Preseason Game 2: Sabres @ Penguins discussion thread

[Crash66]

IMHO. At this point, no. But what do I know.

[Crash66]

On a positive note, Graves hasn't been a dumpster fire.

[KG]

Is McGroarty NHL ready? Not hearing much about him.

Hard to say. He doesn't play a flashy game. He is smart positionally and goes to the net. Would love to see him get a chance to play with Sid or Geno for a game to see how his game looks playing with skill players, instead of bottom 6 players.

[BurghThing]

Just got home and turned on the TV.

Please tell me this is not our new full time announcer.

[Crash66]

2 penalities away from the puck for Poulin. He'll be on waivers.

[Crash66]

Just got home and turned on the TV.

Please tell me this is not our new full time announcer.

Steigy ain't so bad huh? He's the new radio guy taking over for Mears. Getzoff still on TV.

[BurghThing]

On a positive note, Graves hasn't been a dumpster fire.

You were saying

[KG]

2 penalities away from the puck for Poulin. He'll be on waivers.

Definitely not helping his cause...

Best offensive players have been Glass, Hayes, Beauvillier. McGroarty was robbed in the 2nd on the PP. Nobody is really noticeable again. Not enough physicality and energy. In mid-season Sullivan team form!

[Crash66]

I typed that awhile ago.

[FLPensFan]

Is McGroarty NHL ready? Not hearing much about him.

Hard to say. He doesn't play a flashy game. He is smart positionally and goes to the net. Would love to see him get a chance to play with Sid or Geno for a game to see how his game looks playing with skill players, instead of bottom 6 players.

Need to see McGroarty against a fast, mostly NHL team to get a real judge on if he can hack it or not. Biggest issue is his acceleration. His first 2-3 strides are clunky and awkward. Once he gets going he's ok, but he could still use some continued work on his skating.

I'm ok either way, if he makes it or starts in WBS. Pros and cons to both.

[Sams_Dog]

I was at the game tonight and, maybe this was there last year and I didn't notice it, but there is now a real time speedometer on every player on the ice. It changes constantly as the players move around - 5.84 MPH...8.0 MPH...9.12 MPH... All ten skaters. Who really needs to see this? Overkill. The posting of running shift times and who is on the ice is cool though. The videotron is enormous.

[FLPensFan]

I was at the game tonight and, maybe this was there last year and I didn't notice it, but there is now a real time speedometer on every player on the ice. It changes constantly as the players move around - 5.84 MPH...8.0 MPH...9.12 MPH... All ten skaters. Who really needs to see this? Overkill. The posting of running shift times and who is on the ice is cool though. The videotron is enormous.

Not sure about in arena, but, the stats can be interesting. https://edge.nhl.com/en/home

Want to see if your players are hitting top speeds higher than other teams players?
Want to see if your players are bursting above a certain mph more than other teams players?
How the hardest shot on your team stacks up against the rest of the league?

You can see all of those things with the NHL Edge stats. They do need to open up the filters a bit more, to let me see all skaters at once, or sort by all defenseman, centers, etc.

[FLPensFan]

So, didn't watch the game. Looking at the scoreboard, penalties, Taylor Haase summary, etc, here's what I gathered on the game tonight.

Stock up:
--Blomqvist - stopped all of the shots he faced (12 I think) to have a nice rebound after a bad game the other day.
--Hayes - A goal against another team, not just scrimmage time.
--Beauvillier - Heard he looked really good and was noticeable, just didn't get chances to finish
--St.Ivany - First goal of the game. Taylor also commented she had seen enough that St. Ivany should be #6 and Aho #7 at this point.

Stock down:
--Poulin - no standout comments except 2 penalties, the 2nd one being labeled as far away from the play and selfish. Sealed your fate there, Sam.
--Lizotte - DK mentioned he has not been playing well. I think he played the other day and wasn't very noticeable either.

Neutral
--McGroarty - Sounds like he gave a poor effort on a clear that allowed BUF to keep it in, leading to a goal. But also made some nice plays later in the game to even things out a bit.
--Nedeljkovic - 3 goals on 15 shots; didn't seem like he had a strong night, maybe 1 goal wasn't his fault.
--Glass - Sounds like he was a little more noticeable tonight, but still not doing anything to put his name on the roster in pen.

