Post-Game Talk: | Pens vs Caps | win | We won, but what did it cost us?

[Flying Dego]

Frankly, I'm furious Anne Hathaway isn't leading the poll

Is she being in GDTs NOT the reason we started losing in playoffs after you bastards stopped running with WWE memes?

It's time to rekindle the swag here

 

[Zbynek]

He brings offensive skill that a lot of the players I listed simply don't.

Barbashev is probably a situation where we are adding.

Your continued faith in Kapanen blows my mind.

 

[Zbynek]

Kapanen stopped doing things that made him successful early on.

The simplest piece of evidence is his shooting.

He averaged 4.1 shot attempts per game in his first full season in the NHL with Toronto. He scored 20 goals.

It was down to 3.1 the next year, then 2.8 shots per game in his first year with Pittsburgh.

Last year it was 2.97 and this year it is just 2 shots per game through 12 games.

His scoring has dropped with each decline in shot attempts.

Kapanen's two best assets are his speed and his shot. He's not using the latter, and it's not a Sullivan thing because he dropped significantly while still in Toronto.

Not sure where youre getting at with this. Take more shots score more goals.
None of those stats are surprising when you consider his ATOI has dwindled since Toronto 20 goal season, and have continued to go down each year in Pittsburgh. Now approaching a screeching halt to his healthy scratch.

Why are we overthinking this. This isn't a confidence issue or a Sullivan issue (Sullivan is a problem, but independent of the KK problem). He skates hard and fast, and that's really it. There's nothing more to this player.

Kasperi Kapanen f***ing sucks ass. It's okay to admit it guys.

 

[Zbynek]

Can we add Kapanen to the poll? I want to change my vote.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

As somebody who has been calling for Sully to be fired and replaced for years, I'm resentful (not really, jokingly) of the shift in mindset that's got everybody blaming Sullivan for literally everything wrong with the team. Kap's hot garbage, it's not a Sully thing. We all blamed Sullivan for using him incorrectly by playing him too high and not giving him PK time and now that Sully's got him playing 3rd/4th line minutes and PKing, the dude still sucks. Because he sucks.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

I mean I appreciate your saying it’s not a Sullivan thing but then again we have too many examples of players starting off like gang busters here only to regress when they finally learn how to play in our system lol…probably 90% of this is on the player…he’s a limited IQ player…but I do think there are coaches who would be able to find a way for him to play in a way he does best and incorporate him in their club…Sullivan is almost as limited in doing this as Kap’s IQ lol

I don't think this is accurate at all.

When he's been healthy, Jason Zucker has played very well. Rickard Rakell has 9 goals and 20 points in 32 games, above his scoring pace in his last few years in Anaheim.

Jeff Carter scored 19 goals as a 36-year-old last year. Danton Heinen scored 18 as a third liner. Even Brock McGinn was on pace to match career highs if he had stayed healthy.

Have a few guys not fit? Sure. David Perron definitely seems like a miss at times, but it also seems like his best seasons only come in St. Louis.

Is there a forward who was acquired under Sullivan who stunk here but thrived elsewhere? Brassard has stunk everywhere he's gone since being a Penguin. McCann continued the trajectory he was on. Tanner Pearson has been OK for Vancouver, but do the Pens really miss him?

I think there is more ammunition defensively - guys like Cole and Oleksiak made significant contributions elsewhere after leaving Pittsburgh.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

I went last night. Thought Rakell looked good. He should be on PP1 for Rust (was way better when Rust was in the box). Carter moves better in person. Honestly nobody looked that good on either side though. The Caps are slow as hell.

 

[pistolpete11]

Kapanen reminds me of Grabner. He has some positive attributes and had some good years that started getting people to think that there was more untapped potential. But in the end, he's just not that good and was out of the league by 33

Still, I don't think Sully can be let off the hook entirely. He has regressed from his time in Toronto for 2 straight years now. The kindest interpretation for that is that Kap is just not a good fit here, it happens. The harshest would be that Sullivan is trying to square peg, round hole him. Kap was much better his first year here when he used his speed, got shots on net, and occasionally flew the zone for a breakaway.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Kap is like the wish dot com version of Grabner.

