The Return of the Playoff Tracker Thread

[Dynasty1970]

Flyers beat Arizona tonight, now 11 points up on the Pens. My, how much difference a week makes... we ain't catching them now I don't think. Pens are relegated to attempting to win a wildcard spot and even that looks less and less likely each passing game.

Hopefully GMKD finally realizes this and FIRES SULLY, and then works with the new coach ahead of the trade deadline to determine who he keeps and who he tries to send on their way out of the Burgh. Bring up the youngsters and give them an honest look the remainder of the season, allowing our draft position to rise.

[pens_CT]

Flyers beat Arizona tonight, now 11 points up on the Pens. My, how much difference a week makes... we ain't catching them now I don't think. Pens are relegated to attempting to win a wildcard spot and even that looks less and less likely each passing game.

Hopefully GMKD finally realizes this and FIRES SULLY, and then works with the new coach ahead of the trade deadline to determine who he keeps and who he tries to send on their way out of the Burgh. Bring up the youngsters and give them an honest look the remainder of the season, allowing our draft position to rise.

I seriously doubt they do anything with the coach until after the season. Not sure who they'd bring in now if they canned Sullivan today.

[KG]

Flyers beat Arizona tonight, now 11 points up on the Pens. My, how much difference a week makes... we ain't catching them now I don't think. Pens are relegated to attempting to win a wildcard spot and even that looks less and less likely each passing game.

Hopefully GMKD finally realizes this and FIRES SULLY, and then works with the new coach ahead of the trade deadline to determine who he keeps and who he tries to send on their way out of the Burgh. Bring up the youngsters and give them an honest look the remainder of the season, allowing our draft position to rise.

I seriously doubt they do anything with the coach until after the season. Not sure who they'd bring in now if they canned Sullivan today.

May be late in the season to bring someone in from outside the organization, Vellucci as interim for the rest of the season would be the only internal option that makes sense.

[yinzer69]

Flyers beat Arizona tonight, now 11 points up on the Pens. My, how much difference a week makes... we ain't catching them now I don't think. Pens are relegated to attempting to win a wildcard spot and even that looks less and less likely each passing game.

Hopefully GMKD finally realizes this and FIRES SULLY, and then works with the new coach ahead of the trade deadline to determine who he keeps and who he tries to send on their way out of the Burgh. Bring up the youngsters and give them an honest look the remainder of the season, allowing our draft position to rise.

What youngesters are you talking about? Unless we get into the top 10 which I think would be unlikely our 1st round pick is going to SJ. I actually would rather give up our 1st this year to SJ, its a weaker draft and who knows how good or bad the team could be next year.

[yinzer69]

Unless you are within 3 points or less of a playoff spot you partially sell at the deadline...trade 59 for 1st and whatever else. Maybe try to move Smith and Rackell in hockey trades if possible. Trade Joseph for a pick. See what value you can get for Ned, lots of teams need goalies might be some value there (let Hellberg backup the rest of the season). Then you take the assets you got at the deadline and cap space and use them to improve the team in the offseason. I think a true evaluation of Sullivan and coaching staff needs to happen this off-season. I don't really see the point of firing him during the season.

[FLPensFan]

Unless you are within 3 points or less of a playoff spot you partially sell at the deadline...trade 59 for 1st and whatever else. Maybe try to move Smith and Rackell in hockey trades if possible. Trade Joseph for a pick. See what value you can get for Ned, lots of teams need goalies might be some value there (let Hellberg backup the rest of the season). Then you take the assets you got at the deadline and cap space and use them to improve the team in the offseason. I think a true evaluation of Sullivan and coaching staff needs to happen this off-season. I don't really see the point of firing him during the season.

Smith, Ned, Eller, and Guentzel should all be able to pull in resources. Ned, they should sell on if there is a taker. He'll price himself out of returning next season. Smith hasn't worked here, but someone will look at his past playoff success, and only one year term remaining, and likely have interest. Eller has had such a good season and center depth is always needed, that it would not surprise me if teams asked about him. Guentzel, no comment needed.

Rakell going out may be a bit more difficult. His NTC is only an 8 team no trade list, but taking him on for 4 more years at 5M isn't something usually pulled off at the trade deadline. Teams would usually be laying that groundwork already.

