Penguins coach Mike Sullivan has been trying to force the square Dominik Simon peg into a round hole and it has a few of the Penguins faithful up in arms.
First off, Dominik Simon who is playing in playing in his first full season in the NHL is not as bad as people would have you think. The Pens are paying $750 thousand a year for a guy who has 7 goals and 24 points in 57 games. He is a young versatile player who is in the positive plus minus column and in a pinch could play just about anywhere in the lineup.
There is a lot in that last sentence. In a pinch. Mike Sullivan plugged Jared McCann into Crosby’s line and the results were amazing. So why would Sullivan go back to Simon if he wasn’t in a pinch to do so? The answer is in another part of the sentence above.
Simon can play just about anywhere in the lineup. It is where he can’t play is the problem. Bryan Rust has also looked fantastic as the third wheel on Crosby’s line and Sullivan kept pulling him to try to fit the square Simon peg in. It is all because McCann and Rust are two of the Penguins best penalty killers and Simon hasn’t played a minute of penalty kill.
At this point I know what your thinking. Krundle is off his rocker.
Work with me here. Let’s say the Penguins are playing a team like Columbus where there are bound to be a ton of penalties for each team. Crosby is playing first power play, Guentzel is playing second, McCann or Rust are killing penalties.
So after each power play Crosby has to sit two shifts until Guentzel is ready and after each penalty kill Crosby has to sit two shifts waiting for McCann or Rust to be ready. That is a lot of sitting for your #1 star.
So when the Penguins play games that Sullivan believes there will be a lot of penalties, he really wants that square Dominik Simon peg to fit into that round hole so that he can play Crosby more.
My personal opinion is it would be easier just to teach Dominik Simon to kill penalties.
Hey all,
Not that I’m happy Zach Aston-Reese is hurt. But I’m looking forward to seeing Joseph Blandisi get a shot.
He’s good skater and a feisty, pepper-pot kind of guy. In my mind, the Pens lack a pure energy player. I think Blandisi can definitely provide that element.
Rick
Hi Phil,
That’s a good and reasonable explanation. Makes sense. I’d still like to think there are better options, but Sullivan will stick with what he knows. Now, with Aston-Reese hurt, again, we may see an Johnson call up. There’s sure to be more juggling and hole-plugging coming Tuesday against the Caps.
Of more concern to me is the second line. Between Malkin’s schizophrenia and Kessel’s Sad Sack act it’s like watching a movie where the writer couldn’t decide on a plot. Now, with ZAR out, who knows? At least he was bringing some sanity to that line. I heard it’s a lower body injury, but no prognosis.
— 55
Hey 55op,
I don’t think Simon is working and I think there are better options, but I could see why Sullivan would really want Simon to work.
I didn’t see Aston-Reese get hurt and forgot to record the game. Blandisi was called up. Blueger is the fill in on Malkins line.
I think McCann and Bjugstad have given Sullivan a lot of really good options. I’m hoping Sullivan can split up Malkin and Kessel and somehow keep them happy before the playoffs. You would think with this group of guys you could come up with three solid lines.
. . . incriminating photos? ? ?
Or we can just have simon in the press box because he’s so garbage
a big Amen Scott!
Hey Phil,
Thanks for at least trying to explain … 🙂 And I do follow your logic.
However, I’m with Mike on this one. There’s got to be someone else in the organization who can at least serve as a placeholder, which is largely all Simon’s doing right now. Personally, I’d like to see Adam Johnson (very fast) get a shot. I don’t think he could do any worse at this stage.
For the record, I do think Simon has some skills. When he’s on his game, he handles the puck fairly well in traffic and has some smarts, too. It’s just that he’s not on his game…and hasn’t been for quite some time. I think he’s lost his confidence.
Sometimes the best thing you can do is sit a guy for a few games and let him regroup. I think that’s the case here.
Rick
Hey Rick,
I agree with you on many points, except when it comes to Simon’s utility, I don’t see any. He is a one trick pony. His only move is the give and go, of which every team is well aware, and they sit back waiting for it.
Although I have this slight disagreement with you, I do wholeheartedly agree that A. Johnson should be given a shot. He would be an upgrade to Simon (but then again. Furthermore, Johnson is a PK man keeping McCann and Rust fresher for playing on Crosby’s wing.
Rick,
If Johnson is a PK guy, he could be perfect. He’s doesn’t seem to be a scorer, and is a -2 in WBS, but he has a 2 way contract so there would be no loss trying him out.
Simon could sit or play bottom six minutes. As much as people hate him, he scores more points per game than Bjudstad and a bunch of other players and is a +5. He is 8th on team scoring.
Dollar per point I would bet that Simon is the best bargain on the team.
Another move may be to put Guentzel up on the number one powerplay. Are the Penguins the only team in the NHL that doesn’t have their #1 scorer on their first powerplay?
That would free up Crosby having to wait for Guentzel.
Hey Phil,
Johnson’s +/- was hurt early in the season but has climbed steadily, so since I don’t see many games nor do they track stats as effectively in the AHL as the NHL I would hesitate to guess which way to go other than to say give him a chance. What little that I have seen of him he seems to have speed in the Haglein range with better hands and stick handling in traffic.
