Game 7 vs NY Rangers - Thoughts from the morning after

[Tico Rick]

Supposedly, the MSG feed showed Malkin tomahawk chopping Staal on the way down to the ice. That's why Staal flipped out. I don't think it would've happened if Staal hadn't tackled him, but what do I know.

I'm a little concerned about the lack of response after some tussles after the whistle. Hagelund got 2-3 good whacks on Vokoun's glove before he was pulled away from the net - that sort of thing.

I didn't see such a chop, and I was stuck with the MSG feed (NHLN). And MSG had no issue with Crosby being boarded, either.

Thought I saw Brooks wearing the A during the game, but the NHL.com RO sheet for the game was showing Kunitz as the A. Of course I didn't tape the game on account of a new Person of Interest at 9, so I couldn't go back & watch, and the ROOT reair was blacked out here in NoVA on DirecTV (as they were last season too, they were never blacked out until the 11-12 season)

I did see the chop, a one hander that occured on the way to the ice. It was on the helmet, half speed one handed, and stongly influenced by the pull down, no issue, move along. Staal is way more of a dbag now that his brother had moved on, but I thought it was funny when after a whistle, he came up to give one of his token retaliatory shots only to discover just prior that it was Engellend, talk about him turning the other cheek real fast...

Lol, I noticed that too. I saw that twice, actually, where Engellend knocked someone down and they got up all huffy only to see that it was Engellend standing there. They meekly skated away.

[Steve Dave]

Is it me or does Bortuzzo look kind of awkward/clumsy out on the ice?
(And I'm not even talking about when he fell down.)

But, I assumed from reading this board that he was the be-all, end-all savior to the defense?

(not saying it was you, just speaking generally)

I'm still pissed we let Strait go in favor of Lovejoy and Bortuzzo. Strait would have been an ideal 6/7 guy to rotate with Engelland.

Despres Letang
Orpik Martin
Niskanen Engelland
Strait

Dumoulin could replace Martin next season, Morrow replacing Niskanen the year after...he just reminds me of a younger Scuderi type.

Despres Letang
Orpik Dumoulin
Morrow Engelland
Strait

[Jamie]

Despres-The kid looks like he is going to be a very solid NHL D-Man with time/experience. Bylsma needs to keep playing so he gets confidence. Yes he is going to mke mistakes, but needs the opportunity to learn from them. Impressed with what I have seen from him the last 2 games, mistakes aside.

Vokoun-The dude is so controlled a relaxed. One thing that I noticed with him is his ability to contriol rebounds. It's like he is made of velcro. Our netminders are solid, no worries here.

Kunitz-He looks like he has lost a step and is slow. I remember season past Kunitz getting in and banging bodies, causing turnovers. Now he simply can't get in on time. His hands look like they are slowing down a bit to. Hopefully it is a funk and he can snap out of it.

Malkin-he is pass happy and needs to take some more of those high percentage shots(example would be the 2 on 1 with DJ).

I like the game they played last night. Solid effort all the way around.

[shmenguin]

Lol pens fans need to stop complaining about Martin's contract. He will never live up to your lofty expectations. He is worth 5M as long as he continues his level of play this season.

no, that is incorrect.

martin's still not worth 5 million - even at this level of play

[Gaucho]

Dumoulin could reace Martin next season

He can neither reace nor replace him. No way.

[Steve Dave]

Dumoulin could reace Martin next season

He can neither reace nor replace him. No way.

Ah come on, he definitely can reace Martin. Iphone error...

[tfrizz]

Is it me or does Bortuzzo look kind of awkward/clumsy out on the ice?
(And I'm not even talking about when he fell down.)

But, I assumed from reading this board that he was the be-all, end-all savior to the defense?

(not saying it was you, just speaking generally)

I'm still pissed we let Strait go in favor of Lovejoy and Bortuzzo. Strait would have been an ideal 6/7 guy to rotate with Engelland.

Despres Letang
Orpik Martin
Niskanen Engelland
Strait

Dumoulin could replace Martin next season, Morrow replacing Niskanen the year after...he just reminds me of a younger Scuderi type.

Despres Letang
Orpik Dumoulin
Morrow Engelland
Strait

Morrow reminds you of Scuderi? Really? Morrow is about as offensive as an offensive defenseman gets.....

