Ray Shero scouting Minnesota/Avalanche game??

[Penspal]

From Elliotte Friedman's CBC Blog - 30 Thoughts

"Thought # 25 - So who was Shero watching last week in Minnesota? He attended Avalanche/Wild game the night before Pittsburgh won in Winnipeg. You know who has Penguin written all over him? Matt Cullen. "

Taken from this article - http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/opinion/2013/02/30-thoughts-hockey-socks-and-safety.html

I certainly hope it is not Cullen. Soff, old, slow.

[meow]

He is old and he is soft, but slow he is not. He can play all 3 forward positions and the point on the powerplay.

[Digitalgypsy66]

I agree with that statement by Friedman - Cullen's an American ( ), grinds, and plays Penguin hockey.

However, he doesn't bring anything that the Penguins don't already have.

[no name]

Cullen is 36 yrs old, nothing more than a depth forward at this point in his career. Would cost no more than a 5th round pick for him. I really don't see the need for him. But if you can add him to deal for Setiguchi i am all ears. Honestly though if we go for him you better be ready to give up one of our top prospects on D.

[SolidSnake]

Setoguchi to the Pens is becoming like Zuburus to the Pens

[The Snapshot]

Setoguchi to the Pens is becoming like Zuburus to the Pens

Thankfully, Zubrus is hurt. I'm not in love with Setoguchi, but I do think he would have more points than the other options for Malkin's line. When I watched the Pens play Winnipeg the other day, there was a guy wearing #27 that looked pretty good. We should ask about him

[Kaizer]

I'd put more stock in Shero investigating Jamie McGinn.

rumors are fun.

[mikey287]

Everyone immediately thinks forward...the Avs have some depth d-men that they don't need...frankly, we don't need them either, but Shero & Co. insist on playing Engelland but not in the playoffs, maybe they want a playoff-capable Engelland. Ryan O'Byrne, Shane O'Brien fit that description. A couple of other defensive guys that aren't fitting in that well are Jan Hejda and the young Marco Scandella (surprisingly, in Minnesota)

[The Snapshot]

Kyle Brodziak please. Nothing else in Minnesota matters.

Cullen is a good player I guess. He's no Hossa or Neal, but he could be complimentary in a bunch of facets of the Pens game.

[canaan]

It will never happen but cal clutterbuck plox

[mikey287]

They like Brodziak, I think he was even 2nd line a few nights ago...didn't catch the whole thing...I doubt they'd give him up...

[The Snapshot]

They like Brodziak, I think he was even 2nd line a few nights ago...didn't catch the whole thing...I doubt they'd give him up...

Fine, then we'll take Parise if we have to.

[mikey287]

Package deal, we gotta take both Zach and Suter...damn, darn, crud...

[pcm]

I can't believe you suggested O'Brien and O'Bryne. God no. If there is a god, no.

Hejda is a beast though. But why would the Avs trade him? They desperately need defense (to replace the above mentioned, who are awful).

If they didn't trust Engellend moving forward, you'd have to think that Despres & Bortuzzo would be playing instead of him.

I've always liked Cullen. He was one of those dominant 3rd line centers for a cup winning team in the past decade (a trend if you look at the winners). But that was what 7 years ago? Maybe if they want to try moving Sutter to 2nd LW. But I've got to think it was Minnesota's glut of forwards they're looking at. Clutterbuck was rumored to be on the block last year... Setoguchi wouldn't be awful, especially if it was Kennedy+pick for him, which I imagine would be the case. Their stats are not too disimiliar, and Yeo probably wants a harder working 3rd line.

[The Snapshot]

Yeo probably wants a harder working 3rd line.

Maybe Shero was scouting Yeo because he read the fire Bylsma thread? Or maybe the Bylsma had a siezure thread.....

[joe icepick]

I wouldn't mind Matt Cullen and Setoguchi

[mikey287]

I'm not suggesting them...I'm suggesting who Shero could be looking at because everyone is naming the same two players: Gooch and Cluckerbucket...

If you've seen the Avs this year, you'd be equally disappointed with Hejda's play...at least relative to what it used to be...then again, the entire Avs team is playing like crap under Sacco...so maybe it's unfair to pin much on Hejda...but he's been far from a dynamo this season, quite sluggish out there...decent, but nothing to write home about...

Seto would probably require an NHL ready d-man, not a worker bee like Kennedy...I'd think. I mean, maybe Minnesota doesn't know any better with TK, but given that Yeo is there, he has to know that TK has no upside.

SOB would be a slight upgrade on Engelland probably, but not worth acquiring because of how slight it is. ROB is roughly Engelland's talent level. So, no, I don't want them, I'm just saying since it seemed like we were having trouble naming players, I'd throw out a few that could be had without selling the farm...

[joe icepick]

ok..Letang for Perry, only if we could sign Perry?

[The Snapshot]

we were having trouble naming players

Lending more credence to the widely reported Mike Yeo replacing Bylsma rumor. This one has legs. Bylsma was rumored to be on the chopping block recently according to informed sources.....

[pens_CT]

Seto would probably require an NHL ready d-man, not a worker bee like Kennedy...I'd think. I mean, maybe Minnesota doesn't know any better with TK, but given that Yeo is there, he has to know that TK has no upside.

So if you are Minnesota and you want an NHL d-man, do you want somebody like Niskanen or would they settle for Bortuzzo or Dumoulin?

[The Snapshot]

ok..Letang for Perry, only if we could sign Perry?

That's actually good value, but did you see us play recently without Letang? He still is the stick that stirs the drink back there, even if he only plays 2nd PP unit.

We are scoring enough goals.

That's a straight balanced deal though in my opinion, if Perry signed as a part of the deal.

[joe icepick]

I have a problem paying Letang 7 mill and doesn't play pp.

[mac5155]

Everyone immediately thinks forward...the Avs have some depth d-men that they don't need...frankly, we don't need them either, but Shero & Co. insist on playing Engelland but not in the playoffs, maybe they want a playoff-capable Engelland. Ryan O'Byrne, Shane O'Brien fit that description. A couple of other defensive guys that aren't fitting in that well are Jan Hejda and the young Marco Scandella (surprisingly, in Minnesota)

Id take O'Byrne in a heartbeat. He absolutely killed the pens when he played for Montreal in the playoffs

[tfrizz]

Setoguchi to the Pens is becoming like Zuburus to the Pens

Thankfully, Zubrus is hurt. I'm not in love with Setoguchi, but I do think he would have more points than the other options for Malkin's line. When I watched the Pens play Winnipeg the other day, there was a guy wearing #27 that looked pretty good. We should ask about him

Off on a bit of a tangent here. I don't know if you happened to catch the Jets/Bruins game on Sunday but Tangradi logged a the 2nd highest TOI of his career with 15:27, picked up another 3 hits, and was on the ice when the Jets were pressing to tie the game late. That's a longer leash than he ever got under HCDB.

And now HCDB is doing the same thing with Bennett, having him toil on the 3rd line with the odd shift alongside Crosby or Malkin. If you're going to put a top forward prospect like him in the lineup, you put him on a scoring line and see how it goes. If it doesn't work, send him back down for further development.

[mikey287]

Seto would probably require an NHL ready d-man, not a worker bee like Kennedy...I'd think. I mean, maybe Minnesota doesn't know any better with TK, but given that Yeo is there, he has to know that TK has no upside.

So if you are Minnesota and you want an NHL d-man, do you want somebody like Niskanen or would they settle for Bortuzzo or Dumoulin?

Despres.