 

[DearDiary]

The Pens don't win this game if the Caps got competent goaltending. No chance if the Caps were healthy

To me this game changes little about how flawed the roster is and how they play. It was also another game where the Pens looked unprepared in a 1st period.

 

[ronduguayshair]

As somebody who has been calling for Sully to be fired and replaced for years, I'm resentful (not really, jokingly) of the shift in mindset that's got everybody blaming Sullivan for literally everything wrong with the team. Kap's hot garbage, it's not a Sully thing. We all blamed Sullivan for using him incorrectly by playing him too high and not giving him PK time and now that Sully's got him playing 3rd/4th line minutes and PKing, the dude still sucks. Because he sucks.

 

[Andy99]

I don't think this is accurate at all.

When he's been healthy, Jason Zucker has played very well. Rickard Rakell has 9 goals and 20 points in 32 games, above his scoring pace in his last few years in Anaheim.

Jeff Carter scored 19 goals as a 36-year-old last year. Danton Heinen scored 18 as a third liner. Even Brock McGinn was on pace to match career highs if he had stayed healthy.

Have a few guys not fit? Sure. David Perron definitely seems like a miss at times, but it also seems like his best seasons only come in St. Louis.

Is there a forward who was acquired under Sullivan who stunk here but thrived elsewhere? Brassard has stunk everywhere he's gone since being a Penguin. McCann continued the trajectory he was on. Tanner Pearson has been OK for Vancouver, but do the Pens really miss him?

I think there is more ammunition defensively - guys like Cole and Oleksiak made significant contributions elsewhere after leaving Pittsburgh.

I didn’t specify forwards so I’m not sure where you got that from…I actually was thinking about Marino as well…I do also think that Carter played best for us when he first arrived, Zucker played best for us when he first arrived (until this stretch here), Rakell scored more for us when he first arrived although his game is still really good, Heinen and ERod all had great starts for us and tailed off, and of course Kap…seems to be a running theme

 

[eXile3]

I went last night. Thought Rakell looked good. He should be on PP1 for Rust (was way better when Rust was in the box). Carter moves better in person. Honestly nobody looked that good on either side though. The Caps are slow as hell.

I don’t think it’s an issue of what Carter can do, it’s an issue of what he’s willing to do. He’s one of the more complacent players on the team.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

I didn’t specify forwards so I’m not sure where got that from…I actually was thinking about Marino as well…I do also think that Carter played best for us when he first arrived, Zucker played best for us when he first arrived (until this stretch here), Rakell scored more for us when he first arrived although his game is still really good, Heinen and ERod all had great starts for us and tailed off, and of course Kap…seems to be a running theme

I think Zucker is playing his best hockey as a Penguin this season, better even than when he was playing with Sid shortly after being acquired.

Carter played extremely well after being acquired, but he's still contributing and his decline can be attributed to age.

Heinen is on the exact same goal scoring pace as he was last year.

Rodrigues is actually the opposite - he stunk for 42 games, got traded to Toronto, went unsigned without playing for the Leafs, then re-signed here and had his hot half of a year.

I don't see a theme.

 

[pistolpete11]

Kap is like the wish dot com version of Grabner.

Through age 26:

Grabner : 41point / 82 games , -9
Kapanen : 39point / 82 games , +20

Grabner was more of a goal scorer, but they were/are both speedy wingers with a little skill that you could throw out there on the PK, but ultimately weren't smart enough to really turn their skills into a consistent top 6 or even top 9 player.

Grabner signed a $3Mx5 contract in 2011 dollars and then another $3.5Mx3 year deal in 2018 which he was eventually bought out of and never played in the NHL again. So, also an overpaid bottom 6 player.

You're either misremembering Grabner's career or just wanting to shit on Kap if you really think they are that different.

 

[CascadiaPenguin]

Watch a few more angles, the main point of contact was the head.

I did watch it, from three angles. Primary force vector was through the body. Ovi's left arm contacted Rutta's head, but by NHL standards that was a clean shot, and will never get called. Rutta would have fended better had he not ducked. His head was in line with the top of the boards.

 

[Turin]

The Pens don't win this game if the Caps got competent goaltending. No chance if the Caps were healthy

To me this game changes little about how flawed the roster is and how they play. It was also another game where the Pens looked unprepared in a 1st period.

