nossagog

I don't think I really had a good appreciation of his faceoff abilities until this year with the Penguins. He's the go to guy on defensive zone faceoffs and is really BIG on what is one of the NHL best penalty killing teams.

An imperfect man, but a great competitor on the football field. Thanks for all the memories Ben.

https://www.nhl.com/penguins/news/penguins-agree-to-terms-jeff-carter-two-year-contract-extension/c-330217900 The Pens seem to be really happy with the way he fills in the third line. Likewise I think he's become comfortable with that role and continues to contribute for the Pens. $3.125M / year

@mojo1917 Apparently Sullivan has already been informed that nothing will come from this.

I thought that Dillon would at a minimum get a fine for this. It looks like he barely, if at all, caught any of the body with almost all of the force from the shoulder hitting Bleuger in the head into the glass/stanchion. A point can be made that Dillon was coming up off his feet for the hit, but with the NHL's DOPeS spinning wheel of justice, nothing. Big loss to the Pen's penalty kill. Bleuger had surgery and will be out 6 to 8 weeks.

https://www.nhl.com/penguins/news/penguins-acquire-alex-nylander-chicago-blackhawks-exchange-sam-lafferty/c-329501678 Seems like a sideways move for both teams. Lafferty never really impressed the Pens enough to play a lot in the bigs, and Nylander seems to have done the same with Chicago. I believe both contracts are done after this year, so not very sure how this helps either team. I'm hoping that somewhere the Pens see a future in Nylander, otherwise MEH.

The NHL has proved time and again that they don't really care too much about what he does. He put down Mark Jankowski of the Pens with a late center ice hit last week, at least he got a two minute penalty for that. Jankowski got four games off with the dreaded "Upper Body Injury".

Well this may all change now if Zucker is down for a while. Looked like he did something to his knee on a play where it look like his skate struck another players skate causing a weird twist to his knee. To bad because he has been playing very well. As a matter of fact, you mention both Blueger and Zucker as possible trade bait. Both have been key elements of the Pens PK this year. If Zuck blew out his knee, the LTIR relief would add some space for the Pens. It may be interesting to see Hextal's input in the goalie situation. If you bring in Gibson, you're basically saying that he's your goalie for the near future. The previous Pen's front office saw enough in Jarry that the resigned him for three years in October. More interesting for the Pens is the abundance on defense at the moment. With all the injuries early in the year, the Pens were forced to add a few defensemen to fill in, and also bring up P.O. Joseph. I really don't want to see him go back down. But Petterson and Matheson are back, and Rikolla is back in practice in a full contact jersey. So right now they have the choice of Letang, Matheson, Petterson, Marino, Ruhwedel, Ceci, Joeseph, Weber and Rikolla. Doumolin is still out and Troutman in down in Wilkesbarre. If anything, I think they make moves here.

Not sure about all the talk about Pittsburgh looking for a goalie. The Pens main problem to start the year was the decimation of the defensive core due to injuries. I think this is what lead to most of their early year struggles. But as they are getting healthy, especially with Mathiason, the team defense is looking much better, and therefore so are the goalies. Jarry in particular has played great lately, being probably their best player in the past two games against the Isles. That being said, if a trade does happen, I don't think it will be for someone with a long contract ahead of him. Just to penal in the cap era, and where they are now with cap space.

I think that they have a great tandem with Murray and Jarry. Although Murray isn't have a great season, the cost to find a TOP tier goalie at the deadline would be very substantive. As it stands now, I think Jarry is the number one goalie for the Pens. And don't forget, they still have DeSmith waiting in the wings.

