that's not really something I see as being able to be extended to Orpik at this particular point. Strong forwards overpower him. Quick players blow past him. Handsy players turnstyle him.

Having a tighter grouping between the forwards and the D would probably help him a little, but there's nothing any coach can do to stop Perry from pushing him off the puck like he's a fly or Tavares from turning him inside out when the puck cycles to his side.

Brooks Anchor's time is just up. Maybe some people see the same thing with Scuderi, but I'm not one of them.