Episode IX|The Off-Season Thread|It's... still the offseason.
 

Let's continue here... rumors around the league/rumors at all/Doan/lines/hatred for DB's defensive zone/gap control/etc.

You really get the impression the last year that Geno truly loves his sport! He always is up for a game these day it seems. Good to see him catching up to Sid on the commitment side of things. Kinda cool to think he still has some real upside to his game after all the awards and accomplishments....

Can it just be Thanksgiving yet? That's probably as soon as we're likely to see hockey. :(

****ing **** summer. Get dominated in free agency, now a lockout is very likely... **** me.

I don't think there will be a lockout, this is all just part of the negotiations to get a deal done, IMO.

Last year the NFL was thought to be locked out for sure then they came to an agreement, I think the NHL will do the same. The NHL is gaining popularity, they will realize how much money will be lost if there is no season or even half of a season.

A little over 2 weeks before the current CBA expires, that's plenty of time to agree on a new one.

if the cap goes down, our free agency was just fine

You forgot about the whole getting routed in the 1st round by our division rival in embarrassing fashion.

Aren't you guys just bundles of joy. :laugh:

Im carefully optimistic about the CBA. The free agency part. Meh I'm not that worried. Things will align, i'm certain.

I hope so. I hope these guys (Fehr and Bettman) do not actually have their heels planted in the ground and these are all just bartering tactics.

Well, let's talk about the team's lineup.

It's basically been talked about already, I know Tyler Kennedy isn't too popular on here, but if you look at his stats, he has never played at least 70 games in a season until 2010-11 when he played 80 games and had is 21 goal, 45 point season.

I think Kennedy would be a better fit in the top 6 than on the 3rd line, and I also think adding Dupuis on a line with Cooke and Sutter will give us more depth in the lineup and make our 3rd line better both offensively and defensively.

I also know that some people don't want Tangradi in the top 6 unless he earns it, I agree, he has to earn it, but with his size, speed and hands, plus the way he played for us and WBS at the end of last season and in the playoffs, I think he can make the top 6.

Kunitz-Crosby-Kennedy
Tangradi-Malkin-Neal
Cooke-Sutter-Dupuis
Glass-Vitale-Adams/Jeffrey

Martin-Letang
Orpik-Niskanen
Despres-Engelland
Bortuzzo

Fleury
Vokoun

I'm sorry, but no. Dupuis is just better than Kennedy. Kennedy's offense does not translate well into the top 6. For one, he's small. As you mentioned, he never plays a full season. Now if we switch him to the top 6, he'll be taking more abuse by playing more minutes against better opponents. Second, he has tunnel vision. He gets the puck and shoots it. That's fine on the third line. It's not fine with Sidney Crosby on your line. If he plays with Sid he has to change his game.

Also, TK's 45 point season came largely because he was getting top powerplay time. He had 14 PP points that season. His next best years are 4 and 3 PP points. He's never getting that powerplay time if we have a remotely healthy team.

I like TK for what he is. A solid 3rd line hustler who is a decent scoring threat.

I know, but who says the better player has to be on the 1st line? I'm just going by where I think their role is better suited. Kennedy is a tenacious, speedy forward who loves to shoot the puck, Dupuis is a solid 2-way forward with speed and grit. I think putting Dupuis on the 3rd line makes it better than if Kennedy would be there, and we already have a good 1st line with Kunitz-Crosby, so adding Kennedy wouldn't make it significantly worse.

I don't know, all I'm saying is that it's worth a shot.

Dupuis is better than Kennedy but TK gets WAY too much hate around here. I wouldn't be opposed to giving him a shot in the top 6.

Besides, he'd be the only RHS in the top 6.

I edited my post. The only part of that I really agree with is putting Dupuis on the 3rd line makes the 3rd line better. But so does putting Dupuis on the first line. He's just better than TK. Dupuis fits better with Sid. Sid doesn't need a guy who will just blindly throw pucks at the net. I really think Kennedy would take away more chances from Crosby and Kunitz than he'd add unless he significantly changes the way he plays the game.

I also think TK will be completely physically dominated by top pairing d-men. Health is already an issue for him and I don't see more ice time against better opponents being a good way to fix that.

As one of the bigger TK fans out there, he gets deserved heat from his effort last season. He finally gets paid for his hustle and he shows up and doesn't do what he's supposed to do. He was almost a worthless player last season. He needs to showcase himself this year.

I'm a pretty big TK fan. On the third line. The game he brings is great there when he's on. Throwing pucks on net is good when you aren't giving away possession that should be Crosby's. That's how depth scorers score.

Can anyone picture a guy like Chara just picking him up by the head, TK's arms and legs flailing not reaching him while Chara clears the puck with his other hand? That's what I envision when I think of TK against top defensemen.

I wouldn't be opposed to trying Kennedy on the top line over Duper, I just don't think it makes any sense.

I was coming to this thread to post this same exact video.

Damn you... *shakes fist*

sure I wouldn't mind seeing a pre-season game with a Kunitz/Tangradi - Crosby - TK line or something. If it does somehow work, Dupuis is definitely a better fit for that 3rd line.

http://www.hockeysverige.se/article/...for-spel-i-zug

Linus Omark to play for Zug coming season, lockout or not.

"Omark from Övertorneå makes no secret of the fact that he's been very unhappy with the situation in Edmonton"

"Even if Omark is returning home for now his wish is still to play in the NHL. His goal is to get back to the other side of the atlantic as soon as possible and the best way of doing that is playing some of the best hockey of his career"

saw this posted in another thread about a totally different topic.

the pens d was pretty legit that season, even if regular season numbers dont bear that out.

my point is, you gotta have great d to win the cup. the pens were terrible this year on d when it mattered, and barely (if at all) addressed it. kinda makes me worried.

also just wanted to add...

i kinda understand the pens going with young d this season. however the organization is kinda in a strange position.

they are loaded with young d that will make a big impact, but probably not for a few more seasons.

but they have crosby/malkin/staal(oh wait)/fleury, letang, etc. who are all in the primes of their careers.

how to balance veteran forwards/goalies with talented but inexperienced d?

Yeah. I know people were upset we didn't land Suter, but Shero really couldn't have done much more than he did this off-season as far as defense goes. Our best option was always to move one of Martin or Michalek, since neither lived up to their cap hit last year.

Most fans wanted Martin gone over Michalek (including me), but I have to believe there were some extenuating circumstances involved, whether it was the NTC or comfort playing in DB's system.

Either way, our best option now is to hope Martin and Orpik rebound and the kids play as well as they did last year in limited call-ups. None of this year's UFA defensemen outside of Suter were worth our time.

I've long been a supporter of this. I remember during his 21 goal year how he had a couple great one timer goals on the PP. I liked that look down low on the left side. He had 7 PP goals that year, with PP time that increased down the stretch.

For the record, Kunitz had 2, 7, and 6 PPG in his last three years, with a lot more power play time, with much better players. I'm not saying Kennedy is better than Kunitz, but that Kennedy gets WAY too much hate from Pens fans.

He may have slight tunnel vision, but I like how he goes right to the net immediately. He's great at that low pad shot when coming down the wing, which in turn creates a rebound. Granted he's also great at chest sniping too, but you take the bad with the good.

Give him a shot up there again, the RHS would help a lot too. I'm not talking 5 games, I mean 20-25 on a top line and let's see what he'd do with Sid or Geno. Give them time to mesh.

Boucher
Eaton
Gill
Goligoski
Gonchar
Letang
Orpik
Scuderi

I wouldn't call that D "great." However, I would call it "reliable."