are we seriously pretending that kunitz and dupuis' production isn't a result of playing with crosby? are we pretending that kunitz got invited to team canada on merit and not as a result of playing with crosby?
you don't think crosby could pull 50-60 points out of Bennett right now if given the opportunity?
That's my point, as well. Bennett could produce Kunitz numbers next to Crosby. TODAY. So imagine what an in-your-prime Bennett can produce. We'll never know, because Kunitz will be a 40-year-old first liner the way things are going.
I'm actually a fan of DJ and think he still has a decent bit of untapped potential. He hasn't gotten a great shake, here but obviously the coaches like him or see something in him because he hasn't been moved and he is an obvious candidate, from an outside perspective, to be moved. I think they like his versatility a lot and that he can fill in up and down the lineup, in a pinch. And the Penguins find themselves in a lot of injury-related pinches.
Sutter is a better player, though. And will continue to be.
I like Jokinen with Malkin. Good chemistry, there. Bennett is no slouch, defensively, but I think Jussi's experience gives him an edge, right now. But not moving forward. Ideally I'd prefer Bennett taking Dupuis spot and bumping Pascal down to Sutter's wing. That'd be a net positive in the lineup, IMO. But it's rather unlikely.
Sure, Sutter's better than Jeffrey. But we're a cap-strapped team and we could use some relief. Sutter doesn't bring enough to the table for me. Where you and I disagree is what Staal brought to this team. It was a LOT more than this. And it's not the numbers that tell the tale, either.
At the end of the day, Brandon Sutter is highly replaceable and with the Sutter name behind him, could fetch us a nice return.
There is a middle ground here. Duper is fairly productive no matter where he is in the lineup. Kunitz had really solid production throughout his career as well. He has always played with fairly dynamic centers so that's a part of it, but that's the role he fills (complimentary winger to all star center). Point being, Crosby makes a production difference for these guys, just not to the level you are suggesting. He would make a bigger difference if they had the skill to finish his plays or set Sid up. THAT is the problem.
Personally, I think the Canada camp invite for Kunitz was more about finding the right player for Crosby than it was about Crosby making him good.
It's all part of Bylsma's master plan. He already &^%$ed Iginla up, eliminating him from any potential Team Canada plans. Now, he's keeping Kunitz and Dupuis with Crosby so that they consider putting them on the Canadian roster, too. Kunitz already is on the radar. He has the Canadian regime wondering whether it takes a 'certain type' of player to play with Sid now, since he has kept KCD together for so long. So now, Canada MAY actually want to keep a Kunitz over a Taylor Hall or a Milan Lucic just because he plays with Sid all the time. Well Done, Bylsma. Master stroke for Team USA.
Well... to be totally fair, here... I seriously doubt Bennett was invited based entirely on merit, either. The Penguins' brass are very heavily involved in the US's national team.
Yeah, and they love him so much that he gets demoted every time he makes ONE mistake.
Where did I ever say Beau doesn't have potential? Please read my posts more carefully. I love Beau, but that doesn't mean he's better than Dupuis or CK right now.
I'm not arguing whether he deserves time or not, I've said nothing about that. He should be a staple on the second line.
You said a 32-year-old Bennett wouldn't be able to out-produce Kunitz and Dupuis...which is just a dumb statement to make.
Obviously playing with Sid helps, but it's not like playing with Sid automatically makes wingers PPG, as we've seen.
That's a coaching problem, period. Before this coach, Crosby was lighting up the NHL on lines such as: LeClair-Crosby-Recchi and Hilbert-Crosby-Armstrong. And let's not forget Jani Rita.
This idea that this line must remain intact is just Bylsma bandwagon crap.
Criminal underrating of Dupuis around here, as usual. He truly is one of the best defensive wingers and he's tenacious as hell as a forechecker. I swear, you'd think no winger ever misses opportunities, ever. Like, if we got Ovechkin or Nash, they would just bury every possible chance.
Ummm, yes. I will be the first to say that if we acquired Ovechkin to play with Sid, they would bury every pass Ovi received from Sid. No swings and misses from Ovi like we get from Dupuis, who is like the Adam Dunn of the NHL.
And Kunitz has been a steady 55-60 point guy his whole career with an even better year last year. I don't know how anyone can say Bennett is better right now than either of that. Maybe after this year if he gets his chances he will be, but he's not right now.
But he won't get his chances as long as KCD is a staple, so it's easy to continue to keep Bennett down and think he can't do this, or he can't do that.
