Recalled/Assigned: Penguins Recall Brian Gibbons from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

[wej20]

Didn't they both get shot at the PK near the start? it's weird that they're not getting a shot with Dupuis out. Adams, Glass, Kobapoo are absolutely no threat short handed.

 

[MrBurghundy]

I don't understand the "little choice" argument. If there were established vets who were playing well, what would be the incentive for any coach to play unproven rookies over them?

The point is that there are vet options, man. He's recognized that they aren't the best ones.

Agree to disagree then. I've already explained why. There's not many more ways I can say it.

 

[Shockmaster]

Gibbons has very good vision, top 6 vision for sure. He's got a polished set of passes too.

Yeah... the Penguins aren't making it far in the playoffs with Gibbons in the top 6.

 

[Fordy]

Didn't they both get shot at the PK near the start? it's weird that they're not getting a shot with Dupuis out. Adams, Glass, Kobapoo are absolutely no threat short handed.

Megna and Gibbons get PK time when they just look like call-ups destined to go back down. Once they start looking like NHLers, and start outplaying many of our players with guaranteed lineup spots, potentially forcing some difficult decisions... that PK time goes away.

It's not hard to put two and two together. It ain't a conspiracy theory. Gibbons is outplaying Adams in every single aspect of the game, and there is no doubt that he would outplay him on the PK too. But Adams has a guaranteed spot and Gibbons doesn't, and when it comes time to decide who plays and who doesn't... Bylsma gets to say that Adams is invaluable to the penalty kill. Bye bye Gibbons and Megna.

 

[penguins2946*]

Gibbons, Megna and Zolnierczyk back to the AHL

@penguins: NEWS ALERT: The #Pens have re-assigned forwards Brian Gibbons, Jayson Megna and Harry Zolnierczyk to @WBSPenguins http://t.co/aeWCzLB1qv

Harry Z needs to pass through waivers, so I'll be pissed if he gets claimed. I'd assume there was a general understanding to not claim players going to the AHL today, but I've been wrong before.

 

[ColePens]

If Z gets picked up, I'mnot going to be too mad. Even if it's possible. We don't need him and if someone wants to play him at the NHL level - good!

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I was hardly thrilled with his signing over the Summer... but Zolnerdude has looked more effective than the vast majority of other options available to this team in the bottom six. So I'd actually be pretty unhappy if he got picked up. But I doubt he will.

 

[Slabber Chops]

Gibbons, Megna and Zolnierczyk back to the AHL

Off for playing time during the Olympics.

 

[Zen Arcade]

At least they have Machacek to play a checking role if Zolnierczyk gets claimed.

 

[Burgs]

Scrabbles wasn't claimed. He just assisted on a Drazenovic goal to give WBS a 1-0 lead. Gibbons and Megna aren't playing, though.

 

[wej20]

Does the AHL schedule continue as normal over the break?

 

[td_ice]

Does the AHL schedule continue as normal over the break?

Yes.

 

[Waffle Fries]

I was just thinking about it, and I'm not so sure that either of Gibbons or Megna will be recalled after the break. Bennett, Vitale, and Conner will all be coming back and will take us to a 23 man roster. I'm not convinced that Bylsma would choose Gibbons or Megna over Conner, and if we put Letang in IR, I think it would be Despres who would get the call.

Of course, Kobasew could always be waived in order to open up a spot.

 

[jmelm]

I was just thinking about it, and I'm not so sure that either of Gibbons or Megna will be recalled after the break. Bennett, Vitale, and Conner will all be coming back and will take us to a 23 man roster. I'm not convinced that Bylsma would choose Gibbons or Megna over Conner, and if we put Letang in IR, I think it would be Despres who would get the call.

Of course, Kobasew could always be waived in order to open up a spot.

I don't think Despres gets called up. I think Engelland will be used as the #7 D in practice and ready to fill in if there's a last minute injury, but with those other forwards all returning, I think Engo gets moved back to D. That way, Despres can stay and play big minutes in WBS until such time as we're going to play him regularly, as opposed to having him sit in the pressbox 50% or move of the time.