[Wyopen]

Is McGroarty NHL ready? Not hearing much about him.

Hard to say. He doesn't play a flashy game. He is smart positionally and goes to the net. Would love to see him get a chance to play with Sid or Geno for a game to see how his game looks playing with skill players, instead of bottom 6 players.

Need to see McGroarty against a fast, mostly NHL team to get a real judge on if he can hack it or not. Biggest issue is his acceleration. His first 2-3 strides are clunky and awkward. Once he gets going he's ok, but he could still use some continued work on his skating.

I'm ok either way, if he makes it or starts in WBS. Pros and cons to both.

I guess what bothers me, and I may be wrong, and it’s early, but all the hype said he’s “NHL ready”. Last night he did very little against a prospect and AHL Buffalo team. Even Broz, Koivunen, and Ponomarev are playing better, I know they didn’t play last night. I hope McGroarty didn’t think too highly of himself. Please forgive me for maybe jumping the gun here on my assessment. I’m still 50/50 on the Yager trade. He was a sniper.

[KG]

Glass said that the team came out "sleepy" in the first and Sullivan gave them a talking to after the first period to get them going.

I'm sorry, but how can a team made up of players supposedly fighting for a roster spot, come out sleepy? Has to be a culture thing here. You look at Torts and Roy, both the Flyers and Islanders have had bag skates already. Yet I see on the Pens social media that they had a Jenga game set up at the practice facility. I understand there needs to be a work/play balance, but game 2 of the pre-season and these guys need a talking to to get them going? Just doesn't look good. Other pre-season games have fights, hits and tenacity. Pens pre-season game is just about getting reps in. Frustrating. Sullivan talks about culture and what it means to be a Penguin. A lot of talk for a lot of years now...

[Puck-Lurker]

Is McGroarty NHL ready? Not hearing much about him.

Hard to say. He doesn't play a flashy game. He is smart positionally and goes to the net. Would love to see him get a chance to play with Sid or Geno for a game to see how his game looks playing with skill players, instead of bottom 6 players.

Need to see McGroarty against a fast, mostly NHL team to get a real judge on if he can hack it or not. Biggest issue is his acceleration. His first 2-3 strides are clunky and awkward. Once he gets going he's ok, but he could still use some continued work on his skating.

I'm ok either way, if he makes it or starts in WBS. Pros and cons to both.

I guess what bothers me, and I may be wrong, and it’s early, but all the hype said he’s “NHL ready”. Last night he did very little against a prospect and AHL Buffalo team. Even Broz, Koivunen, and Ponomarev are playing better, I know they didn’t play last night. I hope McGroarty didn’t think too highly of himself. Please forgive me for maybe jumping the gun here on my assessment. I’m still 50/50 on the Yager trade. He was a sniper.

Yeah... I like that we added RMG, but hated losing Yager. McGroarty is confident, leadership material, but that has a shadow side of perhaps becoming arrogant. His skating isn't there yet, but he's been a pro for a week now. I wasn't convinced he'd make the opening night roster, sounded like he wasn't either. Needed to have a great camp, stand out... like St Ivany and Puljujärvi. Hasnt so far.

The skating is a thing I want him to be much better at. I would say no. He's not yet a top 12 forward in our organisation, maybe 14F, but seriously you don't keep him up for that.



Lizotte didn't dress for the first game as my memory serves. Can't impress if you can't dress.

[FLPensFan]

Is McGroarty NHL ready? Not hearing much about him.

Hard to say. He doesn't play a flashy game. He is smart positionally and goes to the net. Would love to see him get a chance to play with Sid or Geno for a game to see how his game looks playing with skill players, instead of bottom 6 players.

Need to see McGroarty against a fast, mostly NHL team to get a real judge on if he can hack it or not. Biggest issue is his acceleration. His first 2-3 strides are clunky and awkward. Once he gets going he's ok, but he could still use some continued work on his skating.

