Confirmed Signing with Link: [WPG] Neal Pionk signs with the Jets (2 years, $3M AAV)

[Filthy Dangles]

Dudes basically a rookie. What he’s gonna waltz into the nhl and kill it playing 21 minutes a night on a god awful team? Like what could he have done?

You said ‘reasonably well’ at first, not kill it. Did he perform ‘reasonably well’ for an UDFA and long shot NHL player, sure I guess.

Did he perform reasonably well for a young top-4D, no, absolutely not.

He’s also the same age as Josh Morrisey, so while young, he’s not a pup.

I think most Ranger and neutral fans wish him the best and it’s not about unrealistic expectations or vitriol, it’s just probability that he won’t be an impact player for the Jets or any NHL team.

 

[Irishguy42]

I bet you 90% his struggles are due to playing 21+ minutes a night on a god awful team. No rookie D man is having success in that situation.

I'll take that bet and laugh all the way to the bank.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

Poss Entries Allowed per 60 was in the bottom 1% of any player in the NHL. His Scoring chances for %: 43.84 (worst in NHL) Corsi differential: -249 (2nd worst in NHL) His Corsi Against p/60: 61.74 (3rd worst in NHL) Corsi p/60: 48.89 (3rd worst in NHL) Corsi for %: 44.2 (2nd worst in NHL) Expected GF%: 45.04 (2nd worst in NHL) High Danger Scoring Chances for %: 44.23 (2nd worst in NHL) His GAR was -5.8 & WAR was -0.4. 5v5 Unblocked Shots Against went up by 15% & 5v5 Unblocked Shots For went down 8% when Pionk was on the ice.

Funny enough, Trouba doesn't look that much better in terms of allowing zone entries.

 

[EdJovanovski]

Funny enough, Trouba doesn't look that much better in terms of allowing zone entries.

View attachment 245877

5x higher of a % is pretty significant lol

 

[Irishguy42]

Funny enough, Trouba doesn't look that much better in terms of allowing zone entries.

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And yet, vastly better at everything else.

Sooooooooooooo...

Not sure what the argument is here aside from cherrypicking...

 

[Filthy Dangles]

Funny enough, Trouba doesn't look that much better in terms of allowing zone entries.

View attachment 245877

Neither does Josh Morrisssy but I don’t think WPG fans would be concerned if you asked them.

Also not sure how they break a lot of plays up at, while simultaneously being supposedly pourous on the blue line, not sure how that works.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

Double

 

[FerrisRox]

I think New York Ranger fans are grossly exaggerating his weaknesses.

I personally think he moves the puck well and has a pretty solid hockey sense and I feel he will develop into a valued power play contributor too because he moves the puck well. My only gripe with him on the power play is that he doesn't shoot much which started making him predictable as the season wore on. You knew he wasn't going to shoot from the point so there was no way to stretch the box to take away the shot.

I don't know if he just needs to shoot more or if its his shot itself that needs improvement.

Either way, I think he's an intriguing pick up for the Jets with definite upside and I don't really get why there are Rangers fans here with such horrible things to say about him.

 

[FerrisRox]

Cody Ceci is better than Neal Pionk...

He absolutely is not.

 

[tntkid]

Holy hell your over reactions since July one have been pretty comical

The criticism of Chevy is 100% earned and I am not the only Jet fan that feels this way.

We need to get rid of him now because our awful GM is running this team into the ground.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

I think New York Ranger fans are grossly exaggerating his weaknesses.

I personally think he moves the puck well and has a pretty solid hockey sense and I feel he will develop into a valued power play contributor too because he moves the puck well. My only gripe with him on the power play is that he doesn't shoot much which started making him predictable as the season wore on. You knew he wasn't going to shoot from the point so there was no way to stretch the box to take away the shot.

I don't know if he just needs to shoot more or if its his shot itself that needs improvement.

Either way, I think he's an intriguing pick up for the Jets with definite upside and I don't really get why there are Rangers fans here with such horrible things to say about him.

He struggled mightily moving the puck at even strength, one of the worst transition players in that regard last year. He got bottled up on the forecheck a lot.

As for his shot, he’s not gonna be one of those guys who can consistently get it through from the point so don’t ever see him being a PP1 guy.

Most of us saw him for 82 games last year. It’s not about saying horrible things, it’s about being realistic about him. I do hope he finds a role playing everyday on the Jets.

He absolutely is not.

At this time It’s like arguing who’s turd is shinier but if I had to pick a player to rebound or change their career trajectory on their new teams, it’s Ceci pretty easily for me.

