Penguins/NHL
Latest NHL Buzz
The Tampa Bay Lightning are one win away from the Stanley Cup Final with an 8-0 thrashing of the New York Islanders Monday night as the Lightning look primed to repeat as Cup champions. Maybe the resilient Islanders force a game 7 but what a daunting challenge it is for anyone to beat that Lightning team four out of seven times and as expected that’s playing out again this postseason. In a salary cap era, it is something that since the 2008-2009 season, we could now have four multiple Cup Winners during that span with Chicago (3X), Pittsburgh (3X), Los Angeles (2X) and possibly Tampa Bay twice.
Not to mention the possibility of two separate back-to-back winners in five seasons if Tampa Bay does repeat.
The most fascinating storyline in the conference finals, though, is on the other side with the Vegas Golden Knights and now the goaltending situation where the franchise icon and 2021 Vezina Trophy Finalist (Conn Smythe Contender) might have lost his starting job with one puck handling mistake.
Has it really happened to Marc Andre Fleury again, ala, the 2017 Conference Finals where he was jettisoned to the bench for start of Game 4 of that series despite a + .920 save percentage in the 2017 postseason. We know how that story went. Once Mike Sullivan went back to his guy in Matt Murray, he was never going back to Fleury barring injury and the rest is history as the Penguins went on to repeat.
Is Peter Deboer taking the same route after Lehner’s strong Game 4 performance, where this is indeed Lehner’s series now, or were his words afterwards factual in that not starting Fleury was more about a one game rest for a 36 year old goaltender than the Game 3 gaffe?
This isn’t some Pittsburgh bias, but one thing that should be on the table for Deboer and his staff is using them both to close out the series.
Go with Fleury for Game 5 at home and have Lehner ready to go for Game 6 on the road.
MORE BUZZ
— Whether the Golden Knights go back to Fleury or not this postseason, his future in Vegas will continue to be a hot subject in these circles due to the 36 year old entering the final year of his contract and Vegas up against the cap in having Lehner under control for four more years.
League sources continue to contend that Penguins GM Ron Hextall is not as infatuated in trying to reacquire Fleury as former Penguins GM Jim Rutherford was and the likes of Team President David Morehouse has been in wanting Fleury to finish his career in Pittsburgh.
Sources say Rutherford had told close confidants he believed at one point last fall he had a deal for Fleury with Vegas management agreed upon that was going to be a complicated four team deal, but that Golden Knights owner Bill Foley squashed To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
— Some Pittsburgh connections to the final stages of Seattle Kraken’s coaching search.
Rick Tocchet, as expected, is a significant contender for the job and a top finalist.
The surprise contender in all of this, former Penguins assistant Tony Granato who has emerged as a very strong candidate. Those in Tocchet’s inner circle have sensed over the last week that[hide] if Tocchet doesn’t get the job, Granato will be the pick. [/hide]
Oilers to resign RNH to a 8 yr, $5 million per with a full NMC. Wow!
Did someone on here really say Fleury’s jersey will be hanging in the PPG rafters someday?! LMAO. Thanks to him there’s a lot of empty space that could have been filled with real banners but I dont think we should honor him for it.
This will be the easiest repeat in NHL history. Lightning in 4.
Where’s Dusty? I miss hearing about how good Jarry is.
Gwen Berry
Omg what a disaster is tampax national anthem singer
So is Price’s save %.
How is jarry and murray doing?
I’m sure they are having a he’ll of a pajama party together
Fleury too.
I have looked at 4 different NHL Expansion mock drafts and each one seems different when it pertains to the Penguins.
The 4 different drafts had 4 different players leaving Pittsburgh !
– Mccann
-Pettersson
-Blueger
-Zack Aston Reese
I hope someone would take Marcus Pettersson…LOL
I hope they protect Blueger. I don’t think they’ll take Tanev and McCann is too fragile. Keep the 4 centers intact. Blueger could translate to a 3c after Carter.
Let them take Zucker and his terrible salary.
No one ever starts a conversation or has anything to say except that Sam guy…. LOL
No one on here ever starts a conversation why is that? I propose a question about defenseman and get one response ! Thanks tbj..
If you where the Penguins GM which one of these d-man who would you want?
A. Seth Jones
B. Matt Dumba
C. Dougie Hamilton
Hamilton
Neither team Sam the Canadiens or the Rangers have been good until recently…..Rangers had there run losing to the kings this is the Canadiens chance…
Can anyone on here actually form a coherent sentence?
It’s tough sledding these days. This site used to be a good time.
I have not been on this site very long. There are certainly some goofs here !
We have the donut thing, the Npl thing, all the f******* politics thing, and many on here who just criticize and can’t admit when they are wrong thing !
