Simon Despres

[No Quarter*]

Is anyone as excited as I am to see Simone Despres play a whole seasons without the coach dicking him around?????

Click to read more...

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

He'll do well, but people seem to be expecting him to walk on water, comparing him favourably to Maatta, etc.

Despres has a lot of tools and potential, but I think more minutes will expose some unflattering aspects of his game.

 

[Waffle Fries]

He'll do well, but people seem to be expecting him to walk on water, comparing him favourably to Maatta, etc.

Despres has a lot of tools and potential, but I think more minutes will expose some unflattering aspects of his game.

I disagree. Despres always played better when he got more and consistent minutes. It allowed him to get into the groove of his game.

I still don't understand why it's considered crazy to think that Despres is more naturally gifted than Maatta but feel that Maatta has a higher hockey IQ. Maatta isn't this magical being that no one should be compared to. He had his fair share of struggles this year, but people seemed more willing to let his mistakes slide.

 

[KrisLetAngry]

Depres if you can supplant yourself better then scuderi in the coaches eyes you have done your job right.

 

[No Quarter*]

Depres if you can supplant yourself better then scuderi in the coaches eyes you have done your job right.

This is true

 

[IcedCapp]

Despres was significantly better than Scuderi last year. That he was unable to "supplant" him in the "eyes of his coaches" says more about the guy who can't find a job than the guy who just signed a two-year extension with his team.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

So, when I saw this thread I thought something had happened to him.

Despres was significantly better than Scuderi last year. That he was unable to "supplant" him in the "eyes of his coaches" says more about the guy who can't find a job than the guy who just signed a two-year extension with his team.

Yeah, Bylsma has higher standards. The highest standards, really. He wouldn't tolerate Despres and he won't take a job that's below him.

 

[KrisLetAngry]

Despres was significantly better than Scuderi last year. That he was unable to "supplant" him in the "eyes of his coaches" says more about the guy who can't find a job than the guy who just signed a two-year extension with his team.

I agree he was a lot better. He had this one game were he made this sick move and I swear to God Bylsma made his face and he saw little ice time after

 

[Get To Our Game]

I didn't want to start a new thread on this article and didn't know where else to put it, but this guy is going to try to analyze board/wall battles for the Pens next year:

http://www.pensburgh.com/2014/8/7/5969611/tracking-wall-battles-in-the-2014-2015-season

To set the parameters for this project, I consider wall battles to have two definitional components. First, the battle must occur within arm's length of the boards. While I know there are loose puck battles occasionally away from the boards, I'm more interested in those that occur where players can use the boards as support. Second, the battle is triggered either when two players are fighting or racing to a loose puck, or when one player is dislodged of possession by some action of an opposing player. Possession must change for a wall battle to occur, i.e. an unpossessed puck must become possessed, or a player must take possession away from his opponent.

...

Given that definition, here is what I plan on recording. I will track wall battles by wins and losses; the player who obtains possession of the puck at the end of the battle gets a win, and the opposing player gets a loss. If there are multiple players involved (they have to be engaged in the battle within arm's length of the boards), they too will be graded by the same criteria. We can then calculate the Wall Battle Winning Percentage (WBW%) metric using the following formula: wall battles won/(wall battles won + wall battles lost).

Anyway, the two players I expect to be the best at this are Sidney Crosby and Simon Despres. I'm excited to see Despres this year, and I'm hoping his offensive tendencies are more like we saw earlier in his career rather than his more recent play. After his rookie year I had visions of Despres-Letang running a dominant pairing for years. He has had runs where he has looked very confident offensively, and I still think he's one of the top passing defenseman in the organization. When he's confident in his game defensively, he can absolutely dominate down low. He actually protects the front of the net, and like I said above, he's an absolute beast in the trenches and in board scrums. If he's allowed to play to his full strengths (let the big horse run!), and he can iron out some of his minor kinks, like the fact that referees will call every ticky-tacky call against him possible or his occasional tripping over the blue line randomly, I think he could be a very valuable player.

I also want him to succeed because 2008 or so was when I really started following prospects and the draft more closely (through this board and twitter) so I was extremely happy when he fell to us. I doubt he's a jerk to the coaches (maybe he is, I dunno), so I'm really not sure what went on with him at the NHL level, but I also want him to do really well to spite Dan Bylsma and Rob Rossi.

More of this please:

 

[888 98 twins]

I'd like to see him play a lot of his ES minutes with Letang. Don't play him as much as Letang at ES, but when Despres is on the ice, I hope it's with Tanger.

Ehrhoff-Martin
Despres-Letang
Maatta-Bortuzzo

GET RID OF SCUDERI!!

 

[mpp9]

I'd like to see him play a lot of his ES minutes with Letang. Don't play him as much as Letang at ES, but when Despres is on the ice, I hope it's with Tanger.

Ehrhoff-Martin
Despres-Letang
Maatta-Bortuzzo

GET RID OF SCUDERI!!

Na. Letang's gotta start being a guy we rely on to shut down other team's top players. Pair him with Martin. Despres or Maatta could do just fine seeing easier matchups and playing with a stud transition player like Ehrhoff.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Despres will probably play bottom pairing minutes this year. He should have been playing bottom pairing minutes the past two years, if the idiot coach had a clue.

