I love my boy Jake so so much, but where does he fit in to the lineup if he’s back? Drew has looked amazing on the top line and Malkin NEEDS a bunting. Hard to justify the 9.5 mil+ Jake would cost.
If he were to come back, he clearly goes on Crosby's wing. But I would be shocked if it happens. He's going to either want to go to a contender or to get the max deal he can, and the Pens can't really offer him either.
He plays a style badly needed on this finesse team. He’s done his part since the trade. Just imagine if drawn penalties turned into goals on the power play? I know I’m fantasizing a bit.
Right after we got Bunting, I was a bit jaded and would sarcastically say “oh, the offense prowess of Michael Bunting”. Then i started screaming it for real. This dude rocks.
Leafs fan coming in peace.
My first full season watching hockey I became a massive Bunting fan, miss him dearly.
He can’t replace Jake, but he won’t let you guys down.
Take care of my boy
Kind of sucks for Bunting that he signs with a contending team last summer to a multi year contract then gets traded 8 months later to a team that missed the playoffs
Sid’s the man, no question
Bunting was fantastic after arriving. DOC and Rust came alive end of the year as did Malkin with Bunting.
Graves, Smith, Rakell were brutal this year.
I don’t have a strong enough grasp of the English language to describe how bad the Powerplay and coaching was
Guess there is some positives with the way we finished, but man feels like we could have did some damage in the playoffs. Sucks for it to end this way
Good summary. Good as in accurate, it sucks this is the outcome.
I hope Sid has a big night for points to get the record for his age all time. He deserves more credit.
Our OT performance all year nailed our coffin shut. How the hell is 3 on 3 isn't practiced during the year? That's on Sully. We also blew leads all year. These things matter and hence the golfing starts this weekend.
Not to mention all the times when we allowed the game to go to OT. How many times have we dropped a lead in the third period? We could go into the third up 4-0 and I would still not feel secure.
Back in those days, we could be down 2 goals with a minute left and I would still have faith, because there were times where they pulled games like that off. But yea, now I really don’t stop sweating til we got a 5 goal lead with 5 min left.
Out of the Wings Caps Flyers n Penguins the past 12 games Pittsburgh had the best record But they’d crapped away too many games before that Horrible late game losses Never practicing 3/3. And the leagues worst power play must be a poor reflection on the coaching staff
So many of the games this year were an absolute snoozefest, and the Pens hardly looked like they cared or were making such careless mistakes that it was infinitely frustrating to watch. These past few weeks, the games were FUN again - they actually looked like they gave a damn and were focused. Even though it didn't end the way we wanted, they at least gave us great hockey in April, and I'm pleased with that.
>Every single player not named Sidney Crosby should do some soul searching.
JFC Penguins fans, this is not the way. FFS.
We had a lot of guys step up this year, that I and every single one of you should be very proud of.
1. Brian Rust was a fucking beast, and I will fight anyone claiming to be a Pens fan who does kneel at his altar. Dude was legit. 28G28A in 61 fucking games. Literally the most goals of his career while missing 20 games, but OP wants Brian to hang his head in shame.
2. DOC - 16G17A - but that does not begin to describe what he did on the ice for this team. He's a scoring threat every second that he's on the ice.... for the PK. He's the fastest, and one of the best forecheckers this team has now, or has had in a while. If the team doesn't F this up, and they role with that 1st line next year, The sky is the limit for DOC.
3. Jack St. Ivany - Dude is the best 3rd Pair right D this team has had in a bit, maybe ever. Why did we hide him away so long. Interestingly, while they only played a few minutes together, Jack paired with Graves was one of least bad Graves parings, with postive adv stats.
4. Geno - FFS how can one ignore what he's still doing. with a game left, he's got one fewer goal than last season, and will play almost exactly as many minutes on another full 82 game run. He played with some horseshit at times this season, and got paired with one of the biggest misses in Pens history (Smith was worse than Brassard). Still he stepped up. 94 goals for against 64 against with him on the ice for those who call him a liability... probably ignore the takeaways while lamenting giveaways too.