GM Jim was active again on trade deadline day and before, and the Pens look to be a stronger team because of it. With the days of Crosby and Malkin winding down, its time to push in some chips and go for the cup a time or two more while they are still at the top of their games. So let's review, but I'll need a little help first from Mr. Peabody and his Wayback machine. Sherman, please send us back to Feb 11. Pens acquire Jason Zucker from the Wild for Alex Galchenyek, defensive prospect Calen Addison and a first round pick in 2020. Immediate impact here is obviously a positive, Galchenyuk did not work out in the Pens lineup, and adding Zucker, who can play top line minutes, immediately relieves the loss of Jake for this years playoff run. And at first glance, he really fits Sids line well(7gp 3 goals and 2 assists). The loss of prospect Calen does not affect the Pens as they have plenty of youth(Rikolla and Marino) who are NHL ready, and should be around for a while. The loss of the pick stings a little, but count that against the term of Zuckers contract and I'm okay with that. Marty, I'm to set the time machine to deadline day and send you back. Pens acquire Patrick Marleau for a third round pick(second if the Pens win cup). May be just a rental, but adding Marleau on the third line is good. A player whom may be in last year of career, and hasn't won cup. I think he's going to add a very good veteran defensive presence on the third line. Third round pick, meh. Second round pick means we won the cup, deal. Pens acquire Conner Sheary and Evan Rodrigues for Dominik Kahun. The slow start for Kahun hurt his numbers for the year, and its a little iffy why they gave up on him so easily. But in the end he is a free agent at the end of the season anyway, and I don't think the Pens saw resigning him in their future. So they add forward depth for the fourth line, the third line with Marleau and Kahun's place on the second line is Sheary going to Malkin's wing. Rodrigues being a restricted free agent means they can probably retain him if he fits in. So the current line will probably look like this: Zucker-Crosby-Simon Sheary-Malkin-Rust Marleau-McCann-Hornqvist Rodrigues-Bleugar-Tanev The Pens stayed pat on Defense, which I think is good Letang-Johnson Shultz-Petterson Ruhweedel-Troutman-Rikola Marino and Doumolin when available. The third pairing will get way better when Marino and Doumolin are back in the lineup. Both travelled with the team for the road trip out west this week. In the spirit of an election year in the US, I'm nossagog, and I approve of these trades.

Not minding this trade as a Pens fan at all. Alex just did not work out on the Pens team. With all the injuries at forward the Pens had early, he had plenty of time to show what he could do on top lines as well as the power play. 5 goals and 12 assists in 45 games was not what they were looking for. He basically became a fourth liner with about 11 minutes a game. Addison I don't believe was going to see the light of day in the Pens organization for several years due to the depth they currently have at the blue line. So for him, and the Pens, it may be seen as a win/win situation there. But it still has to be seen if he can get back his small size against NHL caliber players. The thing that hurts is that first round conditional pick, but this is the motus oparendi of GM Jim. And it seems to usually work out.

Hats off to the Washington Capitals. They've finally done it. No jokes this year. No Ovie Memes. Just a cup and some time to celebrate.

Foreword by Oshie and Ovechkin.

Alas poor Yorick, not quite that old.

Yeah, let's just call ourselves well seasoned.

Dude, that's water under the bridge for me. And even some of the early 80's has some holes in it.

The what if's are always fun. If they would have drafted Sakic, would they have made the trade that brought Ron Francis, Grant Jennings and the Ulfmeister in 1990???? Never know, they might NOT have won those cups. 1990, Pens take a chance on a player named Jaromir Jagr, not knowing if they can get him out of eastern Europe. That one worked out pretty well. What a draft that was.

1) Drafting Lemieux. I was at the arena(yes I'm that old) watching the draft with the rest of the season and partial season ticket holders(all 10 of us had a great time). 2) The first cup, years of frustrations all washed away. "Lord Stanley, Lord Stanley, pass me the Brandy" 3) The day Mario flew into Philly just hours after his last cancer treatment, and had a goal and an assist in the game. What a story that year was. 60 games, 160 points while battling cancer.

I think Downie will be on a short leash, Pens have someone like Megna who can play in the NHL to take his place if he cannot control himself.

Well I didn't think that Sutter would be back. But that should be it fo rthe Pens, unless they find a way to dump Scuds. Looks like the starting lineup could be: Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis(if he's ready) Hornqvist-Malkin-Bennet Goc-Sutter-Spalling Downie-Adams-Megna/Comeau Letang-Martin Maatta-Erhoff Scuds-Despres/Bort I like the upgrade to the third line, I think it will help out in the playoffs. Still feel sorry for Sid, he should get an upgrade, but I think they tailor to helping our Geno instead.

Wow, so what was that whole last work stoppage all about? $9M a year. Never really been a fan of his as I think he is severely lacking in defense altogether. $9M per year seems a bit too much, they better hope his defensive game begins to show up.

Nick Spaling signed a two year deal apparently worth $2.2M/year. Not much money left for Sutter, could he be gone at this point?

Welcome Yorick, Good to have another Pens fan here.