2024-2025 Season Random Penguins Fodder

[Puck-Lurker]

Clurman. Who? Hahahahahhaha. 2 guys are injured and that's where we are at?

Four, by my count.

Pettersson, Pickering, St Ivany and the Wrong Aho.

[Victor]

It's Puljujärvi's chance if MS is forced to dress 13F and 5D! Or maybe he will double shift Acciari...

[KG]

It's Puljujärvi's chance if MS is forced to dress 13F and 5D! Or maybe he will double shift Acciari...

Puljujarvi is our 14th forward behind the corpse of Kevin Hayes. Really is ridiculous that he can't get into the lineup. All Sully cares about is if the bottom 6 can defend. Meanwhile these great defensive players apparently in Acciari and Nieto are all heavy minus players.

[Puck-Lurker]

It's Puljujärvi's chance if MS is forced to dress 13F and 5D! Or maybe he will double shift Acciari...

Puljujarvi is our 14th forward behind the corpse of Kevin Hayes. Really is ridiculous that he can't get into the lineup. All Sully cares about is if the bottom 6 can defend. Meanwhile these great defensive players apparently in Acciari and Nieto are all heavy minus players.

Puljujärvi is better at defending than those three.

[Antonio]

Clurman. Who? Hahahahahhaha. 2 guys are injured and that's where we are at?

Four, by my count.

Pettersson, Pickering, St Ivany and the Wrong Aho.

Hell, I forgot Aho existed and I guess yeah, St. Ivany...so I mean ok...but still.

[KG]

Detroit fires their head coach. Hiring Todd Mcelellan.

Yzerman probably wishes he stayed in Tampa.

[Victor]

Detroit fires their head coach. Hiring Todd Mcelellan.

Yzerman probably wishes he stayed in Tampa.

He was an assistant coach there when Detroit beat the Pens to the Cup in 2008 and left to be a head coach in SJ the following season.

Apparently there was some negotiations with the Kings as they were still paying McLellan.

[KG]

DOC has some leash with this coach. 2nd line RW apparently.

[Wyopen]

DOC should be benched. Three goals in 36 games. Anyone else would be eating nachos.

[Puck-Lurker]

DOC should be benched. Three goals in 36 games. Anyone else would be eating nachos.

As long as they're not named Acciari. Three goals in 36 games and four assists (DOC has 7).

[Victor]

After four games played for them, Avs extended Blackwood. 5 years, 5.25M AAV.

[Pens4Life]

DOC has some leash with this coach. 2nd line RW apparently.

Just insane dogs**t with Puljujarvi, just trade him please! Do him a favour and let him go.. this moron coach obviously has something against him personally otherwise he would be playing.
Still playing 4-5 guys over him while they didnt do **** in weeks in beyond moronic and pathetic! F... You Sully, you have a long history with being biased with certain players!
Not to mention dumping hotstreak Lizotte to 4th line to accomodate his pets Glass, Beau, Tomasino and DOC.

[stonewizard51]

I agree with you. Puljujarvi has more than earned the right to be in the lineup, obviously not here, so trade him and let him play somewhere else.

[Puck-Lurker]

Points per game
1.08 Crosby
0.93 Rust
0.81 Rakell
0.81 Malkin
0.60 Lizotte
0.51 Bunting
0.42 Tomasino
0.38 Puljujärvi
0.32 Hayes
0.31 Beauvillier
0.30 Glass
0.28 O'Connor
0.20 Puustinen [waived]
0.19 Acciari
0.17 Poulin [waived]
0.13 Nieto

I think this speaks for itself. When this group (14F) is healthy, Nieto and Acciari just shouldn't play.