Acciari may have some value, as he is another guy known as a playoff warrior.

[yinzer69]

I agree with u about Eller and even Acciari but a 4th line of XX-Eller-Acciari next year would be kinda nice next year although kind of expensive.

[KG]

I agree with u about Eller and even Acciari but a 4th line of XX-Eller-Acciari next year would be kinda nice next year although kind of expensive.

Eller and Acciari are solid players for sure, but too pricey for 4th line duty, in my opinion. 4th line should be more young guys or cheaper vets making close to the minimum.

If we do sell, I think we should definitely sell high on Eller. He's having a solid season and 2-way centers are always in demand for playoff teams. Acciari has value too.

[BigMcK]

Final 33 games to play over the next 63 days? That's a whole HE LL of a lot uphill wind sprints for a whole HE LL of a lot of old legs trying to make it to the final spot in the playoffs.

Letang with his mondo- crazy off-season training regime, and Crosby with his Benjamin Button potion, will probably not upchuck in a trash barrel between shifts. Well, maybe add EK as the third.

[FLPensFan]

Coming out of the ASG break, said these next 4-6 games should tell the tale. Well, they went 2-4. Over their last 10 games, the team has gone 3-6-1, earning only 7 out of a possible 20 points. The teams above them in their last 10:

Philly, 4-5-1, 9 points
Tampa, 6-4, 12 points
Detroit, 5-4-1, 11 points
Devils, 5-4-1, 11 points
Isles, 3-3-4, 10 points

Their done. They've been done for weeks, yet Dubas has done nothing. Instead, Dubas is probably staring at MTL, NYI, PHI, and SEA as the "easy" games, which are 4 of their next 5 opponents.

The team has a .539 points percentage on the season. Since the 1st of the year, 17 games, they've gone 6-8-3, .441 points percentage.
Against playoff teams since the 1st of the year, they've gone 3-4-3, and only gone 3-4 against non-playoff teams.

Where in the world is the thinking that this team is making the playoffs or going to do anything of note in the playoffs???

[Zalapski33]

Coming out of the ASG break, said these next 4-6 games should tell the tale. Well, they went 2-4. Over their last 10 games, the team has gone 3-6-1, earning only 7 out of a possible 20 points. The teams above them in their last 10:

Philly, 4-5-1, 9 points
Tampa, 6-4, 12 points
Detroit, 5-4-1, 11 points
Devils, 5-4-1, 11 points
Isles, 3-3-4, 10 points

Their done. They've been done for weeks, yet Dubas has done nothing. Instead, Dubas is probably staring at MTL, NYI, PHI, and SEA as the "easy" games, which are 4 of their next 5 opponents.

The team has a .539 points percentage on the season. Since the 1st of the year, 17 games, they've gone 6-8-3, .441 points percentage.
Against playoff teams since the 1st of the year, they've gone 3-4-3, and only gone 3-4 against non-playoff teams.

Where in the world is the thinking that this team is making the playoffs or going to do anything of note in the playoffs???

Made that much more disturbing by the mediocre play of the 5 Teams You listed here.
The opportunity was there but they never seriously got close to taking advantage.

[largegarlic]

I keep thinking they're done and then talking myself into thinking there's some slight chance they can make it. But now I think they're really done. I was thinking that if they swept this home stand and went 4-0 against LA, NYI, MTL, and PHI, they would pretty much draw even with the teams they're chasing for a spot and could weather going .500 on that following Western road trip.

But that is now emphatically not happening. If they couldn't win this one on Jagr day against a team playing back-to-back with travel between games, they're hopeless.

[Puck-Lurker]

7 points out of WC2 -- 3 teams between us and DET
11 points out of last place in the east -- 3 teams between us and CBJ

Games in hand don't matter. We're the Titanic and we've hit the iceberg. We've almost as much hope of getting to the playoffs, as we do coming last place, racing Columbus to the bottom.

There is no metric that I can think of that supports some sort of comeback and the eyetest fails miserably.

GMKD better be ready to sell and rebuild.

