nossagog

6 minutes ago, mojo1917 said:

I've long been a Jeff Carter fan.

if this team is healthy come playoff time, he could be the 3C that gets them to the finals.

87 and 71 have always need a + 3C to win the whole smash, Carter can still skate, is really good at the dot , and is way bigger now than he was a "young man". 

this is a good signing. it is weird seeing him in those colors though.

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". 

On 2/21/2021 at 1:05 PM, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

You'd know the dynamics of your team much better than I, but my thinking, reading this thread is, why WOULDN'T the Penguins be interested in a guy like John Gibson?
Let's say you are right, and the defense has let the current goalies down and with them playing better, it means the goalies play better.........well, stands to reason that if 'good' goalies like Jarry or DeSmith would play well under favorable conditions, that an elite goalie like John Gibson, who has been propping a TERRIBLE defensive team like the Ducks for years, should be lights out!

And with both new front office bosses Burke and Hextall thinking they can still win now (why wouldn't they...they still have three of the best players in the world at what they do in Crosby, Malkin, and Letang), I would think they'd absolutely like a stud goalie that can play well under any conditions.

To that end, and playing a bit of amateur GM, I'd do something like this:

To Ducks:
G- Tristan Jarry (25 yrs, 3.5M hit, 2 more seasons after this before UFA)
F- Teddy Blueger (26 yrs, 750K hit, RFA after this season)
2nd rounder

To Penguin:
G- John Gibson (27 yrs, 6.4M hit, under contract for 6 more seasons after this one)
3rd rounder

Pens would be taking on just over 2M in cap hit after something like this, and while they do trade away their 2nd rounder, that pick is likely to be a mid to late 2nd round pick based on how the team is likely to finish, while the Ducks' 3rd rounder, based on their likely finish, probably will be a very early 3rd round pick....so it bumps Pitts back just a bit, while moving the Ducks upward in the draft just a bit more, giving them two 2nd rounders overall.

Ducks get a good, though not elite netminder in Jarry for 2 and a half seasons while they figure out what the heck they are doing over there, and a serviceable, versatile top 9 player (probably more bottom six) in Blueger, who is still young enough to help fill some of their gaps and maybe turns into a late bloomer for them.
And of course, Anaheim gets the bit of cap relief.

Pens, meanwhile, get that stud goalie, with Casey DeSmith being a decent backup on nights the Pens want to rest Gibson.
And Gibson's contract length should coincide pretty well with the rest of Crosby's....and Letang's and Malkin's too, if Pitts can get them extended at a somewhat team friendly number to further facilitate being a contender season after season.

All this could be moot if Pittsburgh decides to just focus on their forward ranks (do they still like Jason Zucker? His 5.5M cap hit doesn't seem to justify his production from what I see), or possibly improve their defense again, while staying along with Jarry and DeSmith.

But if I am a Pitts fan, I would really like to have John Gibson in the fold......he is a classic example of a guy that has done pretty well with less around him, that figures to do much better with more around him.

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.

15 hours ago, SlapShot66 said:

Does anyone think that The Pens should have tried for a goalie maybe see if there are any on waivers because I am not sure of Murray's skills anymore, he hasn't been the same sine the Cup win imho. . . . . . .

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.

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.

4 hours ago, flyercanuck said:

Mastering the Phony Headsnap....by every member of the Pittsburgh Penguin franchise. 

Foreword by Oshie and Ovechkin.

Alas poor Yorick, not quite that old.

@nossagog   hummph....old gumpers we are.....

Yeah, let's just call ourselves well seasoned.

@Yorick  Yeah, I turn 50 in 15 months, so I'm getting up there!  Started watching hockey when I was 5, remember everything from 7 and up, although some things in the 70's can be fuzzy....lol.

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

@nossagog  I've been to 1 draft live in all my years....this one...at the Joe Louis arena.

 

 http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl1987e.html

 

  A few odds and ends, keeping the Pittsburgh topic at hand....I know 13 other teams passed on him also, but WOW....Joe Sakic goes 15th overall. You have to wonder how the Pens fate would have evolved if they selected Joe Sakic with the 6th pick, instead of Chris Joseph. My feelings are, the course of the franchise would have been altered completely. Joe would have made them respectable enough that they would have never been in the position to draft Mario. Weird how one pick, or lack of ....changes everything forever, huh?

 

 Kinda neat, I did not know until taking a peak at the 2nd round, but I saw John LeClair and Eric Desjardins get drafted live....that is so cool.

 

  OK...edit, totally forgot that Mario was BEFORE Joe....so Joe could have actually been playing with Mario...wow.

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'm leaning that way as well.  At least to start I'd have Goc center Adams and Comeau and try Downie on a wing with Sutter and Spaling.  If Tocchet turns him around he'll fit right in.  If he reverts back to the dumb penalties he gets bumped to the 4th line.

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.

I think the kid gets a fair shake....finally.  One of, if not my biggest, issues w/ Pepto Bylsma was his handling of Depres.

I think in general DFB had favorites who were given passes when the played bad.  His handling of young players in general was never good.