Confirmed with Link: Penguins Sign Mark Eaton (1 year | $725,000)

[Mordax]

Yeah, but we didn't need Boucher in '09. We'll PROBABLY need Eaton this year.

6:30

 

[farscape1]

According to Madden ( i no i no) that the Pens signed Eaton to play him and send Despres down to the AHL to get more playing time since he has been making some mistakes.

And to many times Despres was scratched against tougher teams an replaced with Borts.

So this would take care of that problem and have Eaton play with Engelland.


My take on this, is we have all of these Young D and whom do we play, yep the older players.

Though if we needed a defense defensemen then why did we get rid of Strait?

 

[dr robbie]

Not really a fan of this signing. I feel like we really need some of the youngins to step up (Despres, etc.) rather than sign these older guys. Oh well, nothing against Eaton, I just feel like his time here is over. Hope he proves me wrong (if given the chance).

 

[clefty]

Yeah, but we didn't need Boucher in '09. We'll PROBABLY need Eaton this year.

When Ovechkin took out Gonchar's knee and we rolled with 7 defenseman while he hobbled on one leg, we were damn lucky to have a calming veteran like Boucher in our stables.

 

[Captain Hook]

According to Madden ( i no i no) that the Pens signed Eaton to play him and send Despres down to the AHL to get more playing time since he has been making some mistakes.

I'd rather see Despres or Bortuzzo play than Eaton. I hope Eaton is just the #7 or #8.

At some point the Pens are going to have to ride it out with Despres. The kid isn't going to play flawless hockey all the time. That's not a realistic expectation. He will make mistakes but you hope the good outweighs the bad and that he eventually finds some consistency.

Although to play devils advocate, Despres may not be that needed right now with the way Letang, Martin and Niskanen have been scoring. Those 3 give the Pens enough PMD's to get by.

Though if we needed a defense defensemen then why did we get rid of Strait?

I don't think Strait was what the Pens were looking for. I think they wanted an experienced defensive D that could be scratched for long stretches and not have it effect his development. Strait needed to play.

 

[IcedCapp]

I'd rather see Despres or Bortuzzo play than Eaton. I hope Eaton is just the #7 or #8.

At some point the Pens are going to have to ride it out with Despres. The kid isn't going to play flawless hockey all the time. That's not a realistic expectation. He will make mistakes but you hope the good outweighs the bad and that he eventually finds some consistency.

Although to play devils advocate, Despres may not be that needed right now with the way Letang, Martin and Niskanen have been scoring. Those 3 give the Pens enough PMD's to get by.



I don't think Strait was what the Pens were looking for. I think they wanted an experienced defensive D that could be scratched for long stretches and not have it effect his development. Strait needed to play.

Despres is going to have to play consistent NHL minutes to polish his game. Not big AHL minutes, not CHL minutes, not pond hockey minutes. Even if he goes down, plays 24 minutes a night and works out some issues - which are all mental - he's still going to have issues when he gets back to playing hockey at NHL speed.

The Pens are one of, if not the best, teams in the conference. Why not let him ride those mistakes out now so that next year - when I'm assuming you're going to need him to play top-4 minutes, he's ready and as mistake-free as you could make him. And, conversely, if you don't think he's going to be in your top-4 next year, please just trade him for a winger, because his skills are wasted playing 10-minutes a night.

 

[Captain Hook]

Despres is going to have to play consistent NHL minutes to polish his game. Not big AHL minutes, not CHL minutes, not pond hockey minutes. Even if he goes down, plays 24 minutes a night and works out some issues - which are all mental - he's still going to have issues when he gets back to playing hockey at NHL speed.

The Pens are one of, if not the best, teams in the conference. Why not let him ride those mistakes out now so that next year - when I'm assuming you're going to need him to play top-4 minutes, he's ready and as mistake-free as you could make him. And, conversely, if you don't think he's going to be in your top-4 next year, please just trade him for a winger, because his skills are wasted playing 10-minutes a night.

I agree.

 

[mpp9]

Sending Despres down would be beyond stupid. We waived Strait and traded Lovejoy b/c Despres made us a better team moving forward according to DB.

 

[Sideline]

Sending Despres down would be beyond stupid. We waived Strait and traded Lovejoy b/c Despres made us a better team moving forward according to DB.

I agree. Wasn't Madden rambling about Despres not being ready at camp, too? Maybe he's just got a bad source on this one.

 

[jmelm]

Despres is going to have to play consistent NHL minutes to polish his game. Not big AHL minutes, not CHL minutes, not pond hockey minutes. Even if he goes down, plays 24 minutes a night and works out some issues - which are all mental - he's still going to have issues when he gets back to playing hockey at NHL speed.