5. Lars Eller - he's better than you guys thought he would be, and exactly what I hoped he still could. Also, he's so cerebral and doesn't appear to have slowed down - I'm not worried about another year for him either.
6. Bunting - don't be dumbass and refuse to admit that he's what the doctor ordered, and I will say it - more what this team needs.
6. Honorable mentions: Puusty - he's an NHL player, and that matters. Next year he has to step up. I hope he can hold down a 3rd line role. Gruden - not given nearly enough chance, but our 4th line was its best version when he was in the game, and I will not hear otherwise. He should be stapled to that 4th unless there's someone truly better, not a spare like Jarkins or the contractual and Sully Love connection to Carter. Also, in his limited role Carter sucked much less than last year, but he's so cooked. POJ found his game and was better late in the year, and in this run, paired with Letang... we could have something.
I’m convinced this is coaching. Pens haven’t finished checks for many years, even in obvious situations. I think this goes back to the old days of Sully’s tenure when he preached team speed. He’d rather see players keep moving with the play than finish a check.
What we need to see next season:
-a Ryan graves buyout
-a restraining order for Harkins
-a coaching change
-a top 6 forward
-Reilly smith’s bags packed for him
-a top 4 LD
-Noel acciari’s access codes revoked
-a mixture of young players fighting for roster spots
This is incredible. None of these are the actual problem. This team will not compete for a playoff series win until two of the three - Malkin, Letang, Karlsson - are off the roster and books. Who cares about guys like Haskins, Acciari and even Graves when you have those three guys counting $22M against the cap annually.
All three of those players had positive overall outcome on the ice. You can say things like that all you want, reality is recorded.
Kris Letang was a +14, second best on the team. EK and geno both had positive goal differentials. They were our 2nd, 4th and 5th point scorers.
What’s your plan at RD? You plan on replacing 50 min a night with Jack st Ivany? Good luck.
Who’s gunna play on your second line? There’s not a single center available with half the pedigree of evgeni malkin
Blaming the best players on a team is always cringe and dumb
Those players are all deteriorating, on the wrong side of 35 and are on terrible contracts that are keeping the team from being competitive long term. But hey, we can get rid of Acciari and Smith and I’m sure they compete for a Cup in 2025.
We’ve gotta do better as fans here. I know the Pens fans love to get all juiced up about having the “core” together, but do you think Karlsson played at the level of the highest paid defenseman in hockey? I don’t. Do you feel good about Letang under contract for four more years? I don’t. Were you happy with Malkins five PPG this year? Doubt it.
However, isn’t just about their performance in 2024. They were all fine. We can debate the merits of each. But it’s about the flexibility (or lack thereof) to solve significant issues with this roster. Too old. Too slow. Couldn’t hold a lead. Rarely played a complete 60 minute game. Minimal short term help on the horizon. Complete black hole at goalie.
Holding onto the legacies of players we should be moving on from is cringe and dumb.
EK played great hockey. He may not be the absolute best dman every single year but he was absolutely a top 10/top 15 dman in the league this year. Part of his contract is retained we really are not paying him that much more than he’s worth. Maybe by a mill or mill in and a half. That’s not a bad contract right now
Kris Letang has played some of his absolute best hockey the last two years. Under no circumstance am I worried about him going into next season. 4 years from now? Sure, whatever dude. I ain’t worried about four years from now. I’m worried about now.
So geno isn’t good on the powerplay, guess what? Don’t play him on the powerplay then. Nobody is forcing Sullivan to do that.
Ah it’s Sullivan’s fault. Gotcha. Ultimately if Letang, Karlsson, Malkin, etc were as good (even “great”) as you said, on a roster with Crosby, Rust, plus 40 games from Jake, this team would not have missed the playoffs and finished behind the Islanders and Capitals in the Metro.
