What's going on with Hagelin / Bonino

[LittleViking]

Hi guys, i didn't see the pens this year yet...

i was glad to pick up Bonino and Hagelin in 14th and 15th round. With their red hot playoff and end of season i was sure to get a steal here ... but up to date 2 and 1 pts.

Can you tell me what's going on with them??

Can I keep confidence in them or I have to forget??

thanks

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[Gurglesons]

Hi guys, i didn't see the pens this year yet...

i was glad to pick up Bonino and Hagelin in 14th and 15th round. With their red hot playoff and end of season i was sure to get a steal here ... but up to date 2 and 1 pts.

Can you tell me what's going on with them??

Can I keep confidence in them or I have to forget??

thanks

You were duped by a hot playoffs and end of season run. They are career 35-40 point players. Kessel is also off their line so they aren't picking up charity points.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Abandon all hope. Sell your home and give the money to Scientology.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

They'll almost certainly pick up the pace. But not nearly to the insano levels that everyone was assuring themselves of before the season started. Both guys are great players... in their own right. Both players (particularly Hagelin) seem to fit the mold of this team very well. But both players are still mostly who they are, historically and that just isn't going to change much as far as raw production goes. Though both can still very much make contributions to help the team win outside of goals and assists.

That line was almost entirely driven by Kessel ratcheting up his game a level or two down the stretch and into the post-season. I'm not trying to crap on the contributions of the other two but that's just the truth. It wasn't a sustainable idea over the long term to begin with, IMO. Though it's nice to know that, should a good trade be consummated in order to reinforce the top six (or a young player or two breaks out), that that is a combination that can always be re-examined.

 

[JTG]

Kessel hasn't been strapped to both of them. He's sort of been all throughout the lineup.

 

[ColePens]

Hags has looked good, just fumbling the puck a little. Bones looks like he did last year for 40 games. The puck must only follow him when he has a beard. The puck just bounces all around and he can't seem to get it.

 

[LittleViking]

Abandon all hope. Sell your home and give the money to Scientology.

it's already done, as everyone is not it??? this is what they told me ...

 

[TNT87]

I haven't noticed Bones at all early this season.

 

[UnderratedBrooks44]

In general it's early, but Hagelin's biggest asset is his speed and it's not very close. I would say from a fantasy perspective he's pretty useless. Bonino is pretty much a third line center now because that's literally where he plays.

FWIW I was tempted to get Bonino late in my draft because HBK, but they broke that up at least temporarily and Hagelin I don't really view as more than a waiver pickup if you're desperate.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Bonino strikes me as the type that meshes well (in a complimentary fashion) with very skilled players. If I'm not mistaken... that was his role (on the wing) in his last year with the Ducks. I would very much like to see what that looks like, here. Specifically with Malkin.

As a third line center... he's serviceable and isn't going to cost you games, or anything. But he isn't going to be the big reason a line is having success either defensively or offensively, either. It isn't meant to be an overly-harsh criticism of him. I just don't think he has that level in him to drive a line with any sort of consistency.

 

[Empoleon8771]

In the offseason, a big part of my argument on not re-signing Bonino yet is that he has never proven to be effective without top-6 wingers. He's certainly helping prove my point this year. He''s a guy that would greatly benefit from Sprong coming back this year, but the Pens shouldn't be paying him $4 million when he's so ineffective without skilled linemates.

 

[AjaxTelamon]

In the offseason, a big part of my argument on not re-signing Bonino yet is that he has never proven to be effective without top-6 wingers. He's certainly helping prove my point this year. He''s a guy that would greatly benefit from Sprong coming back this year, but the Pens shouldn't be paying him $4 million when he's so ineffective without skilled linemates.

What's the alternative after this year though? You could promote Fehr I guess, or make a run at keeping Cullen, and play him as your 3C. But finding a 3C elsewhere will cost you big bucks, just look at the money and term being doled out to guys like Bolland a couple years back even, and more recently Shaw. He's at 2 points through 9 games, at 3.9m through 2022.

 

[Empoleon8771]

What's the alternative after this year though? You could promote Fehr I guess, or make a run at keeping Cullen, and play him as your 3C. But finding a 3C elsewhere will cost you big bucks, just look at the money and term being doled out to guys like Bolland a couple years back even, and more recently Shaw. He's at 2 points through 9 games, at 3.9m through 2022.

Fehr as a stopgap and then Guentzel once he's ready. You also don't need to spend a ridiculous amount of money on a 3C either, Vermette makes $1.75 million and he has 5 points in 10 games so far. I'd have no issues with our bottom-6 if the forward group is like:

Sheary-Crosby-Hornqvist
Wilson-Malkin-Kessel
Hagelin-Fehr-Sprong
Kuhnhackl-Sundqvist-Rust

I'd like to see the Pens add another top-6 LWer, but I don't have any issue with that bottom-6.

 

[UnderratedBrooks44]

What's the alternative after this year though? You could promote Fehr I guess, or make a run at keeping Cullen, and play him as your 3C. But finding a 3C elsewhere will cost you big bucks, just look at the money and term being doled out to guys like Bolland a couple years back even, and more recently Shaw. He's at 2 points through 9 games, at 3.9m through 2022.