[FLPensFan]

7 points out of WC2 -- 3 teams between us and DET
11 points out of last place in the east -- 3 teams between us and CBJ

Games in hand don't matter. We're the Titanic and we've hit the iceberg. We've almost as much hope of getting to the playoffs, as we do coming last place, racing Columbus to the bottom.

There is no metric that I can think of that supports some sort of comeback and the eyetest fails miserably.

GMKD better be ready to sell and rebuild.

We currently, officially, are the 10th worst team in the NHL.

Chicago, SJ, Anaheim, Columbus, Ottawa, Arizona, Montreal, Buffalo, Calgary....and Pittsburgh. We are closer to getting a top 10 pick than we are the playoffs. Sell, lose, and get the best pick you can this year, and give SJ the pick next year.

While I'm hearing this is a weak draft, I was also told by someone that it is pretty solid through the first 20 or so picks...it's late first and into the later rounds that it drops off.

[IntangibleBeer]

As Don Meredith would sing so well - "Turn out the lights, the party's over!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtGxusvUT3k

After yesterday's pathetic loss, it's time to face facts. In the short term:

• Fire Sullivan
• Trade Guentzel, Rakell, Smith, Graves
• I would even go so far as to trade Malkin
• Play the youngsters

Oh, and hire Jagr to run the power play. He obviously grasped the situation immediately.

It's time for hard choices. Let's get to it. Waiting will not make this situation better.

[Fast B]

Oh, and hire Jagr to run the power play. He obviously grasped the situation immediately.

Seriously, this. Even my wife (who is not a dumb person, just doesn't care about sports that much) will walk into the room while a game is on and say something like "seriously, why do the Pens never go to the net or shoot the puck?". EVERYBODY SEES IT AND I FEEL LIKE I'M GOING CRAZY AAAAAAGH

(sorry, feels better to get that out of my system )

[FLPensFan]

Going into tonight, the Penguins had 55 points and 30 games remaining. 60 possible points up for grabs, and, forgetting for a minute what the teams ahead of them are doing, the team probably needs 95 points, or 40 out of 60 points, to make the playoffs. Seems highly unlikely, as that is a .666 points percentage, and the Penguins are at .529 points percentage on the season.

Game 1: Islanders, 1 point earned, 1 point lost (58 total points remain, 1 point gained)

[pronovost19]

My projection is a 90 point season. Not gonna be good enough. I have them at a 31% chance of making the playoffs.

[IntangibleBeer]

I guess I remain puzzled by the team’s situation. How is it that we see it, the sports writers see it, and HCMS and GMKD don’t see it?

Seriously, how? Or is it denial?

[pronovost19]

I guess I remain puzzled by the team’s situation. How is it that we see it, the sports writers see it, and HCMS and GMKD don’t see it?

Seriously, how? Or is it denial?

Faith in the coach, players and system. Sometimes wrought from hopefulness and “this has to work at some point” on paper thinking. It has happened to many teams that want to hold onto the past. Tampa post cup with 3 old stars (Richards/St. Louis/Lecavalier). Very similar situation. They blew it up and had some rough years and along came Stamkos and Kucherov. Hedman.
It doesn’t have to take forever for a rebuild but this team seems to be 6 years now of ineptitude. You changed all the players out but 3. Is it the acquisitions or the coaching?

I personally think it is admirable to keep 87, 71 and 58. However, the reality of the situation is that the younger players skate circles around all of them. Sid has evolved his game much like an old YMCA hoops leaguer. He can be effective. 71 and 58 in spurts. In a proper rebuild those aging stars would be on 3rd and 4th lines. 71 at his age should be a 3C or 4C. Sid a 2C and we should have a stud 1C that we brought along through the system. Unfortunately, the last 6 years have been overwhelmingly bad because we traded away our chances for a possible 1C type first rounder for Brassards.

[pronovost19]

Adding to my previous thoughts…The other thing is that had the organization used WBS properly, there would be Scott Wilsons that you plug in the lineup. With a 1C drafted 6 years ago then Sid at 2C faces 2nd d man pairing. 71 at 3C faces 3rd pairings. But we remained super stagnant.

Just a general question. Do you remember when the Penguins would bring people up from WBS and plug them in and they could be effective? Been a long time. But there were years the Kuhnhackls carried the load when our stars were injured. Long time ago huh?

