It has been since October 29th 2017 since any team has scored more than 5 goals against our Penguins, but that is what happened last night – the Florida Panther held on to beat our Favorite Flightless Fowl 6 – 5. The loss was a very inauspicious beginning to the post Ian Cole era on Defense.
Many people, including myself, expressed a lot of concern over the Derick Brassard trade. Most of the concerned wasn’t aimed at Brassard not being capable of upgrading the Center position of the team. Most of the people I know are excited about the prospects of seeing Brassard in a Penguin uniform. The biggest concern I have and others seem to share (judging by comments I have read) centers on the loss of Ian Cole. The concern seems to be that the team lost more defensively than it gained in a 3rd line center.
Speaking just for me (although I suspect many others), I am not deluding myself that Cole is the second coming of Bobby Orr, Paul Coffey, Larry Robinson, Chris Chelios, or any of those Hall of Famer types. The concern I have is that trading Cole is an exponential loss. Cole was a warrior in the mold of Patric Hornqvist but on “D”. More importantly, Mike Sullivan’s insistence on trying replace Cole with Matt Hunwick would seem very problematic. He just can’t do it.
To get something good, sometimes you have to give up something good, I get that and Ian Cole is a very good defensive Defenseman. Unfortunately, Matt Hunwick is not. Maybe in some other system, on some other team, in some other time, in some other plane of existence, Hunwick did and could still get the job done, but here and now he is killing this team.
More importantly, his performance last night not only did nothing to alter this opinion I have of him, it only re-enforced my completely negative thoughts on him. He ended the night a -3 and was on the ice for 4 of the 6 goals that Florida scored. If I had been playing or coaching last night I would have had to double check which uniform he was wearing.
In a reply to a Post from fellow contributor Rick Buker, I responded that I thought if the Penguins could generate enough offense then maybe, just maybe losing Cole for Brassard may be acceptable, since the puck wouldn’t be in the defensive zone all that much. However, watching the train wreck that is Matt Hunwick on “D” I am not so sure that even 4 lines of CORSI beasts could counter act Hunwick’s liability. Our boys in Black and Gold out shot Florida 37 – 30 but still lost, thanks to many blown “D” zone coverage mistakes, 4 of 6 which came with Hunwick on the ice (yes, I repeated it).
During the post-game show, several of the Penguin announcer questioned Hunwick’s less than stellar performance. There was a half-hearted attempt to suggest that the poor play may have been due to Hunwick just not being a good pairing with Jamie Oleksiak. In some other circumstances, I would at least try and consider that excuse, but even while voicing that premise, those bringing it up didn’t sound like they believed it themselves, while they were saying.
Someone also tried to cast blame on the rookie Tristan Jarry for not bailing out the veteran Hunwick. Wow, since when is it the responsibility for a rookie to bail out a veteran?
There are still several hours left before the trade deadline, please Rutherford admit your mistake and move Hunwick out or at least bring in another “D” man. Although I would like to think Andrey Pedan could do the job, coming up from Wilkes-Barre Scranton (however, he hasn’t played in several games – I am not sure if he is hurt or not), I wouldn’t put money on it. I would rather get an insurance policy for that bottom “D” pairing. Our team may be able to get to the playoffs with Hunwick out there but I really doubt it can go very far without some help back on the blue line.
Hi.
Wow. Ian Cole is now a Blue Jacket. That sucks. I don’t he will be happy there.
It always been obvious that Rutherford wants Cullen back. I have no problem with that at all.
If Cullen comes back I don’t mind him on the fourth line between Kuhnackl and Rowney.
Its time for Sullivan let Guentzel back with Crosby he deserves better in his wingers. Crosby should be close in goals with Malkin on this team. He isn’t and he has been frustrated all season except for when he was with Guentzel and Sprong. He should have better consistent wingers like Malkin has right now .Sullivan fault.
Lines should be
Guentzel-Crosby-Rust( Sprong or ZAR
)
Hagelin-Malkin-Hornquist
Sheahan-Brassard-Kessel
Kuhnackl-Cullen-Rowney
Sprong ,Simon and Zar as extra wingers.
Big Threat To me.
As long as He dump Sheary and Hunwick for Depth great defensemen to strengthen weak D plus have Sully keep Letang off of 1 PP and him play 16-17 mins a game. I feel for Dumolin. Then Jamie gets a great new partner because he has been very great really consistent so far. I hope Shultz , Dumo and Maatta stay healthy with not keep covering others deficiencies on D.
Ian Cole is now a Blue Jacket. They go him for a scrub and 3rd round pick.
Let’s just hope that if Columbus does make the playoffs they draw Tampa Bay in the 1st round and Tampa Bay takes them out immediately. I don’t really fear them this year but I would really hate to see Cole wearing a Jacket sweater blocking Penguin shots in the playoffs. It would just be too soon.
i’m witcha!
HNIC Kypreos said pens Inquired about Rangers Ryan McDonagh. That would probably take more hornswaggling than the Brassard trade.
