Post-Game Talk: Pens 6, Ducks 2: Pens Win, Kunitz Continues to Elevate Sid

[EVGENIMERLIN]

I think them dealing Bonino this season also has to do with how they view Sundqvist. They're going to want a spare center if they deal Bonino. Moving Cullen to LW and having Fehr and Sundqvist up the middle sounds good to me.

But if they want to send Sundqvist back down, then maybe waiting until the offseason is the route to take.

This is exactly me feeling as well. If Sully thinks Sundqvist could handle the playoff work load as a Bottom 6 C, I could see them moving Bonino for the right price. If he thinks he needs more tim in the AHL I think they hang on to Bones until the Draft

 

[Shady Machine]

I think them dealing Bonino this season also has to do with how they view Sundqvist. They're going to want a spare center if they deal Bonino. Moving Cullen to LW and having Fehr and Sundqvist up the middle sounds good to me.

But if they want to send Sundqvist back down, then maybe waiting until the offseason is the route to take.

Yeah I agree, but Cullen is fine at center too. They have plenty of options other than Cullen for 4th line LW. I view Bones as their bast available trade chip to add LW depth. It can be a guy under contract or a UFA depending on quality.

I personally think Sundqvist is fine at 4C back up role behind Cullen or Cullen-Sundqvist-Porter (it's going to happen anyway).

 

[Empoleon8771]

It all depends on who is healthy and when. If Fehr and Bones are back before trade deadline, I'd look to deal Bones to a playoff team looking for center depth and has a left winger to spare. Throw in Bennett if somebody wants him.

Will Bonino be back in time for the trade deadline? That's another thing to consider. I wouldn't hesitate trading Bonino for a LWer if Sundqvist is ready and Fehr and Cullen are both healthy.

I also think if we trade Bonino, it's a must to re-signing Cullen. Fehr is too injury prone to rely on him to stay healthy for the entire year. I don't think being 1 injury away from Sundqvist being your 3C is a good idea. Next year, I'd like to see us start with Sundqvist-Cullen-Rust as our 4th line if we trade Bonino.

 

[Shady Machine]

Will Bonino be back in time for the trade deadline? That's another thing to consider. I wouldn't hesitate trading Bonino for a LWer if Sundqvist is ready and Fehr and Cullen are both healthy.

I also think if we trade Bonino, it's a must to re-signing Cullen. Fehr is too injury prone to rely on him to stay healthy for the entire year. I don't think being 1 injury away from Sundqvist being your 3C is a good idea.

Yeah obviously Bones needs to be healthy before deadline for that plan to work. Agreed on Cullen as well. If he can play another year and wants to stay, it's a no brainer at this point. Crosby, Malkin, Fehr, Cullen, Sundqvist is pretty solid center depth.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Bonino has a history of being an okay regular season player and a beast in the playoffs. Personally I'd like to at least give him one playoff run as a Penguin before we deal him, especially since I can't picture him having much value right now.

 

[Shady Machine]

Bonino has a history of being an okay regular season player and a beast in the playoffs. Personally I'd like to at least give him one playoff run as a Penguin before we deal him, especially since I can't picture him having much value right now.

I think he definitely has value, especially for a team looking to upgrade their center depth at a really nice cap hit. I'd be fine keeping him, but I just don't see where he fits. It really comes down to the health of him and Fehr. If Fehr is out past deadline, you can't deal him.

 

[mpp9]

Souring's probably too strong of a word. Kessel was disciplined in Florida because he caused about 7 unnecessary offsides in 2 games by making some weird, pointless cut move just before gaining the blueline. I'm sure he was told not to do that, kept doing it anyway and was sent to the corner because of it.

Last night Sullivan yelled at him (he forgot to rotate back to cover for an activated D twice yesterday), but the behavior didn't (that I saw) repeat after he did that, so he wasn't disciplined outside of verbally. He also didn't put anyone offside that I recall.

Stuff Sullivan's been mad about with Kessel is annoying, necessary and easy for Kessel to fix. With the offside thing, I didn't understand why he was doing that in the first place. There's no advantage to taking an extra second to gain the line on a scripted breakout.

That move Kessel makes at the blue line to put everybody offsides drives me nuts. The last time he did it, there wasn't even a D-man's stick near him. That's definitely just a bad habit that he's gotta lose. Good on Sullivan to get in his ear about it.

Holding out hope Kessel's got a postseason run in him because he's been pretty average by a star player's standards.