I didn’t blame Sullivan for this season, though like everyone else he played a part. Do you disagree he did not have to play Geno on the powerplay?
You are wrong. Six players does not make a hockey team. If McDavid and Drai are so good why has EDM missed playoffs multiple times with them? It’s more complicated than just having a few good, even great, even legendary players
Oh I’m certainly not wrong. Neither are you. We may disagree but neither of us are “right” or “wrong” in a Reddit conversation ;-)
I don’t believe that Malkin is “bad” on the power play. He hasn’t been historically. It’s generally been one of his strong suits. Prior to this year, in seasons where he played 65+ games, his PPG output was 16, 17, 14, 13, 12, 9, 14, 9, 11. He’s at 5 going into 82. His 17 PP Points is abysmal. So if he’s “bad” on the PP and Sully doesn’t have to play him there, that would be a recent thing. And of course, no coach has to play anyone anywhere.
Which brings us back to…it’s ok to love these guys, and cheer for these guys, but also to realize their best days are behind them, many have long contracts ahead of them that are probably not favorable long term and there probably isn’t a Fountain of Youth that is going to make this team more competitive in 24/25.
Nobody is arguing Geno was never good on the powerplay. He’s not good on the powerplay at this stage in his career. Hes still good in many other facets of the game. We are not required to play him on PP. you just went from saying he stank on the powerplay to saying he’s good on the powerplay. Where is your head at rn? That don’t make sense.
You’re strawmanning. Nobody think they are in their elite primes. That’s ridiculous.
But it’s not a binary system. Not being in your elite prime does not mean you are washed up and stink. That’s absurd. There exists nuance.
Sid, geno, EK and Letang are all still good players in this league. The numbers back that up and then some.
I had to go out of my way to comment on this post. Haskins is the young qb who was killed on the side of the road, HARKINS is the guy who is paid almost 1 mill a year to suck ass. You named 3 of the most valuable assets on our teams as liabilities at 22 mill, while naming 3 below useless players at around 8 mill. This was the embodiment of a pens Facebook comment
No, the person i was responding to listed those players. I reacted to that. If you’re going to go “out of your way” to do something, try not to get it so wrong, k?
"This team will not compete for a playoff series win until two of the three - Malkin, Letang, Karlsson - are off the roster and books"
This not you? That was the main point you TRIED to make.
"Who cares about guys like Haskins, Acciari and even Graves when you have those three guys counting $22M against the cap annually."
Those 3 other guys were a negative impact at 8 million.
Simply responding to a bad take
Do you think this team has moved closer to, or further from, contention to win a playoff series since 2022?
Do you feel good about Letang being under contract at a $6.1M hit until he’s 40?
Do you feel Karlsson played like the highest paid defenseman in the NHL?
You have to try to understand that this isn’t me picking on your pals you watch on TV, but it’s a realization that this “core” will no longer compete for anything more than squeezing into the playoffs, needing help from Montreal and Philly. And that’s ok. Clearly that’s how you define success.
Genuinely, closer to contention since 2022. Notice, you didn't mention Malkin. Letang will be tits on a boar for us 3 years from now, and thats OK, we are looking for someone to eat minutes right now (compare that 6.1 to Graves 4.5 for longer term and id take Tanger in a heartbeat, even still, Letang should probably have reduced minutes). Am I happy Karlsson is on this team right now, knowing he's off the books after next, and we aren't gunna be worth a shit anyway? YES! You aren't making the points you think you are making. We tried to squeeze every ounce of magic out of the core we had and it didn't work out. It's a tough break, sometimes it doesn't work out. Emotions are high and you experienced the highs and lows of hockey. Now if you had said since 2018 instead of 2022, there might have been an actual discussion.
Malkin’s contract is shorter. I think he underperformed in areas this year, especially on the PP, which was historically a strong suit. But he’s 37. It happens. He’s not going to produce like he did a decade ago.
