Headaches and headcases

[yave1964]

My take on the 2013-14 Pittsburgh Penguins

Gotta give Ray Shero Credit, he went all in, Douglas Murray came in to steady the defense with playoff snarl, Morrow came up from Dallas for playoff experience, Jussi Jokinen was brought in for solid depth play and then the biggie, Jarome Iginla stolen at the eleventh hour from likely Eastern conference rival Boston as the cherry on top that set the Pens as the team to beat and set them on a collision course with the Hawks
Oooops.

Well, after a sloppy but entertaining series against the Isles in which Marc-Andre Fleury showed an allergic reaction to rubber in April yet again, the ship was righted against upstart Ottawa with Tomas Vocoun in net, the calm veteran led the team to the finals against the rival Bruins, certain that Iggie would be the final piece of the puzzle getting them back to the finals. Well it did not work out that way as Cosby had the worst week of hockey in his life and the rest of the team joined him on the golf course a bit earlier than planned, losing to the Bruins and Jaramir Jagr who had been acquired by Beantown when Iggie failed to appear. A long bitter summer set in as the club looked within and tried to figure out where to go from here.

Iginla, Morrow and Murray, acquired for assorted low draft picks and decent prospects were all allowed to leave after such a short time in the igloo. Long time Penguin and unsung Gary Roberts type Tyler Kennedy left for a payday in San Jose. Matt Cooke took his schtick to the land ofa thousand lakes. The club was forced to pare the roster to fit under the cap and still retain the free agents that they wanted to keep, Dupuis and potential F/A next season Letang. Dan Bylsma was rumored to be on the chopping block and will enter this season with a short leash. Fleury was considered an amnesty candidate by many. The club lost four huge contributors and replaced them with Rob Scuderi on the back end and Matt D'agostini as a forward. Not a very good offseason.

Sidney Crosby discovered a new way of getting injured going with a broken jaw this past season and missing 12 games, still leading the team in scoring. The headaches seem to be a thing of the past, he is the best player in the game, but an asterisk must be put up saying when healthy. A full season of Sid would offset some of the losses. Malkin is still the best number two center in the game, it seems almost obscene to call him that. Gliding up and down the wing on the two top lines are Kunitz, Dupuis, Neal and likely Jokinen are a talented bunch with two amazing centermen setting them up. The third line loses Kennedy and Cooke, but Brandon Sutter stepped in nicely after coming over from the Canes last year and it is hoped that D'Agostini and possibly talented youngster Beau Bennett can step up, Bennett had 14 points in 26 games last season proving he belongs. The fourth line will consist of veteran Craig Adams and two players to be determined.

Defensively, Murray did not make the impact they were hoping for, hence the return of Scuderi to help calm the defense, a cup winner in Pittsburgh and again with the Kings he will help a veteran bunch protect their goalie. Letang is a wizard with the puck who acts almost like a fourth forward but can appear a bit disinterested at times in his own end, Paul Martin is an underrated back end guy who is respected in the clubhouse, Niskanen and Orpik are veterans who still know how to play the game. Defense which was considered a weakness a few years ago is now a strength.

Goaltending, Voukun did admirable as a solid backup and then very well in the playoffs. Fleury had a .239 goals against in the regular season with a respectable .916 save percentage, then in the post season it fell to a mind numbingly bad 3.52 and .883. Vocoun in the post season put up 2.01 and a wonderful .933 save pct. leaving call in shows and sites like this one to wonder who is the starter in Crosbyland.

Realistically, looking at this team compared to the one in March, before the influx of talent around the deadline, forgetting the Morrow, Iggie and Murray deals, essentially the Pens who were a first place club beforehand and would have likely won the division anyway have dealt Kennedy and Cooke for Scuderi, Jokinen and D'Agostini so they have not been gutted. They have little if any cap room to play with but are still a force.

My opinion is this is one of the weaker, more balanced divisions in the new alignment. To me the Penguins are still clearly the best team in it, followed by the Flyers and Rangers, then followed by everyone else. The division title will be theirs, and then the Marc-Andre playoff roller coaster begins again. I personally would have bitten the bullet on him and signed steady veteran Mike Smith in the offseason for the whole teams psyche. He is not Bryz, for Gods sake he put up near Vezina candidate regular season numbers but his goals against went up by over a goal a game come post season, a time when defenses knuckle down. The Penguins seem near a virtual lock to win the division then come post season anything can happen and with the flower in net anything can. If they are sent home with anything short of a cup final I believe this will be the final roundup for both Fleury and Bylsma. I do not believe they have quite enough or the cap room to take it to that level, but still a dangerous talented club.