 

[mpp9]

Yeah I agree, but Cullen is fine at center too. They have plenty of options other than Cullen for 4th line LW. I view Bones as their bast available trade chip to add LW depth. It can be a guy under contract or a UFA depending on quality.

I personally think Sundqvist is fine at 4C back up role behind Cullen or Cullen-Sundqvist-Porter (it's going to happen anyway).

I mean JR isn't gonna want to go into the postseason one injury away from Porter being our 4C. And if they send Sundqvist back and trade Bonino, that'd be where they're at.

I think they'd at least explore it if Sundqvist continues to be a perfectly capable 4C. I don't have much issue with Cullen at 3C. He's been better than Bonino and Fehr this season.

 

[Shady Machine]

I mean JR isn't gonna want to go into the postseason one injury away from Porter being our 4C. And if they send Sundqvist back and trade Bonino, that'd be where they're at.

I think they'd at least explore it if Sundqvist continues to be a perfectly capable 4C. I don't have much issue with Cullen at 3C. He's been better than Bonino and Fehr this season.

They can always recall Sundqvist, but you are right, they need to see it for a while before being comfortable moving Bones.

 

[AjaxTelamon]

I mean JR isn't gonna want to go into the postseason one injury away from Porter being our 4C. And if they send Sundqvist back and trade Bonino, that'd be where they're at.

I think they'd at least explore it if Sundqvist continues to be a perfectly capable 4C. I don't have much issue with Cullen at 3C. He's been better than Bonino and Fehr this season.

In a cap league, you're never going to be excited about playing your 5th center. What happens if we lose Hagelin or Kunitz? Then Kuhn is on your 2nd line? Or Wilson? And who is in the bottom 6 then?

If we can trade out Bonino for a top 9 LW, or a top 6 tweener, then that's more important. And we've got two guys capable of playing 3C well in Fehr and Cullen, which is better than most teams. Bonino isn't well suited to 4C anyways.

 

[mpp9]

In a cap league, you're never going to be excited about playing your 5th center. What happens if we lose Hagelin or Kunitz? Then Kuhn is on your 2nd line? Or Wilson? And who is in the bottom 6 then?

If we can trade out Bonino for a top 9 LW, or a top 6 tweener, then that's more important. And we've got two guys capable of playing 3C well in Fehr and Cullen, which is better than most teams. Bonino isn't well suited to 4C anyways.

Or they'd view having that extra center depth as important and would rather deal Anaheim's 2nd for help at another position.

Then recoup that pick in the offseason moving Bonino.

 

[AjaxTelamon]

Or they'd view having that extra center depth as important and would rather deal Anaheim's 2nd for help at another position.

Then recoup that pick in the offseason moving Bonino.

As long as they get assets out of the guy rather than let him walk in a year, I'd be fine with it. He'd have more value at the deadline than over the summer, and yah, a 2nd is where I'd peg him in the offseason.

But Anaheim's 2nd rounder is looking better than what we could have expected when the year started. We got Sprong at 46, Anaheim's 2nd sits at 44 right now, and some scouts are saying that 2016 will be even deeper than 2015 was. I'd hate to lose those 2nd's.

 

[mpp9]

As long as they get assets out of the guy rather than let him walk in a year, I'd be fine with it. He'd have more value at the deadline than over the summer, and yah, a 2nd is where I'd peg him in the offseason.

But Anaheim's 2nd rounder is looking better than what we could have expected when the year started. We got Sprong at 46, Anaheim's 2nd sits at 44 right now, and some scouts are saying that 2016 will be even deeper than 2015 was. I'd hate to lose those 2nd's.

It's too bad we already have Anaheim's 2nd because Bonino is pretty much exactly what they need. He's skilled enough to play with Perry and/or Rakell and they know he fits their system.

I wonder if we could pry one of their D prospects away for him. We could certainly use one of those.

 

[AjaxTelamon]

It's too bad we already have Anaheim's 2nd because Bonino is pretty much exactly what they need. He's skilled enough to play with Perry and/or Rakell and they know he fits their system.

I wonder if we could pry one of their D prospects awacy for him. We could certainly use one of those.

Considering Anaheim seems dead-set on hoarding whatever Bieksa and Stoners they can to block their young guys, I can't imagine why not. They apparently wanted Clendening thrown in with Perron purely out of spite, as they had no need or room for him.

