Confirmed with Link: Penguins acquire Joseph Blandisi from Anaheim

[WayneSid9987]

That's rich coming from someone who's spent half a thread complaining about people having a different view point on the internet

But anyway, sure ZAR has more upside. But he has been promoted quicker than his performances deserve, and given more rope than he deserves, because they think he has physicality and grit. I've rarely seen those qualities in him; au contraire, I've rarely seen a 4th liner lose so many board battles.

They got Jack Johnson because he hit a lot and was tough. They got him a ridiculous contract too. He is, in fairness, justifying his cap hit for now. But he's still a guy who they got to be a tougher team who isn't all that tough and isn't all that great. And Oleksiak, Oleksiak is definitely a "don't hurt us" player. Sure, I think they were getting more from him as a player, but they definitely like him because he's really big.

And there we are. Three non-plugs who don't really fit the template for Penguins hockey were we used superior skating, intellect and puck handling to really force the pace of the game - they've got maybe one of those attributes each. And they're not all that tough. And sure, they're not a big issue individually, but add them together - and add in the use of plugs who hit a lot rather than being intelligent with good hands - and its trending that way. And we don't know where it ends. Moving a decently handsy 13th forward partly because he wasn't physical enough and so they can give more rope to Wilson? Not a big deal on its own, but worrying as part of a trend.

Just gotta hope JR sees the light now.
I don't worry much about the Wilson thing cuz JR didn't have the flexibility to bring the Wilkes kids up and down. Now he does.
And also Hags needed to go with the way he was trending 5on5. It sucked identity wise but Pearson is either here scoring more 5on5 or being used as a piece in a deal later on.
All your other points are valid.
I will say tho that not having JS for this long has hurt alot.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

That's rich coming from someone who's spent half a thread complaining about people having a different view point on the internet

But anyway, sure ZAR has more upside. But he has been promoted quicker than his performances deserve, and given more rope than he deserves, because they think he has physicality and grit. I've rarely seen those qualities in him; au contraire, I've rarely seen a 4th liner lose so many board battles.

They got Jack Johnson because he hit a lot and was tough. They got him a ridiculous contract too. He is, in fairness, justifying his cap hit for now. But he's still a guy who they got to be a tougher team who isn't all that tough and isn't all that great. And Oleksiak, Oleksiak is definitely a "don't hurt us" player. Sure, I think they were getting more from him as a player, but they definitely like him because he's really big.

And there we are. Three non-plugs who don't really fit the template for Penguins hockey were we used superior skating, intellect and puck handling to really force the pace of the game - they've got maybe one of those attributes each. And they're not all that tough. And sure, they're not a big issue individually, but add them together - and add in the use of plugs who hit a lot rather than being intelligent with good hands - and its trending that way. And we don't know where it ends. Moving a decently handsy 13th forward partly because he wasn't physical enough and so they can give more rope to Wilson? Not a big deal on its own, but worrying as part of a trend.

I like the physicality JJ brings. As I said before, them advertising him as a offensive blueliner when he signed is what has me disappointed.

It’s kind of crazy they thought Grant was a gritty guy because he was big.

Makes you wonder how much tape they watched on these two before inking them.

I just wish like hell they didn’t find the need to trade skill and speed for grit. All the “grit” they have tried to add under both Shero and JR is mostly guys with low offensive IQs and poor to avg skating.

I love physical hockey and gritty guys, but with this org it’s almost always been a trade off between speed/skill and grit when they feel the need to get tougher.

Kunitz is the last guy I can remember that they added that had speed and skill to go with his toughness. Most of the rest have been lumbering coal miners that hurt the team with their lack of talent, and make your eyes bleed when they try to play this hockey thing.

 

[NMK11]

I like the physicality JJ brings. As I said before, them advertising him as a offensive blueliner when he signed is what has me disappointed.

It’s kind of crazy they thought Grant was a gritty guy because he was big.

Makes you wonder how much tape they watched on these two before inking them.

I just wish like hell they didn’t find the need to trade skill and speed for grit. All the “grit” they have tried to add under both Shero and JR is mostly guys with low offensive IQs and poor to avg skating.

I love physical hockey and gritty guys, but with this org it’s almost always been a trade off between speed/skill and grit when they feel the need to get tougher.

Kunitz is the last guy I can remember that they added that had speed and skill to go with his toughness. Most of the rest have been lumbering coal miners that hurt the team more than anything, and make your eyes bleed when they try to play this hockey thing.

Everyone wants the perfect combo of speed, skill, and grit. Unfortunately it's hard to find all three together, and when you do it usually comes with a hefty price tag. I wonder if management understands that and so tries to inject the grit thinking they have the speed and skill to cover it up, or if they think the grit they are bringing in is more skilled than they actually are. Either they're misevaluating the team, or they're misevaluating the player, not sure which is worse.