By either the end of this season, or by next season, would be the earliest I expect him to play in the top four. Bylsma really **** the can by under utilizing Despres the past couple of seasons. The experience he should have gotten by now, he'll now have to get this year.

 

[Harvey Birdman]

I think he will trip and fall here and there, but given constant minutes and having a coach that will not immediately just bench him for taking one penalty or making one neutral zone mistake will give him a chance to finally show what he is. I have absolutely ZERO doubt he is a legit NHL defense man. Where he is capable of being in the pairings is what I hope he shows this season. My bet is he is fully capable of being a 3-4 defense man. Hope he proves me right this year. But with expanded opportunity he is going to have his gaffs here and there along with that and we have to accept that as he finds his bigger game with more ice time.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

I disagree. Despres always played better when he got more and consistent minutes. It allowed him to get into the groove of his game.

I still don't understand why it's considered crazy to think that Despres is more naturally gifted than Maatta but feel that Maatta has a higher hockey IQ. Maatta isn't this magical being that no one should be compared to. He had his fair share of struggles this year, but people seemed more willing to let his mistakes slide.

It's not crazy. Despres does have more tools than Maatta, but that's not what I'm taking issue with.

Maatta's hockey IQ gave him a considerable advantage over Despres this year despite being 3 years younger, allowing him to both leapfrog Despres on the depth chart and distinguish himself at the Olympics. I don't see much reason to believe Despres is going to close the gap.

 

[cygnus47]

When they were both in the lineup in December, Despres was as impressive as Maatta, but Olli was given more responsibility and consistency by Bylsma. There's no reason to think that Despres can't be just as good (in a completely different way) if given a consistent role.

 

[Fordy]

At this moment Despres is a borderline top 4 nhl defensemen

 

[penguins2946*]

At this moment Despres is a borderline top 4 nhl defensemen

No he's not.

Anyway, I think that if Ehrhoff gets extended and Martin gets moved, I would hope that Despres plays with Letang and Maatta with Ehrhoff. Despres seems to play a style that would complement Letang's style extremely well, and Letang has played some of his best hockey while with Despres over the last 2 years. I don't see that situation happening (trading Martin), but I hope Johnston explores a Despres-Letang pair at some point.

 

[theicebox]

I would hope that Despres plays with Letang and Maatta with Ehrhoff.

That would be a sexy top 4. Very highly and equally distributed offensive skill. Very mobile.

 

[Fordy]

No he's not.

Anyway, I think that if Ehrhoff gets extended and Martin gets moved, I would hope that Despres plays with Letang and Maatta with Ehrhoff. Despres seems to play a style that would complement Letang's style extremely well, and Letang has played some of his best hockey while with Despres over the last 2 years. I don't see that situation happening (trading Martin), but I hope Johnston explores a Despres-Letang pair at some point.

oh i see, i hadn't considered that thoughtful argument

 

[Ogrezilla]

It's not crazy. Despres does have more tools than Maatta, but that's not what I'm taking issue with.

Maatta's hockey IQ gave him a considerable advantage over Despres this year despite being 3 years younger, allowing him to both leapfrog Despres on the depth chart and distinguish himself at the Olympics. I don't see much reason to believe Despres is going to close the gap.

Despres had games where he looked as good as Maatta did. Maatta also had days where he looked every bit as bad as Despres' worst days. Despres will likely never be as steady as Maatta, which obviously helps him get a job at the Olympics and hold a roster spot for Bylsma. But I think Despres can come in and make every bit as much of an impact for us.

Its really impossible to make a real assessment of where they are compared to one another because they have never been given the same opportunities by Disco.

 

[penguins2946*]

oh i see, i hadn't considered that thoughtful argument

Your argument was no better. If he actually were a borderline top-4 D, he would have been in the NHL and he would have been recalled when Orpik got hurt in the playoffs. He would be a top-4 D had Bylsma actually played him, but he's didn't. He's a #5 right now.

 

[Ogrezilla]

If Maatta was healthy, I think Despres would start as our 5th best D. But to start the year he has a very good shot of being our 4th best d-man behind Martin, Letang and Ehrhoff. I don't think its a guarantee that Maatta will instantly earn that spot back when he returns.

I'd call that a borderline top 4 D.

 

[Fordy]

Your argument was no better. If he actually were a borderline top-4 D, he would have been in the NHL and he would have been recalled when Orpik got hurt in the playoffs. He would be a top-4 D had Bylsma actually played him, but he's didn't. He's a #5 right now.

I wasn't making an argument or responding to anyone, I was making a statement. And you replied "nuh-uh". The rest of your post is nonsense and I can't believe there are still penguins fans that think this.

 

[Sutter16]

I'd like to see Despres start the year out with Bort. I'm expecting somewhat of a sophomore slump from Maatta. And obviously the shoulder injury will make it difficult for him to be as effective as he was last season. If Martin does get moved it should be either Ehrhoff or Despres to play with Letang. We'll have to see what Ehrhoff is capable of defensively. To start the season the pairings should be:

Martin-Letang
Harrington? Scuds? -Ehrhoff
Despres-Bortuzzo

 

[Ogrezilla]

I still hope and pray that somehow Scuds is gone by the start of the season.