Maatta nailed Murray in the head with a slapshot at practice and Murray is being evaluated for a concussion
Funny you bring that up, I just got a text from a friend saying something about the Pens trying to get McDonagh. I had heard that he was being made available but I still am not sure the Pens have any assets that NYR could want that they could part with. However, now that I am hearing the same thing from you, I am starting to imagine a D-line up of McDonagh, Maatta and Dumoulin on the left side with Schultz, Oleksiak and Letang on the right.
Also, I just saw that headline about Murray; not a good sign. I like Jarry, but if Murray does have to miss several games with a concussion, I really hope that JR can do some horse trading and get McDonagh to give Jarry as much help as he can to let the kid settle in.
Hopefully he is alright and they are just being cautious.
Habs Defenseman Jordie Benn is now in supposedly in play for the Pens.
3pm the deadline?
I know it could take several more hours for all of the deals to post, but am I right? is it now over?
We got Center Josh Jooris from Carolina???
Maybe another move has been made with Sheahan or something.
Wow That is really interesting. I wouldn’t think we would have dealt for another Center unless we were moving Sheahan. I could see him maybe being attractive to another team, maybe NYR. Although I just got another text saying McDongh went to Tampa. I hope that one is a mistake, since I heard the Pens were in on this from you and other sources I was starting to get my hopes up
Mcdonagh to Tampa Bay. Ouch.
I am hoping that the Tampa is wrong. With Headman et al, I wouldn’t hink they would be looking for McDonagh.
Text just said Tampa did get McDonagh and JT Miller.
Honestly, if they did pull that trade off, I would think they will end up like the Pens did the year they grabbed Inginla, Murray, and Morrow. That many big names, this close to the end of the season may really destroy team chemistry.
Hey all,
I’m getting to the dance late as usual. Don’t get the Jooris thing at all, especially if we’re pinching pennies.
Hope we somehow were able to get Benn, a Cole-type defenseman. The fact that Gonchar was teammates with him in Dallas gives me hope.
Bottom line…if we don’t upgrade our ‘d’ (translation…get Hunwick the hell outta there) I think we’re in trouble.
Rick
Amen Rick,
Get Hunwick out of here or at least banish him to the Press Box.
Jooris was immediately sent to WBS. This is a head scratch er.
hmm. Looks like they gave Hornqvist an extension of 5 years. Around 5.2 – 5.3m a year.
I agree with you other Rick. However I remember when they somehow traded Rob Scuderi for Trevor Daley. We all thought that the only thing we could get for him was a bag of pucks. So this is basically GMJR trying to make the same miracle twice. If this is concurrent with how the deadline has gone this year, they’ll have to over pay for the dman. Who do you guys think he’ll try to go after? But being on the ice for 4 of 6 goals is completely unacceptable.
Hey Andrew,
Scuderi for Daley was highway robbery and so was trading Kapanen and a pick for Kessel and Toronto retaining part of his salary. Both trades were reminiscent of the Francis Samuelsson deal.
Now this trade, in a some ways reminds me of the Errey for Ramsey trade. Brassard is better than Ramsey and will no doubt produce a lot more for the team than Ramsey did. However, both Errey and Cole were character guys, non flashy guys, lunch pail guys that the team needed to win Cups. And in some ways, both guys left gaping holes. That Penguins team, in the early 90s was blessed with great skill at Center, RW and Defense, but had very little in the way of LWs. When Stevens went down, there was nothing there. This Penguins team Wasn’t that strong at Center, but certainly a team that boasts Crosby and Malkin as their No 1 and 2 Centermen and has a steady but not so flashy Sheahan. However, on “D”, this season Schultz and Oleksiak have been your best overall guys with Oleksiak a mid season acquisition and Schultz battling several injuries. Letang has been Jekyll and Hyde and Maata and Dumoulin have been trying their best to cover for Letang and Hunwick, so have had rough seasons. Without Cole……?
At this exact moment I can’t answer your question, I was slightly blindsided by the dealing of Cole. With his strong, strong play of late I guess I had lulled myself into believing that the team would keep him for the play-off run. It really doesn’t make that much intuitive sense to deal a player like Cole when you are looking to try and 3-peat. So, I really haven’t kept pace with looking at the sellers to see what they may have to offer.
I do know that their are Rumors that Karlsson, McDonough, and Faulk may be traded before all is said and done, but I doubt the Penguins can afford any player like that either with assets to exchange or in Cap hit. Nor do I think that is what the team needs right now. A good solid no frills guy, like Cole was or Lovejoy or Hainsey would suit me fine, if it were my decision.
I still would love to see if Pedan could step into those shoes and provide more than a no frills guy but more like a bit of an Oleksiak type beast. But since I haven’t seen him play against NHL competition I wouldn’t want to risk it without a plan B to fall back on, in case it couldn’t transition.
Yea I hear you. I’m just hoping that this doesn’t harken back to the trades when Shero was the GM when they brought in all of those rental players and then flopped in the playoffs.