[IntangibleBeer]

Adding to my previous thoughts…The other thing is that had the organization used WBS properly, there would be Scott Wilsons that you plug in the lineup. With a 1C drafted 6 years ago then Sid at 2C faces 2nd d man pairing. 71 at 3C faces 3rd pairings. But we remained super stagnant.

Just a general question. Do you remember when the Penguins would bring people up from WBS and plug them in and they could be effective? Been a long time. But there were years the Kuhnhackls carried the load when our stars were injured. Long time ago huh?

Very long time ago, indeed.

WBS helped in the 2016 Cup run (I think). And I clearly recall the use of the Colander (sp?) line in 1992. I think the farm club then was the Baltimore Skipjacks.

[Badger Bob]

Adding to my previous thoughts…The other thing is that had the organization used WBS properly, there would be Scott Wilsons that you plug in the lineup. With a 1C drafted 6 years ago then Sid at 2C faces 2nd d man pairing. 71 at 3C faces 3rd pairings. But we remained super stagnant.

Just a general question. Do you remember when the Penguins would bring people up from WBS and plug them in and they could be effective? Been a long time. But there were years the Kuhnhackls carried the load when our stars were injured. Long time ago huh?

Very long time ago, indeed.

WBS helped in the 2016 Cup run (I think). And I clearly recall the use of the Colander (sp?) line in 1992. I think the farm club then was the Baltimore Skipjacks.

The Pens minor league affiliate was the Muskegon Lumberjacks from 1987 to 1992. The Baltimore Skipjacks were from 1982 to 1987. Mike Needham, Dave Michayluk and Jock Callander were known as the Muskegon Line when they were brought up.

[FLPensFan]

Adding to my previous thoughts…The other thing is that had the organization used WBS properly, there would be Scott Wilsons that you plug in the lineup. With a 1C drafted 6 years ago then Sid at 2C faces 2nd d man pairing. 71 at 3C faces 3rd pairings. But we remained super stagnant.

Just a general question. Do you remember when the Penguins would bring people up from WBS and plug them in and they could be effective? Been a long time. But there were years the Kuhnhackls carried the load when our stars were injured. Long time ago huh?

Very long time ago, indeed.

WBS helped in the 2016 Cup run (I think). And I clearly recall the use of the Colander (sp?) line in 1992. I think the farm club then was the Baltimore Skipjacks.

The Pens minor league affiliate was the Muskegon Lumberjacks from 1987 to 1992. The Baltimore Skipjacks were from 1982 to 1987. Mike Needham, Dave Michayluk and Jock Callander were known as the Muskegon Line when they were brought up.

It's funny because when I was younger, like pre-Mario or his first 1-2 years in the league, I remember guys like Lee Giffin and Todd Charlesworth playing for the Penguins. They weren't like my favorite players, but I remember their names. There were a few others, but later I looked some of those guys up and was like....hmmm, you mean to tell me Player X played only 3 NHL games ever and I saw one of them. LOL

Jock Callander should have been known as the Minor League Express. That guy was shuttled up and down between the minors and the Penguins so many times he should have a highway named after him.

[IntangibleBeer]

Adding to my previous thoughts…The other thing is that had the organization used WBS properly, there would be Scott Wilsons that you plug in the lineup. With a 1C drafted 6 years ago then Sid at 2C faces 2nd d man pairing. 71 at 3C faces 3rd pairings. But we remained super stagnant.

Just a general question. Do you remember when the Penguins would bring people up from WBS and plug them in and they could be effective? Been a long time. But there were years the Kuhnhackls carried the load when our stars were injured. Long time ago huh?

Very long time ago, indeed.

WBS helped in the 2016 Cup run (I think). And I clearly recall the use of the Colander (sp?) line in 1992. I think the farm club then was the Baltimore Skipjacks.

The Pens minor league affiliate was the Muskegon Lumberjacks from 1987 to 1992. The Baltimore Skipjacks were from 1982 to 1987. Mike Needham, Dave Michayluk and Jock Callander were known as the Muskegon Line when they were brought up.

Thank you.

I had forgotten.