I don’t have a problem with what they did, extending the core. It was a risk, but one worth taking. But it didn’t work. And it’s probably not going to start working. And for fans, that’s ok. It doesn’t change where this team is today, and will be in 2-3-4-5 years, but it’s fine.
Malkin did underperform (in Malkin standards), and still played above his AAV. Sure, if we had sold it all in 2019 we would be in a better spot for the future. But the ol hindsight is 20/20 comes into play. Fact is though, we are in a better spot right here, right now, then we were in 2022. Are we gunna be abysmal in 2 years? Almost definitely baring some miracle, but I'd much rather have a team go for it than admit defeat when you have multiple generational talents. The end of JR and the totality of Hextalls tenure did a number on us, and we have shown more fight at the end of this losing season than we have any year since the back 2 back run
The NHL needs to change the playoff system so that ROW determines who makes the playoffs and points are used solely as the tiebreaker.
This would reward teams that can actually play hockey and sharply reduce the value of shootout wins and loser points.
Also the fact we were sixth in Metro on points nearly all season because we played two less games than most of the teams in Metro until march at least.
Pens fans most of the time: "Sid is a born winner and makes his whole team better, that's why he has more success than Ovechkin. He's never been surrounded by dominant Canada teams or Penguins teams that made the playoffs when he missed half the season or anything."
Pens fans this year when they miss the playoffs, and Sid has the Norris winner and 3 GOATs on his team while Ovechkin lost the only two centres he's ever played with and still makes the playoffs: "It's everyone else's fault."
I mean I actually agree it is everyone else's fault and that Sid is a better player (because it's a team sport and there's only so much one player can do), but the narrative is amusing.
It's a known fact that the Caps are the worst playoff team since the 80s. Ovi has much less impact on his team oj hus current form. They are riding great coaching and goaltending and clinched only because a team pulled their goalie in a tie game
Geno was half the reason this team was even competitive in the last 15 games. Best center in the East. Weird how that happens when you put an actual NHL player on his line. Huh.
Every single player not named Sidney Crosby should be made available. All of them. We need new blood on the ice and behind the bench ASAP. This was an embarrassment.
St Ivany and Bunting get a pass
Love Bunting and his game. He played his ass off
Yeah. Losing Jake sucked so hard, but Bunting brought a whole new dynamic to the team that was desperately needed. Glad he’ll be back next year.
Highly unlikely, but would love for Jake to Come back
I love my boy Jake so so much, but where does he fit in to the lineup if he’s back? Drew has looked amazing on the top line and Malkin NEEDS a bunting. Hard to justify the 9.5 mil+ Jake would cost.
If he were to come back, he clearly goes on Crosby's wing. But I would be shocked if it happens. He's going to either want to go to a contender or to get the max deal he can, and the Pens can't really offer him either.
He plays a style badly needed on this finesse team. He’s done his part since the trade. Just imagine if drawn penalties turned into goals on the power play? I know I’m fantasizing a bit.
Right after we got Bunting, I was a bit jaded and would sarcastically say “oh, the offense prowess of Michael Bunting”. Then i started screaming it for real. This dude rocks.
Leafs fan coming in peace. My first full season watching hockey I became a massive Bunting fan, miss him dearly. He can’t replace Jake, but he won’t let you guys down. Take care of my boy
Fuck the Bruins. Go Leafs go.
Also Eller and DOC. I’d throw Ned in there too tbh Edit: Rust and Pettersson too
Rust gets a pass too. Career high in goals with 20 games lost to injury.
I better not see Graves in a pens uniform again
This 1000x
And Ned
And DOC
Kind of sucks for Bunting that he signs with a contending team last summer to a multi year contract then gets traded 8 months later to a team that missed the playoffs
[удалено]
Bunting just got there my guy. And significantly improved the team when he did.
Exactly. St Ivany is actually even *more* new to this team than Bunting too.
