Roberts to Pens?

[tifosi77]

Personally, I think anything this team accomplishes in the playoffs this year will be ahead of expectations. Therefore, I do not see the logic in getting a rent-a-player, much less a 40-year old rent-a-player, for the playoff push. I just don't think it makes the team fundamentally better or even any harder to play against, for that matter.

The asking price is probably far too high for the players that I think genuinely would make a difference (Guerin for example), but this seems like a move for the sake of making a move.

And though this point will be largely missed by most people, Welch not being up here has more to do with contracts than his play, not that he's performed at an All-Star level to this point. Scuderi and Melichar are on one-way deals. Nasreddine is subject to waivers. Welch is on a two way and is exempt from waivers.

That may be, but I seem to recall reading somewhere not too long ago that management were none too impressed with his play down in WBS. Like he's shown next to no development. In fact, during his brief recall last month, he looked even worse than he did right out of camp.

[crzymike]

Anyone knowledgeable about the game of hockey realizes that Welch hasnt stepped it up as he should have. He has potential but has done little on a consistent basis to show it. If we give him up in this deal, Its no great loss!

[Guins]

I know someone that works with the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Penguins and all I know is Welch has been traded, but dont know who it was for. Most likely Roberts.





This was off Brian Metzers blog on Eklund's site not BM, but a poster on there, take it for what it's worth

[Bowser]

Netwolf - I'm not thrilled moving Welch for Roberts but Shero and Fletcher obviously feel he's not going to be a guy for the long-term with Goligoski and Letang on the horizon.

With Ekman returning and possibly Roberts here, this will open up the ability to move Malone and Christensen to fill other roles.

[mac5155]

we have a plethora of offensive d-men (gonch, whitney, letang, goligowski, welch) which means 2 things

1. we can afford to give up one
2. we need to get a physical one.

both of those things could happen very very soon.

[skullman80]

Netwolf - I'm not thrilled moving Welch for Roberts but Shero and Fletcher obviously feel he's not going to be a guy for the long-term with Goligoski and Letang on the horizon.

With Ekman returning and possibly Roberts here, this will open up the ability to move Malone and Christensen to fill other roles.

So do you see other trades happening before tomorrow with the Pens, that hinge on the Roberts deal going through?

[Old Used Pylon]

With Welch gone, that means one more of our "favorite" defensemen will still be here next year.

[Guins]

With Welch gone, that means one more of our "favorite" defensemen will still be here next year.

Well you know Suckderi will be here next year

[netwolf]

Netwolf - I'm not thrilled moving Welch for Roberts but Shero and Fletcher obviously feel he's not going to be a guy for the long-term with Goligoski and Letang on the horizon.

With Ekman returning and possibly Roberts here, this will open up the ability to move Malone and Christensen to fill other roles.

The thing is, Welch plays a different game than Letang and Goligoski. Those are both skating, offensive d-men that can carry the puck. Welch is a cross between Orpik and Whitney in that he's physical and makes a good 1st pass, though he's obviously not as good as either of those two at those two things. Welch gives you something Letang and Gologoski do not.

I still think Malone can be a productive/effective player on the 3rd line. I'm not sure where EC fits in, though I do still like his potential.

[Kicksave]

With Welch gone, that means one more of our "favorite" defensemen will still be here next year.

Well you know Suckderi will be here next year

You are so creative with your nicknames.

[Guins]

With Welch gone, that means one more of our "favorite" defensemen will still be here next year.

Well you know Suckderi will be here next year

You are so creative with your nicknames.

AWWWWWWW thanks ,your approval means the world to me

[RxBandit66]

we have a plethora of offensive d-men (gonch, whitney, letang, goligowski, welch) which means 2 things

1. we can afford to give up one
2. we need to get a physical one.

both of those things could happen very very soon.

May be the post of the day. At least up until the one that finalizes the trade itself.

[mac5155]

we have a plethora of offensive d-men (gonch, whitney, letang, goligowski, welch) which means 2 things

1. we can afford to give up one
2. we need to get a physical one.

both of those things could happen very very soon.

May be the post of the day. At least up until the one that finalizes the trade itself.

now i know it was good, but thats a stretch.. hahaha

[netwolf]

we have a plethora of offensive d-men (gonch, whitney, letang, goligowski, welch) which means 2 things

1. we can afford to give up one
2. we need to get a physical one.

both of those things could happen very very soon.

Welch is a hybrid. He's offensive in that he makes a good pass and has a nice shot, but I don't think he projects as a point producer. He is a physical guy, just not in terms of big hits, though he can deliver those as well.

[Posterboy]

And though this point will be largely missed by most people, Welch not being up here has more to do with contracts than his play

Yes, but wasn't he brought up first, sent back down, and then Nasreddine was the next defenceman recalled? Welch was later called up due to an injury. I'm not positive if this was the case, so please correct me if I'm wrong on the sequence of promotion/demotions for the two.

If this is correct, he was given the opportunity to stick before the Pens would have been stuck with Nasreddine having to clear waivers on the way down.

I'm not against trading him, I just don't know if the best trade including Welch is straight up for Roberts. I certainly don't have knowledge if this precludes other player movement.

