Confirmed with Link: [VAN/PIT] Mark Friedman and Ty Glover for Jack Rathbone and Karel Plasek

[AuroraBorealis]

If nothing else I'm happy for Friedman. He should get more opportunity in VAN.

 

[Turin]

If nothing else I'm happy for Friedman. He should get more opportunity in VAN.

I imagine he takes Juulsens spot outright. Win win in the smallest of senses kind of trade.

 

[Ryder71]

Friedman is a legit NHLer even if all he'll be is a number six. Rathbone is more a boom or bust type I guess?

Who's better Ty Smith or Rathbone? Whoever has seen both on a consistent basis please weigh in. Also, how's Rathbones skating? To be clear I have no faith in Smith whatsoever anymore. And his skating is sub par.

 

[Gurglesons]

Friedman is a legit NHLer even if all he'll be is a number six. Rathbone is more a boom or bust type I guess?

Who's better Ty Smith or Rathbone? Whoever has seen both on a consistent basis please weigh in. Also, how's Rathbones skating? To be clear I have no faith in Smith whatsoever anymore. And his skating is sub par.

Rathbone is a better skater than Smith, but plays less physical and produces less.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

If nothing else I'm happy for Friedman. He should get more opportunity in VAN.

Sullivan never seemed to like the guy. He always opted for the do-nothing Ruhwedel over Friedman, who at least occasionally produced offense or agitated the opposition.

Not that either guy is necessarily an NHL regular, but I always preferred the (modest) upside that Friedman brought over the painfully vanilla nothing that Ruhwedel provides.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

Sullivan never seemed to like the guy. He always opted for the do-nothing Ruhwedel over Friedman, who at least occasionally produced offense or agitated the opposition.

Not that either guy is necessarily an NHL regular, but I always preferred the (modest) upside that Friedman brought over the painfully vanilla nothing that Ruhwedel provides.

Because his lack of sound positioning limits his usage. That's most evident in his poor results on the PK, where positioning and technique are far important.

Ruhwedel sticks because he's not going to freelance. You like Friedman as an agitator or physical presence, but if you're chasing hits and abdicating your responsibility as a defenseman to do that, you're not helping the team.

 

[Ryder71]

Rathbone is a better skater than Smith, but plays less physical and produces less.

That doesn't instill me with a lot of hope that this is going to work out. That's not to say I had high expectations to begin with, but maybe this helps Wilkes-Barre more than Pittsburgh.

 

[Gurglesons]

That doesn't instill me with a lot of hope that this is going to work out. That's not to say I had high expectations to begin with, but maybe this helps Wilkes-Barre more than Pittsburgh.

He likely doesn’t work out.

 

[Ryder71]

He likely doesn’t work out.

Right, it's Boom or bust and it's very likely bust. That was my assessment of it when I saw the trade. I'm not sure if this is going to help the big club like I said. But honestly I haven't paid much attention to Vancouver's farm system or anything of the kind of the West Coast in a while.

 

[Andy99]

Sullivan never seemed to like the guy. He always opted for the do-nothing Ruhwedel over Friedman, who at least occasionally produced offense or agitated the opposition.

Not that either guy is necessarily an NHL regular, but I always preferred the (modest) upside that Friedman brought over the painfully vanilla nothing that Ruhwedel provides.

I never really got the hate on here for Ruh…as a 6th or 7th D, there’s nothing wrong w vanilla, that’s probably a good attribute lol ( unlike for a forward)…if you can put out a guy on your third pair who doesnt make mental mistakes that’s fine…sure I wish he was 6’4, skated like the wind, had a heavy shot and had more hair, but I mean we don’t really have the players who can supplant Ruh on the third pair for cheap…and that wasn’t Friedman

 

[Empoleon8771]

I'll miss Friedman a bit because he's their only defenseman with a bit of piss and vinegar, and I generally like having those kind of ratty players on your team. Think of guys in the Friedman, Bunting and Marchand vibe. The issue is that he's not that good so he shouldn't be playing everyday minutes for your team.

I wish the Penguins could find a defenseman that's 6'2" and 220 lbs that has Friedman's snarl to play with POJ. Someone like Ian Cole circa 2015.

 

[pistolpete11]

Friedman's not an everyday player on a good NHL team, but I thought he was a decent #7. He could play both sides, provided a spark, was passable defensively, and just way more fun to watch than most other #7D.

I recognized Rathbone's name, but I gotta say, looking at his stats, I'm pretty whelmed.

It's probably a nothing trade, but I guess at least Rathbone's young enough you could talk yourself into there being some upside remaining.

 

[Tender Rip]

We play one D-man on our 1st Unit PP and we have Karlsson and Letang signed long term.

You gotta think there is a team out there with more reason to believe that Rathbone might be an option/has a shot. Might be easier to include in a deal down the line than other assets.
Just hard to see how he’ll have any impact with the Pens otherwise.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

I'll miss Friedman a bit because he's their only defenseman with a bit of piss and vinegar, and I generally like having those kind of ratty players on your team. Think of guys in the Friedman, Bunting and Marchand vibe. The issue is that he's not that good so he shouldn't be playing everyday minutes for your team.

