Salary Cap: Pittsburgh Penguins Salary Cap Thread: Where every JR update, gives us all Anxiety.

[Honour Over Glory]

Blueger can produce like a 3C if you get a 4C.

only reason he didn't put up more points was because he got KILLED with Dzone starts, Hard defensive minutes and ZAR.

Give him Rust or Kap and more Ozone starts, more 5v5 mins, and he'll get you 35 - 40 points.

pretty much Just give him the Bonino role.

Johan Larsson put up 18pts in 62 games and even he was getting closer to 40% OZ starts and 60% DZ starts, Blueger was 70% on the DZ starts and he was playing with 1 bloke who couldn't even score in an empty net and then there was Turbo, who plays like a spastic puppy on a zoomies bender.

Anytime Blue had more capable linemates, he looked like he was finally with a class of players that could even remotely think the game at his level.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Nobody's arguing that TB is wholly incapable or in over his head at 3C, but he's gonna need more support from his wings than we have in-house. Dropping someone like Rust or Zucker down creates a hole in the top-6, and while I think Kapanen eventually ends up on the 3rd line anyway, I don't think he'll start there.

I'd be perfectly fine with a Poulin-Blueger-Kapanen line, assuming Poulin acquits himself like many people think he will come camp/pre-season. But that's a big assumption, and we're still left with a hole on Sid and Jake's line if/when Kap drops down.

In the end, we need to either go out and find a 3C, or a 3W to reshape the 3rd unit. No fix is going to be easy, especially since we've been bleeding assets for years and just traded two pretty significant assets to land a guy who may or may not end up on the 3rd line when he proves to be too squirrelly to stick with Sid.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Blueger was the 3C on the 7th best team in the league last year. With Sid and Malkin and Jake missing major time. So, it ain't like he was carried by our depth.

He is already a 3C. His best fit is at 3C.

Oh, the 7th best team in the league thing again. Yeah, that matters. Just ask the Shero/Bylsma Penguins how much regular season rankings matter in the playoffs.

 

[PensandCaps]

3rd line of

Simon - Blueger - Rust , would be great.

We just need to get a 4C like who can handle tough Defensive Mins, and still give you 20-25 Points

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Okay? Does that make him the solution to a team that's been missing an added layer of depth at forward since their last Cup?

I'm not saying Blueger is bad. I'm saying Blueger's best fit is at 4C, and until we have better options at wing than we have in-house, Blueger at 3C does nothing to get this team closer to winning in the playoffs.

Forcing a guy into a position he's not best suited because our GM mismanaged the roster composition aspect of his job isn't the best way to right a sinking ship, imo. If we want TB to play 3C, and that's something I've warmed to recently, we still need a significant winger addition to the 3rd line as well as a 4C.

Blueger's best fit is 3c. He's underutilized as a 4C and someone like him will grow tired of it and leave, then we'll see idiots here saying "OMG LOOK, JR LET BLUEGER LEAVE AND NOW HE'S A 3C DOING WELL ELSEWHERE!!" When in reality, he's always played closer to a 3c and is growing more and more into that role and is harder to ignore. When you're doing as well as he does with how little he is deployed in any offensive role imaginable, you have to realize the solution to your 3c problems is right there, making 2 wankers with stone hands, look serviceable.

This isn't even a situation of forcing a guy into role not suited for him because the GM mismanaged the roster.

Because for one...

1. Sullivan and Co mismanaged Jared McCann by making him W and C and flopping him around when he always looked better as a 3C and now the entire team is torn where he belongs, not a good situation.
2. Blueger's usage isn't on JR, it's Sullivan & Recchi that utilized him that way. They basically made it so he couldn't produce any respectable numbers and still ended up doing it. Then anytime his line was in the middle of a line change and he was stuck out there with better talent, he never once looked out of place.

 

[Gurglesons]

Oh, the 7th best team in the league thing again. Yeah, that matters. Just ask the Shero/Bylsma Penguins how much regular season rankings matter in the playoffs.

I mean, your argument is his best fit on the team is not 3C. When in reality, he just was everything we want from a 3C with relatively underwhelming offensive statistics because he was played with 4th liners all year.

I don't see how bringing up regular season rankings or playoff success matters in this argument. The argument is that Bleuger's best fit is at 4C which is blatantly untrue.