 

[Chalfdiggity3]

So far he’s yet to play #6 minutes in the nhl. He’s been thrown to the top 4 right off the hop and done reasonably well.

Like other posters who have watched him game in and game out have already said. He has not done well in top 4 minutes. He is a bottom pairing defenseman who cant play defense

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

He would have eaten up too much cap.
Probably would have got 7 million in arbitration,
I’m guessing we clear out another potentially good player yet.
Hopefully Pionk plays decent with sheltering.

But he's a 7 mil player, and now the defense has a Trouba sized hole in it.

 

[Finnflash]

Charoit = $3.5 mil. Myers = $6 mil. Trouba = $8 mil.

There is no way we could have fit that obviously. We still couldn’t make it out of the first round with the three above.

Take a gamble on pionk. All signings are gambles. Just like the game plinko.

Wait pionk and plinko are kind of close. Maybe it’s a sign that the price is right.

 

[Guffman]

I hate what the Jets have done this offseason. They've lost some key pieces and made no improvements to keep up with the rest of the Central. Hawks IMO are in for a huge season and I have them pegged to win the division while I see many people have the Stars as the favorite to come out of the West.

They're now a worse, yet more expensive team after they get their RFA's signed.

Edit: of course Laine also has a 50 goal MVP season in him if he can put it all together and they're one of the best teams in the league

Dallas is an old team and picked up more old players, while he Jets are a young team that should be improving organically.

Y’know, it’s not just about free agent signings/departures to assess whether a team improves or not.

 

[jetsforever]

Surprised by all the reactions here - is he really that bad?

 

[Chalfdiggity3]

Surprised by all the reactions here - is he really that bad?

Defensively yes.. he has no physicality to his game, and gets lost in his on zone. Offensively he is alright, nothing special but in sheltered minutes as a bottom pairing defense he can net you some points.

It's not that WIN signed him for 2 years, it's the 3m aav he recieved. He should not be making more than 1m aav and that's top end of what he is worth.

I wish nothing bad on him, hes just not good and is a #6/7 defenseman

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

I've never seen an undrafted player get gifted to a team (which sucked while he played there) get so chewed up on hfboards after playing 1 and a quarter seasons in the NHL. What surprises me more is the fact he got 3 million dollars coming off a 2 year ELC joining a new team.

 

[TSA0402]

Myers or Trouba replacement?

 

[north49er]

I can understand the angst of both Jets and Ranger fans but who really stands to lose the most if things for both players go sideways? Didn't see too much of Trouba during the regular season but if the playoffs were an indication I didn't miss much. Didn't see Pionk at all so I'll trust the comments by Ranger fans. However, even if Trouba plays badly he's still better than the array of slugs who played D for the Rangers last year.

 

[Elliman]

LOLZ OMFG

 

[Zhamnov5GoalGame]

He won't be getting PP time with the Jets (outside of injuries) and there really isn't room to shelter him. The Jets can replace Myers and Chiarot easily with what they have. There is no way to replace Trouba. It's fashionable to crap on Trouba as a Jets fan because he forced his way off our team and hurt the franchise in the process.

All I can do is pray that Pionk improves under new conditions and that the Niku's and Poolman's of our teams can improve.

As someone mentioned Laine getting healthy and showing more of his first 2 years + November + playoffs would go a long way to help ease the losses at D.

Time will tell.

 

[Jauffre]

Twice the price it should be.

 

[TT1]

Pionk will be a nice analytics case to follow.

 

[Barnaby]

I think New York Ranger fans are grossly exaggerating his weaknesses.

I personally think he moves the puck well and has a pretty solid hockey sense and I feel he will develop into a valued power play contributor too because he moves the puck well. My only gripe with him on the power play is that he doesn't shoot much which started making him predictable as the season wore on. You knew he wasn't going to shoot from the point so there was no way to stretch the box to take away the shot.

I don't know if he just needs to shoot more or if its his shot itself that needs improvement.

Either way, I think he's an intriguing pick up for the Jets with definite upside and I don't really get why there are Rangers fans here with such horrible things to say about him.

He played fairly well the first 20 games, then fell off a cliff.

I don't suddenly hate him, but I really didn't want him on the team next year. If he solidifies himself as any more than a 3rd pair defenseman then I'd be shocked. He really does remind me a lot of Matt Gilroy. I see him as a guy that bounces around a bit and is very possibly out of the league in 4 years. I think that contract is astronomical for him. He's def more of a 6/7 defenseman.