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

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Letting is goddamn Rembrandt out there and you're all mad that he's not Thomas Kinkade.

 

[Fordy]

Letting is goddamn Rembrandt out there and you're all mad that he's not Thomas Kinkade.

sometimes you just need bob ross to do the basics

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Letting is goddamn Rembrandt out there and you're all mad that he's not Thomas Kinkade.

If powerplays were art, Letang would be Duchamp, making absurdist works challenging our idea about what art is.

 

[ObsessedCreative*]

If powerplays were art, Letang would be Duchamp, making absurdist works challenging our idea about what art is.

I would have said Pollock, he really knows how to make a mess of the power play.

 

[td_ice]

"The Art of Needlessly Complicating Things"; a power play story............by Kris Letang

 

[Sjoelbak]

I wish he would just set out the lines for the others to make colorful plays, like a Mondriaan

 

[HandshakeLine]

"The Art of Needlessly Complicating Things"; a power play story............by Kris Letang

Forward by Sidney Crosby.

 

[td_ice]

Forward by Sidney Crosby.

Hahahaha............absolutely.

 

[JTG]

Forward by Sidney Crosby.

 

[Coach Travis]

Man, this still makes me so happy, weirdly. I'm so stoked that we were able to re-sign Schultz AND retain his RFA status.

 

[JTG]

Under Jaques Martin, I think Schultz can at least bring his defensive game to a consistently decent level, and hopefully Sully puts him in positions to score points.

 

[DawgPens]

I wish he would just set out the lines for the others to make colorful plays, like a Mondriaan

Lot's of great references to artists in here, but this one isn't getting enough love!

And Letang's PP is definitely more Pollock than Rembrandt ... I think the latter better fits what Gonch used to do ...

 

[kodoshin]

Lot's of great references to artists in here, but this one isn't getting enough love!

And Letang's PP is definitely more Pollock than Rembrandt ... I think the latter better fits what Gonch used to do ...

Gonchar was so good on the PP. I think the thing that sticks with me the most is how expert he was at cutting down clearing attempts. It was just so impressive.

 

[Tacitus Kilgore]

I feel that, the more confident Schultz feels the more he'll do well defensively. His natural offensive instincts are there when he's not feeling himself. But i think that when hes feeling good and confident, that is where we see his best defensive side as well as offensive side.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Gonchar was so good on the PP. I think the thing that sticks with me the most is how expert he was at cutting down clearing attempts. It was just so impressive.

He was ridiculously good on the PP. One of the best PP D-men to ever play the game. On top of keeping the puck in, his shot from a standstill was something that almost nobody in the league can do. It was quick, strong, and accurate, without needing to be a one-timer.

 

[BobCole]

He was ridiculously good on the PP. One of the best PP D-men to ever play the game. On top of keeping the puck in, his shot from a standstill was something that almost nobody in the league can do. It was quick, strong, and accurate, without needing to be a one-timer.

He also got pucks through so well. Hell, he'd put them wide when they needed to be wide. He'd float them perfectly for deflections/redirects. His passing was superb. His lateral movement along the line was incredible. He really had it all.

Letang has all the tools on the PP but no toolbox. I'm shocked that he hasn't made a lot of progress out there, either. And this is coming from one of his biggest fans.

 

[Ogrezilla]

He also got pucks through so well. Hell, he'd put them wide when they needed to be wide. He'd float them perfectly for deflections/redirects. His passing was superb. His lateral movement along the line was incredible. He really had it all.

Letang has all the tools on the PP but no toolbox. I'm shocked that he hasn't made a lot of progress out there, either. And this is coming from one of his biggest fans.

We love to harp on Letang's powerplay woes, but the fact of the matter is he is one of the most effective powerplay players in the league. From a pure production standpoint, he's 2nd for D-men and tied for 7th for all players, despite missing 11 games. But if we insist on comparing him to Gonchar, he'll always come up short. There's not a d-man in the league today that is as good as Gonchar was on the powerplay.

 

[Harvey Birdman]

He was ridiculously good on the PP. One of the best PP D-men to ever play the game. On top of keeping the puck in, his shot from a standstill was something that almost nobody in the league can do. It was quick, strong, and accurate, without needing to be a one-timer.

He also got pucks through so well. Hell, he'd put them wide when they needed to be wide. He'd float them perfectly for deflections/redirects. His passing was superb. His lateral movement along the line was incredible. He really had it all.