Bjugstad hasn’t played much on Crosby’s line so I do not worry too much about his P/60 vs Simon’s at least until I can find the WOWY stats. Simon has had the benefit of riding Crosby’s and Guentzel’s coat tails.
I wouldn’t argue about moving Guentzel up to the 1st PP unit but not as a replacement for Hornqvist. Guentzel would be better substituting Malkin or Kessel. Even though Guentzel would be willing to try – he always seems willing to do what is ask – real easy on the coach – and he does have a good stick for deflecting shots but he just doesn’t have the size to really be effective in front of the net.
I never thought about it but you are right it does seem strange that Guentzel doesn’t get PP time (maybe even stranger you and I agree on something this season. So far we have been polar opposites on most issues).
Hey toR,
I think Kessel would be the odd guy out if he doesn’t find his game soon.
Looks like Blandisi is getting the call up before Johnson. It would like to see what he’s all about, so I’m fine with that. Small guy, but has the best #’s in WBS.
Bleuger is the fillin on Malkins line for Reese.
BTW, I thought Murray had his best game of the season against Boston. His reactions were fast and he didn’t constantly over skate his angles. Maybe more playing time was all he needed.
Hey Phil,
I made some similar comments about Blandisi up above.
He’s feisty and reported to be a pretty good skater. Put up some decent numbers back in junior, too.
With the possible exceptions of McCann and Rust, I think we lack a pure, in-your-face energy guy. Blandisi’s that type of player.
Rick
Hey Phil
I like both Malkin and Kessel so would hate to sit either of them, however, I also like Guentzel and with the way he is playing I would definitely put him out there. Since none of the 3 really have the skill set (or in Guentzel’s case – Size) to bump Hornqvist, one of the 3 has to sit and unless either Kessel or Malkin gets hotter than Guentzel then I would have to choose one of them. My knee jerk reaction is to want to have a lefty and a righty on the walls, preferably playing their off wings making 1 time shots easier however, I just can’t see myself sitting Malkin so I agree, I would have to sit Kessel.
I saw that Blandisi was called up. I still would like to see what Johnson can do but Blandisi is scroing at a slightly higher pace than Johnson and has a better +/-, so I can see where Sullivan would call on him.
I didn’t see about Blueger. That will be interesting to see how it plays out. It will be interesting to see how he does with high end offensive talent as well as having a defensively responsible winger to cover up for 2 Fs who have been struggling defensively this year.
Somehow I don’t think Sullivan is handicapping Crosby all night long to avoid double shifting him or missing a shift or two throughout the entire game.
Hey Brian,
Double shifting Crosby would mean that the Pens #1 goals scorer Guentzel has to sit more. Plus, who would Crosby’s linemates be when he double shifts? Not McCann or Rust. The answer would be to find another penalty killer and not have McCann or Rust kill penalties. Adam Johnson has been mentioned. I’m not sure he kills penalties.
Plain and simple Simon is not a top six forward. I’m not saying he is horrible but he should be on the third line.
Phil
Easy solution – double shift Crosby. If Sully doesn’t want to do
that he can alternate Malkin and Crosby to double shift every
2nd line change.
With Simon I respectfully disagree – I really wish JR would of
moved Simon instead of Pearson but for money reasons I’m
sure it wouldn’t of worked. I realize Simon is playing on Crosby’s
line due to an injury to Rust – personally I would keep McCann
with Sid – he has a chance to score some goals. With that line you
have enough speed to pressure on the forecheck and still recover
on the back-check.
Hopefully the Pen’s can find away to do better than Simon before
playoff time. I hate to beat a dead horse but Ryan Reaves has more
goals then Simon. I would rather have Reaves. “Just saying”
Hey Mike & Rick,
I’m not agreeing with Sullivan, I would much rather see Rust or McCann on Crosby’s line. I was just pointing out why Sulli does it. I’m not going to hate Simon just because Sullivan plays him over someone else. Hate Sullivan for that.
I did point out the guys Rutherford moved this year on Rick’s ex-Penguins update.
Sprong -16
*Pearson -18
Brassard -16
Sheahan -12
Simon +5
I do like the double shifting idea!
As for Reaves, he does have value. I don’t see his scoring ability as his value though. Points scored, 17 in 68 games for Reaves. 24 in 57 games for Simon. Then the age, 32 year old Reaves vs. 24 year old Simon. $2.7 mil Reaves $750 thou Simon. Throw in Rutherford traded Reaves because he wouldn’t sign a new contract.
Did I also mention Simon can also play center?
I’ll take the guy that wants to play for the Penguins every time.
hmm interesting point, I am not sure the Simon hate he wasn’t the reason they lost yesterday, also it tends to be hard to sweep a team that has good players. (note I didn’t say a good team cause the Jackets are not necesarily that)
They had beaten Boob Jackets 8 in a row..law of averages..bit them..better now than in playoffs if they had to meet.