We are the best team in the league, why doesn't it feel like it?

[Crozbar]

There is a little bit of "we've seen this movie before" happening, I think. But you also see the Pens star power covering up for some nagging elements -- the weakness of other forwards, defense lapses, weakness against certain game-plans employed by other teams -- that you have to think are going to bring the Penguins back to reality either in the season, or worse, in the playoffs.

The Pens have also benefitted from a pretty solid MAF, which everyone hopes will remain the case for our sakes and Marc's, but one also waits for the other shoe to drop due to past experiences.

Even with all that aside, I will not feel comfortable regarding Pens are a true #1 until they've played a broader cross section of teams. Their opposition has been just a little weak so far; I definitely view the East as being weaker than the West at the moment. The wins over Nashville and L.A. were nice to see though. Like everyone else, I want to see some solid moves to upgrade at wing, and something that looks like the final blueprint of the team going into the playoffs (after moves are made) showing more consistency, including against weaker teams -- you wanna see good habits on defense, passing, transition game, ect, ect, that will carry over to the playoffs.

 

[Kristopher Letang]

-Non-top-6 players playing with Geno-Sid.
-Lack of effort
-Non-top-6 players killing Geno-Sid "momentum" 4 times of 5
-Tiny depth
-Playing cute hockey that doesn't pay in the PO
-Sticking for players is cool, but you have to be able to do it. Soft
-Roster that can't stay fully healthy for 2 games
-Sill-Adams-Scuds
-Signing Ehrhoff and not using him like they should, If I knew that before the deal I would have prefered to use the 4M to stack on forward depth.
-Kunitz thinks he's a sniper
-Not swapping Sammy and Dumoulin (Players that, IMO, will never get a chance in Pittsburgh) for equivalent in Forward position or packaging them + something for top-6 help.
-Harrington not getting a chance.
-Is Pouliot really needed considering our needs now?

Talking for me, I wasn't expecting this mess to be cleaned in one off-season + 1/4 season. Still lots of time tho.
Ah yeah, **** DB-Shero era.

 

[Sam Spade]

It doesn't feel like it because we got schooled in a home-and-home against the Islanders very recently. And we continue to struggle against big & physical teams.

This x1000.

Who's picking the Pens against a healthy Rangers team? What about Boston? Maybe they push against TB or the Wings and the series goes 7. Habs are small but very fast as are the Isles (would take the Pens to win against both but wouldn't be super confident).

The D is butter soft outside of Depres and that will be a problem in the playoffs for sure were teams gameplan to abuse the defense every shift to wear them down.

The main cause of a hope for a deep playoff run is that MAF is playing very well and the Pens still have the two most talented players in the league up front.

 

[IcedCapp]

Because the on-ice performances aren't in-line with their W/L record.

And we need to remember that a great deal of our "best team in the league" success came at the beginning of the year. The team has really struggled (even if they are winning) over the past two, two-and-a-half weeks.

 

[wgknestrick]

Not even the best team in our division.

 

[cajal]

Picture another team in the league having Malkin and Crosby. Being near the top of the regular season standings should almost be a guarantee, no?

When two players can't carry you (in the playoffs, which we all look forward to) it's a different scenario.

Sid's team will be looked upon as being perpetually underachieving, regardless of how bad the management/coaching has been. Hopefully that improves before Malkin/Crosby are out of their primes.

 

[Internet Explorer]

I think this team needs quite a few more pieces before they're contenders. I would be trying to move everyone right now except Sid, geno, and letang. Trade anyone else to get what we need. I believe were lacking size and creativity.

 

[roquay]

Had we not nabbed Ernhoff we could have had Kulemin and Grab which would have solved several issues with the team. Yet we keep our young dmen prospects in the gutter...that we drafted in leau of organizational needs at wing mind you...and we deal with Spaling and Comeau in the Top 6.

Those 2 aren't solving this teams problems. It would create more problems paying those guys nearly 10 mil for the next few years. They aren't the high end wingers we need.

 

[IcedCapp]

Those 2 aren't solving this teams problems. It would create more problems paying those guys nearly 10 mil for the next few years. They aren't the high end wingers we need.

