What do the Penguins need?

[Hugo Stiglitz]

Obviously a lot of talk about who the Penguins are targeting at the trade deadline. What do you guys think the Penguins actually NEED? Do they need scoring? Do they need help on defense? What kind of help on defense?

I think the Penguins need two specific things:
1) They need this year's Hal Gill
2) They need this year's Billy G, or at least a winger for Malkin that can not only score here and there, but just make life harder on other teams.

Scoring is a major issue for this club despite what the stats say. The glaring issue is ES scoring outside of the 1st line.
Malkin: 5 G
Neal: 16 G
Cooke: 5 G(this stat is somewhat inaccurate to the 2nd line since he hasn't played on there the entire season)

That being said: Neal has 8PPG and Malkin has 3PPG. What this shows is that they aren't scoring enough at ES. While you can say the Pens are getting scoring from up and down the line-up, it's slightly deceptive. Let's examine what the Pens' forwards are doing at ES
Pens' total goals at ES: 67G
Pens' total goals at ES from Forwards: 54G
Pens' total goals at ES from Defense: 13G
1st line ES Goals: 26G (almost 50% of the Pens' ES scoring from forwards)
2nd line ES Goals: 10G (I'm only calculating Malkin + Neal since they've had different forwards here throughout the season, so you could say it actually range between 12-13).
All other forwards ES scoring: We could say appx. 5 to 7 goals from around the line up @ ES.

What's the issue here?
-If teams shut down the 1st line, the Pens are pretty much shut down.
-Malkin needs to step it up. He's playing well, but obviously a bit snake-bit this year.

While Malkin could wake up at any time and change the dynamic of this team, they need help. Bennett is beginning showing that he could be the answer; he's getting comfortable and I'd hate to halt the development of this kid, but the need something up there.

Let's be clear, our solutions are necessarily what we think would realistically would happen, but what we think would work.
I think the Penguins need to acquire Iginla or Setoguchi(or similar).
What does getting Iginla mean?
Kunitz-Sid-Iginla/Bennett
Neal-Malkin-Iginla/Bennett
Cooke-Sutter-Dupuis

I set it up that way because I believe if the Pens keep Bennett up with the big club, he should either be on the top-six or be sent down. Dupuis on the third line with Sutter and Cooke makes that 2nd line MUCH deadlier. It's not a demotion for Dupuis, but rather a distribution from the skill and makes the team strong through three lines.

Setoguchi:
Kunitz-Sid-Dupuis
Neal-Malkin-Bennett
Cooke-Sutter-Setoguchi

Again, this makes a MUCH stronger third line capable of real scoring.

The Penguins scoring a lot overall, but they're also letting in a lot, so they either need to get stronger defensively or increase their scoring potential. Obviously if they can do both it would be ideal, but you can't always get that done at the trade deadline. Setoguchi and Iginla not only bring higher scoring potential, but they make it tougher for teams to play against the Pens. They both bring a decent two-way game, physical style and increase the Pens' potential for puck possession. Even if it didn't lead to a large increase in scoring, longer puck possession in a way means better D because there would be less time for the other team to score.

While I'd love to see the Penguins get stronger on the defensive side of things, I believe they need to let their defense situation play itself out this season. The Penguins have a logjam of players waiting to make the jump over the next two-three years years with Despres, Bortuzzo, Harrington, Morrow, Dumolin and Pouliot. Plus Orpik, Letang, Niskanen and Engellend becoming FAs after next season. There's a lot to sort out and should let it play out for this year.

[CERV96]

Bottom 6 forward (veteran if possible). Another top 4 dman.

[Gaucho]

Love.

[Hugo Stiglitz]

Love.

Love is all you need

[Gaucho]

The 2nd line has scored on ES in each of the last three games. Let's hope the trend continues.

[columbia]

Love.

Kennedy for Albert Lee (e4)

[shmenguin]

we "need" better penalty killing and smarter defensemen, not better top 6 players - despite the trickle down effect.

[PghSkins]

Love.

And Metta World Peace

[Lt. Dish]

Love.

Love is all you need

[ville5]

Love.

Kennedy for Albert Lee (e4)

Kennedy for Christie Lee (e5).

[murphydump55]

We definitely need something in our bottom 6. Our top 6 does just fine. My god, we're scoring enough to win games while giving up 4 goals a game! We've given up an average of 3 GA this season and we have a winning record!

I still say our biggest problems lie in coaching and the personnel decisions he makes. Scratch Glass, scratch Engo, dress Vitale, dress Despres full time, play Bortuzzo more and let's see how that works.

Vitale can win draws, Adams and Glass can't.
Engo has struggled and Despres has shown he's ready and Bortuzzo is capable as well.

Revamp the PK personnel and system, stop playing this up tempo North South game and take care of your end first. Learn a breakout that doesn't consist of our D STANDING STILL and firing stretch passes non stop.
We can score, we've proven that. What we can't do is run an effective PP, a half decent PK, and half decent D zone coverage. A lot of these problems arise from losing draws non stop in our end, especially on the PK. (Give Warren Peters a chance. The guy was almost 60% last year for the Wild. He can kill penalties!)