I'm ok either way, if he makes it or starts in WBS. Pros and cons to both.

I guess what bothers me, and I may be wrong, and it’s early, but all the hype said he’s “NHL ready”. Last night he did very little against a prospect and AHL Buffalo team. Even Broz, Koivunen, and Ponomarev are playing better, I know they didn’t play last night. I hope McGroarty didn’t think too highly of himself. Please forgive me for maybe jumping the gun here on my assessment. I’m still 50/50 on the Yager trade. He was a sniper.

Yeah... I like that we added RMG, but hated losing Yager. McGroarty is confident, leadership material, but that has a shadow side of perhaps becoming arrogant. His skating isn't there yet, but he's been a pro for a week now. I wasn't convinced he'd make the opening night roster, sounded like he wasn't either. Needed to have a great camp, stand out... like St Ivany and Puljujärvi. Hasnt so far.

The skating is a thing I want him to be much better at. I would say no. He's not yet a top 12 forward in our organisation, maybe 14F, but seriously you don't keep him up for that.



Lizotte didn't dress for the first game as my memory serves. Can't impress if you can't dress.

The biggest thing in evaluating the trade will be does Yager make it to the NHL as a center or a winger? The feeling I got was, not only did the Penguins want to upgrade the timeline of getting a young player in the lineup (McGroarty will get some games this year, Yager still a year or two away by most accounts), but there seemed to be an indication that the Penguins didn't feel Yager was going to be an NHL capable center.

Even if he becomes some big sniping winger, it's not a loss in my eyes unless he becomes a true center. He needs to be able to play responsibly in the middle at the NHL level against bigger guys, and do the things necessary to succeed in that position.

[FLPensFan]

DK comment on Glass, which is good to hear since I couldn't watch last nite:

Of all the various wingers competing for all the various bottom-six vacancies, only Cody Glass impressed. Superb bursts of speed included lateral, dangerous cuts directly to the net. Easily could've been rewarded with a goal or two.

On the flip side, DK said something that I've been thinking more and more...what is the point of Sam Poulin? It's not just because he had a bad game last night. Quick, in 3 seconds or less, tell me what does Sam Poulin excel at? What's his best trait? We all know he has scored in the AHL, but, there isn't a standout trait to his game.

[KG]

DK comment on Glass, which is good to hear since I couldn't watch last nite:

Of all the various wingers competing for all the various bottom-six vacancies, only Cody Glass impressed. Superb bursts of speed included lateral, dangerous cuts directly to the net. Easily could've been rewarded with a goal or two.

On the flip side, DK said something that I've been thinking more and more...what is the point of Sam Poulin? It's not just because he had a bad game last night. Quick, in 3 seconds or less, tell me what does Sam Poulin excel at? What's his best trait? We all know he has scored in the AHL, but, there isn't a standout trait to his game.

Yeah Poulin didn't look good last night. 2 bad penalties and wasn't noticeable anywhere. He will either get waived, or maybe we could trade him for another former prospect that could use a change of scenery? Problem is Poulin needs to clear waivers to get sent down, anyone would trade him for would be in the same boat I would think.

[FLPensFan]

DK comment on Glass, which is good to hear since I couldn't watch last nite:

Of all the various wingers competing for all the various bottom-six vacancies, only Cody Glass impressed. Superb bursts of speed included lateral, dangerous cuts directly to the net. Easily could've been rewarded with a goal or two.

On the flip side, DK said something that I've been thinking more and more...what is the point of Sam Poulin? It's not just because he had a bad game last night. Quick, in 3 seconds or less, tell me what does Sam Poulin excel at? What's his best trait? We all know he has scored in the AHL, but, there isn't a standout trait to his game.

Yeah Poulin didn't look good last night. 2 bad penalties and wasn't noticeable anywhere. He will either get waived, or maybe we could trade him for another former prospect that could use a change of scenery? Problem is Poulin needs to clear waivers to get sent down, anyone would trade him for would be in the same boat I would think.