I really disagree. I mean, I don't know if Kulemin and Grabovski are exactly what this team needs, but I don't believe this team needs high-end wingers. They just need real life, honest to goodness, legitimate top-6 wingers in the top-6 and real life, honest to goodness 3rd line wingers on the 3rd line.

Depth. Lots of depth.

 

[roquay]

I really disagree. I mean, I don't know if Kulemin and Grabovski are exactly what this team needs, but I don't believe this team needs high-end wingers. They just need real life, honest to goodness, legitimate top-6 wingers in the top-6 and real life, honest to goodness 3rd line wingers on the 3rd line.

Depth. Lots of depth.

I think we need one at least. Sid doesn't since he has Hornqvist but they still need to be decent. If Kunitz and Malkin are together they need a high end guy. 2 wingers in the top 6 sets up our bottom 6 quite nicely.

 

[SEALBound]

Those 2 aren't solving this teams problems. It would create more problems paying those guys nearly 10 mil for the next few years. They aren't the high end wingers we need.

Kunitz-Crosby-Hornqvist
Kulemin-Malkin-Grabo
Downie-Sutter-Bennett
Comeau-Goc-Spaling

Letang-Maatta
Martin-Despres
Scuderi-Bortuzzo
Harrington-Dumoulin

Vs

Spaling-Crosby-Hornqvist
Kunitz-Malkin-Comeau
Downie-Sutter-Megna
Sill-Goc-Adams

Letang-Martin
Ernhoff-Maatta
Despres-Scuderi

Just saying. I know which is rather have right now.

 

[IcedCapp]

I think we need one at least. Sid doesn't since he has Hornqvist but they still need to be decent. If Kunitz and Malkin are together they need a high end guy. 2 wingers in the top 6 sets up our bottom 6 quite nicely.

Hornqvist is a 4M$ winger... I don't consider him top-tier or elite. I'd take 4 PHs, for sure.

PH is also the same price as the two you mentioned.

 

[Captain Hook]

Kunitz-Crosby-Hornqvist
Kulemin-Malkin-Grabo
Downie-Sutter-Bennett
Comeau-Goc-Spaling

Letang-Maatta
Martin-Despres
Scuderi-Bortuzzo
Harrington-Dumoulin

Vs

Spaling-Crosby-Hornqvist
Kunitz-Malkin-Comeau
Downie-Sutter-Megna
Sill-Goc-Adams

Letang-Martin
Ernhoff-Maatta
Despres-Scuderi

Just saying. I know which is rather have right now.

You might rather have that first lineup but it doesn't fit under the cap. We had space for one of Ehrhoff or Kulemin. Both of Grabovski and Kulemin was never an option financially.

 

[WayneSid9987]

Well, right now it's a roster without Dupuis, Bennett and Goc.
Thats 2 big hits to the PK and one important player that makes the top 9 half decent atleast.

I see a disturbing recurring trend of this team having trouble working the puck out of it's own end again as well. Especially against speedier teams like the Isles last weekend and the Canes this weekend. For a team that has good skaters/puck movers, theres a systems failure there. I don't see the forwards coming back as deep as they need to be, and they're also leaving the points open so opposing teams can sustain a cycle/o-zone time.

I will say though that everything i've seen, MJ and his staff is almost always bang on about in terms of what the problems are during games. And recognizing the problems is half the battle here. So thats good.

Right now it desperately needs a new look 4th line and 1 or 2 wingers on top of Beau coming back. The 1 or 2 wingers will solve the 4th line issues at the same time though so thats good.

 

[roquay]

Kunitz-Crosby-Hornqvist
Kulemin-Malkin-Grabo
Downie-Sutter-Bennett
Comeau-Goc-Spaling

Letang-Maatta
Martin-Despres
Scuderi-Bortuzzo
Harrington-Dumoulin

Vs

Spaling-Crosby-Hornqvist
Kunitz-Malkin-Comeau
Downie-Sutter-Megna
Sill-Goc-Adams

Letang-Martin
Ernhoff-Maatta
Despres-Scuderi

Just saying. I know which is rather have right now.

If we make some trades we could have a better team than that and be cap compliant too.

