Penguins Acquire Zucker

1. If I were Sullivan (my wife would be happy..but I digress), I would strongly consider an approach that may be higher risk but plays into the Pens strengths. I would consider using Zucker -Tanev- Blueger- Aston-Reese and Jack Johnson on some shifts to create maxim havoc with speed on the ice. In essence , pull a defenseman and substitute Zucker instead. Make sure everyone knows their defensive responsibilities, but give them the green light to press. They are all fast (even Johnson) and speed can overcome mistakes .

   I already think the Tanev-Blueger-Aston Reese (TBAR) line does this well but the addition of another maximum effort speedster like Zucker would be interesting to see if they can maximize the effect.

   The TBAR line is even a threat short handed on penalty kills. Make it the Z-BART line and push the accelerator to the floor whether its on PK’s or just regular shiftwork.

   I suspect Sid would rather play with Simon anyways and Simon seems to be playing better although he seems to struggle scoring (But thats the rap some have on Zucker too).

   When the playoffs come, the Pens generally struggle a bit (my opinion) as it naturally gets more physical. The counter to that has to be speed and constant pressure on the puck .

   Jacques Martin is a master of analyzing issues in real time and he’d be great to make the Z-BART line work.

   Open to feedback except on the wife wishing I was Sullivan…a bit sensitive on that one.

   1. Hey pfb17,

      Interesting Idea, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun tweeted this on Feb 11th: “Still waiting for the day an NHL coach decides to play a five man unit at 5 on 5 featuring 4 F and a D for an entire game. Why not try it? One of these years some coach will be willing to try it I bet”

      I think it will be a while before the Pens try it with Zucker, I think their goal at this point is to make sure he knows the Pens system inside and out.

      I suspect the same thing with Sid. I think Dominik Simon is the new Colby Armstrong or Pascal Dupuis. Sid wants Simon so he gets Simon. I don’t believe that Hornqvist has the ability to keep up with Sid for a whole game. Once Kahun is healthy, I would like to see:

      Zucker-Crosby-McCann
      Kahun-Malkin-Rust
      ZAR-Blueger-Tanev
      Lafferty-Simon-Hornqvist

      Sid and his wanting to have Simon on his line will probably stop that from happening.

      When you try to put a lineup together when and if everyone gets healthy it is even more interesting:

      Guentzel-Crosby-Simon/Kahun
      Zucker-Malkin-Rust
      Kahun/ZAR-Blueger-Tanev
      McCann-Bjugstad-Hornqvist

      It’s an incredible lineup. There’s not enough room for all the skill and is probably what lit the fire under McCann and Simon the other night. They just figured out that the game of musical chairs started and they may not have a chair.

      1. Really good insights,
         Always in play is the 3rd line vs. I’m a top 6 guy that these guys live as professional athletes with future contract concerns ( I clearly missed that)

         I like your line ups and I didn’t know Pierre said that. Genius can’t be contained!
         I’d really like Malkin to “ earn” a penalty. Most of his penalties come from jap slapping some guy he doesn’t like and they both go to the box. Why not use his size to actually intimidate the other team ( like Tom Wilson does ) and get a strategic result?! ( btw I have tremendous respect for Japanese people 🤤)

         Thanks for great feedback and appreciate the reply.

2. Entertaining game last night and I like Zucker. I think he’ll fit in well but time will tell.
   I think Simon had his best game, from a hustle and tenacity perspective. Someone lit a fire under McCann too with his checking. I like it.
   Malkin was not so great, seemed off to me and sometimes his decision making as he crosses into the offensive end is…well not so Bueno. He loves to flip the puck back (sometimes to no one in particular) right after crossing the blue line… better he should dump it deep. Other teams know the Penguins struggle with entering the offensive zone and its really biting them. Mulkin has been one of the best players so I guess everyone gets a bad game or two. His overtime play was also no Bueno. Would love to see him use his size to check with authority.

   Murray played maybe his best game of the year. I know I am not his biggest fan of his play at times, but he was on last night.

   Is it me or is Sid missing something. He doesn’t seem like he’s back to his all world caliber of play. Still good but not like he was pre-injury. Do you guys agree?

   The team also got unlucky with a few puck bounces. The Rust almost goal via a nice saucer pass by McCann and Malkin missing a wide open net come to mind.

   The Pens are good, but if I honestly rated the NHL RIGHT NOW I’d still rank them behind St Louis, Columbus, Tampa Bay, Boston and the Islanders. A lot of hockey left and these surges by teams come and go , along with injuries…so we’ll see.
   I think we’ve gotten our monies worth from the Penguins this year and then some

   AMF

   1. Love your “no buenos.” A dear friend of mine is half-Mexican.

      Very succinct wrap-up to last night’s game…I pretty much agree with everything you said. Murray, indeed, played a heck of game. I think that’s the most I’ve seen him resemble the old, pre-shrunk pads Murray.

      I, too, have noticed the Pens’ difficulty in entering the offensive zone…and maintaining possession once they get there. This could just be my perception, but I think they were dumping the puck in a lot more earlier in the season and using their speed to win races and puck battles. It just seemed our guys were on opposing defenses before they had time to react and forced them into turnovers.

      I don’t know if they’re tired or what (perfectly understandable given how many injuries they’ve had to cover for) but now it seems like they’re trying to carry the puck in, and they’re not attacking with the same speed. Again, just my perception, but that’s what I sense.

      Some of this could be rooted in the defense not getting the puck up ice as efficiently…I dunno.

      Agree 100 percent about us getting our money’s worth. I’ve never seen a team show so much heart in the face of almost constant adversity, and I’ve been watching hockey since the ’70s.