[flyercanuck]

You just keep them coming! Great job yave.

 

(Can I vote yave (along with JR) best new poster on the site?)

[pilldoc]

@yave1964

 

great job yave as ususal.  Love the right write up.

[hf101]

@yave1964

 

Nice blog yave!

 

I'm not sold that the Penguins will finish first in the division.  Scuderi isn't the player he was in his first stint with the Penguins and several reports out there think they may have overpaid.  The lines this season are not the same as in the playoffs wear they were 4 lines deep.  Jokinen was placed on waivers last year, can they really count on him to contribute the same as he did with the Hurricanes several years ago?   There is a lot of talent on the top two lines but after that  I think there are some question marks.

[Polaris922]

@yave1964

 

Well done my friend.  I disagree on a point or two but not much.  Kennedy was traded (thank God) and Jokinen won't be on the second line ahead of Bennett.  I think that kid has earned the spot and will prove it in camp.  I also don't think we have one of the weaker divisions.  It's the stronger of the eastern divisions, and in my eyes second only to the Pacific division.  

[yave1964]

@Polaris922

I have to disagree about the divisions, your division has:

Pittsburgh

Rangers

Flyers

Everyone else

The other Eastern division has

Boston

Detroit

Ottawa

Toronto

Montreal

three distant also rans.

I believe a lot of people overrate the Capitals and Jackets, and the Isles IMHO had a poor offseason. Until the Flyers prove that they are back on track and the Rangers can find some consistency your division is a one trick pony. I believe the Flyers had as good of an offseason as anyone in the game, personnel wise not necessarily contract wise but they were very far down, nobody else in the division had a solid offseason. In my division, Toronto an Detroit are unquestioningly better, Ottawa and Boston are arguably better. You cannot say that about any team other than the Flyers in yours.

[Polaris922]

@Polaris922

I have to disagree about the divisions, your division has:

Pittsburgh

Rangers

Flyers

Everyone else

The other Eastern division has

Boston

Detroit

Ottawa

Toronto

Montreal

three distant also rans.

I believe a lot of people overrate the Capitals and Jackets, and the Isles IMHO had a poor offseason. Until the Flyers prove that they are back on track and the Rangers can find some consistency your division is a one trick pony. I believe the Flyers had as good of an offseason as anyone in the game, personnel wise not necessarily contract wise but they were very far down, nobody else in the division had a solid offseason. In my division, Toronto an Detroit are unquestioningly better, Ottawa and Boston are arguably better. You cannot say that about any team other than the Flyers in yours.

 

 

I don't consider Toronto or Montreal any more dangerous than the Isles or Jersey.  I think you're either overvaluing them or undervaluing the others.  I think your division has the Wings and Bruins... and MAYBE the Sens.  Ours has the Pens, Flyers, Rangers, and MAYBE the Caps.  We disregard the Devils a lot but their system + Brodeur always makes them a possibility.   

 

In fairness I don't think ANY of the teams mentioned other than the Flyers made any big additions in the off season.  Yeah we have Carolina and Columbus... but you have the Florida teams.. how much worse does it get than that?    

[jammer2]

@Polaris922  I think Toronto will be dangerous. They improved in goal with Bernier, who is better than Scrivens. They added Bolland and Clarkson. Kadri will play a full year. Gardiner will continue to improve. They should be significantly better than last years playoff team.

[yave1964]

@Polaris922

Wings added Weiss, Alfie

Bruins Iggie, Eriksson

Senators Ryan, have Karlsson for full season

Leafs, Clarkson, Bolland and Bernier

Penguins Lost Iginla, Morrow

Devils Kovie and Clarkson

Rangers Status quo

Flyers added Streit, Lecavalier and Emery

Jackets added Horton who may miss half the year

Capitals added Grabo lost Ribiero, overall a negative.

Isles lost Streit and Boyes.

On top of that, five teams in our division were playoff clubs last year, the most of anyone. The Division is tough and rugged and IMHO right there with any. I think your division is rather pedestrian and average. I don't even think the two of them are close. Other than the Penguins, I believe in my heart of hearts that the Bruins, Wings, Senators and Leafs are all not only better than anyone else in your division but considerably better. The second best team in your division misses the playoffs in ours. Now you have more parity, true, but we have better top teams.

[Polaris922]

@yave1964

 

Detroit:  Good:  Added an aged and now average forward in Alfredsson... added an effective Weiss.  

              Bad:    Lost Filpulla, no upgrades to defense, lost Brunner (leading playoff goal scorer).  

              Not much changes here. 

 

Bruins:   Good:  Eriksson, 

              So-so:  Iginla...  (I just don't think he's all that anymore as evident in his time with my Pens) 

              Bad:     Lost Horton, Ference, Jagr, Seguin... all hurt the roster.  