Oh yeah the whole Trudeau / Canada thing too ?
I agree with you tbj except to me this site has never been good. I wasn’t around for the good old days that you speak.
Ironically, those are ALL Sam(e).
🙂
There used to be hundreds of active users with Mark Madden, Bob Grove and some other bigger Pittsburgh names writing articles.
That fat ass Mark Madden !
Read my post above about which d-man you would take if you were the GM?
Two best goalies in the world go for the Cup !
Price is a fraud according to donut boy
Price has stepped up and putting on a show…. He hasn’t been dominant for a while but last year and now this year safe to say he is back….. for $10 million he should be.
Price always played with a AHL in front of him
If he had a good team trust me he would win a lot of Stanley cups
You could say that about alot of goalies…. Lundqvist had so many great years but the Rangers were never really that good….of course now they are on the rise. With Price he carries that huge $10 million dollar contract…so more is expected of him.. He has been playing well we shall see… Montreal maybe that team of destiny.. If he can win a Cup that will cement his legacy… All the great ones win one or two.. Hope he isn’t a guy ho never wins a Cup… I’m a huge Pittsburgh Penguins fan but it was ok when Ovechkin finally… Read more »
King Henrik had his one shot and lost to the Kings…..This may be Prices last chance..
Habs were playing better than rags only reason rags got to final was thanks to kreider crashing in and injuring price and habs were stuck with no back up goalie. Now they have Allen maybe the best back up goalie since halak
Cant compare rangers to Montreal they were always a better team then the habs
Dryden won 6 and Roy won 4. Fleury also shouldn’t get credit for 3 when he didn’t play a minute in the finals for two of them, regardless of how much Sam and Dusty likes to pretend he did.
Thanks tbj… Wow Dryden had six ! Did Roy win 2 with the Canadiens? I know he won at least to with the Avalanche . You can’t do could of /should of with MAF. (that’s not fair) MAF was a major part on the ice, off the ice, and in the dressing room. His jersey will be hanging from the PPG rafters someday. Now that the off season rumors are coming look for MAF back to Pittsburgh. (Vegas retaining salary) Would he help us at say $3.5 ? Yes ! I’m not sure I want him back. if we can… Read more »
Yes Roy won 86-93 with habs both times habs were not favorite they won because of him. And as for fleury when Hewlett Pittsburgh I said it I have a feeling he will come play 1 more year with penguins then retire and maybe mentor jarry at the same time.
MAF will teach Jarry how to choke come playoff time.
Yea because jarry choked this year because of fleury. Nice one chubster
Roy won two with Montreal and was then chased out of town in one of the worst trades in NHL history.
If Montreal loses in the finals, Marc Bergevin will be fired halfway through next season.
Can someone find Bergevin a barber please….
He looks homeless…
He is becoming a wannabe Don Cherry and that is not something someone should strive to be.
Canadiens / Lightning ??
Is Kutch is healthy, Tampa in 6.
If*
Agreed if Kutch is healthy! Which is clearly isn’t but he played…Montreal will target him and hit him every chance they get…
Which he clearly isn’t ..oopppss
I just don’tlike the way they try to take star players out… It is one thing to make life difficult, check, lean on other teams starts it is another to try to hurt them.
They targeted Mc Avoy of the Bruins, they targeted Kucherov of the Lightning…Karma
Ding Dong the wicked witch is gone…. finally the cock roaches are dead…
Goodbye Saints!!!
yep cheap asses are gone and that shitty old building..
They have a new arena next year..
It seems like Zucker is going to get moved who would you move him for ? I would go Jason Zucker for Nikita Zadorov huge defenseman of the Blackhawks…Chicago has the space to take Zucker (who is a 6 time 20 goal scorer) they need scoring, and with Seabrook on LTR and 0 assurances Jonathan Toews is coming back works for both teams. plus Zadorov has been heavy in the rumor mill.. Chicago needs scoring, and Zucker can fit second or third line. They are going hard after either Set Jones or Dougie Hamilton so they will have to move… Read more »
Protected list Crosby / Guentzel / Carter / Kapanen / Rust / Malkin / Dumoulin / De Smith John Marino / POJ can’t be drafted in the expansion draft so they are safe…. with less than 2 years service time with the NHL CLUB.. Leave Letang and Jarry exposed in the draft. Move Petterson (if not picked by Kraken) move Zucker I love Jake Guentzel !!! The only way I move him is in a trade for 23 old Calgary winger Matthew Tkachuck comes back the other way to Pittsburgh.. If someone takes Letang we can use that money on… Read more »
Letang is automatically protected because of his NMC and it would be crazy to expose him considering the return they could get if they dealt him. They would protect him, probably either blueger or tanev and would have an extra spot on defense to protect.