 

[StutzlesTapeJob]

Just an aside but I was watching last night thinking about some recent frustrations people had about plots not playing over ahl guys. This is one good game so the point isn't to say last night is the end of that discussion. But I thought back to years past and laughed hard about how so many (myself included) were always wishing for the end of Adams and other junk bottom sixers, and saying "why can't we plug some of our wbs guys in and let them round into form as a solid bottom 6".

That is exactly what has happened, I guess due to injuries for the most part. But we got what we wanted and for the time being it is looking good.

Love the hunger and simple yet effective game. Get deep. Put pressure. Create chances

 

[radapex]

I take Maatta and Dumo over Despres everyday.

I'd like to have all three, but if one was going to have to be moved then I think they made the right decision.

 

[radapex]

I don't think Bonino is long for this roster, but I'm not convinced they move him before the summer.

I'm not sure they'll be able to move him before summer. Closing in on a month since he broke his hand. Seems to me 6-8 weeks is the typical timeline to return from that, which means he'd only be returning around (or after) the trade deadline.

 

[mpp9]

I'd like to have all three, but if one was going to have to be moved then I think they made the right decision.

They chose their top 4 of Maatta, Dumo, DP and Letang. No room for Despres in that scenario.

Dumo and Maatta certainly look like top 4 fixtures. We'll see how DP develops.

 

[radapex]

maf sucks under sully! bring back johnstons!

.927 SV% and 2.22 GAA under Johnston
.906 SV% and 2.80 GAA under Sullivan


That is a pretty alarming difference. It's not just limited to him, either. Team-wide .913 SV% and 2.62 GAA under Sullivan compared to .929 SV% and 2.25 GAA under Johnston.

 

[radapex]

Mattaa's career is one pretty good full season and one injury plagued hell-season before this. That's not exactly a high benchmark there.

That said, he's got some issues to work on still, but I'm happy with his progression.

I hope he spends the entire summer improving his foot speed. His lack of mobility can be a killer at times.

 

[radapex]

You don’t see a difference in their effort and attitude under Sullivan? I do. I’m not saying they were out there tanking on purpose, but if you are second guessing the coach at every turn, whether consciously or not, it’s going to affect the way you are playing.

Simply put, we heard Penguin players referencing guys not sticking to Johnston's system as early as the second or third week of the season. It's pretty clear they weren't willing to play for him, which also means you really can't judge the merits of his system(s) based on what we saw this season.

 

[chrisp200]

I absolutely loved Sullivan's reaction after we gave up that second 2 on 1 goal. That's what we've been missing.

Didn't see the game, what did he do?

 

[radapex]

This describes Johnston's Penguins quite accurately, I would say.

http://www.tsn.ca/for-the-teams-paying-attention-analytics-continue-to-add-real-value-1.435505

Here's the thing, and I don't think a lot of people realized it... the Penguins were 3rd in shots per game at the time of Johnston's firing. They were basically already at the top of the league, and still are.

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

i don't think Sullivan is abrasive as some of you think. I think he's honest, genuine, and blunt, but he does most of it in a 1on1 setting and doesn't (from what I know) attack players and put them down.

This is the impression I get as well. He seems to pick his spots well. From what I gather, he is direct, and I'm sure some of the conversations are uncomfortable for players, but everything is directly related to making them better players. No ego, mind games, etc. I think, naturally, with each game that they see results, their respect for him grows. Every coach has a shelf life but I don't think he falls in with the Torts/MT scorched earth group.

It was apparent that the team had Johnston's respect, and was "buying in" to his system as well.

You need the coach to command respect and the players to buy into what he's selling, but you also need a guy who is competent.

I'm not sure I agree. There was a constant disconnect between what MJ would preach and what the players would do. There were also rumblings of players freelancing. There's a lot grey area between going through the motions and legitimately respecting the guy.

 

[Fordy]

Just an aside but I was watching last night thinking about some recent frustrations people had about plots not playing over ahl guys. This is one good game so the point isn't to say last night is the end of that discussion. But I thought back to years past and laughed hard about how so many (myself included) were always wishing for the end of Adams and other junk bottom sixers, and saying "why can't we plug some of our wbs guys in and let them round into form as a solid bottom 6".

That is exactly what has happened, I guess due to injuries for the most part. But we got what we wanted and for the time being it is looking good.

Love the hunger and simple yet effective game. Get deep. Put pressure. Create chances

plotnikov is one of those young hungry guys, to me