by mikey287 on Mon Dec 17, 2012 2:18 pm
Ok, long weekend in the world's worst place - Long Island. Didn't miss a lot, so I'll just make some comments to get this going again a little bit...
- Never really thought about drafting Jarkko Ruutu. Didn't play very long here...I guess he's a mediocre 4th liner or solid extra forward at this level. I have a hard time placing him.
- The selecting of Aleksey Morozov is overdue. Lot of games for us, a scorer stuck in a depth role, produced exclusively during the dead puck era. His highest ATOI season (by more than 2 minutes) saw him score 25 points in 27 games. It would have put him firmly second in scoring to Mario, which is essentially 1st among mortals. He played for some awful teams, in a low-scoring era...the case against him is his inconsistency and the fact that his coaches never trusted him to really lead the way for the team (except in 2003, when it was looking like he was going to be a first liner perhaps). The only reason why I can see Morozov not being picked until now is because he's viewed as a top-six or nothing player - which isn't unfair. But in terms of straight value, he should have been picked already. Who was the original pick here? I see it was edited? Cunneyworth?
- Nick Harbaruk - he was on my list, decent depth guy. Probably more of a 4th liner than 3rd. A righty that can kill penalties, sounds like fine depth to me. Little worried about his short career, makes me feel a bit uneasy that he might have been a product of expansion roster spots, but I don't think he's such an obvious case for that that he deserves to be run through a torture test individually...he scored some goals in a depth role on an iffy team, sounds good enough to me...
- Craig Adams - I was worried I wouldn't get him actually...I need another third liner because I don't trust Adams to take that many minutes, but I think he's a proven defensive commodity and worth taking a fraction early...plus, he was once 51st in Selke voting! Beat that!
I got him for his defensive ability and his elite PK ability...
Times in franchise history when the Pittsburgh Penguins had a penalty kill 2% (absolute, not relative) above the league average w/leaders in total PK ice time among forwards:
1992-93 (2.79%): Ron Francis, Mario Lemieux, Dave Tippett (ineligible), Joe Mullen
2009-10 (2.33%): Jordan Staal, Craig Adams, Matt Cooke, Pascal Dupuis
2010-11 (4.13%): Craig Adams, Maxime Talbot, Pascal Dupuis, Matt Cooke
2011-12 (5.09%): Craig Adams, Matt Cooke, Pascal Dupuis, Jordan Staal
So, on the three of the four best PKs in Pens history (a couple by a mile), Craig Adams is 1st, 1st and 2nd in SH TOI for them.
Side note: the only times the Penguins PK was above league average in their history: '68 (1.48%), '69 (.52%), '71 (1.44%), '73 (.15%), '75 (.89%), '93 (2.79%), '94 (.68%), '96 (1.23%), '98 (1.47%), '09 (1.66%), '10 (2.33%), '11 (4.13%), '12 (5.09%). Rough.