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Sidney Crosby's future... with the Pens?


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I honestly don't think you will see this happening.

Probably not because while one can debate the merits from a purely hockey/cap perspective, it is almost certain to be seen as a bad business decision by the Pens. Crosby was not himself and maybe you can assume that once he's 100% again the problems that were exposed melt away. On the other hand, I think he may already have suffered another concussion. Do the Pens really want to tie up $8-9MM in him under those circumstances? As an aside, I think Crosby's long term health would benefit from him being more judicious about running his mouth and starting scrums (channelling Don Cherry here). He makes himself a target and I actually think he's less effective as a player when he's over the top emotionally.

I believe Letang is a great D'man, and until recently, was very happy with Michalek and Orpik behind him.

Letang is excellent and Orpik has been consistently good in a shut down role. But that's it for the Pens D. Letang played too much and tried to do to much in those minutes that he played, so he ended up running around, making poor reads and taking undisciplined penalties. He needs some help. Orpik deserves less blame than the rest because at least he tried to play his uncomplicated game. The world fell down around him though. This is a prime area for off season upgrade but where do they get the cap space with Crosby and Malkin on the roster?

I honestly think Bylsma's "system" is part of what broke the Pens this year. He refused to make changes to the penalty kill against the Flyers and that meant leaving a broken machine on the ice.

While Bylsma deserves some blame for the early exit, I think it would be an overreaction for any Pens fans to call for his head. He's been very successful and I think the teams issues are more personnel related than anything else. Another factor that had not occurred to me before reading an article in Philly.com was the "Talbot" factor. The Flyers, thanks to Talbot's intimate knowledge of his old mates, knew exactly what to expect and had an opportunity to plan very carefully how to exploit the Pens. I'm pretty sure it had a bearing on the series and in particular on the preparation of Couturier. I'm sure they spent a lot of time discussing Malkin, in French, before and during the series.

If anyone has to go, I hope it's Jordan Staal. I think he's one of the most overrated Pens out there. This season his defensive play was average at best, and in the first three games of the playoffs was on the ice, in position, and still failed to stop no less than FIVE Flyers goals. One of which he actually pushed onto Talbot's stick like they were still on the same team. His `point production is okay, but all the hype about him being a number one center anywhere else in the league is crap in my eyes. He's almosty as lazy as Malkin gets at times, and without the point production.

If you can't move Malkin or Crosby, there is no choice in the matter and Staal has to go. He's They can move him for defensive help or depth at forward, the team's other big need. I say that because it makes no sense to me that Crosby is flanked by a plumber like Matt Cooke, or a past his prime Steve Sullivan or a third liner like Pascal Dupuis. Crosby's career may be extended by having someone playing with him that the opponent actually has to worry about.

They had a lot of weapons to bring to the rink.

Not really or at least not relatively speaking up front. Take a look at the Flyers top 11: Giroux, Jagr, Hartnell, Briere, Simmonds, Voracek, Talbot, van Riemsdyk, Schenn, Read, Couturier. The only one who might be a "plumber" in any sense is Simmonds, and he would be an upgrade over any of Sid's line mates. I don't see much offense on the back end either, other than Letang. The Pens lost to the Flyers to a great degree because the Flyers are deeper and the Flyers core is going to be around for a while. The Pens need to get deeper if they are going to beat them consistently.

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He makes himself a target and I actually think he's less effective as a player when he's over the top emotionally.

I agree about that. I think some teams get him mad and he turns everything up a notch. But I also think that sometimes, and maybe the concussion effect has a little to do with this, he goes TOO far and loses the focus he needs.

This is a prime area for off season upgrade but where do they get the cap space with Crosby and Malkin on the roster?

This I don't agree 100% with. I thought they did that with Martin and Michalek. Martin has been a bit disappointing but Michalek has been an exceptional shot blocker. I think the biggest issue is Bylsma's system calls for lying down in the shooting lanes from what I've read, and defensemen pressing into the rush in the attacking zone. The lying down thing does NOT benefit all defensemen, and I think Michalek is more of a stand up and press defenseman. I also think Derek Engelland is a good physically punishing defenseman, but not who you want on the rush. Same can be said for Michalek. And they won't be able to get rid of Martin at $5 million a year either. I LIKE Martin... he was solid in Jersey. Something's not right for him here though.

While Bylsma deserves some blame for the early exit, I think it would be an overreaction for any Pens fans to call for his head.

I agree and I don't want Bylsma going anywhere. I just think the system needs to take into consideration more of each defenseman's talents (i.e. Engelland on the rush?). I like the core the Pens have, and I think Bylsma just needs some tweaking to make it more successful.

If you can't move Malkin or Crosby, there is no choice in the matter and Staal has to go.

I think they'll keep all three to be honest, and I'm okay with that. Like I said if one had to go I'd make it Staal.

