Simon Despres

[Dipsy Doodle]

Who, #nathangerbes*****?

Everybody has rough nights...Nisky's had 2 good games out of 3. And to be honest, I thought they were pretty liberal with a couple of those calls.

 

[Fordy]

Niskanen has more "rough nights" than anyone not named Orpik. And when the playoffs come, Niskanen has all "rough nights".

 

[Darth Vitale]

He's fat and his face looks funny. Should have drafted Ray Ferraro's spawn instead.

Chicken Parm Jr -- a legend in the making.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Niskanen has more "rough nights" than anyone not named Orpik. And when the playoffs come, Niskanen has all "rough nights".

this is my thing with Nisky. His bad nights are too common to be outweighed by him being a slightly above average player the other nights.

 

[Tender Rip]

Niskanen is a very good hockey player for us in the regular season on average, but not to the extent that we should not play Simon Despres instead.
In the playoffs, Niskanen is always a weak spot, which is and has for more than a year been another reason to prioritize our emerging stars who unlike Nisky have size advantages to go with puck moving qualities and good skating ability. That Despres is a much more cap-efficient player only adds to it.

 

[KIRK]

Niskanen is a very good hockey player for us in the regular season on average, but not to the extent that we should not play Simon Despres instead.
In the playoffs, Niskanen is always a weak spot, which is and has for more than a year been another reason to prioritize our emerging stars who unlike Nisky have size advantages to go with puck moving qualities and good skating ability. That Despres is a much more cap-efficient player only adds to it.

That's Nisky in a nutshell. In a seven game series, you can pound him into playing like a guy who hears footsteps.

 

[Jacob]

Niskanen has more "rough nights" than anyone not named Orpik. And when the playoffs come, Niskanen has all "rough nights".

Thought he was one of the few bright spots against Philly in '12, for whatever it was worth, and he was playing through an injury to boot. He was terrible against TB the year before and forgettable last spring though, for sure.

It's really not a question at this point of if Niskanen goes, just when and for what kind of return. Swapping Niskanen for Despres *right now* may conservatively be a lateral move, but the cap space saved tips the scale.

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

There is really no reason for Nisky to still be on this team. We have Des, Engo and Dumo ready to step in right now.

 

[KIRK]

There is really no reason for Nisky to still be on this team. We have Des, Engo and Dumo ready to step in right now.

Not when you consider what an asset the added cap space would be for Ray Shero. It will give him some flexibility that he otherwise won't have.

 

[Jules Winnfield]

There is really no reason for Nisky to still be on this team. We have Des, Engo and Dumo ready to step in right now.

Could be a smart move by Shero to play him in the top 4 and give him top PP minutes until Letang comes back to maximize his trade value.

 

[KIRK]

Could be a smart move by Shero to play him in the top 4 and give him top PP minutes until Letang comes back to maximize his trade value.

Isn't that what they're doing right now?

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

Could be a smart move by Shero to play him in the top 4 and give him top PP minutes until Letang comes back to maximize his trade value.

I have a small hope that this is what he's doing. If he's still on the team once Tang is back I'm gonna be pissed.

 

[Al Smith]

Could be a smart move by Shero to play him in the top 4 and give him top PP minutes until Letang comes back to maximize his trade value.

Sounds like letang won't be out much longer.

 

[Fire Shero*]

Nisky will not be traded

 

[cygnus47]

Nisky will not be traded

Yep. As much as we want it, the team seems to think he's worth keeping over Despres at his cap hit. I'm not expecting anything to change on D (apart from Maatta going down) until Vokoun is getting close or the trade deadline at earliest.

 

[zero8771]

Yep. As much as we want it, the team seems to think he's worth keeping over Despres at his cap hit. I'm not expecting anything to change on D (apart from Maatta going down) until Vokoun is getting close or the trade deadline at earliest.

Or they haven't gotten a good offer/Letang is hurt?

 

[jmelm]

Not when you consider what an asset the added cap space would be for Ray Shero. It will give him some flexibility that he otherwise won't have.

Still don't understand this. We don't need cap flexibility right now, and that is if we had a healthy full roster (i.e. not even taking into account $$$ saved with Letang, Neal, and particularly Vokoun out).

Also, such a statement is based on the false premise that we actually even NEED a significant amount of cap space (i.e. as if we're actually going to be adding a high-priced player to this line-up). Like I've been saying, we're not selling futures for high-priced rentals. If we're making a hockey trade, it's going to be a player for player type of deal (i.e. a Nisky or Orpik for a Stewart, etc. type of trade; or Despres/Dumoulin for a young forward with a similar salary type of trade), which means it would pretty much be a lateral/equivalent cap hit. I don't understand why people can't see this and keep making an issue of it.

Could be a smart move by Shero to play him in the top 4 and give him top PP minutes until Letang comes back to maximize his trade value.

Exactly, another good point. We need to see a healthy Letang, as well as how guys like Despres & Dumoulin are doing in the minors, and if keeping Maatta on the roster is something the Pens are strongly going to consider after his 9-game tryout. Until then, and depending on how those young guys do, trading Niskanen is not even an option that's on the table right now.

Nisky will not be traded

I tend to agree with this, unless we either (A) get a really solid offer for him, AND (B), the young Dmen I mentioned above really step up and prove that Niskanen can be expendable. Those are big IFs, and even so, Shero may want to keep the depth for this year's playoff run for guys like Nisky and/or Orpik.