The Pens are one of, if not the best, teams in the conference. Why not let him ride those mistakes out now so that next year - when I'm assuming you're going to need him to play top-4 minutes, he's ready and as mistake-free as you could make him. And, conversely, if you don't think he's going to be in your top-4 next year, please just trade him for a winger, because his skills are wasted playing 10-minutes a night.

I 100% disagree.

I agree.

Sorry, I have to say it twice: I 100% disagree.

I understand: there will always be SOME learning curve when a prospect makes a jump, and if Despres goes down, he will not be a perfect player when he comes back up. But he damn well can become a less mistake-prone player when he comes back up, and the learning curve a lot less.

Yes, I would be a bit sad to not be able to see Despres play up here, but at the same time, I get upset seeing Bortuzzo not get a chance to play. And, perhaps most important: we are competing for the Cup right now. We're not like the Winnipeg Jets or some other mediocre team competing for the last playoff spot, where we can justify not winning while our kids develop. If Despres is ready, that's great. If he's not quite ready, he will still improve A LOT by playing in WBS.

If he gets sent back down, watch him become a MUCH more dominant player down there -- perhaps even best on the team -- and it will do wonders for his confidence. And both he and his coaches will know exactly what he needs to work on to get back up here; and when he does come back up, the transition would be much more seamless.

 

[PensFan68]

According to Madden ( i no i no) that the Pens signed Eaton to play him and send Despres down to the AHL to get more playing time since he has been making some mistakes.

And to many times Despres was scratched against tougher teams an replaced with Borts.

So this would take care of that problem and have Eaton play with Engelland.


My take on this, is we have all of these Young D and whom do we play, yep the older players.

Though if we needed a defense defensemen then why did we get rid of Strait?

I'm not fond of sending Despres down. As others have mentioned, give him time with this good team to make some mistakes and get it together. He should be playing 15 minutes a night. Although, on the other hand, if he's getting 10 minutes a night here maybe it's best to have him getting 20+ in the AHL.

Even at Eaton's age and no one else bringing him in, I'd rather have him for the playoffs than Strait. In a situation where there is a young, inexperienced, little potential defender vs a veteran who's lost a step I'll take the vet any day for the playoffs.

 

[IcedCapp]

I 100% disagree.



Sorry, I have to say it twice: I 100% disagree.

I understand: there will always be SOME learning curve when a prospect makes a jump, and if Despres goes down, he will not be a perfect player when he comes back up. But he damn well can become a less mistake-prone player when he comes back up, and the learning curve a lot less.

Yes, I would be a bit sad to not be able to see Despres play up here, but at the same time, I get upset seeing Bortuzzo not get a chance to play. And, perhaps most important: we are competing for the Cup right now. We're not like the Winnipeg Jets or some other mediocre team competing for the last playoff spot, where we can justify not winning while our kids develop. If Despres is ready, that's great. If he's not quite ready, he will still improve A LOT by playing in WBS.

If he gets sent back down, watch him become a MUCH more dominant player down there -- perhaps even best on the team -- and it will do wonders for his confidence. And both he and his coaches will know exactly what he needs to work on to get back up here; and when he does come back up, the transition would be much more seamless.

You're entitled to your opinion. As you said: I disagree.

 

[Jacob]

I'd like to see more Despres and Bortuzzo and a little less Engelland, to be quite honest. No way would I send Despres down. He makes mistakes, but they're correctable and they're evened out and then some by the good plays he makes.

Eaton doesn't make any of those three expendable. He's just more depth.

 

[AZPenguins]

Anyway, Despres is great. He will be great. But I don't think he's ready now. You know how I can tell? Watch the partners who play with him. Engo looks more nervous and inconsistent than I have seen since the last 2 years he's been up here as a regular. Letang looks downright uncomfortable sometimes, and feels like he has to do too much to compensate. Despres has some amazing attributes, but he's not more consistent and steady than Bortuzzo. Anyone who thinks otherwise is fooling themselves.

This is the best case I have read for sending Despres back down. Being paired with him does seem to make the others a bit nervous.

 

[Bennett Brauer]

I think Despres is an NHL defenseman, but at age 21, there's room for improvement, and he can work on his game playing big minutes in the AHL.

 

[cheesedanish87]

If this stuff about eaton and despres is true it really sucks so basically were signing eaton to be our 6th def because we dont trust despres or bort? If thats the case we need to trade for a better def I cant imagine anybody here wants to see eaton part of our top 6 going into the playoffs.

 

[AquaticBirdman]

I don't mind this too much. He brings a lot of experience and he performed well for us in 09. Not saying that he's still at that level, but it's always nice to have that insurance policy in case we need it. I also think this means we're gonna be dealing one of our d-men soon. Nisky perhaps?

