For those loyal Penguin Poop fans that have been diligently following us, please forgive me. After reading a recent article by Tim Bentz of the Tribune Review, my blood pressure just ratcheted up a notch. The piece reported that the Penguins are now actively seeking to trade Phil Kessel. (insert rant here)
It is now officially time to sit down and have a talk with Mike Sullivan. He is a great Coach, a 2 time Stanley Cup winning Coach. However, no matter how good he may be in other phases of coaching, his penchant for alienating players is now starting to cost the team dearly. No Coach, no matter how good they are, can win when they can’t get along with their players and subsequently chase them out of town.
If Ian Cole was the only player with which Sullivan couldn’t get along, the responsibility could be easily be laid at Cole’s feet. Even if Sullivan’s list of players he couldn’t play nice with only contained Cole and Daniel Sprong, I am willing to believe that things aren’t that serious. However, with the news leaking that Sullivan has allowed his relationship with one of the premier Right Wings in the league to deteriorate to the point of dissolving the relationship, no one can convince me that Sullivan needs to be slapped down by GM Jim Rutherford.
Sullivan should not allow players to dictate which players can be on their line be paired with defensively. A Coach is in charge and must, I repeat MUST, be the final word on all strategic and tactical issues, including who plays with whom. Therefore, if Sullivan wants Kessel to play on the third line, that is his right as Coach to make that decision.
I believe a Coach needs to be given full control of “process”, he must be held accountable for “outcome”. In the case of the Penguins this season, Sullivan’s control over process through his antagonistic relationship with Cole (as well as his favoritism of Kris Letang) makes Sullivan accountable for the Penguins’ inability to get the first goal this post-season and to hold leads. Sullivan’s control over process on the offense, his insistence on playing Conor Sheary while keeping Sprong in the press box and not reuniting Kessel with Malkin as a show of dominance makes Sullivan accountable for the lack of scoring this Spring. Sullivan owes his player, fans, and stockholders a mea culpa for the failed 3peat bid.
In a “Sullivan v Kessel” debate over who to believe (as Kessel came into camp in the best shape of his career and went on to have a career year), sorry Sullivan, I don’t think I can believe any argument suggesting Kessel is at fault. Although I, too, liked the idea of Malkin, Crosby, and Kessel playing on 3 different lines and therefore am not arguing the logic of that idea, I do blame Sullivan for not being able to sell the idea to Kessel, quite possibly due to other antagonistic issues.
Fanning the flames further, losing Kessel is compounded by the fact that Sullivan doesn’t seem to get along with Sprong. With the escalation of the Kessel crisis, I may have to revert to prior opinions I have expressed here. If Sullivan can’t get along with Cole, Kessel, or Sprong, who will be on the ice next year? Will Sprong get a fair chance?
Maybe Rick Tocchet really wasn’t the “Kessel Whisperer” (as has been suggested) but instead the “Sullivan Whisperer”. Maybe Tocchet was the true communicator on the Penguins bench. Maybe the Penguins need to find an Assistant Coach that can rein in Sullivan’s personality. When it is one player, the probability is that the problem is the player. When it is now 3 players within one year, the probability is now over 50/50 that the problem is with the Coach.
The questions remain, is the Kessel situation irreconcilable? And if so, where do the Penguins go from here?
Former Atlanta Thrasher and New Jersey Devil, Right Wing, 35 years old, Ilya Kovalchuk is said to be considering coming back to the NHL. Should the Penguins be forced by an abrasive Coach to lose another player, this time a high-end and not a character player, will they take a chance on Kovalchuk? Although long in the tooth, Kovalchuk has always been a consistent goal scorer. Kovalchuk earned 18 goals and 42 assists in the KHL this past season, and scored 8 goals in 8 games during the World Cup this Spring.
Having watched him during his tenure in Atlanta, I am a bit ambivalent toward Kovalchuk. I remember him as being rather selfish. But then again, maybe, if they had at least one selfish player taking the shot (instead of trying to make that one last pretty pass) the team could vault back up to the top. Maybe Kovalchuk could bring the team back to the Cup finals, if they are forced to lose Kessel. That is, assuming he too doesn’t run afoul of Sullivan’s temperament.
Perhaps the most important thing that has to happen this summer is for Jim Rutherford to have a long talk with Mike Sullivan and explain the importance of the players in the equation. A team has to have players — Sullivan can’t run them all off.
Stay tuned, the summer may be just heating up.
Great stuff, Other Rick. Sorry I’ve been so absent from commenting…just knee-deep in other stuff.
I hate the idea of trading Kessel. No, he’s not a paragon of back-checking or board work, but we all knew that when he arrived. What he does do is generate offense and score…better than all but a handful of players around the league.
Plain and simple, he makes the power play work. We were first in the league last season…third in 2016-17. Kessel was a huge part of that success (72 power-play points during that span).
In particular, when the Pens run the power play through him on the left side, it frees up Crosby and Malkin on the right side. If you’re the opposition, those are lousy guys to lose track of.
I know he had a rough postseason. But traditionally, Kessel’s been a playoff dynamo. I’m still convinced he had some sort of injury that limited his effectiveness.
