Is Palmieri part of NJ long term though? He likely fetches a Kyle Connor type deal.
Gudbranson + Jarry + 2nd got Palmieri is probably a pretty good deal tbh.
No idea bruv. But - he does have another year after this one so he's not in use or lose territory, and I do think Shero's mind will be dominated (this year at least) by trying to persuade Taylor Hall that NJ is a place to win, and I don't think that happens if he lets go of one of their best current performers. So I think its probably irrelevant whether he's part of them long term; he'll stay until the summer barring an extraordinary offer. That is a pretty big offer there if you like Gudbranson, but...
I mean their Corsi isn’t great, but I think JJ-Marino has been effective...they’re getting heavy DZ starts and have a decent +/-...imo they’ve been better than P2 so I’d argue we do have two out of three good pairs rn...it can always improve and I’d love to see an even better D core, and hopefully we can get there replacing JJ, but for the moment I’d give Petts-Schultz a longer look unless we’re going to sub out JJ for someone else...
JJ-Marino has a -1? That's not that decent...
Lies, damn lies and statistics, but right now we have a grand total of one defensive pairing this season with an xGF% north of 43. I bet you can guess who that pairing is formed of, but if you can;t, it's the one with no member named in your post
Maybe the stats are wrong on this tiny sample but if they're not, we have one good pairing and two gigantic mountains of burning cat vomit. That has to be addressed sooner rather than later.
There is one thing you really struggle with in debating these players and I think it's your emotional connection to them. Every player is different. Every player does get a little more/less cushion with mistakes for what they bring. However there should, at some time, be a standard. Just some examples:
1) Rust: I thought Sully actually was VERY good w/ Rust last year. He gave him time to fight through struggles, which IMO Rust deserved after being such a team player for a couple years. When he didn't, he was moved down the lineup because he can fulfill that role. Rust took full responsibility and when he came out the other side, it wasn't shocking even in the least. He deserved criticism. He criticized himself. It is what it is. And I thought the Pens did the right thing by not panicking and trying to move him. I was pissed this year when he was going to be attached to JJ as trade bait.
2) Letang: Another example you really struggle with. This guy deserves THE BIGGEST leash you can find. Because his great is so damn great. But his bad can be frustrating. I think the coaches do a great job. They've pulled him from the powerplay. They've tried to coach. Letang has given back by trying out their style and even switching his offseason workouts to injury prevention. And that may be why he started a tad less explosive this year but is really finding his legs now. But in all the criticism that has been deserved, the adoration that has been deserved, and even the times #58 is hard on himself - the right move forever has been to keep #58 until his contract is up. And i'm very happy the Pens did so.
3) Sheary: Here is an example because Sheary was anywhere from L1 to L4 and he continued to prove he has NHL scoring ability. When he struggled, he was moved down. When he was good, he was moved up. I still stand by the fact I would have kept him. But that's just me. But what I loved about Sheary is that he could actually play a bottom 6 role and do it well. Same with Rusty.
But now Simon. Simon is an interesting player. He's a top 6 NHLer... or a top 6 AHLer. It doesn't seem like he has that ability to play a bottom 6 role. So it is unique and a tad different. So this is not comparable to Rust/Sheary or anyone else. If anything - it's comparable to Sprong but in a completely different way. Sprong could only shoot like an NHLer. Nothing else. Simon has allllll the talent in the world but struggles defensively and cannot shoot. I think they are giving him chance after chance, and I like that. Might as well find out what you do before moving him. So right now I think it's playing out just fine. I want to see where it goes. Then i look into my post up above outlining the 3 major issues this team has. Then i piece it all together and try to make the best roster adjustment.
Replying to this here because I don't want it to be list when Post-Game Thread is locked, but I think Simon has been decent in the bottom 6. He was really good with that Simon-Bjugstad-Hornqvist line but I liked him with Cullen too. I think that being down in the bottom 6 helps Simon a little at times in that he gets to be the most offensive forward on his line and not be as defensive as he has to be in the top 6 - and also lesser opposition. Lesser opposition tends to mean more space and that gives him that extra fraction of a second he needs to make plays sometimes. I think he's more Rust/Sheary than Sprong. And I think like Rust, he has a tendency to run hot and cold and ideally you'd give him limited minutes (or even bench him) when cold and give him more love when hot. Not quite so feasible right now with all the injuries and kids.
I do worry that Simon might be a bit like Sheary though in that he always looks better regular season than play-offs. But take that as it comes. Sully's been willing to bench him in the past and if Simon is your 13th forward, you're doing okay.
edit: Completely separate point. Bjugstad's 3rd line was the most effective 3rd line we've seen since HBK. I think that goes underappreciated/ignored a bit.
But, at the same time, Bjugstad's line was effective under a very structured model where we tried to hold onto the puck a lot. We seem to be going back more to Sully's original speed game. The Bjugstad 3rd line wasn't that. That's why I'm not against the idea of seeing whether we should move on after a few more games from McCann.