Not really or at least not relatively speaking up front. Take a look at the Flyers top 11: Giroux, Jagr, Hartnell, Briere, Simmonds, Voracek, Talbot, van Riemsdyk, Schenn, Read, Couturier. The only one who might be a "plumber" in any sense is Simmonds, and he would be an upgrade over any of Sid's line mates. I don't see much offense on the back end either, other than Letang. The Pens lost to the Flyers to a great degree because the Flyers are deeper and the Flyers core is going to be around for a while. The Pens need to get deeper if they are going to beat them consistently.

I disagree here as well. I think the Pens have plenty of depth, as noted by the season statistics. We acgtually had more twenty goal scorers than the Flyers, and that with Crosby NOT in that count due to injuries. Kunitz, Sullivan, Dupuis, Neal, Malkin... and I would take any of them over Simmonds, Voracek, Talbot, van Riemsdyk, Schenn, Read, Couturier. They're all "plumbers" to me like Dupuis and maybe Kunitz. Sullivan is old, yes, so we'll see whether he stays or goes. I like Van Riemsdyk a lot but the others aren't anything special in my book. Couturier is getting a LOT of credit for shutting down Malkin, and he may develop into a great hockey player as may Read and Schenn, but in my eyes the jury is still out on them till they have more time in. Malkin has a history of disappearing in the playoffs, and this year was no different. Was it solely because of Couturier? I doubt it with Malkin's history but it is possible. These were two teams with great offenses that ran head to head, and yours won. Fleury doesn't fall apart in game 6 and we may be talking game 7 instead.

Anyways, great points you make and I appreciate a different perspective. I like being forced to think about all this instead of buying into the same old rah-rah talk so many fans have ignoring their team's true issues.

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@Polaris922

They really DO need someone to take some heat off Letang. They thought Martin would be that guy but as you say, he's been a disappointment. If the Pens can afford it and the opportunity presents itself under the new CBA, they should buy him out.

You may be right about them keeping all three centers. It may be that not only the fans but management don't have it in them to really shake things up. I respect Shero though and will be surprised if he only makes changes on the margins.

Shero would trade Kunitz, Cooke, Sullivan or Dupuis in a nanosecond for any of the Flyers I named. All of the Pens I just named are on the downsides of their careers while all the Flyers you named, in addition to being loaded with skill, are under 24. Simmonds scored 28 goals this year. Read scored 24 as a rookie and played on the PK. Couturier shut down Malkin in the just ended series. Schenn and Voracek are also excellent young players who played great against the Pens. The Pens need more of this (youth and skill), not less. This is crazy talk.

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Shero would trade Kunitz, Cooke, Sullivan or Dupuis in a nanosecond for any of the Flyers I named.

I disagree as far as Kunitz or Dupuis go. They're not flashy, but Kunitz is a solid performer in front of the net with 26 goals and 61 points this season. Dupuis also had 25 goals and 59 points with almost zero PP time and is a die hard player. He does EVERYTHING well. Not great, but everything well. I'll agree about Cooke or Sullivan though. Cooke had a 19 goal season and played well, largely staying out of trouble, but why not replace him and his occasional stupid penalty with youth and talent? And Sullivan was brought in for leadership and veteran status, but I think the team is seasoned enough to get by without him, so why not bring in a younger talent there as well. I don't see Simmonds as anything special, to be honest. Or Schenn or Voracek either. Read I like.. and Coutourier shows a lot of promise as well. I'm hoping Tangradi develops into something for the Pens next season, and maybe Depres or Strait can step up defensively. I guess a lot remains to be seen. I'm with you though, I trust Shero's hockey smarts... so we'll see what happens.

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I don't see Simmonds as anything special, to be honest. Or Schenn or Voracek either. Read I like.. and Coutourier shows a lot of promise as well.

I don't know what your definition of special is but Simmonds scored 28 goals and had 49 points this past season and didn't play on a line with Crosby or Malkin. He's 10 years younger than Kunitz. Voracek also scored 49 points and plays in all situations, including point on the power play. He is perhaps among the best skaters in the league and is only 22. Schenn was hurt a lot of this past season but last year he as considered the best player playing outside the NHL. He's averaging over 13 minutes a game in the playoffs and has 6 points, including the game tying goal in game 1. He's 20. Couturier has a lot of promise? That's an understatement. At 19, he's already the best defensive forward on the team and has huge offensive potential (he scored nearly 100 points in each of his last two seasons in junior hockey). Shero would be crazy not to trade any one of the Pens I named for any of these Flyers, cap space permitting, though he doesn't have much.

Shero's saying at least for now that he's not moving Staal, Crosby or Malkin. He can't move Michalek or Martin. Who does that leave? I don't know, maybe no one. If he's not willing to move Staal, Crosby or Malkin, he's probably only going to be doing marginal things anyway. If he's not willing to do something bold, I think that's good news for the Flyers.

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