[The Snapshot]

Netwolf - I'm not thrilled moving Welch for Roberts but Shero and Fletcher obviously feel he's not going to be a guy for the long-term with Goligoski and Letang on the horizon.

With Ekman returning and possibly Roberts here, this will open up the ability to move Malone and Christensen to fill other roles.

The thing is, Welch plays a different game than Letang and Goligoski. Those are both skating, offensive d-men that can carry the puck. Welch is a cross between Orpik and Whitney in that he's physical and makes a good 1st pass, though he's obviously not as good as either of those two at those two things. Welch gives you something Letang and Gologoski do not.

I still think Malone can be a productive/effective player on the 3rd line. I'm not sure where EC fits in, though I do still like his potential.

I'm okay with moving EC over Malone as well. I think Malone is almost a finished product and is clearly big enough to play in this league, albeit on a 3rd line as you say.

EC isn't strong enough, and may never be. I get this vibe of some kind of unfounded confidence when I see him talk, yet he is reputed to be fragile in terms of true confidence. I'm just not sure of his mental makeup, and he CLEARLY has a lot to work on. I'm a little surprised that he didn't come back to camp this year stronger along the boards.

At least Malone has had a breakthrough year in terms of attitude. He may be a 15-20 goal a year 3rd liner forever, but his new dedication to fitness and hard work shows that he has matured upstairs.

I'm not sure that EC has had that breakthrough yet, or if he ever will. The downside is that if he ever did have it, he has sick hands and shot and could very well score 40 in the league.

Hard to give anyone up, but somebody has to go if we are going to upgrade anything today.

[netwolf]

And though this point will be largely missed by most people, Welch not being up here has more to do with contracts than his play

Yes, but wasn't he brought up first, sent back down, and then Nasreddine was the next defenceman recalled? Welch was later called up due to an injury. I'm not positive if this was the case, so please correct me if I'm wrong on the sequence of promotion/demotions for the two.

If this is correct, he was given the opportunity to stick before the Pens would have been stuck with Nasreddine having to clear waivers on the way down.

I'm not against trading him, I just don't know if the best trade including Welch is straight up for Roberts. I certainly don't have knowledge if this precludes other player movement.

I believe the sequence you described is correct, but that can easily be explained by the Pens preferring to see Welch get top pair minutes in WB along with loads of special teams time instead of getting 3rd pair minutes here.

I'm not saying Welch is an all-star in the making, but IMO it's too soon to give up on him, especially with the Pens current blueline group and with Welch playing a unique style among all of their defensive prospects.

[penny lane]

J Colony from MM's show said something that
Gary Roberts is going to sleep/take the night to think
about trade to Pittsburgh.
No offense to G Roberts, but If I am R Shero
and he says that to me, I say , throwing you back
into the lake for others.

[Henry Hank]

I can understand why the organization has soured on Welch. Before the season, most expected that he'd make the team out of training camp. He didn't. He finally got a call-up, stayed up for a little while, and then they sent him down and brought up Nasreddine and DuPont. That should have said something about where he stood. I still kind of hate to see him go if the deal goes through, but consider that he'll be 25 before next season starts and still isn't established. The Pens would only control his rights for a couple seasons and then he's a free agent. So basically we could be in a position where he finally starts to establish himself and then he's gone as a free agent. That has to be something Shero has considered here.

[netwolf]

J Colony from MM's show said something that
Gary Roberts is going to sleep/take the night to think
about trade to Pittsburgh.
No offense to G Roberts, but If I am R Shero
and he says that to me, I say , throwing you back
into the lake for others.

I wonder how good of a poker player Shero is. Does he wait for Roberts' decision, knowing he could miss out on some other things he wants to do, or does he scrap the Roberts deal and move on to Plan B?

[mac5155]

J Colony from MM's show said something that
Gary Roberts is going to sleep/take the night to think
about trade to Pittsburgh.
No offense to G Roberts, but If I am R Shero
and he says that to me, I say , throwing you back
into the lake for others.

I wonder how good of a poker player Shero is. Does he wait for Roberts' decision, knowing he could miss out on some other things he wants to do, or does he scrap the Roberts deal and move on to Plan B?

hopefully plan b is guerin w/o giving up a 1st pick..

[cojac]

I wonder how good of a poker player Shero is. Does he wait for Roberts' decision, knowing he could miss out on some other things he wants to do, or does he scrap the Roberts deal and move on to Plan B?

Bows said the Pens gave him a 9pm deadline, so it will be interesring to see what happens after 9pm.

[mac5155]

I'm not going to read through the 500+ posts to see if this has been mentioned yet, but I read elsewhere that Roberts would be used on the second line, not Sid's, so perhaps Staal would get a chance on Sid's wing...

possibly trade ouelett?? that clears a wing on the 2nd line..

[mac5155]

I wonder how good of a poker player Shero is. Does he wait for Roberts' decision, knowing he could miss out on some other things he wants to do, or does he scrap the Roberts deal and move on to Plan B?

Bows said the Pens gave him a 9pm deadline, so it will be interesring to see what happens after 9pm.

shero goes to bed. haha

[bigkam]

Wow, certainly hope we're not trading our top defensive prospect for a 40-yr. old rent-a-player. There's no way you can dress that pig up; bad deal. I give Shero more credit than that.