Bottom line? Get rid of Kessel, and we’re back to having Sid and Geno trying to carry the team. It didn’t work prior to Phil’s arrival, and it won’t work now.
Rick
Hi Rick,
You make a good point. Still, Sullivan and Kessel need to sign some sort of truce. It’s bad form, and it really is not good to have that playing out behind the scenes. They don’t need that disruption, as the playoffs proved.
Let’s also not forget, during their run in January and February, when Cole was reinserted, the third line with Phil, Sheahan and Rust, was playing pretty well. That’s what woke up Sheahan, and to some degree, loosened up Rust, like a shot of WD40. Then Cole went, Brassard came aboard on the third line, and the dynamic of the previous week(s) was gone.
It looks like they are between a rock and a hard place. The players we think they should move seem unmovable. Kessel is movable, though it would be one of those complicated deals with Toronto’s contribution to the cap hit also involved. I don’t want them to part ways with Kessel either. Someone, or both, will have to bend a little to keep things together.
Like, Jim, I believe the primary reason for their early exit belongs directly on Sullivan’s shoulders, and JR, too, for not chiming in at a crucial time. Letang aside, and he should have been benched, it was bad coaching, and apparently for all the wrong reasons. You can “make your point” during the season, but not in the playoffs. I didn’t think of moving Kessel back to Malkin’s line, I thought he should have had a seat in the press box, too. We don’t know all the details, but it certainly appears that neither party in the currently purported soap opera didn’t have the best interests of the team at heart. That’s worse than simply going out there and playing bad hockey.
If they should trade Phil, it won’t be the end of anything except Kessel in a Pens uniform. It could be a chance at a refreshed look. If they could manage to move Letang, too, well, $14 mil is a nice round figure for restocking the cupboard. JR, in an interview yesterday, tried to play down the Kessel/Sullivan row, but he didn’t say, one way or the other, what their plans are. He wouldn’t do that anyway, but it didn’t give any hoped for clarity to the situation.
The things is, if they want to retool to any degree, players will have to go. It isn’t going to be an easy task. Many among us will likely be unhappy by some of the moves, or moves not made. Still, when they skate out of the chute come October, we’ll be with them all the way. Mike Sullivan needs to be all in, too, and not just with words, but with the proper attitude and by leaving his ego in his office.
— 55
EDIT, EDIT, EDIT!
And an apology to Other Rick. I meant, “Like Other Rick, I believe…” For some reason, Jim popped up in my head. But, then, I’m old and addled.
— 55
So Pittsburgh Hockey Now is reporting that a couple of non-playoff Eastern Conference teams have made trade proposals for Kessel.
1) If Sullivan runs Kessel out of town then he really needs to be put on notice that this is the last player that will be traded because He (Sullivan) can’t play nice with his own employees.
2) No player is indispensable, so, although I will be nervous over Sullivan’s inability to check his ego for the good of the team, that doesn’t mean the world is ending. If this report is real, I will be very interested in seeing which teams are making offerings and what they are willing to give up.
3) Even if the Pens trade Kessel, they still need to move Kris Letang, he is the real problem on the team, his contract and his inability to play D when that is his job – to play D.
4) if the Pens do trade them both, they would free up ~$14 million, that ain’t hay.
So who will fill the void should the Pens trade Kessel? As I wrote above, Sullivan doesn’t play well with Sprong either. And even though Kovalchuk is on the Table chances are his personality would also run afoul of Sullivan.
Hey tOR,
If we are to believe what sports writers are saying, Kessel was unhappy playing on the 3rd line. If that is so then the problem is Kessel who all of the sudden decided he wants to coach. How is Sullivan chasing him out of town? Is it by not letting Kessel coach? You were a big fan when they kept and played Murray instead of Fleury in a very similar star player situation.
I think Sullivan played great with Sprong. He brought him up, gave him a chance and sent him back down for more work or confidence when he failed. Leaving a player who’s not ready for the big show up in the big leagues has ruined many NHL careers. Edmonton is a prime example of how that works.
Hey Phil,
It looks like we see things a little different on this one. I watched Sullivan sit Evgeni Malkin during the front end of the Back-to-Back Championships. This year I watched Sullivan doggedly keep playing Letang and Sheary (Kuhnhackl as well) despite all three having horrible years.
During the regular season I watched Sullivan frenetically juggle lines in one game in order to try and spark scoring. During the post season, in the fullness of his hubris he chose to rub Kessel’s nose in it at the expense of an early exit. Rather than move Kessel to Malkin’s line and bring in Sprong to play on the 3rd line to spark secondary scoring he opted for status quo (no goals) and early tee times.
As for Murray/Fleury, I really hate to do this, I actually do like Fleury and want to see him still steal this series from Was but with all of the complaints about Murray this post season, MAF only faced 23 shots in his last game but gave up 6 goals. If the ens had to chose between the two, they made the right choice. I would have left Fleury exposed, but I wouldn’t have payed Vegas a pick to take him. I would have left Sheary unprotected and dared them to take Sheary. (I would have preferred to pay them to take Letang).
I do think that if the Pens had kept MAF the Murray/Fleury combo would have kept the Pens in the playoffs. With those two sharing the pipes they could have weathered the pathetic defense of Letang.
