Ex-Penguins Update: November 19, 2017

1. Hey Rick,

   Thanks for the leg work on this. It is always interesting to see what former Pens are doing. It is interesting that among the skaters that left this past off-season, only Hainsey is really putting up numbers making JR look fairly good at not throwing too much money at them. (To be fair, Bones was injured). It makes you wonder how much a particular coaches system plays into a players success as well as his former team’s “Team Chemistry” as well as wondering how many players even briefly consider these things before simply just jumping for the money.

   Although Perron didn’t jump FA to Pgh but was traded, there is another example. In Pgh he just never put up any numbers, but everywhere else he has. (goes back to your comment about Crosby and Malkin favoring the RW).

   Re Pouliot: he is avg 17min per game in Van and his numbers aren’t great but are better than I had anticipated.

   Re Sundqvist: Sundqvist is a player I always wanted to see make here in Pgh. He is a player I think the Pens totally mishandled. I thought they left him over in Europe too long and that is what killed his development as a player. Then when he did come over, it was in a time when Bylsma and MJ both would give mixed signals about physical play and demoted and sat young players rather than the under-performing veterans. By the time Sully got here, it was probably too late for him here.

   I also think that it interesting how inflated all of the former Pens Gs GAAs are. Condon, Johnson, and Greiss had out up numbers last year and before but this year, at least right now, while the refs are calling more Penalties, their stats are taking a hit.

   1. Thanks, Other Rick.

      Agree with your observations regarding our recently departed free agents, and especially with your comments about their roles under a different coach or system. An example…Matt Cullen’s ice time is down around two minutes/game for Bruce Boudreau and the Wild.

      Perron’s numbers struck me, too. He was so unproductive when he was here…just totally out of sync. Since he left the ‘Burgh? He’s regained much of his old mojo…to the tune of 32 goals and 83 points in 128 games, an average of roughly 20 goals and 53 points over an 82 game schedule.

      I’d take that in a heartbeat.

      I won’t disagree with your assessment of Sundqvist. Personally, I thought he showed some promise when we first called him up in ’15-16, but not so much last year.

      While he’s hardly lighting it up for the Blues, he has quietly bumped up his faceoff percentage to 45.1. He was down around 35 percent earlier this season.

      Rick

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