Thanks Tbj I know he had a partial NMC wasn’t sure how that played with the expansion draft… I know full NMC must be protected… Thanks again..
He has to submit a list of teams he would go to. If they let Tanev go they are stupider then Sam(e).
Would you trade Guentzel for Tkachuck?
I’d prefer Guentzel. He just scores too much, especially in the playoffs (outside of this year). He’d be a nice player to have, but id take guentzel
Who takes 23 year old Matthew Tkachuck from Calgary for 26 year old Jake Guentzel plus something else.. ( a draft pick or maybe Pettersson) ?????
Wow the Canadiens damn…team of destiny !
Versus either the defending Stanley cup champs or the cock roaches from long island that wont die…
Damn the city really a mess last night police cars were destroyed.
It will continue to be as long as you’re there.
Typical.
https://www.citynews1130.com/2021/06/24/montreal-police-crowd-canadiens/
Weird seeing the Clarence Campbell Bowl being presented to the Canadiens.
Well habs faced the only west team
Tampax and islanders are eastern team
Another history lol
The only way the Habs could get to the finals was by having the NHL realign the entire league. Lol.
Dude if habs played penguins and swept them what would’ve been your excuse then ?
They didn’t so your argument is worthless, as usual. And if the league was set up as it usually is the Habs never would have even made the playoffs. They were gifted a playoff spot this year, just like last year.
So your crying because a unqualified team is actually beating. Good teams
This shows again I’m right in playoffs anything can happen and all you need is a hot goalie
Not crying, calling it what it is. Fraud Price finally played up to his contract. It’s about time. And you are not right, you just spouted out the most over used cliché is sports.
Funny how you have not made a peep about how amazing Fleury is all of a sudden. You just ignored that, again. Troll.
Thank God because then we wouldve heard it was letangs fault
Sam, why aren’t you partying in the streets with the rest of the Habs fans?
I’m not a habs fan
I hate them.
Bergevin is a beauty!
Sad day for bettman
Fuckk him. He hates all Canadian teams
When canadian teams support his dead end empty US teams
Bell center has 3500 fans and is louder than penguins full house museum
Ok Sam that’s Bs no way 3.900 fans are louder than 18,000 sorry !
Yes Canadian fans are loud ill give you that..
But games at the old civic arena vs the Flyers and Capitals the the end upper deck used to shake.
PPG also is loud as well.
Two loudest barns in the NHl
Vegas (T-Mobile Arena
Islanders (Nasseau County coliseum crazeeeesss)
no one else close…
I would add Winnipeg to that list. Sam(e) has never stepped foot outside Montreal.
Npl sucks so does his kind
You gotta be impressed by the Habs. I love that they are beating Vegas. Bettman gifted them that roster and their pregame theatrics are very gay.
Also refs were doing all kinds of miss calls during the series
How lehner doing 1 goal on 3 shots.
If that was fleury. Yogurt would be here right away
Fleury has done that, that is one of the reasons he is riding the bench.
Maybe if top 7 players showed up
Hey donut boy. How is that pattioretty trade looking remember when you laughed on bergevin when I said it was a good trade.
Pacioretty is garbage just like matthews come playoffs
Always someone else’s fault. And no, we never had that convo.
Once upon a time on this day Mario lemieux saved the club again and made sure fat npl and donut boy discover hockey
Buckeye Donuts
And Sam(e) has yet to step foot in Pittsburgh.
I think MAF will be done in Vegas after this season win, lose, or well whatever ! They are committed to Lehner who is younger and on a longer term deal.
Where does Fluery go? Anywhere but Pittsburgh !
Anybody got some good ideas for MAF landing spot !
Sam(e) will land on his lap.
Colorado
That could be a possibility if Vegas eats a bit of MAF contract…Looks like Grubauer is moving on UFA !
I think the Penguins should leave Jarry unprotected and sign Linus Ullmark as a UFA..
Was looking at mock expansion draft of all the teams and it has Kraken taking Marcus Pettersson..we can only hope LOL
Breakaway Buzz. Might be the gayest headline on this site ever.
The Islanders just won’t die…the cockroaches of the NHL !
Lot of useless information in this article Miss this site
Crazy day. Today
Quebec’s biggest Holliday st Jean baptism
Habs vs Vegas I have a feeling the city will burn down
Let’s hope so.
As long is it’s a liberal section I’m okay with that
if saint bleury is the greatest goalie to ever play the game, why is it every single season the big debate around the leauge is weather or not the saint is going to be in net that night? if he was the best ever clearly this wouldn’t be a discussion. 15 years of this…..omg
Who ever said he was? Even Sam(e) is not that dumb.