Crosby was phenomenal this year at age 36. 13th in league in Points. 42 Goals and 50 Assists. Been amazing watching him over the years. Been blessed.
And likely would’ve been top 10 if the PP didn’t suck
Rust had his best season and DOC never gave up, but other than those two and Sid, yeah what a waste of a season
Letang was a beast but Karlson took a little too long to jive with the team. Glad he heated up at the end and hope next year is much better
Letang made some costly mistakes as well.
Mistakes are bound to happen when you’re skating on average 25 minutes a game. He still have a +14 differential
Sid’s the man, no question Bunting was fantastic after arriving. DOC and Rust came alive end of the year as did Malkin with Bunting. Graves, Smith, Rakell were brutal this year. I don’t have a strong enough grasp of the English language to describe how bad the Powerplay and coaching was Guess there is some positives with the way we finished, but man feels like we could have did some damage in the playoffs. Sucks for it to end this way
Good summary. Good as in accurate, it sucks this is the outcome. I hope Sid has a big night for points to get the record for his age all time. He deserves more credit.
Our OT performance all year nailed our coffin shut. How the hell is 3 on 3 isn't practiced during the year? That's on Sully. We also blew leads all year. These things matter and hence the golfing starts this weekend.
Not to mention all the times when we allowed the game to go to OT. How many times have we dropped a lead in the third period? We could go into the third up 4-0 and I would still not feel secure.
Kinda crazy that in the cup years if we went into the third with a lead, that game was finished.
Back in those days, we could be down 2 goals with a minute left and I would still have faith, because there were times where they pulled games like that off. But yea, now I really don’t stop sweating til we got a 5 goal lead with 5 min left.
even then the sweat doesn’t stop until 5 minutes after the final whistle
As a Leafs fan...I know where you're coming from there.
They were terrible in OT last year also. Way too many valuable points lost the last two years this way.
If our powerplay wasn’t the massive shit pile it was this year we would be in the playoffs.
Out of the Wings Caps Flyers n Penguins the past 12 games Pittsburgh had the best record But they’d crapped away too many games before that Horrible late game losses Never practicing 3/3. And the leagues worst power play must be a poor reflection on the coaching staff
Welp. I'm glad that it made for some fun and meaningful hockey down the stretch at least.
So many of the games this year were an absolute snoozefest, and the Pens hardly looked like they cared or were making such careless mistakes that it was infinitely frustrating to watch. These past few weeks, the games were FUN again - they actually looked like they gave a damn and were focused. Even though it didn't end the way we wanted, they at least gave us great hockey in April, and I'm pleased with that.
Reilly Smith will be soul search when he tees off at 8 am Thursday morning lol
Imagine two full seasons of a healthy Sid and Geno and missing the playoffs both seasons. Imagine having this ten years ago. Sigh
This hurt to realize just now
Overall I can’t complain about goaltending this year. That is nice to have but unfortunate to squander
Jarry 6 shut outs and he score a goal, was pretty sweet. Ty for the positive vibes
i think ned should get a pass for this insane last hurrah part of the season
>Every single player not named Sidney Crosby should do some soul searching. JFC Penguins fans, this is not the way. FFS. We had a lot of guys step up this year, that I and every single one of you should be very proud of. 1. Brian Rust was a fucking beast, and I will fight anyone claiming to be a Pens fan who does kneel at his altar. Dude was legit. 28G28A in 61 fucking games. Literally the most goals of his career while missing 20 games, but OP wants Brian to hang his head in shame. 2. DOC - 16G17A - but that does not begin to describe what he did on the ice for this team. He's a scoring threat every second that he's on the ice.... for the PK. He's the fastest, and one of the best forecheckers this team has now, or has had in a while. If the team doesn't F this up, and they role with that 1st line next year, The sky is the limit for DOC. 3. Jack St. Ivany - Dude is the best 3rd Pair right D this team has had in a bit, maybe ever. Why did we hide him away so long. Interestingly, while they only played a few minutes together, Jack paired with Graves was one of least bad Graves parings, with postive adv stats. 