I also still like Sullivan. I am not calling for the Pens to throw the baby out with the bath water. However, like all of us, Sullivan has flaws, particularly with his ego.
I do see the Pens being able to make a big come back next year if JR asserts his authority over Sullivan the way Sullivan asserted his authority over Kessel this past play-offs and the Pens go into next season with Crosby, Malkin and either Brassard or the kid Brassard all having a RW to pass to; Kessel, Sprong, Hornqvist.
In terms of offense, my only question is what happens at LW. Of the LWs on the Pens roster right now, the only player I see contributing offensively with any real offense is Guentzel. Otherwise there are tons of question marks on the left side. Move Brassard to LW? Does Militec wow everyone? can Rust produce on his off wing with maybe Malkin and Kessel? can Aston-Reese chip in with scoring? Does Simon run to the KHL like I have seen some rumors suggest? Does he stay in the NHL? Does he discipline himself and stop taking careless penalties? Does Blueger step up to handle 4th line center freeing Sheahan?
Lots of questions on the Left side, but unless JR gets as stupid as Sullivan was in the play-offs the Pens should have tons of fire-power.
Unfortunate, unless they get the wisdom and intestinal fortitude to move Letang (Trade, Buy-out, whatever) Murray and Back-Up du jour (Not sure what I see the Pens doing about Jarry) will be treated to the same incessant blitzkreig.
The kid in me would still like to Letang retire as a Penguin but between his $7+ mil cap hit and the fact that Sullivan would still keep playing him 25+ minutes when he can’t, particularly in defensive situations, protecting leads I want to see him moved.
A funny thing happened to me on the way to see if there was anything new in the way of Penguin’s rumors, I found and read an article by Mark Madden in the Tribune Review and for one of those rare moments in time, I find that he shares my opinion of Iron Mike Sullivan, that it was his ego and stubbornness that cost the Penguins their 3peat bid by trying to prove to Kessel he (Sullivan) was boss and continued using him on the 3rd line.
Even that (Madden agreeing with me) will not disway me; I still maintain that it was Sullivan’s obstinance and not Kessel’s temperament that was the reason for the loss. This will just have to go down as one of those anomalous days that Madden and I see eye to eye.
Hi Other Rick, and everyone else.
First of all, a big HI to Jim! Good to hear from you again. Hope all is well.
Now… On to the the rest…
To trade Kessel, or not. That is the question.
He obviously has taken a seat in Sully’s dog house, so that’s one point against him.
His trade could also make a play for Tavares possible. That could be a neutral because it may be something they’d consider, dog house or not.
Phil may not be happy. That’s a neutral, too. He doesn’t get paid to be happy, and being happy is a choice no matter your situation. He does, however, get paid to play hockey, which he didn’t do much of down the stretch, 12 playoff points notwithstanding. That’s another point against.
But… All that is an exercise in futility. They’ll either trade him, or not. What’s clear is he wasn’t the Phil Kessel the team needed him to be in the last six weeks of the season. If he was injured, why was he playing? I have a hard time believing he was on the ice because he told Sullivan he wanted to play. I don’t peg Sully as one who would tolerate that. If anything, he played because Sullivan doesn’t trust, or like, whomever would have had to replace him. And, if Phil has a bee in his helmet, well, get him a psychologist, or some drugs – spike his dogs!
Trading him wouldn’t be the end of the world. I might not like it, depending on the deal and what we got in return, but they’ll still have to come down the runway in early October regardless. And, hopefully, they’ll come down that runway with a seriously bolstered defense that will take some pressure off their goalies, and their forwards on the back check, with or without Phil. If trading him makes that happen, I wouldn’t complain.
They still have plenty of goal scorers in the line up, and a few waiting, patiently, or impatiently, in the wings. If I said it once, I’ve said it hundreds of times, everything about winning hockey begins with solid defense. They had two years of run and gun and to their credit they made it work. It took its toll. But, that’s over now, and if they learned anything at all from this past season it is, hopefully, that they need a more defensively responsible defense. I don’t honestly care who they trade, beyond the obvious, to make that happen. As I watch the playoffs, the one thing that stands out among those remaining is defense. Defense is the prime reason the Pens story line at this juncture is all about how they’re enjoying their off season.
Speaking of D, someone mentioned elsewhere, Jack Johnson, but mostly, it seemed, because he’s Sid’s good friend. He’s a good hard-nosed D-man, but before I’d want to see him here, I’d want to be sure they have a master plan in place for the defense, or he’d be just another band-aid. They don’t need any more band-aids, they need a cure.
I hope they sign Oleksiak, too, but don’t overpay and please keep him away from Letang. Let him do what he does. He knows how to use his size, but they didn’t really cut him loose. There are ways, I’m sure, to give him the go ahead to be what he can be, and still play within some structure. Other teams do it.
We can talk about players, who they need, who they should go after, etc., until the cows come home. What they need first is a change of heart and a method to blend good defense with their high-powered offense. They need some new Xs and Os and the right players to be those Xs and Os. What I hope to not see, next October, is the exact same mindset. That’s why they’re playing golf and fishing right now. It’s time for a change.