I doubt Poulin has much value at this point. 2019 draft class, only 4 players have played less than 20 games in the NHL. Poulin is one of them. He likely gets waived and goes unclaimed, since anyone claiming him has to keep him on the NHL roster.

[Puck-Lurker]

I'd put Poulin behind Gruden on my depth chart as it stands. Poulin is like that water, they add some kind of odour to, to mimic flavour. I think he clears if sent down and I don't see how that doesn't end up happening. Not worth much in a trade, which would be flotsam for jetsam anyway.

Glass did pretty well that last game, some flashes that showed his playmaking. More of that please. Soft penciling him in at 3RW.



As for Yager, I think Pens saw him as a good 3C type, with limited weak 2C upside. Is he ever going to be a top-50 centre in the league? I don't think so, no. If he turns into good 2C, we lost this trade, pretty much.

[dark_forces]

So, didn't watch the game. Looking at the scoreboard, penalties, Taylor Haase summary, etc, here's what I gathered on the game tonight.

Stock up:
--Blomqvist - stopped all of the shots he faced (12 I think) to have a nice rebound after a bad game the other day.
--Hayes - A goal against another team, not just scrimmage time.
--Beauvillier - Heard he looked really good and was noticeable, just didn't get chances to finish
--St.Ivany - First goal of the game. Taylor also commented she had seen enough that St. Ivany should be #6 and Aho #7 at this point.

Stock down:
--Poulin - no standout comments except 2 penalties, the 2nd one being labeled as far away from the play and selfish. Sealed your fate there, Sam.
--Lizotte - DK mentioned he has not been playing well. I think he played the other day and wasn't very noticeable either.

Neutral
--McGroarty - Sounds like he gave a poor effort on a clear that allowed BUF to keep it in, leading to a goal. But also made some nice plays later in the game to even things out a bit.
--Nedeljkovic - 3 goals on 15 shots; didn't seem like he had a strong night, maybe 1 goal wasn't his fault.
--Glass - Sounds like he was a little more noticeable tonight, but still not doing anything to put his name on the roster in pen.

Great post—well packaged. Loved reading it. This is absolutely what makes FLPensFan a cut above.

[dark_forces]

DK comment on Glass, which is good to hear since I couldn't watch last nite:

Of all the various wingers competing for all the various bottom-six vacancies, only Cody Glass impressed. Superb bursts of speed included lateral, dangerous cuts directly to the net. Easily could've been rewarded with a goal or two.

On the flip side, DK said something that I've been thinking more and more...what is the point of Sam Poulin? It's not just because he had a bad game last night. Quick, in 3 seconds or less, tell me what does Sam Poulin excel at? What's his best trait? We all know he has scored in the AHL, but, there isn't a standout trait to his game.

Yeah Poulin didn't look good last night. 2 bad penalties and wasn't noticeable anywhere. He will either get waived, or maybe we could trade him for another former prospect that could use a change of scenery? Problem is Poulin needs to clear waivers to get sent down, anyone would trade him for would be in the same boat I would think.

I doubt Poulin has much value at this point. 2019 draft class, only 4 players have played less than 20 games in the NHL. Poulin is one of them. He likely gets waived and goes unclaimed, since anyone claiming him has to keep him on the NHL roster.

My biggest interest, as far as bubble players go, is Puustinen. I think Glass and Beauvillier make him redundant.
This begs the question: is he the 13th forward or is he dealt/claimed on waivers? I think he fetches something, and I don't believe he can be sent to the AHL without clearing waivers. Anyone care to hazard a guess as to what becomes of him?

[FLPensFan]

DK comment on Glass, which is good to hear since I couldn't watch last nite:

Of all the various wingers competing for all the various bottom-six vacancies, only Cody Glass impressed. Superb bursts of speed included lateral, dangerous cuts directly to the net. Easily could've been rewarded with a goal or two.

On the flip side, DK said something that I've been thinking more and more...what is the point of Sam Poulin? It's not just because he had a bad game last night. Quick, in 3 seconds or less, tell me what does Sam Poulin excel at? What's his best trait? We all know he has scored in the AHL, but, there isn't a standout trait to his game.