Give me four lines that can play hockey and pressure the other team to change. The way to counter the Wilson's of the world is to stay disciplined and draw penalties rather than to sign the Reave's, JJ's, Grant's, and Wilson's of the world.

 

[Andy99]

I like the physicality JJ brings. As I said before, them advertising him as a offensive blueliner when he signed is what has me disappointed.

It’s kind of crazy they thought Grant was a gritty guy because he was big.

Makes you wonder how much tape they watched on these two before inking them.

I just wish like hell they didn’t find the need to trade skill and speed for grit. All the “grit” they have tried to add under both Shero and JR is mostly guys with low offensive IQs and poor to avg skating.

I love physical hockey and gritty guys, but with this org it’s almost always been a trade off between speed/skill and grit when they feel the need to get tougher.

Kunitz is the last guy I can remember that they added that had speed and skill to go with his toughness. Most of the rest have been lumbering coal miners that hurt the team with their lack of talent, and make your eyes bleed when they try to play this hockey thing.

Yep...this is one my pet peeves....gritty doesn’t mean devoid of high skill...they should be looking for younger speedy, gritty, physical and highly skilled players like prime Kunitz, and Ferland or Dzingel or Stone would be a great start...that they somehow think trading out speed and skill for gritty and physical is what they need to be doing to help this team is ridiculous...they’re not mutually exclusive and players that have the latter two characteristics only should not be trumping players with the former two...

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Everyone wants the perfect combo of speed, skill, and grit. Unfortunately it's hard to find all three together, and when you do it usually comes with a hefty price tag. I wonder if management understands that and so tries to inject the grit thinking they have the speed and skill to cover it up, or if they think the grit they are bringing in is more skilled than they actually are. Either they're misevaluating the team, or they're misevaluating the player, not sure which is worse.

Give me four lines that can play hockey and pressure the other team to change. The way to counter the Wilson's of the world is to stay disciplined and draw penalties rather than to sign the Reave's, JJ's, Grant's, and Wilson's of the world.

I’ve pounded on that idea for years when people whine this board is soft and doesn’t want gritty players. My response is always the same: skilled/fast skating grit players aren’t easy to come by.

However, many people have stated similar thoughts as I just did... they don’t want untalented grit players slothing around the ice for the sake of toughness.

They literally have a guy out there now who can’t even stickhandle (JR can’t even say anything legit about him except he keeps the team loose on and off the ice)... they signed a big guy hoping he was gritty and he wasn’t... and they have convinced themselves a kid with fourth line abilities is a top sixer.

Every time this org gets into this “more toughness” mode, it almost never works out and makes the team worse. I keep thinking of that 2013 team where Shero just kept adding grit and toughness and never stopped to think how slow he was making the team. Isles were skating circles around them, and the Bruins made that roster look like they were in quicksand.

Then the Glass and Adams years... which I don’t want to even discuss...

Thankfully JR comes in and gets it and says they need four lines that can skate and score. Good things finally happen again.

Then they get away from that last season and he reiterates this summer he wants to fix his fourth line, mentions there wasn’t enough skill on it... and they decide having guys like Grant and Wilson is in line with that vision?

Like I said earlier, people either get it or they don’t.

 

[BrokenStick]

I was kind of happy...

...Then I read the silly quotes about Wilson and it’s like wtf... dude is a journeyman plug that hasn’t even scored an NHL goal yet and can barely handle the puck.

I honestly think JR was asked what this trade meant for Wilson and he just gave a general meaningless supportive answer like he does about any player that he's not trying to motivate.

Seriously, leadership and toughness are the meaningless terms that coaches and GMs use when they don't have anything better to say.

If anything, I'd say that this trade is somewhat about trying to find a better option than Wilson without putting our developing prospects in a situation where they'd be getting low minutes.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

I honestly think JR was asked what this trade meant for Wilson and he just gave a general meaningless supportive answer like he does about any player that he's not trying to motivate.

Seriously, leadership and toughness are the meaningless terms that coaches and GMs use when they don't have anything better to say.

If anything, I'd say that this trade is somewhat about trying to find a better option than Wilson without putting our developing prospects in a situation where they'd be getting low minutes.

Like I said yesterday, Wilson is more of an annoyance and a reminder of the silly shit that happened with Glass and Adams.

I’m more irritated by them:

-signing Grant to add grit, blocking TB, then realizing.. Doh! He’s not gritty.

- pushing a prospect with fourth line abilities to be a top sixer.

- using Oleksiak like he’s some tough guy and playing him over Riikola.. and we get to see the atrocious Maatta-Big O pairing.

Like I mentioned to Ramzi yesterday, I’m hoping this trade is JR thinking, “hey, I can find a little grit and not trade off speed and skill” with fourth liners.

 

[WheresRamziAbid]

The interesting thing about Blandisi to me is the wide range of outcomes.

I could easily see him playing 2 games, being sent down and be no more than a footnote in the vein of Zolnierczyk or Farnham.

