2024-2025 Season Random Penguins Fodder

[ahawk9]

I thought Strome and Chychrun were there to get and the Pens went with older, more expensive choices. It's funny how 30 isn't technically old but if you throw 15 players 30 and over on the same team then there's a discernable difference between it and a team with mostly guys in their 20s. They need that infusion of youthful exuberance or something to go with the "old coots"...

[Antonio]

This team absolutely didn't need to be where it is at right now and tons of people saw it and were vocal about mistakes that were being made for years. It wasn't like it was some esoteric mystery they couldn't have possibly anticipated or solved. People were literally saying this team was committing unforced errors that were going to force them into irrelevance for years rather than a brief interregnum. Just highlights how much of the elite "expert" hockey class is really nothing of the sort.

[Pens4Life]

Just highlights how much of the elite "expert" hockey class is really nothing of the sort.

THIS!

[KG]

Good on Kakko. That said, he better hope he doesn't get traded here. He can save that quote for Sully...

You can swap his name with Jesse Puljujärvi and it will be true still.

Kakko's 5v5 numbers are far superior to Kreider and Zibanejad...but Kakko was scratched. Can't touch a veteran. Sounds familiar?

Rangers will have to make a move. Getting shutout against Nashville is the latest loss. I would definitely be interested in Kakko on a discount. Rangers love vets, we have a plethora of those in our bottom 6. Take your pick!

[largegarlic]

At least with regard to Dubas, even if some of his moves haven't worked out, I can understand his rationale for making them (big exception: keeping Sullivan as the coach). Hextall, though, just seemed totally incompetent and made stupid moves for stupid reasons or no discernible reason at all.

That said, with Dubas, if you're supposed to be some whiz kid, next-gen, analytics-driven GM, your decisions should actually turn out to be the right ones more often than not, regardless of whether there's a solid thought process behind them. And I don't think Dubas has reached that threshold yet.

[Admin]

Stolarz is out 4-6 weeks with a knee issue. Jarry to TOR?

[Admin]

From hockey-reference.com:

After scoring his 600th goal, Sidney Crosby has not scored a goal in his last 10 games. It's only his 6th career goal-less streak of at least 10+ games.

Code: Select all

Rk	Player	      Streak	Streak Started	Streak Ended	Active
1	Sidney Crosby	12	2011-11-23	2012-03-22	
2	Sidney Crosby	11	2024-02-27	2024-03-16	
3	Sidney Crosby	11	2017-10-21	2017-11-11	
4	Sidney Crosby	10	2024-11-27	2024-12-17	*
5	Sidney Crosby	10	2019-03-14	2019-04-02	
6	Sidney Crosby	10	2018-01-17	2018-02-09

[Antonio]

Two those six have been this calendar year.

[dark_forces]

At least with regard to Dubas, even if some of his moves haven't worked out, I can understand his rationale for making them (big exception: keeping Sullivan as the coach). Hextall, though, just seemed totally incompetent and made stupid moves for stupid reasons or no discernible reason at all.

That said, with Dubas, if you're supposed to be some whiz kid, next-gen, analytics-driven GM, your decisions should actually turn out to be the right ones more often than not, regardless of whether there's a solid thought process behind them. And I don't think Dubas has reached that threshold yet.

The Graves signing was his biggest miss. You could say we didn't need Acciari or Nieto either, but they're not breaking the bank.
The Jarry signing is where I give him a pass because there weren't really other options.
Karlsson is a so-so deal because it did jettison problematic contracts and players acquired by Hextall who didn't fit.

He should've started last season what he's doing now.

[Sams_Dog]

Good on Kakko. That said, he better hope he doesn't get traded here. He can save that quote for Sully...

You can swap his name with Jesse Puljujärvi and it will be true still.

Kakko's 5v5 numbers are far superior to Kreider and Zibanejad...but Kakko was scratched. Can't touch a veteran. Sounds familiar?