Letang has all the tools on the PP but no toolbox. I'm shocked that he hasn't made a lot of progress out there, either. And this is coming from one of his biggest fans.

I do not post to much anymore, mostly just read, but really we got spoiled by Gonchar. In terms of a point man, pure power play quarterback that was also not completely inept at coming back into the defensive zone... We had one of the best defense men at that role of this entire generation of players on the blue line. The expectation of replicating that or something that would be near it has been a far fetched pipe dream. Needless to say, our expectations of a point man #1D need to be dialed back and notch or two because we are not going to draft and develop a PPQB of a Gonchar quality unless we get extremely lucky, and we should be happy we have a minute eating dynamic... All be it some times boneheaded... #1D in Letang as we do. Because most teams do not even have that. When we have a generational point man again we can all praise the blue line demi-god of the hockey heavens, but till then we should be thankful of our rags to riches of... Letang, Daley, Schultz, etc. Because we are far from skinny on offensive defense men at the moment.

 

[gopens66]

I think Letang on the PP is Monet. From far away he looks great, but when you look close, it's a blurry mess.

 

[Jacob]

He's fine when he's A) not the guy carrying the puck through the neutral zone and B) keeping it simple and putting wristers and snap shots on net.

Those ****ing drop passes to nowhere (which aren't necessarily up to him, they're Tocchet's idea but Letang can't execute it properly) in the neutral zone and the fake slappers followed by an actual slapper right into someone's shin pads are absolute powerplay poison. Also the passes to Sid or Geno that are either 100 miles per hour or 10 feet behind or in front of them, it's actually pretty funny to see someone as talented as Letang **** up so badly *just* when the other team has 1 less guy on the ice. He's gotta be overthinking it or something.

I'm not necessarily advocating taking Letang off the PP altogether, I'm just suggesting maybe putting Schultz (or Pouliot when he's in the lineup) out with the top unit once in a while and sliding Letang to the 2nd unit or off altogether to keep him fresh for all other situations where he's awesome.

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Letang's issues begin and end when he starts to think about things. He's not some master tactician. He relies purely on his athleticism and talent, and when he's utilizing them and making plays on instinct, he's phenomenal. As soon as he starts to think or second-guess himself, he's a dumpster fire.

 

[Ogrezilla]

He's fine when he's A) not the guy carrying the puck through the neutral zone and B) keeping it simple and putting wristers and snap shots on net.

Those ****ing drop passes to nowhere (which aren't necessarily up to him, they're Tocchet's idea but Letang can't execute it properly) in the neutral zone and the fake slappers followed by an actual slapper right into someone's shin pads are absolute powerplay poison. Also the passes to Sid or Geno that are either 100 miles per hour or 10 feet behind or in front of them, it's actually pretty funny to see someone as talented as Letang **** up so badly *just* when the other team has 1 less guy on the ice. He's gotta be overthinking it or something.

I'm not necessarily advocating taking Letang off the PP altogether, I'm just suggesting maybe putting Schultz (or Pouliot when he's in the lineup) out with the top unit once in a while and sliding Letang to the 2nd unit or off altogether to keep him fresh for all other situations where he's awesome.

The thing with that is, the criticism of Letang's PP game that I agree with is that he's not a real QB. Sid and Geno need to run the show. Letang is a great powerplay player when he's not stationary with the puck. Stationary with the puck, he's not as good. Moving him to the 2nd unit is going to give him even more of a QB role that I think he'd have trouble with.

 

[#1GuinFan]

Dick Tarnstrom > Gonch

 

[Ogrezilla]

Dick Tarnstrom > Gonch

 

[Shady Machine]

The thing with that is, the criticism of Letang's PP game that I agree with is that he's not a real QB. Sid and Geno need to run the show. Letang is a great powerplay player when he's not stationary with the puck. Stationary with the puck, he's not as good. Moving him to the 2nd unit is going to give him even more of a QB role that I think he'd have trouble with.

But defenders know this and just sit on Geno. Letang usually has a lot of space. So Geno moves it to Letang and is waiting for that pass back. When it's not in his wheelhouse, Geno has to reload and do it again.

If they keep the same setup, I'd like to see the puck QB'd on the left half wall more often with Kessel. He can skate the puck up top, switch with Letang, and then hit Geno for that one time pass if it's there.

I really want to see a lot more movement on the PP. The left half wall was a wasteland for years on the Pens PP, but it doesn't have to be so anymore. This would also benefit Letang, as he can make more plays when he's skating with the puck.