Confirmed with Link: Penguins re-sign Justin Schultz to a 1-year deal ($1.4MM AAV)

[mpp9]

If you watch his career highlights, damn near all of his production comes from jumping into the play big time. You saw flashes of that this season, but not nearly as much as in the past. If he can figure out the proper balance and recognize when to pinch, Sid in particular could definitely make him a big time ES scorer.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Schultz seems very slick on his zone exits under pressure. He always manages one little extra move to get the puck out.

 

[JTG]

If you watch his career highlights, damn near all of his production comes from jumping into the play big time. You saw flashes of that this season, but not nearly as much as in the past. If he can figure out the proper balance and recognize when to pinch, Sid in particular could definitely make him a big time ES scorer.

Yeah, Schultz could reincarnate that Whitney-Sid play no doubt. I just love Schultz's shot. It's so hard and he keeps it flat and low. With a guy like Sid around the net, it's deflection city.

 

[JTG]

Schultz seems very slick on his zone exits under pressure. He always manages one little extra move to get the puck out.

I think that's a big reason why his defense doesn't look poor here. He gets the puck, and it's out. None of this ****ing around with it...regrouping. On the stick, turn up ice, out the zone.

 

[PensPlz]

Schultz on that first goal was great. Simple play, he wasn't trying to pick a corner that hits the glass and out of the zone... he was shooting for a rebound. Good stuff.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

I think that's a big reason why his defense doesn't look poor here. He gets the puck, and it's out. None of this ****ing around with it...regrouping. On the stick, turn up ice, out the zone.

Yep. Just another example of the Pens identifying undervalued strengths in trade targets last year.

 

[billybudd]

Schultz seems very slick on his zone exits under pressure. He always manages one little extra move to get the puck out.

Good at not getting killed in the process, too, without being quite as obvious about it as #81 (not that I'm complaining about #81).

 

[Jacob]

I'd like to see Schultz on the top PP, at least occasionally, in place of Letang. A little less minutes in the regular season wouldn't hurt Letang and I think Schultz can be better at running the point anyway, I don't think he's as gun shy to shoot.

 

[Gurglesons]

I'd like to see Schultz on the top PP, at least occasionally, in place of Letang. A little less minutes in the regular season wouldn't hurt Letang and I think Schultz can be better at running the point anyway, I don't think he's as gun shy to shoot.

It is absolutely insane to me that people think that Justin Schultz can replace Kris Letang in any position.

Letang literally just led a defense core of nobodies to a Stanley Cup Championship.

 

[canadianguy77]

It is absolutely insane to me that people think that Justin Schultz can replace Kris Letang in any position.

Letang literally just led a defense core of nobodies to a Stanley Cup Championship.

???
All of our d-men have pretty decent pedigrees. Maybe the word you're really looking for is "unproven," at the NHL level. Even that's a stretch because of Daley.

 

[Gurglesons]

I'm a pretty big fan of Schultz. I see a great deal of potential in him, and I think if he gains more confidence, he has the ability to be a legitimate guy for us going forward where he can plays those mins he was in Edmonton. I think he is going to be a late bloomer of sorts, but I do see him as a guy who can develop into a middle pairing guy like Niskanen did. I think Schultz feel for he offensive zone is fun to watch. I also love how he mans a powerplay and can lay low bombs on net from the point. His defensive game needs work, and for his size, I'd like to see him play with more of an edge. I thought his playoffs were fantastic, and hopefully that's the guy we get on this show-me deal.

Schultz played 15 playoff games, and had 4 points, but was a plus player. I think you can very clearly see that Martin sort of sat him down and said, "listen, get your defensive **** together and let the offensive side come." I didn't see a defensive liability, aside from a game or two in the playoffs from him.

That's because he was severely sheltered. Letang was literally jumping on the ice to get him off the ice in the Sharks series.

I think you let Schultz play a full season and throw him anything about 15 minutes and you'll start seeing what kind of player he is. Even when Nisky was bad in Dallas, he wasn't a complete defensive liability. He just lost all his offensive swagger.

Pouliot is a far better defensive player than Justin Schultz will ever be for us. Hopefully we can build up Schultz enough that Las Vegas wants to take him though.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

They don’t need to decide who’s going to be the point on the PP for the rest of the season in July, but it’s Letang’s spot to lose. He will and should start the season there, but if the top PP struggles and Schultz looks good on the second unit, give him a few PP’s on the top unit. Then you just go with the flow.

Daley could also work. However Letang deserves a spot on one of the units. Running 2 defenseman on the second unit with Letang along the left boards sounds good.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Schultz on that first goal was great. Simple play, he wasn't trying to pick a corner that hits the glass and out of the zone... he was shooting for a rebound. Good stuff.

It kinda looked like he was picking a corner. It was no rebound, it bounced off the Sharks D.

 

[vid387]

Schultz on that first goal was great. Simple play, he wasn't trying to pick a corner that hits the glass and out of the zone... he was shooting for a rebound. Good stuff.

He absolutely was trying to pick a corner and go top glove. He cradles, looks up, uses the defenseman as a screen and unluckily (or luckily) gets it blocked by the defenders glove.

You think shooting for a rebound when he has time and a screen in the high slot is a good play?

He made a great play and exactly what he was supposed to do... and it wasn't shooting for a rebound.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

He "struggles" with being the go-to guy on the power play even though since becoming a legitimate top four option in the 09-10 season he is top ten in power play points.

The only person close to him in terms of points in games played is Shattenkirk in the top ten.

