GDT #48: Pens @ Wild

[JC2]

Special teams need to stop looking quite so... speshul....

[Gaucho]

This team is mentally old.

[Gaucho]

1 for 8, yay

[Morkle]

I’m pretty much ready to trade who you can trade and figure it out for next year.

FSG might love Sullivan, but you hired Dubas, and it might be time to allow him to move a bit.

I’m also curious what Sid/Letang/Geno think because they have to know you don’t have success with stars over 35.

[nocera]

I got the impression the Dubas has complete say in all aspects of the organization. If he wants Sullivan gone, he gone.

[Morkle]

I don't, from almost every reporter everytime someone mentions Sullivan it's "but FSG loves him."

I just don't get the sense any GM is particularly thrilled with out the season is going, and the GM only has so many levers to pull.

The time is the time, and it's def almost at zero - but there's not much about this team I'd care to keep in place, save for Sid/Letang. Everything else? Meh.

I'm just ultimately curious if Sid DID do any of the directing and asked for Letang/Malkin to be back. That logic goes against everything built in his brain that we've seen, because he had to know time was going to catch up to all three of them, Malkin being the slide this year.

[nocera]

I don't have any insider info or anything, but Dubas isn't just a GM. He's also President of ... you know, whatever it's called. hockey? President of Hockey? That's a thing, right? Whatever it is, he has much more power than just a GM. If he's done with Sullivan, Sullivan is done.

[Gaucho]

President of hockey surgery, I believe.

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

It’s becoming increasingly frustrating that we’ve been treading water all season and haven’t made any moves either on the coaching or roster side other than moving guys up and down from WBS

[Morkle]

I don't know what moves they could make that could improve the team now, without giving up a pick - and I think that's the last thing they should do.

Aside from Jake, there's really no other players they could give/get that would be impactful, unless they somehow decided to move on from Rust and get him to waive (can't remember his terms).

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

I guess I value picks less than you (and others) at this point. Our picks aren't going to be much lower than at or around the 15th overall pick and at that point the opportunity cost of increasing competitiveness while 87 is still productive (and 58 is still playing valuable minutes) isn't worth the possibility of drafting players for the eventual rebuild


of course, that also means that we would be heading to an X Generation type squad and maybe not being a cup contender is worth not having to watch disgusting hockey like that again. So maybe it comes down to what do you value more: ok to good hockey with the outside shot of a Cup run (I'm thinking the best case scenario are the early 10s Kings teams) vs a "trust the process" "let's hope we get a bunch of high draft picks" like what we did in the early 00s

[Morkle]

The Penguins trading for someone using a first round pick this year, to keep the window of making the playoffs open, seems incredibly wasteful this year.

It's not a team that's going to make a major run, has shown almost zero signs of it, so spending to "win now" is just winning to get to the playoffs, that they're already behind in race wise.

[crusherstasiak]

i don't enjoy this team, they're boring; like william faulkner using two thousand words to describe a magnolia tree, so from a purely entertainment angle; trade everyone.

[Gaucho]

Crusher dissed my favorite author

[Gaucho]

I agree, though. They're boring. Not much shootzepucklefraude to be had.

[skullman80]

The Penguins trading for someone using a first round pick this year, to keep the window of making the playoffs open, seems incredibly wasteful this year.

It's not a team that's going to make a major run, has shown almost zero signs of it, so spending to "win now" is just winning to get to the playoffs, that they're already behind in race wise.

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

we have athe 8th best 5 on 5 goal differential in the league (3rd best in the conference) as well as 3rd highest expected goals for in the league. The power play's ineffectiveness, especially in one goal games, is by far the largest issue still

[Rx6687]

I completely agree that trading picks for stopgap rentals this season makes zero sense and will ultimately delay the rebuilding process. I would consider trading a couple of picks in exchange for youth - in the event that there are a couple of guys out there who are prospects that really haven't panned out for their team and might need a change of scenery.. but I haven't got the slightest clue who those players might be, or if any of them would even fit what this team needs. "Hockey trades" as they call them, seem like they would be easy to make, but in reality, it's a complex process, esp when you factor in the cap and no trade clauses, etc.

[skullman80]

we have athe 8th best 5 on 5 goal differential in the league (3rd best in the conference) as well as 3rd highest expected goals for in the league. The power play's ineffectiveness, especially in one goal games, is by far the largest issue still

Yeah but the problem is the Powerplay hasn't been fixed, and won't get fixed at this point....so therefore even if that is the only problem with this team (which I don't think it is)....it's going to be their downfall. They've had over a half of a season to fix it ...and nothing.

[Morkle]

Yea, I'm just basing myself on the assumption that the Power play remains constant. Unless they rip off 5-8 wins in a row, the hole is deep enough that other teams just simply existing and winning games here and there keep the Pens out of it.

Smith/Rakell being complete ghosts is a killer too.

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

I agree but to me there’s a difference between fixable and non-fixable issues. Not trading picks because we’re not good enough team to compete is kind of an unfixable issue…but I don’t think that statement is true (I think we are good enough to compete)

the power play sucking is a fixable issue imo. It’s not a personnel thing at all. But also the fact that we seemingly still aren’t doing much of anything about it is crazy making to me


if we’re still this middling after 55-60 games then Sullivan has to go imo. It might be the “wrong decision” aka we might play worse than we’re playing now but I can’t fathom why doing nothing is the best course of action. But also I’m not the GM of the Penguins so it doesn’t really matter what I can or can’t fathom

[Morkle]

The odds are showing them with a 47% chance to even make the playoffs at this point. They better figure it out quick, or it's not going to matter what they can or can't figure out. It might already not matter.

[nocera]

That feels high.

[Gaucho]

The hole isn't as deep as it feels like, but it's getting there.

[willeyeam]

heh