And one more thing, if you don’t mind. Reaves is carving out a nice place for himself in Vegas. I couldn’t be happier for him, or the team. Two goals in the past two games, with the series winner against the Jets. He’s going to the net, and knocking people down and I love it. Vegas’ fourth line, on which he is solidly ensconced, is a terror the Caps were’t expecting. Last night they were the best, and deadliest, line on the ice netting three of their six goals. Oh, to have a do over…
– 55
Hey 55,
Good to hear from you.
While I agree with you 100% that depending on who the Pens would be able to get for Kessel, the sky won’t fall. No one player is completely indefensible in hockey. Hockey may be the last bastion of a team sport, while all the other big time sports reduce themselves to superstar spectacles hardly worthy of the name team sport.
As I wrote elsewhere, my biggest problem with this Kessel circus is that it distracts the attention in a sort of verbal legerdemain away from the Penguins real problem, “defense” or more precisely Kris Letang.
Don’t get me wrong, I actually like Kris Letang. No one can argue his offensive skills or his grit. However, regardless of what Sullivan may have grumbled in his post season statements about Kessel, it was Kris Letang that let the team down. Comparing Kessel’s 9 points to Guentzel and Corsby’s 21 points it may not look all that good, but considering that he averaged 0.75 points per game as a 3rd line winger, that would seem to me to be pretty good.
Yes I would have loved to see him put up the numbers he did last year, but although he didn’t I would be willing to bet that his 0.75 ppg was tops among 3rd line RWs in the playoffs.
However, Letang was on the ice for 10 of the 19 goals scored by the Caps and 3 of the 4 game winning goals they scored in that series; yet Sullivan groused about Kessel?
Please don’t misunderstand me, I am not one of those throw the baby out with the bath water types. Sullivan had a very bad playoff this year after 2 phenomenal ones. If he learns from his mistakes, no big deal.
As I keep saying, If Kessel is the only player that Sullivan has a problem with then it is Kessel, but Sullivan ran Cole out of town, kept sending Sprong down to the minors or the press box, and as I understand it (sorry to break this to you Mike) ticked Reaves off enough that several people I know have stated that Reaves has said he would not resign with Pgh. If Vegasa doesn’ sign him he will seek employment on any other team but us.
Combine that with his insistence on playing Letang 25+ minutes per game despite a boat load of bad D reads, turnovers and two on one’s given up as well as all the TOI Sheary received not only in the playoffs but in the regular season. During the regular season he was held off of the score board for the better part of 2 months and only had 2 points in the playoffs.
All of this tells me that all though Sullivan has a lot of positives, he is not that good at personnel decisions and management. He plays his favorites whether they produce or not and sits those that cross him. Despite even the second line not producing, after changing up lines faster than he changed his socks he doggedly stuck to his failed line combinations to prove to Kessel that he would rather be sitting in May and June rather than reunite him with Malkin to spark the team.
For me the Pens need two major changes plus a few minor tinkering s. First Letang needs to be moved off of the D to Wing, traded, or bought out.
JR needs to find an assistant coach to curb Sullivan’s ego. He needs a Tocchet to be a “Sullivan Whisperer” reminding him that to be a great coach in the NHL or any type of a coach in the NHL – you first have to have a team, so stop running all of the players out of town.
And if Sullivan has ruined any chance of saving Kessel – he needs to get quality in return.
Then JR can focus on little tweaks like moving Sheary and signing some RFAs.
Just a little addition to the above about Kessel, the inconvenient truth that Sullivan has to come to grips with is that Phil Kessel’s 2.54 points per 60 minutes was 7th in the league among RWs that played more than 10 games this playoff season. Kessel was never the problem this post season.
Sullivan was the problem, His complaints against Kessel were unfounded and his reluctance to address the Letang and Sheary issues could be evidence that Sullivan was allowing favoritism and he will need to work on overcoming that this summer.
Conor Sheary’s 0.84 points per 60 minutes checked in at 21 of 23 LWs listed on the NHL web site.
Letang was on the ice for 3.4 GA per 60 minutes even strength. That stinks. I don’t know of a site that runs this comparison but a quick comparison of just Pens D Schultz had a 2.5 GA/60 and Ruhwedel’s was 2.4 among RD, so Letang was by far the worst RD on the team.
Maatta had a 2.8 GA/60, Oleksiak was 2.3 for his GA/60, while Letang’s partner had a 3.0 GA/60.
Remove Letang from the Pens playoff equation and they very well may still be playing.
I hope for all the fans, the players and his own sake, at some point, Sullivan gets a clue and stops trying to push the blame on anyone other than Letang!
Thanks 55..Appreciate the kind words my friend.
Hope you and your family are all doing well .
Talk soon
JIM
So what are they looking to trade him for? I wouldn’t have minded seeing letang traded but if we trade Kessel we won’t be able to replace his offensive abilities internally! So what are they asking for in return?
Great Question Alan,
The only player, internally, who could possibly replace Kessel is Sprong and Sullivan’s relationship with Kessel would seem to be just as tenuous.
In the mean time, Letang is pretty much the one responsible for the early exit, well Letang and Sullivan for giving Letang that much ice time when not only was he not earning it but his defensive play was warranting press box time. If this circus is in fact real and not just the hype of the overly fertile imaginations of a rumor-mongering sensationalizing media looking to boost ratings, then it will distract from the teams real weakness, Letang.