Letang is a legitimate power play defenseman. His issue is that he plays on the power play with Malkin and Crosby who would rather pass the puck than take a shot. He isn't the player that is going to be taking slap shots from the point. He is the player that sets up plays, and has two other players that are trying to do the same exact thing and honestly both Malkin and Crosby are way more guilty of it than Letang.

Uhhh, not really. Listen, I've been a Letang supporter since the time it was lauaghable to suggest he was better than Jack Johnson, but to say he doesn't have some serious power play problems is sticking your head in the sand. That doesn't take away from how good he was this year, but he ain't flawless.

Letang's PP issues are that he double clutches all the ****ing time which fools nobody, he doesn't get low, hard shots on net nearly as often as he should, and he can't put the puck in a player's wheelhouse to save his life.

He's been productive regardless because he gets a ton of PP time with a couple elite centers and his natural gifts often make up for his PP shortcomings, but let's not pretend he doesn't have some exceptionally frustrating tendencies there.

I'd like to see Schultz on the top PP, at least occasionally, in place of Letang. A little less minutes in the regular season wouldn't hurt Letang and I think Schultz can be better at running the point anyway, I don't think he's as gun shy to shoot.

That'd be nice. But as we've seen, getting a healthy Letang off the #1 PP - even occasionally - is like pulling teeth. You might as well suggest getting Sid off of there.

Good at not getting killed in the process, too, without being quite as obvious about it as #81 (not that I'm complaining about #81).

Good call. He doesn't seem to take many lumps out there, unlike Tanger.

 

[BHD]

Note: Letang/the power play has been discussed ad nauseam, and can be discussed here.

 

[metalan2]

There was a time last season when Letang was just throwing the puck on net with a wrister and our powerplay was absolutely unstoppable. I have no idea why he stopped this, but he did.


He went back to slappers off the glass and skating around the zone. Letang, as great as he is, goes berserk on the PP.

 

[JTG]

It is absolutely insane to me that people think that Justin Schultz can replace Kris Letang in any position.

Letang literally just led a defense core of nobodies to a Stanley Cup Championship.

Hardly. Trevor Daley was awesome. Brian Dumoulin turned into a stud. Guys like Lovejoy, Cole, and Schultz raised their games tremendously. Even Maatta who just isn't well looked fine after getting some rest. Schultz is a vastly better PPQB and it's not even close. Daley is a better PPQB.

Kris Letang is the greatest 5 on 5 defenseman in the NHL, but a team cannot win a Cup if they don't have 6 guys who are playing well.

That's because he was severely sheltered. Letang was literally jumping on the ice to get him off the ice in the Sharks series.

I think you let Schultz play a full season and throw him anything about 15 minutes and you'll start seeing what kind of player he is. Even when Nisky was bad in Dallas, he wasn't a complete defensive liability. He just lost all his offensive swagger.

Pouliot is a far better defensive player than Justin Schultz will ever be for us. Hopefully we can build up Schultz enough that Las Vegas wants to take him though.

I never said anything about Schultz taking over for Letang and ES. Letang will get his 25 mins a game. My contention would be it would be much more beneficial for the team to limit the mins Kris gets on the PP and give them to Schultz who is a head and shoulder better PPQB, and then give those extra mins to Letang at ES where he is most beneficial to us. The PP has sucked now under multiple coaching regimes, and it's time to start looking at the guys who are running it. No one touches the puck more than Letang on that PP aside from maybe Malkin. It's clear as day that Letang is the problem to me as he has absolutely no feel for the offensive zone and how to work a powerplay to get Pkers to move around and work guys open. Watch a guy like Gonchar, Zubov, Pronger, Lidstrom, or other greats. They were able to work guys open with the things they did. Letang backs himself into a corner with no where to go, and then throws a hot potato pass to a guy 5 feet away and the puck is cleared. It's like clockwork.

Absolutely no one is saying Schultz should start playing 28 mins a game and supplanting Letang. I don't think people are at all far fetched in saying that if you take Letang off that top unit PP that the PP would be better. I actually think it's very true and has merit.

And if you do go back and read those threads in when that Dallas trade was made, they absolutely despised Niskanen and his defensive play. They all spoke about how he could skate and pass the puck. Defensively he was a liability. Pouliot may be better than Justin Schultz in the future, but he isn't now. That fact can be seen in the playoffs when Pouliot was sitting and Schultz was playing.

 

[Coach Travis]

It is absolutely insane to me that people think that Justin Schultz can replace Kris Letang in any position.

Letang literally just led a defense core of nobodies to a Stanley Cup Championship.

I would argue that Justin Schultz might be better suited for the Powerplay than Letang. And come the playoffs, if Letang's ~28:00 TOI can be ES and PK only, that's a win in my books.

 

[JTG]

I would argue that Jeff Schultz might be better suited for the Powerplay than Letang. And come the playoffs, if Letang's ~28:00 TOI can be ES and PK only, that's a win in my books.

I bet Jeff Schultz and Bruce Orpeck are besties.

 

[Coach Travis]

I bet Jeff Schultz and Bruce Orpeck are besties.

I always mess that up!

 

[mpp9]

I suppose if you can tell 87, 71 and 81 to play on separate lines and take one for the team in terms of production and ice time, you can tell Letang he has to sit at times on the PP.

 

[td_ice]

I bet Jeff Schultz and Bruce Orpeck are besties.

You think they know that Fluery guy?

 

[JTG]

You think they know that Fluery guy?

Maybe they can all meet up with Malkum

 

[cygnus47]

Big thing about Justin Schultz that I like is that he is VERY willing to take the hit to make the play. He may not be able to take the puck from a forward all that effectively, but if he has a play with the puck, he will make it. He doesn't get caught in between, at least with us.