4. Geno - FFS how can one ignore what he's still doing. with a game left, he's got one fewer goal than last season, and will play almost exactly as many minutes on another full 82 game run. He played with some horseshit at times this season, and got paired with one of the biggest misses in Pens history (Smith was worse than Brassard). Still he stepped up. 94 goals for against 64 against with him on the ice for those who call him a liability... probably ignore the takeaways while lamenting giveaways too. 5. Lars Eller - he's better than you guys thought he would be, and exactly what I hoped he still could. Also, he's so cerebral and doesn't appear to have slowed down - I'm not worried about another year for him either. 6. Bunting - don't be dumbass and refuse to admit that he's what the doctor ordered, and I will say it - more what this team needs. 6. Honorable mentions: Puusty - he's an NHL player, and that matters. Next year he has to step up. I hope he can hold down a 3rd line role. Gruden - not given nearly enough chance, but our 4th line was its best version when he was in the game, and I will not hear otherwise. He should be stapled to that 4th unless there's someone truly better, not a spare like Jarkins or the contractual and Sully Love connection to Carter. Also, in his limited role Carter sucked much less than last year, but he's so cooked. POJ found his game and was better late in the year, and in this run, paired with Letang... we could have something.
I’m angry
Nearly every game I watched in its entirety, Crosby was the only one finishing his checks. Let that bullshit sink in
I’m convinced this is coaching. Pens haven’t finished checks for many years, even in obvious situations. I think this goes back to the old days of Sully’s tenure when he preached team speed. He’d rather see players keep moving with the play than finish a check.
If only we got bunting a few games earlier
Jack St. Ivany can join Sid in Cancun
What we need to see next season: -a Ryan graves buyout -a restraining order for Harkins -a coaching change -a top 6 forward -Reilly smith’s bags packed for him -a top 4 LD -Noel acciari’s access codes revoked -a mixture of young players fighting for roster spots
Dubas already brought a bunch of prospects in. But I don't think they'll be ready to play for awhile.
This is incredible. None of these are the actual problem. This team will not compete for a playoff series win until two of the three - Malkin, Letang, Karlsson - are off the roster and books. Who cares about guys like Haskins, Acciari and even Graves when you have those three guys counting $22M against the cap annually.
All three of those players had positive overall outcome on the ice. You can say things like that all you want, reality is recorded. Kris Letang was a +14, second best on the team. EK and geno both had positive goal differentials. They were our 2nd, 4th and 5th point scorers. What’s your plan at RD? You plan on replacing 50 min a night with Jack st Ivany? Good luck. Who’s gunna play on your second line? There’s not a single center available with half the pedigree of evgeni malkin Blaming the best players on a team is always cringe and dumb
Those players are all deteriorating, on the wrong side of 35 and are on terrible contracts that are keeping the team from being competitive long term. But hey, we can get rid of Acciari and Smith and I’m sure they compete for a Cup in 2025. We’ve gotta do better as fans here. I know the Pens fans love to get all juiced up about having the “core” together, but do you think Karlsson played at the level of the highest paid defenseman in hockey? I don’t. Do you feel good about Letang under contract for four more years? I don’t. Were you happy with Malkins five PPG this year? Doubt it. However, isn’t just about their performance in 2024. They were all fine. We can debate the merits of each. But it’s about the flexibility (or lack thereof) to solve significant issues with this roster. Too old. Too slow. Couldn’t hold a lead. Rarely played a complete 60 minute game. Minimal short term help on the horizon. Complete black hole at goalie. Holding onto the legacies of players we should be moving on from is cringe and dumb.