But that is why I brought up Kovalchuk, he is long in the tooth but a serious offensive force.
Maybe they are thinking about trying to sign Tavaras as Phil mentioned below and I talked about a couple of posts ago? However, I am not sure how much Tavaras will want to switch to wing.
Wow! Tavares or Kovalchuk would look really nice in a pens uniform! I think Kovalchuk would be a more realistic option and Malkin has always wanted more Russians on the team! I could definitely see it happening! Thanks for the reply!
Hey AlanC
I would have thought that they would have gone after Danis Zaripov last season. He ended up scoring 16 goals and adding 29 assists for 45 points in 56 games for Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL last year.
It isn’t all that long before the NHL Draft, it will be interesting to see what happens.
Hey AlanC,
Just saw an article on the NHL web site saying that although Kovalchuk cannot sign with anyone until July 1, he has hired himself an agent and is talking to NHL teams. The article said no teams were mentioned. I can’t help but wonder if Pgh is one of them.
At 35 Kovalchuk would hardly be considered a long term player but could bridge the gap if Sullivan successfully runs Kessel and Sprong out of town like he tossed Cole to the curb.
Although I would think that given his history, of which jumping to the KHL could be evidence of, he may not be the type of player that Sullivan would get along with either.
The Other Rick
Good afternoon – I will try to make this short and sweet. I do believe the
Pens have to move a couple of players to open up room under the cap.
Moving Kessel doesn’t concern me as much as to why they may want
to move him which you so elegantly pointed out in your article.
The Pens could make themselves a much stronger team with addition by
subtraction especially in Letang’s case. To make a quick obvious point
you always have to trade a player with value to get value in return.
Regarding Sullivan – “head scratcher” – Its become clear that Mike Sullivan
is allowing his ego to blur his judgement and along with the other Rick
something needs to happen internally. If you remember an earlier post of
mine I made the point that JR was sending a subtle message to Sullivan by
putting Sprong on the roster well before training camp.
My gut is JR gave up a little control to Sullivan after the 2nd cup and after
the internal issues with Sullivan / Players he’s trying to take it back. I haven’t
any facts to back up my claim – just my opinion when reading between the lines.
Mike
Hey Mike,
I have stated several times that for me, everyone is trade able at the right price, so, I am not as upset over the idea of trading Kessel as I am for the reasons the Penguins are reportedly looking to trade Kessel. As the list of players who have run a foul of Sullivan grows, so does my concerns grow, proportionally.
I hear you about JR possibly ceding some control to Sullivan after the 2nd Cup. When a coach wins back-to-back Cups, he does get some lee-way and it may be that Sullivan usurp a little more power than JR conceded but with Sullivan’s record, JR let it go, hoping not to spoil the 3peat bid.
I am also worried that the media circus that may now start growing over the rumor that the Pens are shopping Kessel will distract from the most serious problem on the Penguins and that is Letang, Hunwick, and Sheary.
Injured or not.. do you guys watch Phil play?? Lazy, he skates faster with the puck vs. coming back to help in the defensive zone, he won’t go into the corners, doesn’t like to get physical in any way.
I hope Jim is able to find a trading partner and get him out!!!
I didn’t like the trade that brought him here, I don’t like him as a player ( see above )
He played the same way in Toronto, all my Leaf fan friends where so happy to see the Leaf’s trade him.
And maybe some of the blame has to go to coach Mike, with Cole and Sprong, and favoring Leturnover Letang but I also put some on Jim for keeping Kris and signing Sheary and Hunwick to stupid contracts.
Maybe the two cups went right to Sully’s head and ego.
Hey Pen’s4ever,
I am not sure if anyone will ever try and nominate Kessel for the Selke Trophy and as I mentioned. Also, as I mentioned above to Mike, for me everyone is trade able, at the right price. My complaint here is that Kessel wasn’t the reason the Penguins were bounced, Sullivan’s insistence on leaving the lines as they were when the 3rd and 4th lines were non-existent (even the 2nd line was ineffective), putting his ego in front of play-off wins, as well as Sullivan’s dogged insistence on playing Letang when he was a defensive Millstone, and Sheary, when he was doing absolutely nothing and had a 6 week or longer scoreless streak during the season.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not going to argue with you about JR having to share some of the blame for Signing Sheary and Hunwick in the first place, if those signings were his idea and not Sullivan’s idea. At least in the case of Sheary, I can’t help but believe Sullivan went to bat for him with JR to try and get Sheary that ill advised contract. But in the end, JR would still have had to acquiesce to Sullivan, when he could have easily said no.
The Penguins are actively shopping Letang or insert any other players last name for Letang that is not Malkin or Crosby. Anyone can say it, and it is true. Rutherford will listen to any and all offers, he has said it. So Madden said it. He is an idiot shock jock like Benz and like Ron Cook. Who cares, all it can do is throw some interesting offers Rutherford’s way.
As far as Sullivan goes, all he is most likely guilty of is letting Kessel decide to play injured and not pulling him from the #1 powerplay and inserting Guentzel.
