Bad news for the Pens

[RxBandit66]

Sometimes players just have a bad season. Martin was good for stretches last season, so odds are he's not "washed up." But the fact that he was playing in a role he was not accustomed to, perhaps had an undisclosed injury, or even a simple lack of confidence could have been the reason why.

My guess is that he corrects the problem, to a large degree, this season. He's a veteran and a pro who came out of perhaps the best defensive system in the history of hockey. Odds favor him being better this season, just saying.

[JoseCuervo]

James Neal on Martin

Paul seems to get a lot of unfair criticism from Pens fans. Is it frustrating to read that stuff?

It is frustrating. They give him such a hard time. Paulie goes out and does an unbelievable job every night. He does all the little things as a hockey player. Maybe he doesn’t score much, but you have to think about what he does in his own end, how good of a stick he has and how hard he is to play against. If you really know hockey, you’ll understand how smart and how skilled he is.

http://www.pittsburghmagazine.com/Pittsburgh-Magazine/March-2012/The-Real-Deal-With-James-Neal/

[Idoit40fans]

James Neal devotes significant time fixing his hair 10 minutes before he is set to put his helmet on to play.

[pfim]

I thought he was poor for the most part last season, hopefully he won't be this season. /analysis

[pressure=9Pa]

My current Paul Martin hate < My Ryan Whitney hate circa 2008

[Idoit40fans]

I always liked Whitney, I don't really dislike Martin so much as I dislike his contract.

[Froggy]

it seems martin is overpaid at $5mil/year, but he was making like $4.5mil/year in NJ as a top tier guy. Giving him a $500k raise to come here seems reasonable in a vacuum. I think the contract was fine based on expectations, but maybe not on what we ended up with for the most part so far. I don't think the $5mil/year is as obscene a number as some make it out to be.

[Kaizer]

based on the flyers series, they should all be cut.

[Malkamaniac]

I'm going to give Martin this season to see what he can put together with Orpik.

[RxBandit66]

it seems martin is overpaid at $5mil/year, but he was making like $4.5mil/year in NJ as a top tier guy. Giving him a $500k raise to come here seems reasonable in a vacuum. I think the contract was fine based on expectations, but maybe not on what we ended up with for the most part so far. I don't think the $5mil/year is as obscene a number as some make it out to be.

For a legit top 4 d-man it certainly is not too much. You make a good point that Martin has simply underperformed since he has arrived in Pittsburgh, so it's more a case of his ROI being very poor as a Penguin so far. His last year in Jersey was not that way at all, and he needs to regain at least a portion of that good form if he wants to remain a top flight defender in the NHL.

[neophool]

Emma Watson.