I think pretty much everyone thought that Bolland contract was ludicrous and an aberration. Also does Shaw play center in Montreal? I thought he was a third wheel banger for the Hawks, but I'm not sure. He is in fact listed as a center so maybe I'm wrong.

Anywho, I don't think you need to necessarily aggressively pursue a guy for this particular roster spot. If we lost Bonino this past summer we could've had Eric Staal for $3.5m. Not exactly the definition of a checking line center, but a heck of a 3C if that's where you slot him. That's probably a bit of an aberration in itself, but just an example of how unique opportunities can arise in free agency, and every year it seems like a few guys hang out there for weeks without a contract and end up being good acquisitions.

Looking quickly at who is a UFA starting this summer:

Sam Gagne - How much could he possibly want?

Dominic Moore - 35 but can still play and will come relatively cheap.

Vern Fiddler - Also old but wouldn't be a bad last resort.

Fisher/Ribeiro - Maybe one of these guys doesn't get signed and we can grab them. Fisher probably makes more sense and would probably be cheaper.

They're not great options, but third line centers honestly aren't that productive anyways. A guy like Fisher or Moore would honestly work fine for me at least for a year or two. Not advocating either way in terms of getting rid of Bonino, but just saying it's a position where you can find someone.

 

[High Flying Birds]

As already said, they are what they are. Good depth players who found chemistry with Phil the Thrill at the right moment. Their true value lies in the playoffs and not so much fantasy leagues.

Although I would like to see Hags get some time with Sid and Hornqvist. I feel like that trio could work very well.

 

[tinpanannie]

Hi guys, i didn't see the pens this year yet...

i was glad to pick up Bonino and Hagelin in 14th and 15th round. With their red hot playoff and end of season i was sure to get a steal here ... but up to date 2 and 1 pts.

Can you tell me what's going on with them??

Can I keep confidence in them or I have to forget??

thanks

The main ingredient of the HBK line is Kessels nifty passing. Unfortunately Phil has been used to get Malkin going lately . Hopefully the line is reunited later on

 

[Ziggyjoe21]

They're 30-40 point scorers. And Kessel is off their line.

Hopefully HBK will be back for the playoffs. Until then, it's more important to give Geno a good winger.

 

[mpp9]

HBK was together last game. And the Malkin line looked as good as it has all season with Rust on RW.

 

[cygnus47]

Bonino has another gear in the playoffs. He looked very average for stretches last regular season too, we just didn't have the same expectations. If his play picks up, the opportunities for his linemates pick up.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

They're both playoff guys

 

[ruunto71*]

Hagelin and Bonino are 3rd liners. Kessel is very inconsistent player, but when he's on he will drag those two.

The main ingredient of the HBK line is Kessels nifty passing. Unfortunately Phil has been used to get Malkin going lately . Hopefully the line is reunited later on

No it was other way around. HBK line was disaster earlier and were jammed on their own zone constantly so they broke them up

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Hagelin's around a goal off his usual season pace (he's typically a 14-17 goal guy; currently on pace for around 10) at this point in the season. He's producing roughly what he should, though his numbers are inflated a bit due to that one 3-assist game.

Bonino's the real worry. The guy's not even producing at a 3rd line pace. He's producing more like a 4th line center, and one that's not very offensively gifted. Fortunately so far Cullen is picking up the slack offensively.

If Bonino could ever get going, the Pens 4-line attack would be even more potent.

 

[robes1]

I feel like the HBK line needs to be reunited for a bit for us to see some magic. I don't think the playoffs were a fluke, I think these guys have some genuine chemistry together. They may or may not perform at the same level they did in the playoffs, but I'm sure they can get close.

 

[wgknestrick]

HBK needs to be reunited for more than 2 straight games and Kessel needs to start shooting the puck from dangerous areas 5v5. Kessel is probably more to blame than the other 2.

All 3 players are producing below the "Rusty Kunitz line" (yet we keep hearing people ***** about him constantly) at 5v5. Bonino won't shoot at 3.5% the entire year. Stuff will start to go in eventually. The good thing is PIT is still winning despite this entire line disappearing.

They just aren't getting the results, but their % numbers are un-sustain-ably low. Give it time as Bones seems to be injured, but playing through it. I think he's really the driving force of that line despite Phil being the best player. Bones usually is the one playmaking right before their goals. Hopefully, the injury is nothing serious, but it certainly seems to be impacting him significantly. I don't like breaking them up as it doesn't address the cause of their problems. They need to play and be coached through it. We can't scrap the Ferrari just because it's not running now. Gotta figure it out and fix it. They have the time and the games ahead to do so. We've all seen what they are capable of.

 

[EliteGoaltending]

HBK line produced zero goals in eight straight games at the start of the season and eye test and their advanced stats hasn't been so great, hence why they were broken up. Sid was already back for a couple of these games (if there's questions about matchups).

Bonino's play has been underwhelming so far. Kessel needs to start scoring goals at even strength, we're still waiting for his first one. Hagelin is a perfect third wheel, he will go as far, as his linemates will. (In terms of production.)

Anyway, I think eventually they'll start producing. Maybe starting tonight. Bonino is a bit banged up right now, apparently, but Hagelin-Kessel duo has a lot of chemistry regardless.