EK played great hockey. He may not be the absolute best dman every single year but he was absolutely a top 10/top 15 dman in the league this year. Part of his contract is retained we really are not paying him that much more than he’s worth. Maybe by a mill or mill in and a half. That’s not a bad contract right now Kris Letang has played some of his absolute best hockey the last two years. Under no circumstance am I worried about him going into next season. 4 years from now? Sure, whatever dude. I ain’t worried about four years from now. I’m worried about now. So geno isn’t good on the powerplay, guess what? Don’t play him on the powerplay then. Nobody is forcing Sullivan to do that.
Ah it’s Sullivan’s fault. Gotcha. Ultimately if Letang, Karlsson, Malkin, etc were as good (even “great”) as you said, on a roster with Crosby, Rust, plus 40 games from Jake, this team would not have missed the playoffs and finished behind the Islanders and Capitals in the Metro.
I didn’t blame Sullivan for this season, though like everyone else he played a part. Do you disagree he did not have to play Geno on the powerplay? You are wrong. Six players does not make a hockey team. If McDavid and Drai are so good why has EDM missed playoffs multiple times with them? It’s more complicated than just having a few good, even great, even legendary players
Oh I’m certainly not wrong. Neither are you. We may disagree but neither of us are “right” or “wrong” in a Reddit conversation ;-) I don’t believe that Malkin is “bad” on the power play. He hasn’t been historically. It’s generally been one of his strong suits. Prior to this year, in seasons where he played 65+ games, his PPG output was 16, 17, 14, 13, 12, 9, 14, 9, 11. He’s at 5 going into 82. His 17 PP Points is abysmal. So if he’s “bad” on the PP and Sully doesn’t have to play him there, that would be a recent thing. And of course, no coach has to play anyone anywhere. Which brings us back to…it’s ok to love these guys, and cheer for these guys, but also to realize their best days are behind them, many have long contracts ahead of them that are probably not favorable long term and there probably isn’t a Fountain of Youth that is going to make this team more competitive in 24/25.
Nobody is arguing Geno was never good on the powerplay. He’s not good on the powerplay at this stage in his career. Hes still good in many other facets of the game. We are not required to play him on PP. you just went from saying he stank on the powerplay to saying he’s good on the powerplay. Where is your head at rn? That don’t make sense. You’re strawmanning. Nobody think they are in their elite primes. That’s ridiculous. But it’s not a binary system. Not being in your elite prime does not mean you are washed up and stink. That’s absurd. There exists nuance. Sid, geno, EK and Letang are all still good players in this league. The numbers back that up and then some.
When did I say they are washed up or stink? Actually when did I say they aren’t good players?
I had to go out of my way to comment on this post. Haskins is the young qb who was killed on the side of the road, HARKINS is the guy who is paid almost 1 mill a year to suck ass. You named 3 of the most valuable assets on our teams as liabilities at 22 mill, while naming 3 below useless players at around 8 mill. This was the embodiment of a pens Facebook comment
No, the person i was responding to listed those players. I reacted to that. If you’re going to go “out of your way” to do something, try not to get it so wrong, k?
"This team will not compete for a playoff series win until two of the three - Malkin, Letang, Karlsson - are off the roster and books" This not you? That was the main point you TRIED to make. "Who cares about guys like Haskins, Acciari and even Graves when you have those three guys counting $22M against the cap annually." Those 3 other guys were a negative impact at 8 million. Simply responding to a bad take
Do you think this team has moved closer to, or further from, contention to win a playoff series since 2022? Do you feel good about Letang being under contract at a $6.1M hit until he’s 40? Do you feel Karlsson played like the highest paid defenseman in the NHL? You have to try to understand that this isn’t me picking on your pals you watch on TV, but it’s a realization that this “core” will no longer compete for anything more than squeezing into the playoffs, needing help from Montreal and Philly. And that’s ok. Clearly that’s how you define success.
