The All Things Sprong Containment Thread

[Ogrezilla]

Focused on Sprong, we gave up a young stud who has unlimited offensive potential. When he gets the pacing down and a good C, maybe at LW....... Watch out


Disaster of a trade

yeah he played well. About as good as our 3RW. Though to be fair, better than our 1RW.

 

[Coastal Kev]

yeah he played well. About as good as our 3RW. Though to be fair, better than our 1RW.

Can we just agree that we dump our most talented Wing prospect because a faction of the organization had an agenda. Bad move, end of story.

It will only get worse from here.

 

[Empoleon8771]

What's funny is that Pettersson probably had a stronger game than Sprong had tonight, but yeah, the Penguins dumped Sprong for nothing for some reason.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Can we just agree that we dump our most talented Wing prospect because a faction of the organization had an agenda. Bad move, end of story.

It will only get worse from here.

no we can't. You're just ignoring every single bit of context, and pretending we didn't get a need back in return.

 

[Coastal Kev]

no we can't. You're just ignoring every single bit of context, and pretending we didn't get a need back in return.

He’s not special. You don’t trade special for solid in my book. If you are ok with it , cool.

 

[Ogrezilla]

He’s not special. You don’t trade special for solid in my book. If you are ok with it , cool.

and Sprong is special. Got it. Like I said, you're impossible to actually discuss this with because you are sooooooo sure that Sprong is a player that he simply hasn't shown to be at this point. And you will just ignore the other wings he's competing with for that spot. Seriously, Sprong was solid tonight. He certainly wasn't special.

 

[Coastal Kev]

and Sprong is special. Got it. Like I said, you're impossible to actually discuss this with because you are sooooooo sure that Sprong is a player that he simply hasn't shown to be at this point. And you will just ignore the other wings he's competing with for that spot. Seriously, Sprong was solid tonight. He certainly wasn't special.

I have watched him enough to make that judgment. No guarantees of course but I’m pretty confident I’ll be proven correct by next season.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Just like you were proven correct with Yakupov and Plotnikov, right?

 

[Coastal Kev]

Just like you were proven correct with Yakupov and Plotnikov, right?

Just like you were proven correct with Yakupov and Plotnikov, right?

Plotnikov...? Just making stuff up. And you aren’t deep enough to understand my opinion of Yakupov.

Again, you offer little to these boards for someone who posts so often. Being on the opposing side of you is 98% the right side.

 

[Ogrezilla]

I have watched him enough to make that judgment. No guarantees of course but I’m pretty confident I’ll be proven correct by next season.

what do you consider special? Phil Kessel is special. You think Sprong will be near that level? I figure he could be a solid 25-30 goal guy with a good role and PP time.

 

[Coastal Kev]

what do you consider special? Phil Kessel is special. You think Sprong will be near that level? I figure he could be a solid 25-30 goal guy with a good role and PP time.

That would be the best case scenario. I can’t say for sure since I never really focused on Phil at Sprongs current age/level.

They do have a similar skill set.

 

[Ogrezilla]

That would be the best case scenario. I can’t say for sure since I never really focused on Phil at Sprongs current age/level.

They do have a similar skill set.

So if you're right and he is in Phil's ballpark I guess I'll admit that you were right. But I don't even see that as a possibility. Like I've said, I want to see him show me he's as good as Sheary or Rust before I start even thinking of him being Kessel. And there are about 10 tiers of players in between those.

 

[Ryder71]

What's funny is that Pettersson probably had a stronger game than Sprong had tonight, but yeah, the Penguins dumped Sprong for nothing for some reason.

I don't know if I'd go that far, but with JJ as your partner it really compromises MP.

 

[Coastal Kev]

So if you're right and he is in Phil's ballpark I guess I'll admit that you were right. But I don't even see that as a possibility. Like I've said, I want to see him show me he's as good as Sheary or Rust before I start even thinking of him being Kessel. And there are about 10 tiers of players in between those.

I was thinking tonight during the game that his bottom would be Rust and his high was Kessel.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

The problem is that the position he needs to succeed is already filled. Yes, we could have gotten him in there. We could force guys to LW and he could have gotten chances throughout the year up to now. But end of the day, the most natural positions for him are already taken by some really good players. So trading him for a player in a position we actually do need makes sense.

And I do still say that we need to move a D out (or just sit one for Riikola) to get the most out of the trade.

I'd argue that Sprong's performance and production at every previous level - and the rare opportunities with scoring centers he got at the NHL level - made it worth exploring whether he could have played well enough to push someone out of a position when opportunities came. If he got the chances and floundered, fine, but I don't believe anyone here would be pushing for Sprong to be traded for Pettersson if he had performed as well in his first 6 games for us this year as he has for Anaheim.

I agree that we need to move a D out to get the most out of the trade. We aren't any better until we do.

I think you're 1) undervaluing strong defensive guys like Dumo and 2) understating how rare it is to be a solid defensive guy like Pettersson is as a 22 year old.

I also think it's silly how nonchalantly you throw out Sprong hitting his peak while making it seem impossible for Pettersson to reach his.