[tfrizz]

Dumoulin could reace Martin next season

He can neither reace nor replace him. No way.

As usual, everyone seems to forget/overlook Scott Harrington. He's a guy I could legitimately see making the jump from junior to the NHL next season... he's just got that kind of maturity to his game.

[Guinness]

Am I to get excited that we have a defenseman prospect who can step into a top-pairing role as early as next season, or am I to assume that was a gross exaggeration?

[Gaucho]

Am I to get excited that we have a defenseman prospect who can step into a top-pairing role as early as next season, or am I to assume that was a gross exaggeration?

We might have that sort of guy, but his name is not Dumoulin I don't think.

[Steve Dave]

Is it me or does Bortuzzo look kind of awkward/clumsy out on the ice?
(And I'm not even talking about when he fell down.)

But, I assumed from reading this board that he was the be-all, end-all savior to the defense?

(not saying it was you, just speaking generally)

I'm still pissed we let Strait go in favor of Lovejoy and Bortuzzo. Strait would have been an ideal 6/7 guy to rotate with Engelland.

Despres Letang
Orpik Martin
Niskanen Engelland
Strait

Dumoulin could replace Martin next season, Morrow replacing Niskanen the year after...he just reminds me of a younger Scuderi type.

Despres Letang
Orpik Dumoulin
Morrow Engelland
Strait

Morrow reminds you of Scuderi? Really? Morrow is about as offensive as an offensive defenseman gets.....

No, sorry, i meant Strait reminds me of Scuderi, my original point was that I felt we should have kept Strait over Lovejoy/Bortuzzo.

[Steve Dave]

Dumoulin could reace Martin next season

He can neither reace nor replace him. No way.

As usual, everyone seems to forget/overlook Scott Harrington. He's a guy I could legitimately see making the jump from junior to the NHL next season... he's just got that kind of maturity to his game.

I love Harrington, just not sure if the Pens will rush/place him in the NHL without seasoning in the AHL. I assume Dumoulin would be ready next season for at least a top 6 roll, Niskanen could play top 4 if he isn't ready.

[tfrizz]

Is it me or does Bortuzzo look kind of awkward/clumsy out on the ice?
(And I'm not even talking about when he fell down.)

But, I assumed from reading this board that he was the be-all, end-all savior to the defense?

(not saying it was you, just speaking generally)

I'm still pissed we let Strait go in favor of Lovejoy and Bortuzzo. Strait would have been an ideal 6/7 guy to rotate with Engelland.

Despres Letang
Orpik Martin
Niskanen Engelland
Strait

Dumoulin could replace Martin next season, Morrow replacing Niskanen the year after...he just reminds me of a younger Scuderi type.

Despres Letang
Orpik Dumoulin
Morrow Engelland
Strait

Morrow reminds you of Scuderi? Really? Morrow is about as offensive as an offensive defenseman gets.....

No, sorry, i meant Strait reminds me of Scuderi, my original point was that I felt we should have kept Strait over Lovejoy/Bortuzzo.

Ahh, ok. I do agree then. Strait plays a similar stay-at-home kind of game.

[tfrizz]

Dumoulin could reace Martin next season

He can neither reace nor replace him. No way.

As usual, everyone seems to forget/overlook Scott Harrington. He's a guy I could legitimately see making the jump from junior to the NHL next season... he's just got that kind of maturity to his game.

I love Harrington, just not sure if the Pens will rush/place him in the NHL without seasoning in the AHL. I assume Dumoulin would be ready next season for at least a top 6 roll, Niskanen could play top 4 if he isn't ready.

Yeah, whether the Pens let him make the jump or not will be seen next season - but I still believe he is (or will be) ready for it.

[Steve Dave]

Is it me or does Bortuzzo look kind of awkward/clumsy out on the ice?
(And I'm not even talking about when he fell down.)

But, I assumed from reading this board that he was the be-all, end-all savior to the defense?

(not saying it was you, just speaking generally)

I'm still pissed we let Strait go in favor of Lovejoy and Bortuzzo. Strait would have been an ideal 6/7 guy to rotate with Engelland.