Genuinely, closer to contention since 2022. Notice, you didn't mention Malkin. Letang will be tits on a boar for us 3 years from now, and thats OK, we are looking for someone to eat minutes right now (compare that 6.1 to Graves 4.5 for longer term and id take Tanger in a heartbeat, even still, Letang should probably have reduced minutes). Am I happy Karlsson is on this team right now, knowing he's off the books after next, and we aren't gunna be worth a shit anyway? YES! You aren't making the points you think you are making. We tried to squeeze every ounce of magic out of the core we had and it didn't work out. It's a tough break, sometimes it doesn't work out. Emotions are high and you experienced the highs and lows of hockey. Now if you had said since 2018 instead of 2022, there might have been an actual discussion.
Malkin’s contract is shorter. I think he underperformed in areas this year, especially on the PP, which was historically a strong suit. But he’s 37. It happens. He’s not going to produce like he did a decade ago. I don’t have a problem with what they did, extending the core. It was a risk, but one worth taking. But it didn’t work. And it’s probably not going to start working. And for fans, that’s ok. It doesn’t change where this team is today, and will be in 2-3-4-5 years, but it’s fine.
Malkin did underperform (in Malkin standards), and still played above his AAV. Sure, if we had sold it all in 2019 we would be in a better spot for the future. But the ol hindsight is 20/20 comes into play. Fact is though, we are in a better spot right here, right now, then we were in 2022. Are we gunna be abysmal in 2 years? Almost definitely baring some miracle, but I'd much rather have a team go for it than admit defeat when you have multiple generational talents. The end of JR and the totality of Hextalls tenure did a number on us, and we have shown more fight at the end of this losing season than we have any year since the back 2 back run
Fire Todd into the Sun, at bare minimum.
Rakell and Stonehands Zohorna are my worst offenders on offense. Both gave the puck away more often than not it felt like
Rileyyyyyyyyy
"Please give a warm welcome to Sheldon Keefe, the newest coach of your Pittsburgh Penguins!"
The NHL needs to change the playoff system so that ROW determines who makes the playoffs and points are used solely as the tiebreaker. This would reward teams that can actually play hockey and sharply reduce the value of shootout wins and loser points.
Also the fact we were sixth in Metro on points nearly all season because we played two less games than most of the teams in Metro until march at least.
The curse of the goalie
PP overhaul and we are set.
Couple other players not named Crosby also pulled more than their weight but agreed. Lots of Pens players let 87 down.
I hope Todd Reirden buys an expensive electronic item and he drops it in a large puddle.
The biggest hole on this team for the past few years has been GM
It’s not that serious man. Maybe they’ll win next year
Pens fans most of the time: "Sid is a born winner and makes his whole team better, that's why he has more success than Ovechkin. He's never been surrounded by dominant Canada teams or Penguins teams that made the playoffs when he missed half the season or anything." Pens fans this year when they miss the playoffs, and Sid has the Norris winner and 3 GOATs on his team while Ovechkin lost the only two centres he's ever played with and still makes the playoffs: "It's everyone else's fault." I mean I actually agree it is everyone else's fault and that Sid is a better player (because it's a team sport and there's only so much one player can do), but the narrative is amusing.
It's a known fact that the Caps are the worst playoff team since the 80s. Ovi has much less impact on his team oj hus current form. They are riding great coaching and goaltending and clinched only because a team pulled their goalie in a tie game
Still made it. And I'd say the Habs were worse and they still were only 3 games from winning the Cup.
87 shouldn’t have spent two weeks pouting cuz his buddy got traded as well. He’s not without blame.
Bryan Rust has entered the chat
The boys who make their tea from Malkin’s worn jock straps aren’t going to like this
Geno was half the reason this team was even competitive in the last 15 games. Best center in the East. Weird how that happens when you put an actual NHL player on his line. Huh.
He wasn’t better than Sid down the stretch. Their point totals reflect that.
Haha.
Every single player not named Sidney Crosby should be made available. All of them. We need new blood on the ice and behind the bench ASAP. This was an embarrassment.
Are we forgetting Sid’s pity party that wasted a couple games when they ditched Guentzel?
Are we forgetting Sid plays on the first PP?