Rangers will have to make a move. Getting shutout against Nashville is the latest loss. I would definitely be interested in Kakko on a discount. Rangers love vets, we have a plethora of those in our bottom 6. Take your pick!

[dark_forces]

Good on Kakko. That said, he better hope he doesn't get traded here. He can save that quote for Sully...

You can swap his name with Jesse Puljujärvi and it will be true still.

Kakko's 5v5 numbers are far superior to Kreider and Zibanejad...but Kakko was scratched. Can't touch a veteran. Sounds familiar?

Rangers will have to make a move. Getting shutout against Nashville is the latest loss. I would definitely be interested in Kakko on a discount. Rangers love vets, we have a plethora of those in our bottom 6. Take your pick!

I would be interested in Kakko. Would DOC + Poulin be enough to get it done? It gives the Rangers a pair of young, bigger body wingers who have position flexibility. Kakko could slot with Malkin or Crosby and probably get some PP time.

[largegarlic]

I haven't watched him enough to have a real feel for how much untapped potential is there. His production certainly isn't anything to write home about. His "breakout" year, 22-23, saw him getting 18 g and 22 a for 40 points, but his next highest point total is 23 from his rookie season. He only has 4 goals so far this season, but his shooting percentage is 8.9%, while for his career it's 11.9%. So, he's probably due for some more pucks to go in. He's also getting a lot of offensive zone starts this season (65%). He's also only played 82 games in a season once, though I think his first two years were Covid-shortened seasons.

So, I don't know. Based on the numbers, I'm not opposed to picking up Kakko if he's available on the cheap (really cheap), but O'Conner isn't too far off from him in terms of production and is only about 2.5 years older.

[FLPensFan]

I haven't watched him enough to have a real feel for how much untapped potential is there. His production certainly isn't anything to write home about. His "breakout" year, 22-23, saw him getting 18 g and 22 a for 40 points, but his next highest point total is 23 from his rookie season. He only has 4 goals so far this season, but his shooting percentage is 8.9%, while for his career it's 11.9%. So, he's probably due for some more pucks to go in. He's also getting a lot of offensive zone starts this season (65%). He's also only played 82 games in a season once, though I think his first two years were Covid-shortened seasons.

So, I don't know. Based on the numbers, I'm not opposed to picking up Kakko if he's available on the cheap (really cheap), but O'Conner isn't too far off from him in terms of production and is only about 2.5 years older.

For the right price, imagine taking a risk on both Hoglander and Kakko, and both of them panning out. Even if both topped out at 60 point players, those are the type of potential low risk, high reward trades Dubas needs to swing for...depending on what goes the other way.

I think DOC+ would be a good starting point for Kakko. Kakko is younger, has played over 300 NHL games already, and has a slightly higher goal/game and point/game rate (like 5% higher in each, which isn't a big gap). The youth would be the biggest thing in that, there's still a chance Kakko can grow out his production a bit.

I'd still take Hoglander as well, preferably in a Pettersson trade, such as Hoglander and a 2nd. Adding those 2 pieces, plus potentially subtracting Rakell, will give us some more youth in our lineup up front. Next season, we could potentially have Glass, McGroarty, Hoglander, Kakko, Broz, and Ponomarev all in the top 9.

It may not be high end bona fide top 6, but, I'd rather fail and lose games with that collection of forwards than what we are putting out there today.

[Antonio]

Honestly I have zero interest in bringing in anything beyond draft picks as long as Sullivan is here. Absolutely no interest in any players that I would have to hope "pan out" or develop, or turn it around, etc with him here. Until the Boston Fever has been completely purged from the organization's immune system, just bring in draft picks or, honestly, do nothing because who cares until him and his crew are gone.

[Skatingpen]

But will he ever be fired? That’s a lot of money and years left on that bone!