Despres Letang
Orpik Martin
Niskanen Engelland
Strait

Dumoulin could replace Martin next season, Morrow replacing Niskanen the year after...he just reminds me of a younger Scuderi type.

Despres Letang
Orpik Dumoulin
Morrow Engelland
Strait

To be clear, the second set of dmen would be for 2014-15 season. For 2013-14, it could be:
Despres Letang
Niskanen Orpik
Dumoulin Engelland
With the cap decreasing next season, Martin may be a cap casualty no matter how well he plays this season.

[Steve Dave]

Dumoulin could reace Martin next season

He can neither reace nor replace him. No way.

As usual, everyone seems to forget/overlook Scott Harrington. He's a guy I could legitimately see making the jump from junior to the NHL next season... he's just got that kind of maturity to his game.

I love Harrington, just not sure if the Pens will rush/place him in the NHL without seasoning in the AHL. I assume Dumoulin would be ready next season for at least a top 6 roll, Niskanen could play top 4 if he isn't ready.

Yeah, whether the Pens let him make the jump or not will be seen next season - but I still believe he is (or will be) ready for it.

That would be great. I don't get to see the prospects play so all I know about them is what I read and what you guys in the know report. From what I read, there was talk of Dumoulin being near NHL ready this season.

[MRandall25]

... except we'd still have 11 million to sign 7 people. It won't be as big a deal as people are making it.

[shmenguin]

if niskanen can keep his current play going, and if depres can handle about 18-20 minutes a night, then there isn't room for martin next season.

[Gaucho]

wait, what...?

[shmenguin]

wait, what...?

is it really that "wait, what"-ish? the idea is that niskanen and depres would be in the top 4, along with letang and orpik. fill out the last 2 spots with the same caliber of player as usual. that does leave us without a legit #2 dman, but the same would be said if martin was still on the team.

meanwhile, we have 7 forwards signed for next year, and 2 of them are vitale and glass. we need to fill the lineup, and if this short sample is indicative of our true scoring depth, we need to buy a real forward and then still fill the 3rd line with guys who are better than tanner glass.

this isn't as much of a dig on martin as it is an indictment of our forward situation, an endorsement of our cheaper players and an execution of shero's draft strategy.

[DelPen]

if niskanen can keep his current play going, and if depres can handle about 18-20 minutes a night, then there isn't room for martin next season.

But if Martin keeps playing at this level he's worth $5 million. It's like we did a 180 on this issue since the summer He's also the only defensemen signed past 2015, I assume some people will get extensions but they need to get Letang and Orpik extended before buying out Martin.

If the Cap is $64.3 million next year we will have $11.5 million to sign at least 5 players, but carrying one healthy scratch is usually Shero's MO, this year being an exception due to waivers, so 6 players needed.

Finding players under $1.5-2 milion to replace or resign Cooke, Kennedy and Dupuis will be tough. Defense and goaltending is set next year with no problems.

This current team though is under that $64 million so if for some reason Shero likes this roster and everyone isn't looking for raises we will be fine, some teams will be really hurting next year.

[shmenguin]

if niskanen can keep his current play going, and if depres can handle about 18-20 minutes a night, then there isn't room for martin next season.

But if Martin keeps playing at this level he's worth $5 million.

i don't really agree, but i understand why some people would think this.

[Penspal]

Dumoulin could reace Martin next season

He can neither reace nor replace him. No way.

As usual, everyone seems to forget/overlook Scott Harrington. He's a guy I could legitimately see making the jump from junior to the NHL next season... he's just got that kind of maturity to his game.

I love Harrington, just not sure if the Pens will rush/place him in the NHL without seasoning in the AHL. I assume Dumoulin would be ready next season for at least a top 6 roll, Niskanen could play top 4 if he isn't ready.

Yeah, whether the Pens let him make the jump or not will be seen next season - but I still believe he is (or will be) ready for it.

Shhhhh, Harrington is the secret weapon. He's got a little bit of everything (except maybe size), but I too believe he'll be in the NHL faster than it has taken some of the other D prospects. Defenceman who can play any situation and rarely makes mistakes are ____________.

[Gaucho]

Scuderi only became a regular when he was 26, 27.

[darkstar57]

I have a feeling Orpik might be the odd man out,