I could also see the (though less likely) outcome where he turns into a combo of speed, pestyness and competant scoring. Some weird lovechild of Hagelin, Dupuis, Cooke and Kennedy. Not exactly either one but a poor mans version of each of their strengths.

 

[The Old Master]

I could also see the (though less likely) outcome where he turns into a combo of speed, pestyness and competant scoring. Some weird lovechild of Hagelin, Dupuis, Cooke and Kennedy. Not exactly either one but a poor mans version of each of their strengths.

I am now trying to unsee this, but I can't.

 

[WheresRamziAbid]

I am now trying to unsee this, but I can't.

Tyquel DuCooklin

 

[Randy Butternubs]

Watch him get a hatty tonight.

 

[Tom Hanks]

Watch him get a hatty tonight.

Sporting Rust’s old number

 

[EightyOne]

More importantly,.... #36 was worn by Matthew Barnaby 99-01 and Andre Roy 06-07.

I think those will be closer to his spirit animal....for better or worse.

 

[LOGiK]

More importantly,.... #36 was worn by Matthew Barnaby 99-01 and Andre Roy 06-07.

I think those will be closer to his spirit animal....for better or worse.

Was Barnaby in prison or was it Billy Tibbitts? Or were they both in prison hah... I know Tibbits was, but was Barnaby?

Edit:
I would LOVE to see either of those two homicidal maniacs show tom wilson what a real psycho could do.

 

[EightyOne]

I think Barnaby kept his personal life legal....


* edit for sure DWI in 2011. Guess ESPN fired him over it. And DV for kicking garage of house of his estranged wife. Sounds like that was a bad year for him.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

With the nickname of blender/magic bullet, I had a sneaky suspicion that Blandisi was given 36 cause JFK may have been the 36th US president. I was wrong.

He's the 35th.

Which means 36 means LBJ. Coincidence? I think not.

Illuminati.

Grassy Knoll.

 

[Freeptop]

Kuhnhackl had a pretty good rookie season. I wouldn’t call him a plug. He obviously regressed every year after but he was good in 2015/16.

I like Kuhnhackl - I've got a Kuhnhackl Shirsey, even (though it was free thanks to Pens Points...) But even in his rookie year, he wasn't anything really special: 15 points in 57 games, for a 0.38 pts/g average, which dropped to 0.21 in the playoffs. He was just better than the kind of garbage the Pens had been trying to put on their fourth line for the years prior, so he seemed like such a breath of fresh air at the time.

In any case, Sullivan's made it pretty clear through his actions that Wilson will be out of the lineup once they have a healthy lineup.

 

[WayneSid9987]

Liked his first showing with very limited ice time.
I pray he hops over Wilson on the depth chart.

 

[Hockey4Lyfe]

Will be interesting to see who all gets a sweater when everyone is healthy. ZAR and Horny pushes who and who out of the lineup. I’d say Wilson and ??

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Will be interesting to see who all gets a sweater when everyone is healthy. ZAR and Horny pushes who and who out of the lineup. I’d say Wilson and ??

Blandisi I would guess?

 

[WayneSid9987]

Blandisi I would guess?

Yes, it'll be him.
But JR will have more flexibility to try Wilkes kids for games.
If a ZAR or Sheahan sucks in a game(with everyone healthy and 8D on the roster vs 9), down goes the 13thF place holder(Wilson) and up comes a Blandisi or Dea or Blueger. They prove their stuff, they stay. They don't in 2 or so games they can go back down and next man is tried.
Thats where the more flexibility comes in with Grant gone.

 

[Tacitus Kilgore]

Followed him on Instagram after the trade, dude looks a lot like Trudeau in some photos

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Yes, it'll be him.
But JR will have more flexibility to try Wilkes kids for games.
If a ZAR or Sheahan sucks in a game(with everyone healthy and 8D on the roster vs 9), down goes the 13thF place holder(Wilson) and up comes a Blandisi or Dea or Blueger. They prove their stuff, they stay. They don't in 2 or so games they can go back down and next man is tried.
Thats where the more flexibility comes in with Grant gone.

JR mentioned Blueger, I'd love to see him actually call him up and get Sully to play him for once.

 

[Harvey Birdman]

I like Kuhnhackl - I've got a Kuhnhackl Shirsey, even (though it was free thanks to Pens Points...) But even in his rookie year, he wasn't anything really special: 15 points in 57 games, for a 0.38 pts/g average, which dropped to 0.21 in the playoffs. He was just better than the kind of garbage the Pens had been trying to put on their fourth line for the years prior, so he seemed like such a breath of fresh air at the time.

In any case, Sullivan's made it pretty clear through his actions that Wilson will be out of the lineup once they have a healthy lineup.

I had a lot of hope with Kuhn that he would craft himself into a third line Swiss Army knife kind of player. Expert at nothing but decent all around game and pk specialist. Sadly that never materialized.

 

[Clare2904]

As expected, sent to WBS