[FLPensFan]

Honestly I have zero interest in bringing in anything beyond draft picks as long as Sullivan is here. Absolutely no interest in any players that I would have to hope "pan out" or develop, or turn it around, etc with him here. Until the Boston Fever has been completely purged from the organization's immune system, just bring in draft picks or, honestly, do nothing because who cares until him and his crew are gone.

Why? "He has clearly demonstrated what an effective leader he is and it's evident how well players respond to his philosophy and work ethic night after night, month after month." Direct quote from FSG Principal Owner John Henry after his extension. Don't cha just feel the compete and work ethic night after night, month after month???

Either he's the greatest coach that ever lived and would be snapped up in a heartbeat, meaning no dead salary payments for FSG....or he's completely lost his luster and FSG knows he'll be dead cap. I'd like to think it's the latter, but, I also know the Rangers are close enough to Boston to think Sullivan is the greatest ever. What do they know...they play in a round arena that they call a square.

If Dubas and FSG truly believe that Sullivan isn't the problem, then there is zero point in keeping this core together, because it isn't working. Yes, they've been playing well of late, but, with the past 6 years track record, waiting 2 months into the season to really start playing doesn't get me pumped at the potential of this team.

It's the coach or it's the players. We've been through the players with the exception of a handful. We've seen the asinine lineup decisions year after year.

I know which one I think is the problem. I really don't care if Crosby loves Sullivan and decides to marry a hidden Sullivan daughter, he needs to go.

[Cow_Master66]

Sullivan might be a problem, but he's not "the" problem. This team isn't doing a magical 180 if they can him, so I still don't get the obsession with wanting him gone yesterday.

I'm in the Antonio camp ~~ draft picks are top priority. If they get Taco for DOC and they get 2 years younger, fine, whatever, who cares.

[FLPensFan]

Sullivan might be a problem, but he's not "the" problem. This team isn't doing a magical 180 if they can him, so I still don't get the obsession with wanting him gone yesterday.

I'm in the Antonio camp ~~ draft picks are top priority. If they get Taco for DOC and they get 2 years younger, fine, whatever, who cares.

You are right, Sullivan isn't THE problem THIS YEAR. But what about last year, or the year before, or the 4 years of 1st round playoff exits. Some of that goes on goaltending, some of that goes on poor roster construction, some of it goes on players, and some of it goes on Sullivan.

And there have been plenty of coaches that have been fired for a lot less. I think that's part one of the Sullivan issue, and part 2 is, for a team that should now be shifting towards youth, he still prioritizes playing a guy like Nieto over Puljujarvi, or playing Acciari or Hayes every night, or playing Grzelcyk non-stop when he was an absolute horrible d-man, almost near Ryan Graves level horrible.

The decision making of Sullivan has been down right absurd the last few years, and as much as Sid and others say they like Sullivan, the on ice product up until recently has often shown as a team that has tuned out the coach. The "Just Play" mantra is stale, this team is soft, and gets pushed around easily. Sullivan may have made adjustments year over year, but his system still seems stale. Something isn't right for the amount of slow start seasons this team has had over the past 6 years, the odd man rushes, complete and total system breakdowns, etc.

Finally, Sullivan has NEVER had a "young" roster. There's no precedent to say he is the right guy to lead this team through a major shift to young guys who need development

[FLPensFan]

Told ya Dubas was going to make a d-man move before the holiday freeze.

[FLPensFan]

Kakko to Seattle for Will Borgen and picks...

[EndO FanEra]

Told ya Dubas was going to make a d-man move before the holiday freeze.

I like it!

I suppose it kind of depends on what is going the other way though...

[KG]

Rangers fans calling for Drury's ouster over the Kakko trade. Fun to see them implode!

[Wyopen]

Pickering will probably go down to WBS.

[FLPensFan]

Rangers fans calling for Drury's ouster over the Kakko trade. Fun to see them implode!

Problem is, the owner is backing him, so, he's safe for now. Laviolette will likely get the axe before Drury.

[Puck-Lurker]

Pickering will probably go down to WBS.

And that would be a stupid move.