The Penguins whole off-season was about creating enough depth offensively where everything wouldn’t have to fall on the shoulders of the stars. It hasn’t panned out that way and no evidence it’s going to change.
The depth scoring has been as bad as it can get 5 v 5.
Even Strength Goals: David Perron (3), Chris Kunitz (3), Matt Cullen (3), Eric Fehr (2), Nick Bonino (2), Sergei Plotnikov (0).
This is a team again where it all comes down to the stars dominating or not. We’re seen a small sample size of that again over the last couple games.
When the Penguins get the goaltending they are getting and the stars dominate, notably two of Crosby/Malkin/Letang at the same time, the Penguins are an intriguing and dangerous team regardless of whether the spare parts are adequate enough.
Sidney Crosby is back to being Sidney Crosby right now. Is it sustainable? Who knows but I’d wager he’ll be the Penguins leading scorer at seasons end.
Crosby has scored in four straight games for the first time since December 2010 and has five multi-point games over his last eight, after having five multi-point games in his first 28 games under Mike Johnston.
But it’s not just the stats with Crosby.
He’s back to attacking through the middle of the ice and striking a fear in the opposition by pushing defenders back with his speed through the neutral zone. When shooting the puck, he’s back to raising the puck again with authority on his shots.
Those were two primary elements missing from his play the first two months of the season.
The Penguins only chance to make some serious noise this season is going to be Crosby or Malkin playing lights out for long stretches. How it’s often been with this club since 2010, and it remains the same now. Despite an attempt to produce four scoring lines by Jim Rutherford and his management group, the surrounding parts are just not good enough and adding a couple Daniel Winnik types at the deadline isn’t going to change that.
Without mortgaging the future, the focus needs to be on getting someone who can finish some passes from Crosby. There is just too much of a sample now where that guy is not going to be David Perron.
Getting Sidney Crosby help is the Penguins better chance of getting back into the discussion as a team to take serious in the Eastern Conference then trying to get a depth winger for Nick Bonino to play with and believe they have the makings of a four line scoring team and be the Tampa Bay Lightning from the 2015 playoffs.
In trying to walk that fine line of the present and future, they need to find a deal that see’s them get lucky in a sense.
Coming into this season the Penguins really needed to hit on a prospect in their system providing a jolt in the top-9, Daniel Sprong showed small glimpses before fading out, or acquiring a winger who comes in at a reasonable cost and significantly exceeds expectations.
The Penguins haven’t had one acquisition from the summer or prospect come in and exceed expectations. You can argue none of the Penguins’ off-season acquisitions have even matched expectations as the Penguins near the half-way mark.
New Jersey’s acquisition of Kyle Palmieri is the perfect type of example as is Chicago’s signing of Artemi Panarin, type of acquisitions the Penguins needed to happen for them and still do.
This past spring the Penguins had significant interest in Panarin but despite the presence of fellow Russian Evgeni Malkin, the agent didn’t like the fit in Pittsburgh for his client as a spot that would maximize Panarin’s potential earnings on a second contract.
The Penguins were still pleased to end up with Sergei Plotnikov who former assistant GM Tom Fitzgerald recruited very hard after the World Championships to sign with the Penguins.
The Penguins knew they weren’t getting a high-end talent like Panarin but Penguin officials still felt Plotnikov was a top-9 player who was going to come in and add the type of depth scoring the Penguins have lacked in the past. Team officials would love to send Plotnikov to Wilkes Barre to help his confidence offensively but the Russian winger has an out-clause in his contract were he to be sent down to the minors.
Plotnikov may still evolve into a solid 4th liner but the Blackhawks landed a bonifide top-6 winger on an entry level deal and signings like these are what helps the Blackhawks stay ahead of many others when they have to re-tool their complementary players on a yearly basis.
TIDBITS
— Jarome Iginla hit the 600 career goal mark the other night. Since the 2013-2014 season, he has scored 70 goals in 200 games. Sidney Crosby has 76 goals in 195 games during that span. Iginla had a lot of hockey left in him following the Penguins [hide] making no attempt to resign him in the summer of 2013.
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Crosby’s omission on All Star roster is causing a stir. Every team must be represented and each division must have 6F, 3D and 2G…
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) January 6, 2016
Sidney Crosby has not played at an All-Star level but the entire All-Star weekend is nothing more than a marketing and promotional weekend. In that sense the league is making a mistake in not putting him on the team since he is the face of the league (or was?) but I’m sure he will love the weekend off. If there should be any complaint it should be for Kris Letang. Playing great lately but the overall body of work hasn’t been good enough this season.[/hide]
http://i.giphy.com/NM2nauIVIglmU.gif
Sam, it really hurts my feelings when you come on here, go through my posts, and give me a thumbs down every single time. How will we ever know people’s true opinion if you’re stuffing the ballots?
Lmao! What movie is that from?
Knocked up.
Thanks
Saturday Night with Sam’s Mom, part 4.
HAHAHAHAHA, this one wins in a big way LMMFAO
No new article by D yet?
I can’t wait for yogurt to come along and tell everyone how Darling outperformed Fleury.
You always said it was about wins not stats. Who won? st blurrys cap hit isn’t worth it. You can be in 10th place with Murray.
Fleury has been sensational but that’s a tough point to argue. Of course you could say the same about Sid and Geno.
move them too. this team is going nowhere. i’m hoping for new ownership and a complete rebuild.