Could the problem really be Kessel? He is a great player and probably should have won the playoff MVP in the Pens 2015/16 run. Every player wants more ice time and to be surrounded by better players. He probably complained enough to get Rutherford to trade for a better quality 3rd center, which in turn forced the Penguins to lose Cole and Reaves.
BTW, Reaves has already said he won’t come back to Pittsburgh because he didn’t get any playing time.
Sullivan’s job on top of coaching is to manage a bunch of huge egos. I’m willing to bet that Tocchet was a huge help balancing those egos. Maybe that’s all they need is a guy more skilled than Recchi in that department.
My dream move and I don’t know how they would finagle it, would to somehow trade Letang, Brassard and if need be Kessel (just for the money and the needed powerplay spot) for Ottawa’s Karlsson, Tavaras and a quality defensive defenseman. A Malkin, Crosby, Tavaras power play with Hornqvist in front and Karlsson at point. Wow. Tavaras won’t come here and be on the 2nd line powerplay.
It’s an improbably yet possible dream.
Hey Phil,
I am not one of those that think just because he read something on the internet that it has to be true. Just because Benz or Cook write something doesn’t mean I accept it completely. However, where there is smoke there usually is fire. When adding Madden, Cook, and Benz up with JR’s and Sullivan’s quotes after the season it would seem to me the laws of probability are getting closer and closer to the sky is falling scenario of the Pens actively shopping Kessel rather than passively listening to other GMs offers.
As I wrote above, if Kessel was the only player who didn’t get along with Sullivan, I would accept without hesitation your scenario that Kessel was the instigator of this growing distraction. And as I wrote a couple of weeks back, during the season discussing Sullivan’s Sprong issues, if the problems were limited to just Kessel and Cole (Instead of what I wrote earlier about Sprong and Cole), I may have started to have doubts (as I did when the laundry list of players started to grow) but I was still willing to take a more neutral stance. Now that the list is 3 players long, and considering the list of Coaches pets (Letang and Sheary) I am not willing to accept that it is the players. For me, the onus is now on Sullivan to show that he is not the problem and that Tocchet wasn’t keeping Kessel’s ego in check but Sullivan’s.
As for your dream moves, you know I wouldn’t argue with that. I started suggesting the Pens try and deal for Karlsson last year. And even although part of me would love to see Tavaras come to Pgh, I don’t see it as any real possibility.
If the Pens were to trade Kessel, part of me would rather see them deal for draft picks rather than players and just try and see what Sprong and maybe one of the UFAs can do.
What will be interesting to see is if the Pens do trade Kessel, how will the team fare. Even with Crosby and Malkin, the Penguins couldn’t go the distance until they went out and got Kessel. Some team without Kessel will win it this year, but no Penguin team without Kessel had been able to do it since 2009.
Hi Phil,
Keep the dream alive brother. It would be great if John Travaras decided to come play with Sid and Geno. To get a player of his caliber and not have to give up a penny in return seems like a dream come true. He is 27 years old . Malkin is 31. I would not mind signing John for 7 years. It would give us 3 scoring lines for sure and a great power play.
Trade Phil ?? Maybe. It would depend on what I got in return. How about a deal with Carolina for their 2nd over all pick and we draft either the Swedish D man Rasmas D. or my preference the big Right wing Russian kid and let him play with Geno.This kid will be a great player..
That would save 5.8 million in cap space to off set the Travaras contract.
Trade Hunwick and Sheary please !! Both are mistakes. Yes we will need to go to the free agent route and replace them both.
Then trade the elephant in the room that we have all been talking about # 58..
By the numbers… If we were able to trade Phil to Carolina with a chunk of cash, which is what Carolina really wants, his 6.8 million dollar annual cap hit would go a long ways to off set a 7.5 million- 8.million Tarvaras contract. You may disagree but i don see Johnny T as being greedy or having this big ego. What he wants is a championship ring !! Or two !! He would fore go some salary to play on a winner.
It will be interesting to see what takes place in the coming 5 weeks.
PS : I hope we resign Jamie Osiliak to a decent contract.. 2.0+ million for 5 years. In Dallas the kid almost never made the team and the trade to the Pen’s helped save his career. Please do not sign him to 4 million dollar deal ….Not worth it , yet. Tie him up to a long term, team friendly deal.
Hey Coach, Great articles as always…
Cheers,
Jim
Great to hear from you Jim,
Hope all is going well! Like you and Phil and probably most of the Penguins Nation, I would love to see the Pens sign Tavaras and this question is not just directed at you but Phil and everyone else here, if you do bring in Tavaras, with Brassard, and Sheahan already on the roster and Bellerive (who had a great year in the Jrs), Blueger (who had a decent year in WBS and then had a strong run with his national team), and Jooris (UFA), what do you do?
Do you let Jooris walk? Ask Tavaras, Brassard, and/or Sheahan to play wing? Particularly if we sign Tavaras to a long term deal, C would seem tied up for several years, would you then try and deal Bellerive now after a strong Jr year for a good young D man? Would you also now view Bleuger as a trading chip or do you see him as potentially a 4th line Center after moving Brassard and Sheahan either off of the team or to Wing?
