Penguins/NHL
Fallout of the Daniel Sprong Trade
Up until about a week ago, the Penguins and Ducks had a number of trade talks regarding a much bigger trade than the minor one that happened Monday.
But, as if often the case and especially this time of the year, after a significant trade between the two sides doesn’t come together, you’ll see a small one come together and that’s what happened here with the Daniel Sprong – Marcus Pettersson swap.
From the Ducks end, this move is being praised around the league in that when you’re a team like Anaheim that’s looking to add more skill, you should always take a flier on trading a third pairing type defenseman (where most scouts see Pettersson maxing out at) for a potential top-6 winger.
The upside in this trade is clearly in Anaheim’s favor, though, Sprong has just as good of a chance as being a complete dud than emerging as a legitimate top-9 player.
From Pittsburgh’s end, it has to come into question of how many left handed defensemen do you actually need.
Pittsburgh already has too many lefties that has forced a problematic situation of playing d-men on their wrong side, but the Penguins saw this trade scenario as more of a long-term move to bolster the organization’s depth at a weak position with a player in Pettersson who is starting to establish himself as an NHL player and whose game can still grow.
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Pettersson projects to be an okay addition to the organization, a steady defensive minded low upside type d-man with a good first pass, but this trade is always going to be about whether Sprong can prove his East-West game translates to the NHL and make the Penguins look wrong.
At the end of the day, the Penguins coaching staff didn’t believe Sprong could play at this level and for the present it’s hard to fault them on that.
The issues with Sprong wasn’t just his play away from the puck (far down the list) or the poor hockey sense (among the reasons Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin never wanted to play with him). It was how bad he struggled to get his shot off that in the coaches eyes made Sprong unplayable.
Sprong never earned a spot is how Mike Sullivan & Co looked at the situation.
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Sprong is not going to become Markus Naslund part II, zero chance of that, but looking back, where Pittsburgh has missed with the Sprong and Derick Pouliot situations is trading each too late when they’re value had already plummeted.
Doubts in the organization for Sprong started before this season and well before Pouliot was eventually moved.
For Sprong there were signs of his value around the league starting to decrease even last season around the trade deadline when his name was not getting Pittsburgh in the mix for To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
Have a feeling pens will go get bum Neal to make malkin happy. Flames 9 goals last night neal 0 points. 2nd time this year flames beat a team with a lot of goals and neal has 0 points.
Seattle ….Really wtf…. why not Quebec
Because bettman always takes care of his Jewish buddies ever since he is in the league
Yet Quebec build videotron centre since 2015. That’s how serious they are and bettman skip 3 times jets ,Vegas and now Seattle
No one cares about videotrons, or Quebec. They couldn’t support a hockey team before and shouldn’t get another. Even the Montreal fans are bandwagons and root for other teams since they suck so bad. Decades of futility will do that.
Someone buy Reaves a beer for giving Tom Wilson a taste of his own medicine.
https://media.giphy.com/media/Jk4Sucdz1oGd2/giphy.gif
No way I heard from all the experts on here there is nothing Reeves can do to a player like Wilson and should have never gotten him. Watched the play over and over and over. Mostly because Wilson is piece of dung.
Sam, ill be there in 2 weeks. See you soon, hoss.
I’d do the same if I lived in Florida. Because Florida suckss.
Then again you have no business to be here fatboy go see Ron klatt in Edmonton
Reaves 6th goal pens 4th line combined don’t even have 6
Whoa Sam that’s a dirty name in here. LOL
Twice as many as Brass@SID4800$$
He has more 5v5 goals than malkin this year
Also malkin was beating reaves in the penalty department up until tonight reaves got 15min penalty but don’t worry by Christmas our Russian would pass him back in the penalty department
How many tvs are closed
Me and you might be the only ones who saw the 3rd period.
let’s not jump to conclusions 🙂
Lool. Pens were outplayed most of the time they got lucky this game. But according to box score experts they see 6 goals scored they start drooling
for the record, zach ashton reese is leading the pens forwards in ice time with 5 minutes to go in the 2nd. yes, more than sid and geno. way to go sullivan.