I may be jumping the gun a little here, but the question with the Brassard deal is will they be able to keep Hornqvist? He’s one of the main group of players, I’d say, and it would be awful if they couldn’t keep him. Thoughts?
The Hornqvist thing was my first thought about the Brassard trade. The last reports I read were that there was going to be an increase in the Cap next season, but how much it would go up was unknown. I haven’t looked at it in a while but if I remember correctly the range was wide like something from 1 little over $1 mil to closer to $5 mil. But with Vegas retaining 40% of Brassard’s salary, he will only count around $3 mil. So the team could get that back by dealing Sheary and get a win-win. (Assuming that they could find someone that would value him enough to be willing to take on a $3 mil contract for a diminutive player.)
Not to get too ahead of ourselves but not only is Hornqvist UFA, Rust, Sheahan, Kuhnhackl, Simon, Oleksiak, and Jarry are RFA and Rowney is UFA this summer. A boat load of WBS are RFA as well. At least Rust and possibly Sheahan could ask for pretty good raises too. Should the Pens win a 3-peat, my fear would be that some team will offer Hornqvist something in the neighborhodd of $7 mil per year and I doubt the team could find a way to keep him nor would I blame him for jumping on the $$$$.
I must admit I have started thinking about this stuff, but I keep trying to simply focus on the playoff hunt for now.
I meant to take a look around to see if there was a depth D man I would want to answer your earlier question but I haven’t had the time.
The other Rick
Changing gears “slightly” – Not only did we lose are most physical
defenseman we lost our most physical forward as well.
The other Rick – unlike me I know your a “big” stats guy. We just lost
Reaves who at that point led the team in hits with 161 while averaging
6:45 min per game. After the trade Jake Guentzel becomes the teams
leader in hits “REALLY” ??
Every year brings a different challenge – JR in my opinion addressed one
of the Pen’s major weaknesses when he signed Reaves – While most people wanted more out of Revo it was my opinion that his best Hockey was coming during the Playoffs – Thats when we would need him the most. The Playoffs present more of a physical grind it out style of hockey.
My question – this year both the Jets and Bruins pose a threat to the
Penguins 3-peat. Both teams have size, skill and speed. Did JR slip
up by letting Revo go? I realize we still have Oleksiak but it makes for
good balance to carry both a physical forward and defenseman.
Hey Mike,
As everyone knows I was not a fan of the trade that brought Reaves in here. I really wanted the Pens to draft Hague. Having said that, I am somewhat in agreement with you. I was more than a bit shocked when I saw Reaves as part of that trade. Reaves was started to find his legs offensively and I really loved how he stood up for Geno on several occasions. (Not too mention the hits dept) I could dismiss the number of hits if they were the insignificant, excuse me hits that Craig Adams used to get credit for. Half of the time, by the time the Pens got Adams he was so old and slow that he was a day late and a dollar short on his hits, getting mostly glass or grazing contact. However, most of Reaves hits were really good, thunderous, game changing hits. Since January 1, although I still would rather have had Hague, I really do appreciate what Reaves was bringing to the team and like you fear what may happen come playoff time.
What worries me most is how Sullivan continually puts Sheary out there on the ice. Yes, he has good anticipation and a good shot but he is the weak on the puck, no, not weak on the puck THE WEAKEST on the puck on the team, on any Penguins team in my memory. The draft of players skating past him often times causes him to be separated from the puck or to cause him to partially fan on a shot. Yet he still gets NHL ice time? (Why?) And he doesn’t play physical at all. As much as I fear for the safety of the big guns, I more concerned about the fact that while giving up a man like Reaves and keeping a boy like Sheary, the players that take the ice with him are effectively playing short handed every shift.
Oleksiak is a stud, what I am somewhat hoping for is that the Pedan actually can play at the NHL level like he has been playing in WBS and that the Sullivan will give him that opportunity and banish Hunwick until his contract is up or JR can find someone willing to take him. I also am wondering if JR could pull off an 11th hour deal with Buffalo and get Kane. In my delusional world were every team allows me to swindle them for what I want, I dream of JR getting the Sabres to take Sheary in exchange for Kane and the they eat the rest of his contract this year just so they don’t have to simply lose him. In my delusional world I would also be willing to up the ante if necessary to include either Simon or Kuhnhackl. I love both of those players but if the team were to get Kane there wouldn’t be enough roster spots for them anyway and both are RFA at the end of the year.
Kane isn’t the fighter that Reaves is but he provides a great deal more offense and I must confess in my delusional world again, I wonder what the Hydra could do if it looked like this;
Crosby – Kane – Sprong
Malkin – Hagelin – Hornqvist
Brassard – Guentzel – Kessel
Sheahan – Aston-Reese – Rust
AMEN, Rick! Nothing to add.
– 55
I agree Hunwick was not good last night…at all One that stood out… how bout that semi break away?.. double team? How bout you grab the open man.
Doubt we get a decent D before deadline though
I fear you may be right, I fear that JR and Sullivan have convinced themselves that this is it.