These are great decisions to have to make, because it would mean your depth at Center is unreal, so I wouldn’t be complaining. I am just curious as to how you would proceed.
Jim, I really do think that moving Letang, Hunwick, and Sheary are the most important and really the only necessary removals from the team. Although in Letang’s case, if they wanted to experiment with him on Wing just to allow him a chance to retire a Penguin, I any not like it but I would understand it. Not only is his defensive play a millstone around the team’s neck his $7+ million cap hit hurts a lot, more than Kessel’s $6+ million.
Of the RFAs – Oleksiak is a must resign (but as you point out don’t over-pay). Oleksiak isn’t the only player the Penguins have that is RFA but I think I will wait and do more expansive discussion here.
I hope things start clearing up from you soon so that we can get you back on here more regularly and with articles of your own. I always look forwarded to reading your thoughts on our Pens!
Thanks Coach..Will do. 🙂
As for Johnny T… I want him on my team anytime because for many years this man has been a one man show. Can you imagine him as a second or 3rd line center??
Cheers
Agreed Jim,
Getting Tavaras would be a real coup, if it could be made to work, especially if they can tie him up long term as a bridge between the current Pens and the future Pens since his is a little younger than Crosby and Malkin.
I would still prefer to find a way to keep Bellerive and work him into the line up if he is ready to step up. I think he could be top player 4 or 5 years from now.
If the Pens did sign Tavaras, as I mentioned I would be very interested to see what they do with Sheahan and Brassard and maybe even Hagelin. Although I like Hagelin, I could see them trying to move one or both Sheahan to LW making Hagelin a luxury they don’t need at $4mil.
I also still would like to go after Reaves, but some friends of mine have said they have seen/heard that Reaves will not sign with the Pens because of how little TOI he got here. I don’t blame him.
This is disheartening. I don’t trust pgh media and I don’t like Mike Sullivan at all. No more.
Sorry. That does it .
He has done great with two years with Tocchet.. he did questionable stuff last year too. With Sheary on Crosby’s line then finally realized Guentzel should be there..
I appreciate some things he has done. I can’t be a Mike Sullivan fan .. for many reasons..
Also Crosby was having problems with on line..he didn’t like his line ( wingerslike Sheary) he didn’t have consistency and his line changes every game sometimes 4 times a games) nor how the team was going this season..due to Sully’s inability to get things balanced.. His ego ..
Phil Kessel seems like the scapegoat to me..Every year..
If JR chose to keep Letang over Kessel.. doesn’t trade Sheary and Hunwick.. whoever else.. not Hags then I believe Penguins organization will waste 87 and 71 final great years (5-7) and chances to be a contender again..
I would keep Kessel… til contract ended due to it being a great one and cap space rising.. yes.. Malkin with Hags and Kessel is great line .. imo.. he could be a great the third line but not with brassard and Sheary.. I can see why if Kessel was frustrated.. he wasn’t the only player ..
If it does happen then I see Crosby going back to be beyond frustrated .
I could see Sully getting fired (before his 2019-2020 contract ending)because Sully has shown his true color this season , not on the same page with Rutherford and what he did this season with players plus not having great coaching strategies among other things..
Yes he’s the coach but he needs someone like Rick Tocchet to reign him and tell it like it is beyond just being up his butt. I believe Sully lose his team this season in a lot of games.. players will not speak out on it .. I guaranteed they do think about it after Cole’s situation and Sully’s bad season.. Sully’s has a ego / favoritism problem that will cost games and players stop believing in their coach. Often run players out of team..
I wonder if Sully doesn’t see eye to eye with Geno and Sid.. then what?
At some point Sully will lose Geno and Sid with his antics and inability to get along with a player..
He messed up when continuing to treat sid’s Line like a third line, he didn’t scratch some deserved players as he didn’t stop Brassard-Kessel playing together .. he waited to late to change it.. it hurted him in the end beyond some many questionable line combos and defense parings..
Penguins don’t have enough great elite wingers on team. Losing Kessel will hurt them . Hags, Rust, kessel,Guentz, Hornqvist are the only ones generating the best for this team.
Penguins focus this season should be defense ( moving Letang-Hunwick /getting more into defensive minded in their zone),more balance scoring instead of one trick pony like Sheary and decent great goalie behind Murray..
Removing Letang, Hunwick and Sheaey will give the 12 million to do something great plus added cap space money to do small great tweaks around their elite centers..
I will extremely disappointed if Kessel is ran out of town without resolving the big elephant on the room.. No matter how Letang does his training you cannot erase the fact he will continue to cost this team games, bad brain farts/ mental lapses and awful defensively..ok offensively.. he another injury waiting to happen to be out for 25+ games. I don’t wanna see Penguins build around him anymore not let good players from WBS have a chance..Penguins should build around Shultz and Dumoulin with other players like Määttä then get the job done by committee to win games..
Penguins not moving on to win against caps were beyond Phil Kessel..
1.) Coaching Staff inability to keep great line combos not hold defense better without doing pinching
2.) Sully inability to see penguins problems with defense and fowards needing consistency to produce well
3.) Sully’s favoritism/ ego
4.) Sully’s bad game adjustments and line changes ( tactics and strategies as well)
5.) Letang minutes and not hold Letang accountable
6.) breaking up Sid’s line with Simon on it..
