And when JR tires of watching Wallace ride the bench, he'll have to waive him to send him to Charlotte. I don't think Dalpe will come back up unless it's an emergency.
In regards to the comments about Boychuk not being given a chance, this board loves, among other things, the anti-scapegoat. Some marginal player who never got a fair shake thanks to some deep dark conspiracy in the front office at PNC Arena. Patrick O'Sullivan provides another great example of this mentality. In 73 NHL games over the course of 5 seasons wearing the Sightless Eye, Boychuk has a grand total of 18 points. Complain all you want about how he was never given a fair look at top-line time with Staal, but what, precisely, did Boychuk ever do to show he belonged up there? I recall there being absolutely no chemistry between Boychuk and Staal and, in general, Boychuk was the Invisible Man on the ice. It's only here that we piss and moan the loss of a player who was scoring at a 0.25 PPG pace (that comes out to 3.6 points per season, folks). Of the rest of the forwards in his draft class, only Greg Nemisz has a lower PPG production (1 point in 15 NHL games) and the other two who are in a similar neighborhood, Nikita Filatov and Vktor Tikhonov, have predominantly chosen to play in the KHL.There are players throughout the NHL who simply never amount to what they were projected to be and Zach Boychuk is most likely one of them.
Boychuk's played two games in black and gold - let's see how he does over the course of more than two games. I have little doubt that the Pens will waive him at which point he'll unceremoniously return to a League where he's actually a competent player - the AHL as a Charlotte Checker.
He's looked fantastic to this point. Plays a fast paced game, a little weak on his skates though (to be expected with his size)
Will be interesting to see where he is in a week as he can get a few more practices in and get comfortable.
I would not say fantastic. Well anymore than we had been told by Canes' fans. He does make you notice him out there. Great hockey IQ, and sense for the other players on his line. made a beauty of a no look drop pass to Bortuzzo the other night creating a terrific scoring chance. But the goals have not fallen yet. That said obviously he has earned a longer try out. The cost, Lovejoy, was addition from subtraction, so it was an easy call.
Gonna take it that he's not having a great game lol.
He was invisible for a long stretch of the game but did manage to get a couple scoring chances as the game went along. He's easily better than Jeffrey and Tangradi though imo. I'm still not sure any of those 3 are real solutions in the top 6 but Boychuk has shown the most promise.
Gonna take it that he's not having a great game lol.
He has been exactly as a lot of you described. Looks like an NHL player out there and displays a lot of skill and hockey smarts. Seldom makes the wrong move or pass, and has real chemistry with some of the best in the game with Malkin, and Crosby when he plays with him. Has come close to scoring but has not yet.
The long and short of it is though that he has shown enough to impress Shero, unless I am misreading, because I am fairly certain that was what getting rid of Lovejoy was all about. He will get at least the rest of this shortened year to show he can put it together. Given the empty cupboard at wing the Pens have in the system it is not an unreasonable notion.
4 games and 0 points isn't very promising. Malkin had 7 points during those games, Neal had 4.
Chemistry or not, it's hard to imagine this experiment will go much further if Boychuk can't get on the score sheet. At some point you have to produce.
4 games and 0 points isn't very promising. Malkin had 7 points during those games, Neal had 4.
Chemistry or not, it's hard to imagine this experiment will go much further if Boychuk can't get on the score sheet. At some point you have to produce.
Well, to be fair to Boychuk, those 7 points for Malkin and 4 points for Neal aren't many at even strength. Malkin has had 4 PPP over the last four games, along with one on the Sutter goal that came when Crosby came out of the penalty box as Malkin and Sutter concluded the PK. All of Neal's four points have been on the PP.
So basically, there's a possibility of two goal that Malkin factored in on that might have been when Boychuk was on the ice, and even Neal didn't factor in on those two.
Well, to be fair to Boychuk, those 7 points for Malkin and 4 points for Neal aren't many at even strength. Malkin has had 4 PPP over the last four games, along with one on the Sutter goal that came when Crosby came out of the penalty box as Malkin and Sutter concluded the PK. All of Neal's four points have been on the PP.
So basically, there's a possibility of two goal that Malkin factored in on that might have been when Boychuk was on the ice, and even Neal didn't factor in on those two.
Without having watched the games, that makes it sound like the line as a whole is underperforming...
Boychuk's seventh consecutive game without a point tonight. He was a -2 in 13 minutes of ice time. In his last 24 NHL games, he has 2 assists for 2 total scoring points and is a -7 total.
Boychuk's seventh consecutive game without a point tonight. He was a -2 in 13 minutes of ice time. In his last 24 NHL games, he has 2 assists for 2 total scoring points and is a -7 total.
The Penguins clearly aren't giving him an ample opportunity to showcase his immense array of talents.
The Penguins clearly aren't giving him an ample opportunity to showcase his immense array of talents.
Clearly he needs top line time with Sid rather than playing with some no-talent hack like Eugene. If only if it weren't for that useless plug Chris Kunitz taking up the LW slot on Crosby's line. The only reason he's on that team is because of his smile.
I don't know. I watched some if the game last night and saw a blatant opportunity he set up Malkin for, and Malkin failed to finish. He moves at their speed, and distributes very well. I know everyone will feel better if/when he fails - but it didn't look at all like he did. I'm sure you guys all watch though.
Maybe a Pens fan can comment, but I believe that Malkin and Neal have struggled to score ES no matter who they've tried on their wing. I'm not defending Boychuk as I've only watched 2 games of his with Pittsburgh and in 1 game I thought he looked pretty good and in the other, he was invisible. I'm just stating that I think that line has struggled ES with or without Boychuk.
My roommate is a Penguins fan so Ive watched quite a few of their games. He did make a nice pass to Malkin that wasn't finished, but those have been far and few in between. It's typically been Boychuk with the chances and Boychuk not finishing them. I just don't see anything telling me he'll be an NHL player.
My roommate is a Penguins fan so Ive watched quite a few of their games. He did make a nice pass to Malkin that wasn't finished, but those have been far and few in between. It's typically been Boychuk with the chances and Boychuk not finishing them. I just don't see anything telling me he'll be an NHL player.
This. And there's no shame in that. Every draft has busts and Boychuk seems to be shaping up to be that. Out of curiosity, was Jordan Eberle even on our radar that draft? Hindsight is 20/20 but how did he project out back then? I note Central Scouting Bureau didn't rank Eberle in the Top 10 of North American skaters, so was Eberle just the Skinner of his draft?