I'm not trying to undervalue Dumo. I recognize his value, and everything he's done for us. I just think Pettersson's a lot further from Dumo than Sprong is from being a very good young goal scorer. As of right now Pettersson's not doing a whole lot even if he seems like he has a decent head on his shoulders, while Sprong's producing pretty consistently since being used properly.

And we just disagree. I think you're way overstating Sprong's value.

I'll repeat my point I made before. Similar to the Neal for Horny deal, even if we "lose" this trade on paper I think it can be a good trade. If we get a 2nd pairing version of Dumo-lite, I think that helps THIS TEAM more than what Sprong could do here, even if he's scoring 25-30 goals for the Ducks.

We definitely disagree.

I wouldn't entertain trading a young 25-30 goal scorer for a Dumo-lite. I think that's severely understating the value of a productive young goal scorer.

 

[JBose7]

I think a good comparable of Daniel Sprong is a young James Neal. Great shot, with better playmaking ability. This team needs even strength scoring and now with Horny out it shows the lack of depth of true top 6 wingers. We get spoiled because we have Crosby and Malkin two great playmaking centers but Ive always wanted to see them play for a extended period of time with wingers who can make their lines better too. Patrick Kane, Artemi Panarin are extreme examples but even a guy on a lower tier like Phil Kessel or Mitch Marner are the type of guys who extend Sid and Geno's career. So to lose a guy who could make their job potentially easier hurts.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

“Obviously he’s a shooter,” Carlyle said. “He shoots the puck. We expect him to continue to shoot the puck. We’re trying to put him in situations where his shot is a weapon for us.”

“I don’t think it would be fair to put him into a fourth-line role when he’s provided offense at every other level of hockey,” Carlyle said. “We’re going to give him an opportunity to see if he can score goals at the NHL level on a consistent basis.”

“I know in some situations you’d like to see him stronger along the wall,” Carlyle said. “But if he’s quick enough in and out and good with his stick. … We can look at any player who’s on the ice and say there are things they can get better at.”

Daniel Sprong, Ducks thrilled to look ahead — and focus on offense

“If you ask any guy, if (your ice time is limited), you can’t really do much,” he said after the Ducks’ morning skate at PPG Paints Arena. The Ducks are in town to play the Penguins on Monday night.
“If you make one mistake, it’s kind of a bad game because you don’t have the opportunity to revenge that mistake,” said Sprong, 21. “It’s tough to get into a rhythm. Your legs start sinking, too. When you play a lot, it gives you confidence and you start believing in your own strengths and what you can bring to the table.”

Former Penguin Daniel Sprong returns to PPG Paints Arena with Ducks

Randy "Dinosaur" Carlyle, everyone.

 

[Turin]

U N L I M I T E D O F F E N S I V E

P O T E N T I A L

 

[Riptide]

I have watched him enough to make that judgment. No guarantees of course but I’m pretty confident I’ll be proven correct by next season.

You talking about Sprong or Yakupov? Because you said something very similar about him as well.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I think a good comparable of Daniel Sprong is a young James Neal. Great shot, with better playmaking ability. This team needs even strength scoring and now with Horny out it shows the lack of depth of true top 6 wingers. We get spoiled because we have Crosby and Malkin two great playmaking centers but Ive always wanted to see them play for a extended period of time with wingers who can make their lines better too. Patrick Kane, Artemi Panarin are extreme examples but even a guy on a lower tier like Phil Kessel or Mitch Marner are the type of guys who extend Sid and Geno's career. So to lose a guy who could make their job potentially easier hurts.

Yeah, if you haven't watched the team since October. The Penguins are 4th in ES goals/game on the year and are 5th in the last 15 games. The idea that scoring is a problem with the Penguins right now is a total myth. They had a bad 9 game stretch from the end of October to the middle of November where they struggled to score at ES, that's really about it.

 

[AverageJoeFan]

I really like Errey's call on the one shot Sprong had in the 3rd...like somehow he was surprised that Sprong's shot was that good?

Now, to be fair, Sprong stands around WAY too much. Maybe that's experience. I'm not sure. But he needs to be more active in all zones to be more effective. A good example where he had the two on one. He made a great pass, BUT instead of following up the shot he stayed where he was and took himself out of the play. THAT is what he needs to do better. Stay in the play. If he can manage to find that in his game, then he will be a real force in the NHL.

 

[spcastlemagic]

You're seeing two different coaching philosophies at work - make a player overcome his weaknesses before he plays, or put a player in a position to use his strengths and hope they outweigh the bad. Neither philosophy will work for the development of every player. All Anaheim wants Sprong to do is shoot the puck, and it seems to be working.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Daniel Sprong, Ducks thrilled to look ahead — and focus on offense


Former Penguin Daniel Sprong returns to PPG Paints Arena with Ducks

Randy "Dinosaur" Carlyle, everyone.

These are all such revolutionary ideas, you can hardly blame our coach for not implementing them.

 

[SouthGeorge]

Log jam at d-men now Riikola development taking a hit because Sully has to play people to look right.

 

[Gurglesons]

Wow. There is a Tasty Biscuits and Soggy Biscuits