I wish the Penguins could find a defenseman that's 6'2" and 220 lbs that has Friedman's snarl to play with POJ. Someone like Ian Cole circa 2015.

We know how Ian Coles fare under Sullivan, unfortunately.

 

[Freeptop]

While this trade didn't affect the NHL roster, the fact that yet another Hextall addition got shipped out made me take a look, and I realized something hilarious:
Technically speaking, more of the current roster was added by Craig Patrick (Crosby, Malkin and Letang) than by Hextall (Carter and Rakell).

In fact, of the last five GMs, Hextall has contributed the least number of players to the current NHL roster:
Patrick (3) - Crosby, Malkin, Letang
Shero (3) - Rust, Jarry, Guentzel
Rutherford (4) - Ruhwedel, Pettersson, Joseph, O'Connor
Hextall (2) - Carter, Rakell
Dubas (10) - Smith, Nieto, Acciari, Graves, Nedeljkovic, Eller, Shea, Karlsson, Harkins, Ludvig

And sure, the numbers for Hextall could still grow, thanks to prospects, but it still amused me

 

[HandshakeLine]

I never really got the hate on here for Ruh…as a 6th or 7th D, there’s nothing wrong w vanilla, that’s probably a good attribute lol ( unlike for a forward)…if you can put out a guy on your third pair who doesnt make mental mistakes that’s fine…sure I wish he was 6’4, skated like the wind, had a heavy shot and had more hair, but I mean we don’t really have the players who can supplant Ruh on the third pair for cheap…and that wasn’t Friedman

Ruh sucks because I don’t like boring positional players. Give me snarl.

I'll miss Friedman a bit because he's their only defenseman with a bit of piss and vinegar, and I generally like having those kind of ratty players on your team. Think of guys in the Friedman, Bunting and Marchand vibe. The issue is that he's not that good so he shouldn't be playing everyday minutes for your team.

I wish the Penguins could find a defenseman that's 6'2" and 220 lbs that has Friedman's snarl to play with POJ. Someone like Ian Cole circa 2015.

Exactly.

Trade’s a nothing burger but I just wish we weren’t dedicated to getting rid of any physical player or pest as an organization.

 

[Gurglesons]

Ian Cole had snarl?

 

[Andy99]

Ruh sucks because I don’t like boring positional players. Give me snarl.

Exactly.

Trade’s a nothing burger but I just wish we weren’t dedicated to getting rid of any physical player or pest as an organization.

Folks, I hate to warn you, but Friedman was playing in the AHL behind two turds on this roster…his piss, vinegar and snarl lol was never going to see the light of a nhl locker room here…

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

There's no need to pretend Ruhwedel doesn't suck.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Ian Cole had snarl?

I mean, yes? Did you not thing he offered that?

 

[tyhee]

You can't tell me Jack Rathbone isn't a defenseman from Flin Flon who started in the NHL in 1942 and smoked 2 cigarettes in the lockeroom every intermission.

That's really why the Canucks traded him. Defencemen may take longer to develop but they still start to show signs of age related decline in their second hundred years.

Seriously, though, this is a trade of a guy that the Pens had waived to send to the AHL, where he'd create roster problems because of his veteran statu s but who might help the Canucks at the NHL level as a 3rd pair or depth right defenceman, for an AHL defenceman that could play in the AHL without taking up a valuable veteran slot, with a small hope for the Pens that Rathbone might learn how to defend to go with his good skating, shot and outlet passes.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Folks, I hate to warn you, but Friedman was playing in the AHL behind two turds on this roster…his piss, vinegar and snarl lol was never going to see the light of a nhl locker room here…

Which is an entirely separate issue. I dunno, maybe I’m missing the true beauty of watching Ruhwedel play a zero sum game on the ice, I got the wrong kind of doctorate.

 

[Andy99]

Which is an entirely separate issue. I dunno, maybe I’m missing the true beauty of watching Ruhwedel play a zero sum game on the ice, I got the wrong kind of doctorate.

Sullivan likes it lol…just like he liked low-event ZAR…when you’re a plug, the fewer things happening on the ice, the better…don’t take too many penalties and don’t do anything to f**k up and it doesn’t matter if you don’t reach greatness…you’re not going to get there anyway because you ain’t EK…Ruh is getting 12 min a night and a couple of those are on the PK…it’s fine…I’m not getting up in arms about Friedman or Ruh

 

[HandshakeLine]

I only mention it because Ruhwedel plays a kind of hockey I despise and I think less of people for championing it.

What Sullivan does or doesn’t do is his own problem.

 

[Pens1566]

I only mention it because Ruhwedel plays a kind of hockey I despise and I think less of people for championing it.

What Sullivan does or doesn’t do is his own problem.

I call it "Nick Spaling" hockey.

It's sort of like ... missionary sex. OK on it's own in a vacuum, but kind of soul crushing if that's all you got.