- Rakell-Crosby-Rust; you can leave this line alone. It functions. We want Crosby to score stacks of points and this is the way to do it.
- Bunting-Malkin-Tomasino; Tomasino had a nice little streak with Geno, I'd put him back there. Swap him out with JP, or someone getting hot if he Tomasino gets cold.
- Beauvillier-Lizotte-Puljujärvi; this is a functional 3rd line that can put in the work and be a scoring threat. Swap out Beauvillier with DOC if DOC remembers how to score.
- Hayes-Glass-DOC; I honestly think you keep Hayes around, he'll score the odd point and make good passes. Glass can focus on defence and grinding with DOC. Hayes needs to come out of the lineup now and again, replace them with a callup, like Broz or Koivunen.
- Nieto waived, call up literally anyone; preference for Broz and Koivunen. But I'd even be okay with Bemström playing over this guy.
- Acciari scratched. 14th forward.

[longtimefan]

Points per game
1.08 Crosby
0.93 Rust
0.81 Rakell
0.81 Malkin
0.60 Lizotte
0.51 Bunting
0.42 Tomasino
0.38 Puljujärvi
0.32 Hayes
0.31 Beauvillier
0.30 Glass
0.28 O'Connor
0.20 Puustinen [waived]
0.19 Acciari
0.17 Poulin [waived]
0.13 Nieto

I think this speaks for itself. When this group (14F) is healthy, Nieto and Acciari just shouldn't play.

- Rakell-Crosby-Rust; you can leave this line alone. It functions. We want Crosby to score stacks of points and this is the way to do it.
- Bunting-Malkin-Tomasino; Tomasino had a nice little streak with Geno, I'd put him back there. Swap him out with JP, or someone getting hot if he Tomasino gets cold.
- Beauvillier-Lizotte-Puljujärvi; this is a functional 3rd line that can put in the work and be a scoring threat. Swap out Beauvillier with DOC if DOC remembers how to score.
- Hayes-Glass-DOC; I honestly think you keep Hayes around, he'll score the odd point and make good passes. Glass can focus on defence and grinding with DOC. Hayes needs to come out of the lineup now and again, replace them with a callup, like Broz or Koivunen.
- Nieto waived, call up literally anyone; preference for Broz and Koivunen. But I'd even be okay with Bemström playing over this guy.
- Acciari scratched. 14th forward.

You're just looking at PPG. That's not a fair assessment of a player's worth. Acciar's recent reviews by the media have been complimentary. Bourque was praising him near the end of the Flyer game. Spoke about how he and Bunting fit well into the rivalry. Along with Lizotte, they bring a bit of jam. When Lizotte was signed, they thought he and Acciari on his wing would bring a bit of jam and physicality as well as being sound defensively. Lizotte just happens to be having possibly the best offensive streak of his career.

That doesn't' mean they shouldn't move on from Acciari. His cap hit is too high for his role. But scratching players like him and Hayes can be counter productive. You'd like to move them. But they have to show value on the ice to garner a return. They aren't going to be easy to move from the press box. Although the current lineup seems to have pushed Hayes upstairs. He's been a healthy scratch for the last 5 games. Realistically, he doesn't have much of a market. Acciar may play himself into a valuable commodity for a cup contender. But he has to play to do that.

[Puck-Lurker]

You're just looking at PPG. That's not a fair assessment of a player's worth.

It's one indicator and it provides a hard factor in a sea full of soft factors. But I kept some other things in my mind.

Acciari's recent reviews by the media have been complimentary. Bourque was praising him near the end of the Flyer game. Spoke about how he and Bunting fit well into the rivalry. Along with Lizotte, they bring a bit of jam. When Lizotte was signed, they thought he and Acciari on his wing would bring a bit of jam and physicality as well as being sound defensively. Lizotte just happens to be having possibly the best offensive streak of his career.

All I can say is, Bourque and others are seeing different games from me; 9 times out of 10, all Acciari does is just kinda skate around. Being middle of the road on a PK and provide less of a scoring threat than Ryan Graves on most nights. Physicality generally hasn't been there either, not to the point that he should be known for it this season.

Lizotte on the other hand has been ALL effort, constantly. So annoying to play against. Comes away with pucks he shouldn't and he has been scoring at an unreasonable clip. Yeah his point production will come down to earth, but all the other things should remain consistent. Dude's been the life of the party. Because he does a bunch of things Acciari just doesn't.

Bunting, sure. He's come alive again.