And the weather has nothing to do with it. Lol.
Kutch left the game, Tampa is still way over the cap.
Npl’s favorite player Nassib has top selling NFL jersey. According to CNN Don Lemon
Does Fleury know the Heimlich maneuver?
Guess we will see Lehner in game # 6 for Vegas….
How the hell did Marc Bergevin get nominated as GM of the year? His team ranked 18th overall, barley made the playoffs in the weakest division, was a -9 in GF/GA, only made the playoffs bc of the realignment, had teams who did not make the playoffs finish ahead of them and was one game away from losing his job. He must have some incriminating evidence on someone. What a joke.
Better question is how does this team get one win away from the cup finals…
They came out the weakest division of the four.
pens should pull a tampa and leave malkin on LTIR until march
Penguins are dumb they had the chance to pull that for last 10 years when he takes his annual vacation in end of February early March. Not once they tough of it
so the saint is replaced in 4 of the past 6 post seasons. the years he played he put up an .850% in the finals and the next year he let in a wrister from the blue line in a game 6 OT and then let in 4 goals on a 5 min PP which led to another OT loss towards an elimination. the saint sure is entertaining rolling around making saves like a boy with ADHD, but in a big moment, you need to start the backup goalie. sooooo predictable………….and i loooooooooooooove it!
I think there are better fits on defense for the Penguins than Risto ! Blackhawk defenseman Nikita Zadorov is 6ft 5 235, mean, tough, and has a high skill level. He makes a great outlet pass, skates really well, and is only $3.2 compared to Risto $5.4. He was available at the trade deadline and with the Blackhawks making a serious run at Seth Jones he still is available. Plus with Seabrook going on LTR due to injury they have cap space. Also if Jonathan Toews doesn’t comeback they have cap space to easily absorb a Jason Zucker for Nikita… Read more »
Sorry 6 time 20 goal scorer…ooopppsssssss
Islanders got smoked last night wow !!!!
Tomorrow the score will be like 2-1.
Doesn’t matter if it’s 8-0. 1-0
It’s 1 game loss end of the day
Yeah I know I just didn’t see the Islanders ever giving up 8 goals as my point…
What scares me is they are looking in to a trade possibility for Ristolanen of Buffalo… While is is big, did score over 15 goals once, and fills the big boy pants thing (Hextall/Burke talk about) he was – 41..
You have to try awfully hard to be – 41 and at $5.4 million stay away…
Risto is big rugged defenseman but too expensive and – 41 !!!
Plus / Minus is Buffalo is a unless stat.
Id be surprised if they traded for another dman making that much unless they were to unload a lot of cap space.
They need some grit on defense. Nikita Zadorov would be a solid fit for the Penguins. He is 6ft 5, 235 LBS, skilled, nasty, tough, and a booming shot… $3.2 million
Risto $5,4 he has been rumored in alot of the Pittsburgh media outlets as a target…
Ideally Friedman and POJ our bottom defense pair.
Pettersson is as good as gone in one way or another.
Not really……. look at goalie Linus Ullmark 9 – 6 – 3 917 save % on a crappy team..
Dahlin was -38
Risto was – 18 this year
still too much salary $5.4million for the Penguins…
I was looking over a predicted protection list for the Pens in the expansion draft… If they protect Zucker and let Tanev walk please, just fire Burk and Hextall now. They should pay Seattle to take Zucker or Jarry or both. I would rather keep ZAR over Zucker.
They will lose one forward in the expansion draft…. It seems like it will be Mccann, Blueger, or Tanev….
Let them take Zucker. I will pack his bags for him. Jarry can drive him there and then the Pens can lock him out of PPG.
Nice !!!!
I don’t think they will protect Zucker in the expansion draft. He will be exposed but more likely traded in some kind of deal. ZAR is interesting they like his defensive prowess. Would love to see Seattle take Zucker and Jarry then go sign 27 year old goalie Linus Ullmark. He is a big goalie with solid stats on a crappy Buffalo Sabre team. 9-6-3 .917 save % and a decent GAA.
Hedman may “need surgery” in the off season. I wonder if he will see Kucherov’s doc.
Gibson or bust.
sure, that would be fun. realistically, what kind of deal would you think that would take? i don’t see the fit based on the cost / lack of tangible assets. it could be done, sure, but at what cost would it be palatable?
It was more of a tongue in cheek comment, but realistically, Blueger, Poulin POJ and a first? They’re in rebuild mode. I’m not fooling myself thinking there’s any chance he’s a Pen next year though.
Tongue in cheek I get ! That is way too much to give up for Gibson. I’m not sure I give that up for Vasilensky.
While Gibson is a wonderful thought I don’t think Anaheim is willing to trade him !!!