7.) Inconsistent goalie who needs great defense in front of him. He never showed consistency and derailed by injuries.
8.) trade that broke up the groove of pens starting to be great going into the playoffs
9.) brassard not seem to fit with team before and after the trade despite injuries not he never mesh well with Kessel
10.) Malkin and Hags being injured
11.)recchi never mesh nor managed fowards well..
12.) Sully’s inability to give some players the chances to play nor kee a constructive line combos to keep players going and play within there limitations..
13.) constantly playing one trick pony players beyond their limitations
14.) lLetang and Murray costcthem the series although they needed secondary scoring but at times they had the lead Letang blow it and gave caps unnecessary chances to get a goal..
15.) it many more reasons.. kessel isn’t the big reason they lost nor he should he be traded..
Hey Dee,
I have to agree with a lot of what you wrote. Sullivan was the number 1 reason they didn’t move on.
Although Murray had an off year, I don’t see any real worry there. Given his age and the pathetic state of the Pens D, I may not like it, but I can see where he could have a Jekyll and Hyde Season. I would think that his numbers would be comparable if not better than Fleury’s if he had a D that played in front of him.
I chose not to really address my biggest problem with all this trade talk of Kessel circus. I am considering going into more detail with a full post. In essence, what I hate most is the idea that this wag the dog offal can and may obscure the real only glaring hole on the team, a non-existent D.
Okay, that may be a little harsh, my criticism should be, that all of this smoke and mirrors will draw attention away from the horrible way Letang played, particularly in the defensive zone and with high risk plays in the neutral and attacking zones giving up break away after break away as well as the pathetic way Letang was deployed. Letang’s defensive play should have earned him press box time not 25+ minutes playing time in both the regular season and the playoffs. If Letang’s minutes were not so high, I suspect that all 4 of the Penguins left handed Defensemen would have had better seasons statistically, even Hunwick.
My hope is that JR focuses on moving Letang, Hunwick, and Sheary before placating Sullivan again.
I’ve said this before and it may be a pipe dream, but I would try to find a way to trade Letang, Sheary, and a prospect not named Sprong, and even a pick if needed for Drew Doughty. Doughty wants to play for a winner, and is going to require a max value contract which he has made clear through the press. He is still young enough to deserve such a contract and is always a Norris Candidate (some years he should’ve been and wasn’t). I would love JR to find a way to make that deal work as I see it being more realistic than trying to trade for Karlson. Doughty plays excellent physical D and is great in the offensive zone! I don’t see how this could be a lose for the Pens if it can in fact somehow be done with a trade and sign.
Hey lewdremarks,
I really haven’t paid close enough to the Kings to know much about the Kings/Doughty situation, but since Doughty is in the last year of his contract and if he is indeed looking to get out of LA, then maybe LA will be willing to make a deal. Since Doughty is an RD like Schultz, that indeed would one powerful D with maybe Dumoulin and Doughty and Oleksiak with Schultz. Then the Pens would just need to find Maatta a partner, hopefully a fleet of foot one.
Of course, I would still also like to find a way to keep Pedan here and work him into the line up. It probably could be done by flipping Oleksiak back to RD but I am not sure what the exact combos could be. Maybe Oleksiak’s size could work in lieu of a fast D man to pair with Maatta?
Maybe, since Carolina is in the mood to throw players away, they may be willing to deal Faulk for Dumoulin or Maatta, their numbers ($$$$) match up well. Imagine if the Pens had Schultz, Doughty, and Faulk as their RD.
Yes.
Hi.
We agree on n that.
Sheary,Hunwick and Letang needs to be gone this summer.
I’m hoping everyone take their emotions out of Letang situation and move him.
I don’t the trust the pgh media ( from information give to me because of no social media on my part)and quite frankly everyone is missing the big elephant in the room by scapegoating Kessel. I don’t think he will be traded. I prefer to keep him. Letang is the big issue . IMO. His albatross contract needs to go. He’s a third paring defenseman. Penguins will be better off without him and able to play their defenseman by committee to win games. I would like minutes to be spread out with players. Etc..
I believe it’s time to move Letang (I have been wanting g it for years)and build around the young reliable defenseman. He needs to rebound somewhere else not in Pittsburgh. D core shouldn’t be built around him anymore nor should he be the alternate captain on this team.
I truly believe players (certain players)are important than the coaches in this league. No matter how many cups a coach wins with a team. Like I said I don’t see Sullivan lasting that long and suspect Rutherford has let him know that and Rutherford will not let it get that way of him running players out of town.
Also I don’t see Mark Recchi lasting that long either.
Finger crossed. I hope and praying Sheary and Letang is gone.
I hope it’s more better balance on LW , D Core and better bottom lines.
D core needs to be retool and I hope Rutherford gets that. If Hornqvist is not permanent RW with Sidney and Jake then I would acquire great cheap
RW to be with them. I like Sprong to be there as well. If not RW is needed there. I hope Sprong has break out season and work hard to stay in the line up.
Brassard should get a chance to prove himself if not I think he should be traded as well during the trade deadline.
I hope you guys enjoying your summer.