That doesn't' mean they shouldn't move on from Acciari. His cap hit is too high for his role. But scratching players like him and Hayes can be counter productive. You'd like to move them. But they have to show value on the ice to garner a return. They aren't going to be easy to move from the press box. Although the current lineup seems to have pushed Hayes upstairs. He's been a healthy scratch for the last 5 games. Realistically, he doesn't have much of a market. Acciar may play himself into a valuable commodity for a cup contender. But he has to play to do that.

You're either going to put your best 12 forwards out there, or you're trying to shop forwards. Those are mutually exclusive.

If you are going to trade a player.. I don't see how Hayes or Acciari have much value. Signed through next season at expensive contracts for what you get out of them. I'll applaud Dubas if he manages to dump either of them and gain something for the future, even if it's a single 7th rounder. Playing prospects on rotation in the NHL over them is a win in and of itself.

Lizotte is a player you could trade for some kind of return, but are we improving his trade value burying him at 4C? The option to trade him should be on the table at any rate. Maybe a 3rd and 5th?

[longtimefan]

You underestimate the value of a player like Acciari to a team trying to win a cup. It's not about whether he scores. Hayes has no value. He's cap space sold for a couple of picks.

[Puck-Lurker]

You underestimate the value of a player like Acciari to a team trying to win a cup. It's not about whether he scores. Hayes has no value. He's cap space sold for a couple of picks.

I'm judging what I see him do on the ice as well and.. well I'm not seeing it? Certainly not what was advertised when he was signed. Yeah he doesn't necessarily hurt you, but he just kinda does.. nothing.. Poulin has the same problem in my eyes.

[FLPensFan]

You underestimate the value of a player like Acciari to a team trying to win a cup. It's not about whether he scores. Hayes has no value. He's cap space sold for a couple of picks.

I'm judging what I see him do on the ice as well and.. well I'm not seeing it? Certainly not what was advertised when he was signed. Yeah he doesn't necessarily hurt you, but he just kinda does.. nothing.. Poulin has the same problem in my eyes.

If you want to add to your argument about Acciari's negative worth, don't just look at his points production. Add in his possession numbers, and that tells a lot more of the story. You want more proof, here's a tale of two teams standard 4th line deployment:

Team 1:
PlayerA: 36 games, 3 goals, 7 points; 5v5 Corsi% 42.32%, 5v5 shots% 41.95%, 5v5 Scoring Chances% 45.87%
PlayerB: 15 games, 1 goal, 2 points; 5v5 Corsi% 38.24%, 5v5 shots% 39.17%, 5v5 Scoring Chances% 34.55%
PlayerC: 22 games, 4 goals, 7 points; 5v5 Corsi% 48.27%, 5v5 shots% 43.27%, 5v5 Scoring Chances% 48.77%

Team 2:
PlayerX: 37 games, 4 goals, 9 points; 5v5 Corsi% 51.95%, 5v5 shots% 51.06%, 5v5 Scoring Chances 54.98%
PlayerY: 25 games, 1 goal, 5 points; 5v5 Corsi% 52.21%, 5v5 shots% 53.57%, 5v5 Scoring Chances 57.69%
PlayerZ: 18 games, 1 goal, 1 point; 5v5 Corsi% 50.41%, 5v5 shots% 47.79%, 5v5 Scoring Chances 49.52%

Team 1, Penguins; PlayerA Acciari; PlayerB Nieto; PlayerC Hayes
Team 2, Panthers; PlayerX AJ Greer; PlayerY Tomas Nosek; PlayerZ Jonah Gadjovich

Big difference between the Penguins and a strong playoff contender in their 4th lines...and Florida lost A LOT of quality 4th liners after their Cup win last year (Lomberg, Stenlund, Lorentz, Cousins). It's one thing not to produce points. That really shouldn't be a 4th liners role, but, there is an expectation of what they should chip in (5-8 goals; 15-20 points on a good team).