In regards to the OP we are a better team to watch than most teams in the league. I watched an Edmonton game the other night it was painful. Anyways nothing matters during the regular season except for qualifying (and building a playoff ready roster). Nothing! Only what we do in the playoffs.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

Thinking about it, the roster they're icing right now is a problem and not just in the top 6 winger sense. They need Bennett for the 3rd line at least right now and not on the LW, ffs. This carries on to Megna on his off wing and Despres being switched to RD while getting to carry Scuderi. I don't like seeing that with young players two of which look continually uncomfortable there and the other of which gets to do the lion's share of the puck moving.

Dupuis is done so it's not worth mentioning, but they lost speed and experience in an already thin spot even if he would have been misused. Scuderi lacks mobility and can't do anything with the puck, this continues to be a problem... he's not even physical. Adams and Sill shouldn't be playing and Kunitz can rarely be bothered to do anything.

It's not even the top 6 aside from Kunitz. We can talk about getting healthy and the trickle down effect but damn are there problems. Problems that I doubt they'll have the balls to handle with Kunitz, Adams and Scuderi.

 

[canadianguy77]

We're probably a top 4 team in the conference. That's about as good as I think we are.

We're still carrying a lot of dead weight from the RS/DB era. I'm not so sure that GMJR is going to be able to shed that dead weight in one season. We're probably good enough for another conference final with some changes. JR would have to perform miracles in the not too distant future for the team to make it to another big dance.

To me this is more of a transition year than anything. I was hoping last year would've been the transition year, but that didn't quite work out.

 

[ColePens]

After the last five years of playoff disappointments, nobody really cares what this team does in November anymore.

This is the answer to everything.

If you aren't judging this team by how their play on the ice will translate to playoff hockey,then you haven't been a fan for the last five years. I get why a casual fan would want to enjoy the success we have in the regular season, but personally the only thing that matters to me is the Stanley Cup. You can win allllllll the team and personal awards you want. They mean nothing unless that cup is lifted after the final whistle. Sid is my favorite player but I honestly don't care if he wins any awards. They mean nothing to me. Presidents trophies...nothing. All time records....nothing.

But I can safely say I like the adjustments Johnston makes. He notices issues and tries to fix them. I don't like our depth and I hate how our d zone is played. But ultimately I feel better than he last three years under Bylsma. Let's see where this journey takes us. It's still so early with the new players and coaching staff to really tell where we stand.

 

[Tender Rip]

Personally, I feel better about the team than I did at the start of the season.

Quite a few of the new guys have looked better than I thought they would, and the recipe for making us legit remains the same as it did in pre-season, and is still as feasible to accomplish as it was then (minus Duper on the third, but his cap-hit being off for the season pretty much equalizes that, IMO).

Despres has proven himself very, very useful and Määttä mostly looks as legit as we'd hoped, which underlines how easily we could live with trading a vet like Martin. Something we ought to do both for roster/asset management purposes anyway, and because he is one of the few valuable assets we have that we are not in need of long term/wouldn't likely re-sign anyway.

The rest is about hitting home runs on our acquisitions as regards finding solutions to our (obvious) needs. This was always going to be the challenge, and as I have been saying many times, it is far too early to judge JR on this, as the market hasn't opened up at all yet.
As we don't have much to trade beyond Pouliot, Martin... and/or Scuderi), at least one such acquisition must likely be a gamble, such as for instance Chris Stewart. On paper he is a miraculously good solution for us. Someone who has proven he can score; someone who is big, strong and reasonably fast. Then he is also young enough to be someone we would want to re-sign if he pans out, and currently he is producing so far off his ceiling, that he won't be all that expensive at all.
The bet there has to be that he will be an entirely different player when on Sid or Malkin's wing than he has been with the C's he has played with since his Colorado days... a rather non-impressive list, as it were. That he will do a great deal more is not a guarantee, but it has been known to happen... and even if it doesn't do so to the extent that we'd want, it will be a boost to have his size in any case, because we need more of that regardless.
I also refuse to believe that he will not be more able to finish plays from Sid or Geno than most all the rest of our wingers. He won't create much for them by himself, but again - his size will help create space.

Anyway... much of what we see now mirrors what we have seen in latter years, ure. But JR cannot be critiqued on the fact that our forward depth is shot with Dupuis, Bennett and Goc out. That's the kind of situation where any team would need to rely on ELC call-ups from the farm, and his farm is not by his design.