The possible fixes are SO apparent, yet Bylsma refuses to address them and will instead make Shero go out and try to add players to fix it. If Shero gives a prospect away for a top 6 player I won't be happy. It's not what we need. We need bottom 6 grit and proper decision making from our coaching staff.
(a goaltender that isn't a headcase helps too - although when he's on, he's on)

[Lt. Dish]

Love.

Kennedy for Albert Lee (e4)

Kennedy for Christie Lee (e5).

Kathie Lee, and it's done deal.

[npv708]

IMO, there's 3 types of players that would make the Pens a much harder team to play against.

1) A vet that can score and add grit. Billy G 2.0. Obviously Iginla provides this, but I don't know if it will be worth it cost-wise. Many other options out there, including some that only bring half of the equation. I'd actually really like Prospal. I've seen way more Blue Jackets games this year than I'd probably like to admit (heck, I'm watching one as I write this...) and he's still noticeable.
2) A 2nd/3rd liner that can add a massive amount of grit and can occasionally score or at least open up space for those who can. For me, Clowe is ideal, but I still think unrealistic from SJ. We'll see. But that type of player could be great alongside Geno/Neal or if Bennett or old Vet takes 2nd spot line, could be great on third line with Sutter/Cooke.
3) A crease clearer who is not an idiot. This is probably the hardest one to find, because those two things seem to go together so often. Hal Gill is not the answer. What I'd like to see for our defense heading into the playoffs (hopefully) is something like:

Letang - Despres
Martin - Orpik
Niskanen - Crease Clearer
Eaton

[npv708]

Love.

Kennedy for Albert Lee (e4)

Kennedy for Christie Lee (e5).

Kathie Lee, and it's done deal.

I'd be okay with Sara Lee.

[DelPen]

Wonder what it would take to get Regher and Hecht from Buffalo? Regher would be a huge upgrade to the PK and allow Nisky-Despres to be the 3rd pairing and get a legit top 4 guy in here for a playoff run.

Hecht can still play top 6 which will allow Dupuis to slide down tot eh 3rd line and Kennedy or Cooke can do whatever, don't really care.

What to give up? Pouliot, Kennedy and a 1st?

[Lt. Dish]

Love.

Kennedy for Albert Lee (e4)

Kennedy for Christie Lee (e5).

Kathie Lee, and it's done deal.

I'd be okay with Sara Lee.

True that. Nobody doesn't like Sara Lee.

Double negatives! Ack!

[Hugo Stiglitz]

The 2nd line has scored on ES in each of the last three games. Let's hope the trend continues.

I'm hoping Bennett is the answer. I still believe the Pens need at least someone like Setoguchi to make our 3rd line stronger either by bumping Dupuis down top the 3rd or them playing on the third.

[npv708]

Wonder what it would take to get Regher and Hecht from Buffalo? Regher would be a huge upgrade to the PK and allow Nisky-Despres to be the 3rd pairing and get a legit top 4 guy in here for a playoff run.

Hecht can still play top 6 which will allow Dupuis to slide down tot eh 3rd line and Kennedy or Cooke can do whatever, don't really care.

What to give up? Pouliot, Kennedy and a 1st?

Wow. No.

Hecht hasn't even been playing much. He's been a healthy scratch and when he plays, he's been on the 4th line.

Regehr has been so meh this season.

[dbizzle66]

What the penguins need is to adjust their PK scheme. There's got to be a way to do this without sacrificing the offensive set ups. No need for a philosophical change .. just tweak the PK. That is what has to happen. Also, long term, this team needs to really take a hard look at goal tending. I know a lot of people say that the defense is at fault for a lot of the goals, yet it seems like the same people complain about the goal tending being soft. Can't have it both ways.

[Gaucho]

Hecht has no business playing on our 1st or 2nd line. 3rd line maybe, but I'm not sure he'd be much of an upgrade over Kennedy at this point, if at all.

[Hugo Stiglitz]

Wonder what it would take to get Regher and Hecht from Buffalo? Regher would be a huge upgrade to the PK and allow Nisky-Despres to be the 3rd pairing and get a legit top 4 guy in here for a playoff run.

Hecht can still play top 6 which will allow Dupuis to slide down tot eh 3rd line and Kennedy or Cooke can do whatever, don't really care.

What to give up? Pouliot, Kennedy and a 1st?

That might be doable. I'd rather bump up the offer a little and shoot for Ott over Hecht. Hecht is 35 and has been plagued by injuries the past few years.

[Bioshock]

Bottom 6 grit and another top 4 defenseman.

I would want the bottom six guys first. That sounded hawt...

[shmenguin]

Why would buffalo trade Ott?

[Hugo Stiglitz]

Why would buffalo trade Ott?

Because they may be going into rebuild

[columbia]

Why would buffalo trade Ott?

Because they may be going into rebuild

What would the Pens be giving them in return, to assist said rebuild?