Game 36 vs Caps - Thoughts from the Morning After

[IntangibleBeer]

• Graves had the game from h*** - missed coverages, own goal deflection, and screening Ned. Please - someone get him a 1-way bus ticket to WBS.
• Jarry was not crisp to start the game. Jarry and Graves cost the Pens the game. Most of the 1st period was simply dreadful.
• Ned demonstrated why he is the future and should start waaay more games than beta-male Jarry. Mental toughness is key.
• Pens played well enough to win for the last part of the 1st period and the rest of the game. Unfortunately, their handicap sunk them. "Got to their game" about 15 minutes too late. Two PPs in the 3rd couldn't get the job done.
• I don't know about you, but this "just a follow through" BS excuse for high sticking is just a little too convenient. Maybe I'm wrong, but I bet this would be called high sticking in other leagues / levels of the game.
• Rakell scored and played well. Guentzel showed up as well. 1st line really clicking.
• Crosby - another strong, strong, beast of a game.
• Puustinen should have been on the ice for a lot more shifts and on the PP (even after the high-sticking, sorry, "follow through" )
• HUGE missed opportunity to leap-frog up the standings.

[Antonio]

We all know that Jarry was not worth resigning especially for half a decade at over 5m a year. We all knew it then we know it now. I still say that without crunching the math hard to prove it, I just feel that goalies are not statistically worth their prices usually other than a very few elite level difference makers. I don't think going with Ned and another 1.5m to 2m goalie would be yielding significantly different results. I think 4m spent somewhere else would have made a bigger difference.

I mean, just an a random example (with no saying we should have done THIS specifically or not) but imagine instead of signing Lars Eller at 2.5m, we signed Trocheck for 5.6m and signed a goalie for 1.5-3m instead (MAF anyone? ). So we really think the team would have been WORSE in that situation with say, Trocheck as 3C and DeSmith and Ned or some other combo? I think goalies are wildly overrated in the NHL for the perceived impact they make except for your truly special ones. Heck, how about instead of signing Smith for 5.25, we got Gaudreau for 9.5? Possibilities are endless.

[FLPensFan]

To Graves credit, he stayed in the locker room last night and let reporters ask him questions. He owned up to it, and he knows he's not playing well. Here are a few quotes I pulled from Kingerski's article:

“The second one is a crazy bounce. It can happen 100 times and it wouldn’t happen (like that) again. But at the same time, there’s things you can do,” Graves admitted. “You can poke it earlier, There are various ways to avoid situations like that. You can look at it as a bounce, but at the same time you can look at it as you need to be a little closer so it doesn’t end like that.”

“There’s no pity party is going on. You don’t want to say, ‘Oh, it’s your stick. It’s bad bounce. It shouldn’t happen. Poor Me.’ Like, it’s hockey, it happens,” said Graves. “It’s a game of mistakes. And you need to find ways to stay in games and to claw back once back into it.”

And Sullivan's quotes last night on Graves:

“We’re going to work with him and try to see what we can do to keep his game simple. I think that’s when he’s at his best — when he just defends hard and controls the net-front,” Sullivan said. “I think he can use his body a little bit more than he’s doing right now. That’s something that we’ve talked to him about. He’s got a long reach. I think we can try to help him just understand how to utilize his reach a little bit more and that will help him adjust on the defensive side.”

“It’s been a bit of a struggle for him. We’re just to find ways to get him going. He’s obviously a quality defenseman and we’re going to rely on him here moving forward,” said Sullivan. “We’ve tried him with different people. We had him with (Letang), now we’ve got him with (Erik Karlsson). We’ve moved him around a little bit. I think sometimes when a player comes to a new team, there’s an adjustment process. Some guys handle it better than others. It’s hard to predict that when guys come in, and I think I think Graves is a guy that’s trying to find his way right now.”

[lemieuxReturns]

"Graves had the game from h*** - missed coverages, own goal deflection, and screening Ned. Please - someone get him a 1-way bus ticket to WBS."

It just feels like this exact same thing happens each and every summer. Our GM; whoever it is, just cannot help themselves and signs/trades for a defenseman to a contract that is detrimental from a cap perspective to our forward group. I just wish once... we would have a GM who would use the cap space on our forward group instead. I just do not see a huge difference between guys like Ruh or Freidman and guys like Graves or Jeff Petry, etc.

Jack Johnson
Jan Rutta
Ryan Graves
Jeff Petry
Michael Matheson

Yet, when you think of defensemen that have helped us, it is when our GM waits out the UFA period and signs a player on a discounted short-term contract.
Cody Ceci - 1year/1.25


I know I have been banging this drum for 10+ years. But I just wish the GM would resist the urge to load up on defense and instead spend the money on some forwards who can help balance out the heavy lifting that Sid and Geno have to do each season.

[Maestro]

In the category "literally anything is possible" - Graves is actually getting worse.
Apparently there is no rock bottom.

[Crash66]

"At his best when he just defends and controls the net front". When has he done that? Who is Sully watching?

[Weegie]

Team should be renamed the Pittsburgh "Elevators", they're up and down and up and down and up and down.....

[Badger Bob]

GMKD really swung and missed twice with Riley Smith and Graves. Both have been major disappointments.

[KG]

GMKD really swung and missed twice with Riley Smith and Graves. Both have been major disappointments.

I can't get on him. I applauded both moves. Graves to me was a no-brainer Dumo replacement and Smith was a better all around player than Zucker. Sometimes things don't work out. It's the system that's more the issue.

[Antonio]

Yeah I agree on Graves. I would be lying if I thought it was anything but a good signing for a good player...maybe a smidge high on term and price but overall I thought he would be a Dumo+ replacement. Smith I thought would be a similar player who would likely play more games compared to Zucker. I still think Graves can't be as bad as he has been...I mean if he was truly this terrible at hockey and his position, he would not have made it into the league this far. I am inclined to believe it is more the coach who seems to have a knack for "fixing" everyone's game.

[Southern Fan]

Graves reminds me more of 2021-22 Pettersson, rather than Dumo or Jack Johnson, looking like the Tube Mam in front of the car dealerships. ,Hopefully, his trajectory will be the same as Marcus.

[pronovost19]

GMKD really swung and missed twice with Riley Smith and Graves. Both have been major disappointments.

I can't get on him. I applauded both moves. Graves to me was a no-brainer Dumo replacement and Smith was a better all around player than Zucker. Sometimes things don't work out. It's the system that's more the issue.

I think historically defensemen have a harder time adjusting to this system. I know some are before HCMS but Gonchar, Martin, Niskanen and Schultz all had big learning curves.

[FLPensFan]

Another good article on Graves. Again, I give the guy a lot of credit for talking about it and owning it, rather than being someone like Jeff Carter who sucked last year and was first out of the locker room every game. Graves knows he can be better and play more consistent, and knows that the adjustment period should be gone by now.

https://triblive.com/sports/penguins-de ... struggles/

[IntangibleBeer]

Another good article on Graves. Again, I give the guy a lot of credit for talking about it and owning it, rather than being someone like Jeff Carter who sucked last year and was first out of the locker room every game. Graves knows he can be better and play more consistent, and knows that the adjustment period should be gone by now.

https://triblive.com/sports/penguins-de ... struggles/

Really not happy with his play, but I must also credit him for his character.

[Puck-Lurker]

Two steps forward, three steps back. That is all.