Pre-Game Talk: Pens/Sharks - Pre Game Talk

[ColePens]

Shrimper on the GDT

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[BrookswasHere44]

Is Paulie still hurt over there?

 

[NewAgeOutlaw]

Looks like Sprong sits again. Just trade him to an organization that appreciates young talent.

The Penguins finally draft a talented winger and they never even tried him in the top 6 and he sits half the games.

 

[Shrimper]

GDT will be up about 15 mins before game.

 

[ColePens]

What a waste to keep Sprong up. Sprong definitely deserved to stay, but his usage is hilarious.

 

[66-30-33]

Can't wait for Sprong to get Despres'd. We don't deserve young players with boatloads of potential, we deserve over the hill has beens/never was.

 

[ColePens]

Too much of a defensive liability, even though he has shown multiple times defensive responsibility. I can remember a 3 on 2 he broke up with Hornqvist like hustle.

He also gambles too much at the Rivers Casino. ****ing high stakes black jack.

 

[mpp9]

I don't think any forward is playing poorly enough to sit. I can't stand Kunitz still being on this team, but it looks like he's finally embracing being in the bottom six rather than half ass it.

Sucks, but Sprong and Plotnikov are gonna rotate until they trade a forward.

 

[Sidney BrOSSby*]

Who's gettin' 'nake?

 

[NewAgeOutlaw]

It's not even a case of anybody playing poorly enough to sit. The Pens have a lot of old guys. Why not have Fehr, Kunitz, Dupuis, and Cullen rotating in and out of the lineup so Sprong and Plotkinov can both play every day? It would be good for everybody as the old guys get rest and the young guys get experience.

This organization is incompetent.

 

[mpp9]

It's not even a case of anybody playing poorly enough to sit. The Pens have a lot of old guys. Why not have Fehr, Kunitz, Dupuis, and Cullen rotating in and out of the lineup so Sprong and Plotkinov can both play every day? It would be good for everybody as the old guys get rest and the young guys get experience.

This organization is incompetent.

Fehr just came back. You're not sitting him. Cullen's been too good. Kunitz isn't showing signs of needing rest per say. He just needs to stay in his proper role or traded at some point. And if he is, I think Plotnikov with some more time and a steady role can easily replace him.

I'm incapable of being unbiased when it comes to Dupuis. That's just a ridiculous situation.

 

[Mischa]

Fehr just came back. You're not sitting him. Cullen's been too good. Kunitz isn't showing signs of needing rest per say. He just needs to stay in his proper role or traded at some point. And if he is, I think Plotnikov with some more time and a steady role can easily replace him.

I'm incapable of being unbiased when it comes to Dupuis. That's just a ridiculous situation.

you don't rest someone because they're showing signs of rest, you rest them so they don't show signs of rest. this really is the perfect situation to keep the old guys and the perpetually injured guys fresh throughout the year but instead we're resting the young guys (who still need a bit more experience in the NHL) for some reason

 

[NewAgeOutlaw]

Kunitz has a few decent games and all of a sudden he's "embracing his role". No, he'll still suck in 90% of the games he plays this year. Cullen has been great, but not so great that he shouldn't get a day off at 39.

They need to find some way to get Sprong and Plots in the lineup every night.

 

[mpp9]

They need to find some way to get Sprong and Plots in the lineup every night.

Yeah, a trade.

 

[NewAgeOutlaw]

Yeah, a trade.

Nobody is gonna trade for Kunitz. Even if they would, the Penguins would not accept whatever return they were offered because they are delusional and think that Kunitz is some key piece who deserves a king's ransom.

 

[billybudd]

By game 6, it was clear that Sprong needed to go back. Or rather, it was clear that he wasn't getting enough ice time for it to be possible to determine whether he should stay or not.

We burned a contract year for no real reason with him. I don't buy this "too good for juniors, but we wish he could be in the A" stuff, either. As much as I like Sprong, Larkin is and will probably stay better than him. Larkin was too good for the NCAA, but a year at Michigan at Sprong's age sure as Hell didn't hurt him.

If you're going to play him 13 minutes or more, have him up here. If not, he needs to be somewhere else playing a lot of minutes.

 

[mpp9]

Nobody is gonna trade for Kunitz. Even if they would, the Penguins would not accept whatever return they were offered because they are delusional and think that Kunitz is some key piece who deserves a king's ransom.

If anything this past summer taught me, it's that I have no idea how GMs value players. We'll see. I'm not even saying it has to be Kunitz. But they need to make some room for both Sprong and Plotnikov to get into the lineup regularly. With Sundqvist apparently playing very well in WBS, Cullen being an ideal 4C and Fehr being best at center, maybe you get value for Bonino for a D-man. That opens up a spot on RW for Sprong.

I don't think Sprong needs big minutes to develop. I think they want him to learn defense and then give him some more rope later in the season.

 

[66-30-33]

By game 6, it was clear that Sprong needed to go back. Or rather, it was clear that he wasn't getting enough ice time for it to be possible to determine whether he should stay or not.

We burned a contract year for no real reason with him. I don't buy this "too good for juniors, but we wish he could be in the A" stuff, either. As much as I like Sprong, Larkin is and will probably stay better than him. Larkin was too good for the NCAA, but a year at Michigan at Sprong's age sure as Hell didn't hurt him.

If you're going to play him 13 minutes or more, have him up here. If not, he needs to be somewhere else playing a lot of minutes.

Just goes to show we have no idea how to handle young guys. Hope Sprong gets traded at the TD by a team that can fully develope him. Sprong+Perron for a top 4Dman. Perhaps Big Bad Buf, who will then test the UFA waters and we just traded yet another young guy for nothing.