It's another thing to barely produce and constantly be caved in. Florida's 4th line doesn't have any talented scorers, but with their 4th line controls the puck more often than not. They don't get heavily out-chanced and out-shot like our 4th line does. Being a good PK guy is not enough reason to dress a player unless he's an exceptional PK guy. None of Acciari, Nieto, or Hayes are exceptional. Nashville is a horrible team, but the best PK team in the league. Their 2 main 4th liners, McCarron and Sissons both have better Corsi%, Shots%, and Scoring Chances% than Nieto and Acciari...from one of the bottom 3 teams in the league.

I even tried to "prop up" Acciari and Nieto by looking at the last 10 games, where the Penguins have been playing much better with a 6-3-1 record. Nieto and Acciari are actually WORSE than their season numbers over this stretch. Their scoring chances% is in the 20% range for both, and their actual shots% is in the 30-35% range for both players. They are getting crushed over this winning streak. Hayes numbers are the highest of the 3 because he spent more time on the 2nd and 3rd lines early in the season.

The PK has been very good over this period of time. It's very apparent Sullivan is putting too much weight into PK ability. Nieto has 13 minutes of PK time over the last 10 games. He has 76 minutes of even strength time during that period (7 games only for Nieto).

Oh yeah, here's a bonus player....

Player0 - 21 games, 3 goals, 9 points; 5v5 Corsi% 51.17; 5v5 shots% 47.06; 5v5 Scoring Chances 49.17%

Player0 is Jesse Puljujarvi, whose production and possession impact numbers are far and away better than anything we are currently sending over the boards, but Puljujarvi can't touch the ice.

[Sams_Dog]

Fire Sully. There I said it.

[Victor]

Montreal's rookie goalie Jakub Dobes had quite the debut, posting a shutout against the Panthers in Florida.

It seems like a lot of goalies can win a game at any given time. No need to have long contracts with them.

[FLPensFan]

Montreal's rookie goalie Jakub Dobes had quite the debut, posting a shutout against the Panthers in Florida.

It seems like a lot of goalies can win a game at any given time. No need to have long contracts with them.

Not to mention, if the Penguins have one organizational development strength, it is goalies. A list of all Penguins drafted goalies in the cap era (plus Fleury in 2003)

--MAF, one of the winningest goalies in the NHL all-time
--Andy Chiodo, 2003 7th rounder - 8 NHL games, 100 or so AHL games, now a goalie coach for Penguins
--David Brown, 2004 8th rounder - MISS - 20 or so AHL games highest level
--Chad Johnson, 2006 5th round - just under 200 NHL games, none with Penguins
--Alexander Pechursky, 2008 5th round - MISS - one memorable NHL game; no other US professional experience
--Patrick Killeen, 2008 6th round - MISS - 7 AHL games, about 100 ECHL games
--Matt Murray, 2012 3rd round - 273 NHL games, 2 Cups
--Sean Maguire, 2012 4th round - MISS - 6 AHL games, about 50 ECHL games
--Tristan Jarry, 2013 2nd round - 273 NHL games and counting
--Filip Gustavsson, 2016 2nd round - 135 NHL games and counting
--Joel Blomqvist, 2020 2nd round - 8 NHL games, promising future
--Calle Clang, 2020 3rd round - dressed as backup TODAY for first NHL game
--Sergei Murashov, 2022 4th round - promising future.

That's a pretty good hit rate on goalies, with MAF, Johnson, Murray, Jarry, Gustavsson all being solid hits, and Blomqvist, Murashov, and maybe Clang close to proving themselves at NHL level.

Penguins right now have Larsson playing really well in WBS. Blomqvist has been ok in the AHL.
Murashov is 12-2 in the ECHL, plus 2-0 in AHL, with great numbers at both levels
Gauthier has 5 ECHL starts after starting injured, 3-2 but 1.62 GAA and .947 SV%

Penguins have 4 goalies 25 or under in their system right now, some (Larsson and Blomqvist) pushing for NHL work, and Mursahov and Gauthier should really both be at AHL level at this point.

[stonewizard51]

I don't see them over turning that goal. Hope I'm wrong.

And so I am.

[stonewizard51]

That sucked.

[stonewizard51]

Bunting !!

Sid is now the king of the assists. Nice