 

[PensandCaps]

Trade McCann+ ZAR for Derek Ryan

Zucker - Sid - Hornqvist

Guentzel - Geno - Kap

Simon - Blueger - Rust

A. Johnson - Ryan - Tanev
Laff

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Here, we have a bloke that passes the eye test and metrics test and somehow, they're not convinced because he has to do what he's doing for us, elsewhere in a situation his current team should have put him in, so we can say, I wish we had that player.


Lol...

 

[DearDiary]

Has anyone done an analysis on the team when Crosby was out and what changed? It was the best I've seen them play since the end season stretch in 2015, it was good hockey to watch even when they would lose. McCann as the 2C playing well with Kahun, Johnson as #2D, Guentzal with Malkin/Rust etc.

It may just be me, but I feel like players such as Tanev, McCann, Blueger play better higher in the lineup and that they seemed to push their line mates harder.

You can tell how Malkin is going to play in a game from his first shift. With Guentzal it seemed like he was trying harder to make plays, because he didn't want to let Guentzal down who was good at finding space. There was little room for Malkin to feel frustrated and give up on plays, I felt just that attitude made a big difference.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I mean, your argument is his best fit on the team is not 3C. When in reality, he just was everything we want from a 3C with relatively underwhelming offensive statistics because he was played with 4th liners all year.

I don't see how bringing up regular season rankings or playoff success matters in this argument. The argument is that Bleuger's best fit is at 4C which is blatantly untrue.

My argument is that his best fit to this team is at 4C, and we should aim higher than defaulting to moving the guy up and hoping he excels while still having to find, in everyone else's words, a fantastic 4C to replace TB's role there.

I'm sure we won't find any significant 3C in FA or trade though, and we'll end up trying him at 3C for a while like what happened after Bonino left. I hope he succeeds, that'd solve a huge problem for cheap, but I don't think that Blueger centering in-house options does f*** all for making this team significantly deeper. Does anyone genuinely believe two of McCann, Simon, Tanev, Hornqvist, Lafferty, etc. will move the needle and make teams worry about the consequences of shadowing Sid and Geno? I don't see how anyone can feel that way.

 

[Gurglesons]

My argument is that his best fit to this team is at 4C, and we should aim higher than defaulting to moving the guy up and hoping he excels while still having to find, in everyone else's words, a fantastic 4C to replace TB's role there.

I'm sure we won't find any significant 3C in FA or trade though, and we'll end up trying him at 3C for a while like what happened after Bonino left. I hope he succeeds, that'd solve a huge problem for cheap, but I don't think that Blueger centering in-house options does f*** all for making this team significantly deeper. Does anyone genuinely believe two of McCann, Simon, Tanev, Hornqvist, Lafferty, etc. will move the needle and make teams worry about the consequences of shadowing Sid and Geno? I don't see how anyone can feel that way.

But like you keep acting like he wasn't a 3C. He was our 3C last year. And we finished seventh in the NHL with him as our 3C. "Moving him up" doesn't need to be done. He was in terms of TOI what Bonino was playing when we were healthy and he was our 3C.

 

[Malkinstheman]

Blueger had 75% defensive zone starts last year. In comparison, Bonino had around 55% when he was here. Considering he was being buried in defensive minutes. his 25 point pace is pretty good. Give Blueger better offensively inclined players and I think you could make a pretty good third line.

 

[Riptide]

So with the acquisition of Kapanen and Rust/Crosby never looking as good as Malkin and Rust do, is it now time to break up Guentzel and Crosby? I know this is kinda taboo... but it still tempts me. Separating KK and JG gives both Crosby and Malkin someone who (in theory) should help them make a few more plays and hopefully give them a touch more space (at least more then what Malkin would get if JZ/BR were his wingers).

Zucker - Crosby - Kapanen
Guentzel - Malkin - Rust

 

[Gurglesons]

So with the acquisition of Kapanen and Rust/Crosby never looking as good as Malkin and Rust do, is it now time to break up Guentzel and Crosby? I know this is kinda taboo... but it still tempts me. Separating KK and JG gives both Crosby and Malkin someone who (in theory) should help them make a few more plays and hopefully give them a touch more space (at least more then what Malkin would get if JZ/BR were his wingers).