              The rest aren't so notable...  Boston is weaker than they were.  

 

Senators:   Good:  Ryan

                  So-so:  Alfredsson (not much game left but a good leader for the squad)

                  Bad:     Silferberg

                 So the Sens are a bit better I think overall... but at the same time, they were barely playoff material last season and barring a rolling over of the Canadiens didn't really do anything eye catching all season.  

 

Maple Leafs:  Good:  Clarkson (despite the $$), Bolland and Bernier.

                      Bad:     Grabovski

                       This team WILL be tougher... but I don't know that Clarkson and Bolland are going to put them into the top four, and Bernier is a great catch, but is he ready to propell them that far?  

 

Penguins:    Good:   Lost Iginla, Morrow, Kennedy and added Scuderi.  

                    Bad:     Lost Cooke and Murray

                    Won the East easily last season and have the same offense they had last year, with a bolstered defense and less distraction (Cooke) .  Scuderi > Murray.  

 

Devils:         Good:  Add Jagr and Schneider

                    Bad:    Lost Kovalchuk and Clarkson.  

                   Jagr won't make up for Kovalchuk's absence and who will pot the dirty goals without Clarkson. They will suffer offensively but their defense...  well welcome back to the trap boys.  Don't think they'll move much in the standings.  

                    

 

Rangers:     Good... Bad...  who the heck can make sense of why this team underachieves so often?  

 

Flyers:         Good:   Add Streit and Lecavalier (to some degree), dumped Briere.  

                    Bad:     Nothing I can see if you avoid talking about money! 

                   The Flyers will return to previous form with Streit moving the puck. He's what they were missing.  

 

Jackets:      Good:  Horton joins the lineup around Christmas.  Healed and rested.  A full season with Gaborik.  

                   Bad:     None 

                   The Jackets almost made the playoffs last season largely in part to Bobrovsky.  I'm thinking they do it again and with Horton filling the obvious need at wing, they may make the cut this time.  Not a huge threat by any means... not going to go far even if they do make it.  Irrelevant in the big picture. 

 

Capitals...   depends on which team shows up.  Much like the Rangers can be you just don't know. 

 

Islanders:   Good... what? 

                   Bad:    Lost Streit

                  I don't think they overcome the loss of Streit this season.  They're out. 

 

I don't see anything in your division to say they're stronger, by any means.  Your Wings are second to the Bruins there, and I'm thinking your Wings are fighting for the 4th-5th seed and you're the second strongest team in your division.  

[yave1964]

@Polaris922

well IMHO, the Capitals beat up on a weak division forever and are worse, will be exposed this season. The Jackets will miss Prospal more than they think, I know he is like sixty or something but the man scored big, big goals last year. The Isles are going to be down. That leaves:

Penguins

Bruins

Senators

Wings

Leafs

Flyers

Rangers

I personally see them in that order, in terms of a combination of what could be expected regular season/post season hopes.

What sets your division apart, is we have the Sabres, Lightning and Panthers, nobody in your division is as out of sorts as these three teams, except possibly the Canes, but even they have hope if they have Ward. We are top heavy, your division is more balanced. I think the Bruins are at least as good as last season. The Wings are improved with Weiss (I think Alfie is a bit smoke and mirrors) and the kid line, the Senators will miss Silferberg but Ryan and Karlsson (and Spezza and Anderson) make up for that, I also believe the Leafs, with the exception of the dollars for Clarkson had a fine offseason and were no fluke like the Isles and possibly the Habs in the first place. The Rangers are frustrating and I am not drinking that koolaid again, the Flyers will have high expectations and will be improved. But other than the Penguins the top four teams are in our division, as are the three bottom teams.

[Polaris922]

@yave1964

I place the Flyers and Rangers higher than the Leafs and Sens. I respect your opinion of why you've put them there but disagree. The Leafs remain without a true #1 center, and though I respect Spezza's talent he always seems to be a part time player. Will that change without Alfredsson? I dunno...

The Flyers adding Streit will turn their ship around fast. That pickup worries me. And the Rangers generally excel in the regular season then fall apart (yes even worse than my Oens have recently) every playoff.

I think Boston is weaker than before. Some youngsters will mature more but not enough to make up for losses.

And I think your Wings may be weaker as well. I like Weiss but I liked Brunner a lot, and Filpulla was a steady two way guy, though he had to go cuz of the money. Alfredsson is pretty much along for the ride in my eyes. I expect you to be battling for the four spot, maybe five.

I think you and I agree for the most part on who makes it, just in a slightly different order.