 

[BumFortyOne]

I don't think Despres gets called up. I think Engelland will be used as the #7 D in practice and ready to fill in if there's a last minute injury, but with those other forwards all returning, I think Engo gets moved back to D. That way, Despres can stay and play big minutes in WBS until such time as we're going to play him regularly, as opposed to having him sit in the pressbox 50% or move of the time.

I agree with this. And I think it's the best decision as long as Orpik is still on the roster.

As for Gibbons and Megna, hopefully with all this time in the NHL they'll go back down and light up the AHL and make a case to be brought back up and Kobasew waived.

 

[Ogrezilla]

I don't think Despres gets called up. I think Engelland will be used as the #7 D in practice and ready to fill in if there's a last minute injury, but with those other forwards all returning, I think Engo gets moved back to D. That way, Despres can stay and play big minutes in WBS until such time as we're going to play him regularly, as opposed to having him sit in the pressbox 50% or move of the time.

ya if Despres isn't going to play, no reason to call him up. Use Engo as the short term number 7. If we get another injury that puts a guy out for a while, I'd want to call up Despres and play him over Engo though.

 

[jmelm]

ya if Despres isn't going to play, no reason to call him up. Use Engo as the short term number 7. If we get another injury that puts a guy out for a while, I'd want to call up Despres and play him over Engo though.

Yes, I would agree with this, and Despres would get called up no matter what as the first call if someone gets injured for a while, but I think whether he plays will depend on what "type" of Dman gets injured. If it's a left-Dman or someone who provides more offense (i.e. Niskanen), then it will be Despres playing. But if it's Bortuzzo and they want toughness in the line up, then I think Engo may get the nod. I'm not saying I agree with this or not, just that this is what would likely transpire if there was an injury.

 

[Jesus Vitale]

I was just thinking about it, and I'm not so sure that either of Gibbons or Megna will be recalled after the break. Bennett, Vitale, and Conner will all be coming back and will take us to a 23 man roster. I'm not convinced that Bylsma would choose Gibbons or Megna over Conner, and if we put Letang in IR, I think it would be Despres who would get the call.

Of course, Kobasew could always be waived in order to open up a spot.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Yes, I would agree with this, and Despres would get called up no matter what as the first call if someone gets injured for a while, but I think whether he plays will depend on what "type" of Dman gets injured. If it's a left-Dman or someone who provides more offense (i.e. Niskanen), then it will be Despres playing. But if it's Bortuzzo and they want toughness in the line up, then I think Engo may get the nod. I'm not saying I agree with this or not, just that this is what would likely transpire if there was an injury.

I think Bort would be the only injury to put Engo in the line-up. If its a left D out, we'd want Despres to take their spot. If its a puck mover, we'd want Despres to take their spot. Though its possible if Orpik or Scuds goes down that we'd slide Martin or Nisky back to the left and play Engo.

 

[IcedCapp]

I think Bort would be the only injury to put Engo in the line-up. If its a left D out, we'd want Despres to take their spot. If its a puck mover, we'd want Despres to take their spot. Though its possible if Orpik or Scuds goes down that we'd slide Martin or Nisky back to the left and play Engo.

If it's a long term thing for Letang, I'd rather have Despres in there, because he can actually replace what Letang brings.

In fact, given the way the team was playing pre-break,

Orpik - Martin
Scuderi - Bortuzzi

were both horrible puck possession pairs. Despres has his warts, but he'd help out. Also feel like Bortuzzo has struggle the past few games.

Scuderi and Orpik have been really really bad.

 

[Ogrezilla]

conceding that the vets are all locks to play and Orpik is going to be on our shutdown pair, I'd go with

Orpik - Martin
Maatta - Niskanen
Despres - Scuds

Potentially swapping Maatta and Despres depending on who works better together. These are grouped based on Scuds probably deserving less ice time than Niskanen, and Maatta being trusted with more than Despres. The key is that Scuds can play the right side, I think he should.

Ideally, I'd sit Orpik, put Scuds back on the left and play Despres - Bortuzzo as an awesome 3rd pairing.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Four more years of Scuderi and he already looks like a bottom pairing defenseman.

Bleh.