Who won! Pure Yogurt!
What an ass kicking. So the Pens euphoria is over, even for fanboys. When is the sack a shit GM held accountable for the kessel fiasco.
Why would my euphoria be over? The Pens have looked very good under the new coach. I’m very pleased with their performance.
Unless winning matters…..
You don’t need to win every game. More than half a season left to make up 5 points in the standings.
Not being a .500 team would be a nice start.
Who cares? Just get in the playoffs.
You want to see another first round loss that bad?
I want the team in the playoffs for my enjoyment. I like watching the team compete for a shot. Seeds don’t matter, especially in the NHL. I think the team has played very good since the new coach has taken over and with a few tweeks is just as good as any team in the east.
Except washington I guess.
I rather pens don’t make playoffs than be embarrassed in the first round with all the star players we have a d choke in a 7 game series
They’re really missing St. Louis.
3-1 isn’t really an ass kicking per se
And the score didn’t really reflect the One-sided play. That was a joke. Fewest number of shots the Hawks have given up in 30 years. It looked like a varsity-JV game of keep away.
The kessel and lovejoy and cole deals. That’s enough for termination.
Lovejoy is a joke.
Don’t blame him. He is who he is. Blame the coach who plays him over Clendenning or the GM who keeps him on the roster over Pouliot. Both of those guys can play at Lovejoy’s level at a cheaper cost and a hell of a lot more upside. Its the higher ups who keep him around/playing who are to blame.
Lovejoy has played terrific this season. He is a #4/#5 defenseman playing top 4 minutes. He and Dumo have been very good. Hating on Lovejoy and his $1.1M salary is just silly.
I agree.
Apparently kessel can’t score and pens are willing to bring that special hot dog cart from Toronto so kessel can start scoring again
Panarin can score. And doesn’t cost $12 million. Hmmmmm
Yeah just ask the American sniper. Kessel at 10m
Fleury suckss so much that pens are using him 2 games In 2 nights while Hawks using different goalie. I guess it’s safe to say pens need to trade fleury and have their number 1 goalie in the bench right Mr Yoda
The pens got 1 of a possible 4 points against the Hawks with st blurry. They can do that with Murray and save 4.5 million on the cap.
Except they wouldn’t have gotten any. Do you ever make sense?
The simple FACT that you cannot see that Murray still needs some seasoning and doesnt need to be rushed to the NHL (mostly to appease you) speaks volumes about how little you really get what happens on the ice. Go fist your mother douche bag
Letang and fleury suckss
Panarin owning your Canadian God.
MAF sucks… Trade him because Zatkoff has a higher SV%
Panarin embarrassing Sid again Sam. A rookie. A RUSSIAN rookie
Yup until he gets the big bucks.
Seth Jones traded to CJB for Ryan Johansen. Jones played for Nashville, Sam.
did you get this update from TIOPS Instant Buzz?
Ha! I did not. I got it via text message from my brother who is already home while I’m still sitting here.
Sam was just about to say that!
Seems good for both teams. Jones I believe has much higher upside, but makes Nashville much better for next 2 to 3 years.
Richards seems like a bad signing to me, but i guess has some risk/reward potential.
Assume lecavalier is basically a salary dump. Schenn seems like a guy we could have used a 4/5D and a mid-tier prospect plus a 3rd isn’t a ton to give up.
They retained half the salary, but I still wouldn’t want lecavliers contract for as long as it still runs.
We got unlucky on the signings. I still think our group of forwards will step up and provide more than they are now, but not what we want.
Lee Stempiak is a guy that basically came free and would have added production we needed.
Unlucky on what signings?
Not sure if the Neftali Feliz signing is a sign of strategy to shorten the game or to have options if they trade Melancon. Im hoping its just another solid bullpen piece to close games out from the 6th inning on because that is a valuable commodity in today’s game. Either way, get a new starter in here!
Is he even a solid bullpen piece anymore? This isn’t 2012. He got lit up pretty consistently last year.
Cant say for sure, but given the Pirates track record for getting struggling pitchers to perform to their potential, and the relatively sizeable investment they made for that struggling reliever, they must think theres a good chance to get him back to his 2012 level.
Season reminds me of 96-97. Stumbled out of the gate. Shook up the roster (acquired Kasparaitis and Barnes). 66-10-68 then played lights out for a stretch and even Lalime won a bunch of games. Then reality set back in and we went out with a whimper.
sorry if someone already said it but last nights game shows how great the NHL could be though. Skill vs skill no senseless shit. The 3 on 3 overtime was amazing.
Agreed. Really enjoyed the whole game last night. The 3 on 3 was fun to watch, but what the idiots running the NHL fail to realize is, with rules that focus on skill (offensive and defensive) and eliminate buttfucklng, 5 on 5 can be just as entertaining as the OT gimmick
Also some rumors maybe caps can go after big buff
Can they top our Bennett offer?
Mike Richards to the Caps
Was just about to say it
Its not like you to be late on such news…
Another useless canadian pill popper that doesn’t belong in the league anymore.
Maybe you are still drooling over Malone to comeback to Pittsburgh
Not one person did that, try again. Lol
Richards just got the green light. 1 year 1m
Lecavalier and schenn to kings
Man – Pens have to answer with St. Louis.