 

[AquaticBirdman]

I think Despres is an NHL defenseman, but at age 21, there's room for improvement, and he can work on his game playing big minutes in the AHL.

I love what I see from Despres but I still think he looks a little timid when facing an aggressive forechecking team. He looked shakey against the Bolts after the first period when they turned up the intensity.

 

[AZPenguins]

If this stuff about eaton and despres is true it really sucks so basically were signing eaton to be our 6th def because we dont trust despres or bort? If thats the case we need to trade for a better def I cant imagine anybody here wants to see eaton part of our top 6 going into the playoffs.

Who is saying he should be top 6? A few of us are saying send Depres back to the AHL and Eaton to be the 7th D. Depres will be better server, in my opinion of course, playing big minutes in the AHL than being scratched or playing 10 in the NHL.

Also he does not have to pass through waivers.

 

[cheesedanish87]

Who is saying he should be top 6? A few of us are saying send Depres back to the AHL and Eaton to be the 7th D. Depres will be better server, in my opinion of course, playing big minutes in the AHL than being scratched or playing 10 in the NHL.

Also he does not have to pass through waivers.

If they dont like despres right now but their rotating him with bort doesn't that mean their not really crazy about either of them playing right now? If they like bort and dont like despres right now y isn't bort playing right now instead of rotating games?

 

[Lamar Latrell]

What am I missing about Despres? I think he's been fantastic and have no problem seeing him log heavier ES minutes w/ Letang. I think he's been good defensively, uses his size pretty well, wins a lot of board battles, is confident from the point and can actually get a puck through traffic and to the net. I want to see him get more responsibilities. And this was before I saw his 5v5 Corsi rating only trails Crosby and Malkin (4v5 is pretty good, but very limited minutes).

Not to say Corsi is gospel, but I find advanced stats to be most useful when they are misaligned w/ the consensus as a signal to re-evaluate. This is definitely the case here where most fans (and the coaches it seems) believe Despres is not ready for top 4 duty and Bortuzzo is most trustworthy despite their Relative Corsi (Despres 15.6 vs. Bortuzzo -5.6). And that has little to do w/ their respective circumstances. For comparison, Despres has had slightly more favorable zone starts, Bortuzzo has had easier competition (although both have been shielded according to both metrics). Although I suspect Despres has had better quality of teammates due primarily to being paired w/ Letang.

Hockey Prospectus has Despres at 3.2 GVT (Bortuzzo's @ 1.5). 3rd best D on the Pens behind Letang and Martin.
http://hfboards.mandatory.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=60482223
http://puckprospectus.com/sortable/

Any thoughts? I don't argue that these stats are infallible but I think they are intellectually sound and objective, not prone to cognitive biases.

 

[jmelm]

What am I missing about Despres? I think he's been fantastic and have no problem seeing him log heavier ES minutes w/ Letang. I think he's been good defensively, uses his size pretty well, wins a lot of board battles, is confident from the point and can actually get a puck through traffic and to the net. I want to see him get more responsibilities. And this was before I saw his 5v5 Corsi rating only trails Crosby and Malkin (4v5 is pretty good, but very limited minutes).

What's missing is what I said above. I love Despres' game. But part of why he is great is because he is a bit of a high-risk player who loves to have the puck on his stick and make things happen. After watching him play so much in the 'Q', I have to say that I am THRILLED to see how much of the good things and types of plays he was doing there seem to be translating to his game at the NHL level.


But that said, it appears it is still going to take Simon a bit of time to be able to be able to do this in a more confident, mistake-free fashion at the NHL level. Perhaps that could be this season if it was a normal 82 game season. But in 48 games, I think the learning curve is too steep for him to perfect his game enough by the time the playoffs roll around.

 

[CrosbyMalkin]

I'd like to see more Despres and Bortuzzo and a little less Engelland, to be quite honest. No way would I send Despres down. He makes mistakes, but they're correctable and they're evened out and then some by the good plays he makes.

Eaton doesn't make any of those three expendable. He's just more depth.

I agree with you but the problem with a team that is always trying to win a Cup they rather play vets. I would rather see Bortuzzo and Despres play during the regular season and get the experience. This team is going to make the playoffs and if they can't handle it in the playoffs then you can turn to the older Vets to play those 5 and 6 d spots.

I don't mind Eaton as a depth signing. You can never have enough dmen and he could play a Scuderi type game for a short time period. Eaton does not hit but plays a decent D first type game.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Speaking of veterans who went to WBS on tryouts, do people who think the team needs some grit think Tom Kostopoulos would be worth signing?

 

[Bennett Brauer]

For those interested, I'm guessing Eaton will wear #4, he wore that number on the Islanders and on his helmet when skating with the Penguins.