Come on this is a Western Conference team.
quick Sully call Tomlin
It’s sad that Sam has turned into one of the more knowledgeable posters on this site.
It was always the case it’s just this site has too many bandwagon’s that have no clue. When you have npl,tbj,stan that explains how bad the rest of the average fan base is
At least gaydogg is gone
Gaydogg was just a nuisance with his annoying long novels
Now that you have pens not in playoffs. You have zerotool gone too I bet his drooling over mcdavid now how he is schooling sid
A true bandwagon
Need to look no further than the GM for these reasons
Apparently 34 year old fleury is on a pace to play 70 games this season
I’m sure fraud Murray hasn’t even played 70 games all his career. And bandwagon’s drooled over that fraud like there is no tomorrow
Finally the Russian scored on even strength goal. Since October 30. Now that he scored be may go back on Christmas vacation mode until January
Hard to imagine a left handed defenceman won’t be moved at some point. From what I’m reading on Petterson, he seems solid. I don’t think Sprongs value was ever as high as Pens fans have indicated. He was picked in the middle of the second. We got a player who was drafted higher, about the same age and has shown some success in the NHL. His playing time was increasing and he seems to fit our system well. Solid deal IMO. The first (Klim Kostin) for Ryan Reaves was far, far worse.
Sprong is a top 6 player, not a top 9. He can’t play on the 3rd line. If you want to have him cut his teeth there for 20 games, that’s fine, but he’ll only be successful as a top 6 player. Sullivan is too big of a retard to understand this and fails at the notion of top 6 vs top 9. Fuk balance.
Seattle is a great city. Great job Bettman for getting into that market and fan base. Quebec City would have been terrible… again.
Instead of having a new franchise. Maybe the should move panthers team to Seattle
Damn just heard: Sam Nover RIP long time Pens fans owe a big debt to Sam Nover he was a the only one in the early days who pushed both Hockey and the Pens in the media . Rumors had him as being instrumental in the first local broadcast contract.
I just want to know which team is willing to go backwards and get Murray. Like who the fuckk would say let’s get a guy that is often injured
I told you guys when pens won their first cup with Murray trade him he has value that he will never get again. You clowns were too busy riding him during the summer and counting down fleury to be gone. Sam was right when he said Trade to flames with mattaa and get a 2nd round pick along with Hamilton, and tkachuck. Now it’s too late. Hamilton not there and both bozos we have are worth nothing.
#coolstorybro
That’s all you have to say when I am always right and you know you and your jabronis are wrong .
BC that is the only thing you ever say. You are like a broken record that speaks broken english. And if they played MAF they would have lost that second cup bc MAF turned into playoff MAF again and feel apart. You always seem to over look that. The expansion draft is what fucked everything up. If it was not for that things would have played out differently but you are just to ignorant to understand that. Change the fucking record and go blow your boy Price, he needs some help badly.
They could have hung Murray’s equipment from the posts and crossbars and still won the 2nd cup. Fleury beat both teams that were even worth a damn in the playoffs.
Yeah, those 7 shutout periods to clinch it were a cakewalk. Lol fucken clueless.
You really think Murray would’ve even stole caps and jackets series if fleury wasn’t there. Fleury stole both series on his own when team had no business even going to the conference final. Chubby was on vacation mode and Russian was just a pp specialist
Stole the Jackets series! Hahaha! We throttled them. And he stole the Caps series in 2016, dumba$$. You and Dusty are dialed in today.
Like he stole the Cup for Vegas?
It’s. Not about old record it’s about exposing you drooling clowns know nothing other than riding on Murray’s cockk bunch of nimrodss
Mike Tomlin’s fault.
first? you guys are getting slow.
hard to keep up with all the new articles.
I heard the Penguins are going to draft that Mario Lemieux guy. I hope he is not a bust.
Even though a life long center heard they are thinking of moving Mario to wing.