We just have to wait and see when he makes his moves and how. At that point we can start judging him. With Johnston.... as with the team it is about the playoffs and responding to our notable issues. He has had them highlighted in most games against divisional opponents. To some extent he needs help roster wise, but the much talked about adjustments would be nice also - even if we have also seen good things and positive changes in spurts.

Beyond that.... well, you cannot knock being 1st in the league, really. At least not before he flames out when it matters like his predecessor, but as with JR I will say that they are still largely operating out of Shero's house. Before their own takes shape, its all about the process.

 

[WayneSid9987]

We're probably a top 4 team in the conference. That's about as good as I think we are.

We're still carrying a lot of dead weight from the RS/DB era. I'm not so sure that GMJR is going to be able to shed that dead weight in one season. We're probably good enough for another conference final with some changes. JR would have to perform miracles in the not too distant future for the team to make it to another big dance.

To me this is more of a transition year than anything. I was hoping last year would've been the transition year, but that didn't quite work out.

Really spot on post here.

It's gonna take some time to really see how JR and MJ's fingerprints look on this team.
At this point, MJ is struggling to ice a strong puck possession team and thats strictly related to the personel on it.

Sid, Geno can possess the puck right now. Comeau is holding his own as a stop gap.
Horny's playing a very good complimentary game.
Beau and Sutter we're doing very well on the 3rd line until Beau went down.
And the 4th line, at best, can get a puck deep and thats about it.

 

[Boocock]

Really spot on post here.

It's gonna take some time to really see how JR and MJ's fingerprints look on this team.
At this point, MJ is struggling to ice a strong puck possession team and thats strictly related to the personel on it.

Sid, Geno can possess the puck right now. Comeau is holding his own as a stop gap.
Horny's playing a very good complimentary game.
Beau and Sutter we're doing very well on the 3rd line until Beau went down.
And the 4th line, at best, can get a puck deep and thats about it.

I'd really prefer for this year to be about getting our younger players (Despres, Bennett, Harrington, even Pouliot) some quality postseason experience while finding other pieces that can fit on this squad over the long haul.

This team just doesn't have the talent to win a Stanley Cup. Period.

 

[WayneSid9987]

I'd really prefer for this year to be about getting our younger players (Despres, Bennett, Harrington, even Pouliot) some quality postseason experience while finding other pieces that can fit on this squad over the long haul.

This team just doesn't have the talent to win a Stanley Cup. Period.

Ideally you'd want something like this heading into the playoffs:

PuckPossesorWithSkill-Sid-Horny
Kunitz-Geno-PhysicalSpeedyWithSkill
BB-Sutter-Downie
Spaling-Goc-Comeau

That would be a pretty damn good forward core and might be doable for JR.

I seem to have left Spaling out. I guess he can play on the 4th line

 

[ProgOg]

They played like on of the best teams in the league for the first few weeks - the recent 2-3 weeks, not so much.

Even with the PP covering up the lack of 5v5 scoring to start the season, there wasn't that much of a lack of of 5v5 play, in my opinion. They were pretty good, but you could see some discomfort with the new systems - I thought that would get better as the season went along.

Then that started to hit a wall after Winnipeg, or somewhere then. If this team still had Dupuis and Bennett, maybe it would look differently, but right now they are slumping.

 

[DoktorZaius]

A lot of this really is the supporting cast for Crosby and Malkin. Other than Hornqvist, every other top 6 winger we possess is problematic at best. When Kunitz is in lazy mode, he's a black hole out there -- not winning any pucks, and struggling to complete passes. He's been a liability for both of our star centers over the last few weeks. The fact that Blake Comeau has been noticeably better than him during that period is extremely disturbing.

Playing without 3 legit top 6 wingers is a MASSIVE problem, and it's going to take some really slick deals by JR to address it.

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

This team is built for the regular season, come playoff time we will struggle again. We are far from the rosters we had in both back to back Cup runs. Unless JR is able and has a few trick up his sleeves to make 2-3 solid trades, I think we will be out again come 2nd round. I like the players he has acquired in the off season, Comeau and Downie have been great but still missing those players like we had in Guerin for example