Yeah Poulin didn't look good last night. 2 bad penalties and wasn't noticeable anywhere. He will either get waived, or maybe we could trade him for another former prospect that could use a change of scenery? Problem is Poulin needs to clear waivers to get sent down, anyone would trade him for would be in the same boat I would think.

I doubt Poulin has much value at this point. 2019 draft class, only 4 players have played less than 20 games in the NHL. Poulin is one of them. He likely gets waived and goes unclaimed, since anyone claiming him has to keep him on the NHL roster.

My biggest interest, as far as bubble players go, is Puustinen. I think Glass and Beauvillier make him redundant.
This begs the question: is he the 13th forward or is he dealt/claimed on waivers? I think he fetches something, and I don't believe he can be sent to the AHL without clearing waivers. Anyone care to hazard a guess as to what becomes of him?

He needs to do something big in whichever preseason games he manages to get into the rest of the way. Taylor Haase had an article on him today ( free here ). He needs to shoot more. That's his biggest asset is his shot, so he needs to get more shots on net.

Right now, I've got the opening day forwards trending like this:

DOC-Crosby-Rust
Bunting-Malkin-Rakell
Hayes-Eller-Puljujarvi
Beauvillier-Glass-Acciari
X-Puustinen, Lizotte

(I had Lizotte there earlier, but Glass can also play center and has been more noticeable)

Puustinen's problem is going to be his size. 5 goals in 52 games last year, and only 5'9" in size, I'm not sure who might jump on him as a waiver claim. This is why I would have loved to have swapped him for Oliver Wahlstrom (who there was rumored interest over the summer)...because both players have a very, very good shot and speed, but Wahlstrom has size, plays physical, and is better defensively.

As a 7th rounder, Puustinen is lucky to have made it to the NHL, and I think he can still play more games. The last Penguin's 7th rounder to make the NHL and play games was Scott Wilson, drafted in 2011, then Joe Vitale drafted in 2005. Any earlier than that, and they had 9 rounds.

[Puck-Lurker]

He needs to do something big in whichever preseason games he manages to get into the rest of the way. Taylor Haase had an article on him today ( free here ). He needs to shoot more. That's his biggest asset is his shot, so he needs to get more shots on net.

Right now, I've got the opening day forwards trending like this:

DOC-Crosby-Rust
Bunting-Malkin-Rakell
Hayes-Eller-Puljujarvi
Beauvillier-Glass-Acciari
X-Puustinen, Lizotte

(I had Lizotte there earlier, but Glass can also play center and has been more noticeable)

Puustinen's problem is going to be his size. 5 goals in 52 games last year, and only 5'9" in size, I'm not sure who might jump on him as a waiver claim. This is why I would have loved to have swapped him for Oliver Wahlstrom (who there was rumored interest over the summer)...because both players have a very, very good shot and speed, but Wahlstrom has size, plays physical, and is better defensively.

As a 7th rounder, Puustinen is lucky to have made it to the NHL, and I think he can still play more games. The last Penguin's 7th rounder to make the NHL and play games was Scott Wilson, drafted in 2011, then Joe Vitale drafted in 2005. Any earlier than that, and they had 9 rounds.

Puustinen got an NHL job last season by virtue of no one being there to compete for the spot, pretty much. Dubas has fixed that, at least.

DK, Taylor Haase and a few others have said that VP needs to shoot more. That's his unique selling point. But somehow, he doesn't do it enough. Early on when he got on the PP he'd rifle one now and then. Then he became part of the lethargy and stopped shooting as much.

To be fair, I'd level the same criticism against RMG. Needs to shoot more. He's not that much a scoring threat so defenders and goalies get to cheat on him and be prepared for the pass.

It's musical chairs time in the bottom six. Eller is secure, Hayes has announced himself, Glass has impressed enough, Puljujärvi made a strong case for himself, Beauvilier has looked good at times.. not much room left at the inn. And the competition is Acciari, Lizotte, Beauvilier for him. That means he could end up 14F, which doesn't cut it if Pens are going to carry 8D.

I'd personally put him ahead of Acciari, but Acciari PKs