They looked nervous for the first 10 minutes and then mostly looked fine.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Through age 26:

Grabner : 41point / 82 games , -9
Kapanen : 39point / 82 games , +20

Grabner was more of a goal scorer, but they were/are both speedy wingers with a little skill that you could throw out there on the PK, but ultimately weren't smart enough to really turn their skills into a consistent top 6 or even top 9 player.

Grabner signed a $3Mx5 contract in 2011 dollars and then another $3.5Mx3 year deal in 2018 which he was eventually bought out of and never played in the NHL again. So, also an overpaid bottom 6 player.

You're either misremembering Grabner's career or just wanting to shit on Kap if you really think they are that different.

Grabner didn't really take off and play his best until he was like 29/30. In his final 243 games in the league, he had 103pts and 71 goals. I'm not interested in keeping this awful Kapanen experiment going for another 4 years just to see if the kid is a late bloomer like Grabner, tbh.

Grabner was a PK specialist who could actually finish the chances his skating provided him. Kap's fast, that's literally it. He's got the brain of a squirrel and his shot is mediocre at best.

 

[CascadiaPenguin]

Molinari had an article this morning taking the position that they should waive Kap…pretty much agree…only good things can happen: either he works on his game and confidence in Wilkes, or someone else takes $3.2M for the next two years off our hands…lol

If we waive him and he clears, and agrees to play in WB, and we buyout his contract after this season, if I understand this correctly we have a dead cap hit of $1,066,067 for each of the next two seasons (Kap is 26)? Am I right, or am I missing something?

 

[Andy99]

If we waive him and he clears, and agrees to play in WB, and we buyout his contract after this season, if I understand this correctly we have a dead cap hit of $1,066,067 for each of the next two seasons (Kap is 26)? Am I right, or am I missing something?

Idk…I just go to Capfriendly,click on Kap to go to his contract history, and there’s a link that says “buyout this current contract”…cheat code lol

 

[BusinessGoose]

How does salary work with waivers claims?

If someone takes kap off waivers, do the pens write off the whole salary or do they only get to take off half?


Buyouts ARE NOT WORTH IT

This team can't afford a mil of waste

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Why do people immediately slam the big red button that says buyout? We all saw the pretty significant effect a mere $1 million in dead cap had when the team was forced to buyout JJ. We've had people clamoring to buy out Zucker, people wanna buy out Kap, it's f***ing wild, man.

No doubt in my mind this team could get Kap shipped outta here if they wanted. They could package him with a pick or some dumpster prospect for a bit of cap relief (probably have to take back some schlub making a couple million, but you'd aim to get a guy on an expiring deal). Or they could swap two guys in a "change of scenery" move (read: both players suck) in hopes that the new guy is a better fit.

Stop with the buyout stuff.

 

[Pancakes]

Galaxy brain idea: Try Kap in the top six for a game. See if he shows any life there. Move Zucker to l3.

I'll see myself out *gets pelted by tomatoes*

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Galaxy brain idea: Try Kap in the top six for a game. See if he shows any life there. Move Zucker to l3.

I'll see myself out *gets pelted by tomatoes*

Shit, demote Rust before Zucker tbh. Dude's been big dookie, playing a blatant "got my money, time to coast" game for most of the season. But not in favor of promoting Kap.

 

[Pancakes]

Shit, demote Rust before Zucker tbh. Dude's been big dookie, playing a blatant "got my money, time to coast" game for most of the season. But not in favor of promoting Kap.

I wouldn't hate it. Rust is floating big time.

One thing that has pissed me off this season with a lot of guys (Rust/Carter in particular) is when they just play soft and throw pucks away to avoid contact, or try to make cute plays, or try to make fling type passes at high speed all the time. They aren't Sid, and shit, that crap doesn't even work that often for Sid.

Last night Carter/Sid/Geno were absorbing checks more and then making plays instead of just throwing pucks away on low percentage plays to avoid contact.

That's how guys have to play all the time, especially the Rusts and Carters of the world. We aren't good enough to play a low contact game. I get that guys want to protect their bodies, but it's just not winning hockey.