 

[jmelm]

Four more years of Scuderi and he already looks like a bottom pairing defenseman.

Bleh.

I'm actually not concerned about this at all. Scuderi will retain some degree of trade value throughout his contract. I'm sure Shero would have looked at his depth chart and would have loved to get Scuderi on a 2 or 3 year term, but it took 4 to lock him up. Not only was this a hedge against some of our vets leaving, it was also a move to enable us to not have to rush guys like Harrington, Dumoulin and Pouliot before they were ready.

But as soon as they are ready and force their way into the top 6, there will be teams out there who would love Scuderi's veteran leadership, experience of winning 2 Cups with 2 different teams, and mentoring some great young players (Doughty, etc.). My guess is that after next season (aka after year 2 of his contract), or if other guys impress in training camp in the beginning of Scud's 3 season, we will be able to trade him.

And yes: while he may not have been one of our best defenceman of late, I do believe he will get better. There's been a lot of musical-partners for Scuds with all the injuries and different partners, and with the injuries and games missed himself. So I do believe he will elevate his performance as the season goes on and the playoffs begin. So this further re-enforces the idea that he will be both a useful member of our team for the next 1-2 seasons, and also that there will be teams that will appreciate adding a player of experience when we're ready to give his spot to one of our younger guys.

 

[BumFortyOne]

I'm actually not concerned about this at all. Scuderi will retain some degree of trade value throughout his contract. I'm sure Shero would have looked at his depth chart and would have loved to get Scuderi on a 2 or 3 year term, but it took 4 to lock him up. Not only was this a hedge against some of our vets leaving, it was also a move to enable us to not have to rush guys like Harrington, Dumoulin and Pouliot before they were ready.

But as soon as they are ready and force their way into the top 6, there will be teams out there who would love Scuderi's veteran leadership, experience of winning 2 Cups with 2 different teams, and mentoring some great young players (Doughty, etc.). My guess is that after next season (aka after year 2 of his contract), or if other guys impress in training camp in the beginning of Scud's 3 season, we will be able to trade him.

And yes: while he may not have been one of our best defenceman of late, I do believe he will get better. There's been a lot of musical-partners for Scuds with all the injuries and different partners, and with the injuries and games missed himself. So I do believe he will elevate his performance as the season goes on and the playoffs begin. So this further re-enforces the idea that he will be both a useful member of our team for the next 1-2 seasons, and also that there will be teams that will appreciate adding a player of experience when we're ready to give his spot to one of our younger guys.

I'm not sure I can see that happening. One, I don't believe that Shero has traded away many players who chose to sign here as UFAs. Two, I think Shero will see him as good value, even on the bottom pair, for the duration of his contract (and especially if the cap keeps rising).

 

[jmelm]

I'm not sure I can see that happening. One, I don't believe that Shero has traded away many players who chose to sign here as UFAs. Two, I think Shero will see him as good value, even on the bottom pair, for the duration of his contract (and especially if the cap keeps rising).

I completely understand the issue about not trading a UFA, but who knows how many teams were out who were willing to commit 4 years to Scuds. Probably a few, but not a lot, and I don't believe Scuds took much, if any, of a pay cut to come here. So Shero may have done as much a favour for Scuds as he did for us by giving him the security of 4 years. And as we saw the Z. Michalek trade, and Shero almost pulling the trigger on a Paul Martin trade (if Martin didn't convince him otherwise), Shero is not shy to do this if it needs to be done. And yes: it looks especially bad if you trade someone in or after year 1 of a contract, but after year 2 or beyond, it's completely fair game and it's just part of the business.


Also, reality dictates that we've got at least 2 highly regarded prospects who HAVE TO come to the NHL without facing waivers (Despres, and then Dumoulin) over the next 2 years. Another year later, Harringon will be in that same boat. Add that to Letang, Maatta and Bortuzzo, and that's 6 Dmen right there before Scuds, and that's not even factoring in if we re-sign or extend Orpik. So if Shero has to make room by moving Scuds out for these young guys that we couldn't possibly risk losing on waivers, no one would blame or look badly upon him if he needed to pull the trigger on such a trade for Scuderi.