Zucker - Crosby - Kapanen
Guentzel - Malkin - Rust

I think this is what 75% of us on here want, but imagine we will never see.

 

[66-30-33]

So with the acquisition of Kapanen and Rust/Crosby never looking as good as Malkin and Rust do, is it now time to break up Guentzel and Crosby? I know this is kinda taboo... but it still tempts me. Separating KK and JG gives both Crosby and Malkin someone who (in theory) should help them make a few more plays and hopefully give them a touch more space (at least more then what Malkin would get if JZ/BR were his wingers).

Zucker - Crosby - Kapanen
Guentzel - Malkin - Rust

I'm good with this top 6. Now if JR can't trade JJ we can easily clear 1M by putting him in the AHL the remainder of his time here because if we are retaining half of Bjugstad why can't we waive JJ? let's find a decent bottom pairing RD for Riikola. In a few years our bottom pair can be POJ-Maniscalco.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Blueger had 75% defensive zone starts last year. In comparison, Bonino had around 55% when he was here. Considering he was being buried in defensive minutes. his 25 point pace is pretty good. Give Blueger better offensively inclined players and I think you could make a pretty good third line.

 

[EightyOne]

So with the acquisition of Kapanen and Rust/Crosby never looking as good as Malkin and Rust do, is it now time to break up Guentzel and Crosby? I know this is kinda taboo... but it still tempts me. Separating KK and JG gives both Crosby and Malkin someone who (in theory) should help them make a few more plays and hopefully give them a touch more space (at least more then what Malkin would get if JZ/BR were his wingers).

Zucker - Crosby - Kapanen
Guentzel - Malkin - Rust

I think this is what 75% of us on here want, but imagine we will never see.

Exactly. Jake and Geno chemistry needs to continue to be explored.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

So with the acquisition of Kapanen and Rust/Crosby never looking as good as Malkin and Rust do, is it now time to break up Guentzel and Crosby? I know this is kinda taboo... but it still tempts me. Separating KK and JG gives both Crosby and Malkin someone who (in theory) should help them make a few more plays and hopefully give them a touch more space (at least more then what Malkin would get if JZ/BR were his wingers).

Zucker - Crosby - Kapanen
Guentzel - Malkin - Rust

I wish.

The production of Geno and Rust justify that trio, but Sullivan and Crosby won't let it happen.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I'm good with this top 6. Now if JR can't trade JJ we can easily clear 1M by putting him in the AHL the remainder of his time here because if we are retaining half of Bjugstad why can't we waive JJ? let's find a decent bottom pairing RD for Riikola. In a few years our bottom pair can be POJ-Maniscalco.

 

[Giskard]

So with the acquisition of Kapanen and Rust/Crosby never looking as good as Malkin and Rust do, is it now time to break up Guentzel and Crosby? I know this is kinda taboo... but it still tempts me. Separating KK and JG gives both Crosby and Malkin someone who (in theory) should help them make a few more plays and hopefully give them a touch more space (at least more then what Malkin would get if JZ/BR were his wingers).

Zucker - Crosby - Kapanen
Guentzel - Malkin - Rust

That's my favorite top-6 too on paper. Guentzel-Malkin-Rust where dynamite till December, and Zucker looked better with Crosby then Malkin.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

While JR is on the f***ing reunion tour, maybe deal Simon for Kahun. Right the wrong of trading the wrong Dominik.

 

[Son Goku]

So glad I was right when we drafted Bluegs knew the kid would be dynamite someday

 

[Rakell67]

Pesce
Fleury
Vatanen
Hamilton
Van Riemsdyk
Slavin
Gardiner
Edmundson - Just got moved

And Skej.

Vatanen and Van Riemsdyk are UFAs so their may be room for McKeown.

 

[EightyOne]

So glad I was right when we drafted Bluegs knew the kid would be dynamite someday

Yup. Wonder when that'll be, though

 

[JRS91]

Blueger had 75% defensive zone starts last year. In comparison, Bonino had around 55% when he was here. Considering he was being buried in defensive minutes. his 25 point pace is pretty good. Give Blueger better offensively inclined players and I think you could make a pretty good third line.

I'm fine with this as long as they get a good fourth line center.

Girgensons comes to mind. I can only imagine how good a fourth line of Aston-Reese, Girgensons and Tanev would be defensively.