      Love this team’s moxie.

      Rick

   2. Hey guys,

      Just want to throw in my two cents. I read some M. Wild hockey forum talk and there seems to be a knock on Zucker that he can’t finish. I don’t know how a guy gets 33 goals and is labeled that way but that is what they are saying.

      If it is true, then Crosby is going to have a hard time getting any assists with Zucker and Simon LOL.

      He does have some great hustle!

      1. Hey Phil,

         I’ve heard that, too. They say he creates tons of chances with his speed and tenacity but doesn’t finish very well. Yet he’s got a very good 17.5 percent shooting percentage this season (a respectable 12.6 percent for his career).

         Go figure.

         The same report likened him to one of Sid’s former linemates…Pascal Dupuis. “Duper” had a rocket of a shot, although he didn’t always get it on net. Early in his career Dupuis was described as having “flinty” hands, but to my eye his hand skills actually improved as his career went along…one of the few times I’ve ever seen that happen.

         Anyway, that’s who this guy likened Zucker to. Well, if Jason blends as well with Sid as Duper did, we got no worries…

         Rick

         PS–I have to confess, watching Zucker flub a couple of scoring chances brought to mind another deadline pickup from years ago…Ron Duguay. When we got “Doogie” he was coming off consecutive 30+ goal seasons and also a had a 40-goal season on his resume.

         Well, I don’t know what happened. But the instant he was teamed with Mario Lemieux his hands literally turned to stone.

         Again, it was just a flashback, but I sure hope it isn’t a harbinger of things to come… 🙁

      2. I mentioned this to Rick B a couple of days back; if you look at Zucker’s split stats across his career, he fades down the stretch run. In the 92 games he has played in March and April he has 19 Goals, 36 Assists and is a -18 with a 9.1 Shooting %.

         The Eastern and Western Conferences are 2 different animals and Zucker’s tendency to disappear on the home stretch can be from the heavy game that tends to be played out West. Zucker isn’t a big guy and could have been worn down in years past from the pounding he was taking and took this year.

         February has always been a pretty good month for him though, coming back off of the All Star break rest he has 20 Gs and 19 As and is a +12 in 66 Games. Hopefully that can buy the team extra points if he is going to disappear again in March and April.

3. Hey all,

   Just a little add-on about Zucker in the wake of his black-and-gold debut last night.

   Part of the reason I felt the Pens needed to make a trade was psychological. Our guys have had to suck it up and pull together so much over the first two-thirds of the season due to all the injuries, and there’s only so many times you can emotionally reload. It just seemed to me that they were starting to wear down.

   To that end, Seth Rorabaugh of the Trib made an interesting observation in his article covering Zucker’s debut:

   Regardless, his (Zucker’s) presence offered a charge, even if was just emotional, to a group of incumbent players who have weathered injuries to star players all season long.

   “It’s huge,” defenseman Kris Letang said. “He’s one of the guys who was out there (as a trade target). Our management made a big push to get him. He’s a really good player. It’s good to have him on our side for a few years.”

   I look for bigger and better things from Zucker as he settles in and grows more comfortable. Apparently, he’s a first-rate guy, too…on and off the ice. You can never have enough quality people on your team.

   Rick

4. Hey Rick,

   I like the trade. I hate losing the #1 pick, but Galchenyuk didn’t work out, and Addison is a bit on the small size for a defenseman. So a #1 pick for a guy I really think is going to thrive in Sullivan’s system.

   When Kahun come back the Pens will have one of the toughest teams in the league to play against. Add Guentzel part way into the playoffs and the Pens will definitely be a Cup favorite if they can put their defense back together.

   Dumoulin? What is going on there? He is long past when they said he would return and isn’t even skating. This could be why as you said Pens are shopping for a west coast defenseman.

   I think the Pens seriously need to sweeten the pot with Matt Murray. It will have a double bonus. One, the Pens could bring up DeSmith who is a better goalie and two, maybe the Pens will stop losing all the guys to injury risking their lives to help nice guy Murray look better.

   Seriously all season, since Crosby and Rust went down blocking shots for Murray in the last preseason game until now. Players are trying to get anything in front of the shot because they know Murray can’t stop it and they are dropping like flies.

   Murray put a few descent games together at the perfect time. He got his save percentage up to .900 right before the trade deadline. All of his fans are once again talking like he’s the next Dominik Hasek. Maybe some GM will fall for that and Pens could land a quality defenseman like Brodin or Lindell. If not, trade him for a draft pick before the excuses roll out once again.

   1. Ah Phil,

      Sorry to to bring up facts again but the team D has blocked 13.95 shots per 60 for Jarry and 13.85 per 60 for Murray. Inconvient truths huh.

      1. Hey tOR,

         Thanks once again for twisting stuff around and putting words in my mouth.

         At no point did I say the team blocked more shots than they did for Jarry. Heck, I didn’t even mention Jarry. I said the players were putting themselves in harms way to block shots for Murray. It’s not on stat sheets, you would have to watch the games to know that.

         I also said it was because they know Murray can’t stop shots. That was just an educated guess.

         1. Sorry Phil,

            But I twisted nothing nor put any words in your mouth. Your statement is right above and I quote “I think the Pens seriously need to sweeten the pot with Matt Murray. It will have a double bonus. One, the Pens could bring up DeSmith who is a better goalie and two, maybe the Pens will stop losing all the guys to injury risking their lives to help nice guy Murray look better.”

            Whether you mention Jarry or not, you state that there is a causal relationship between Murray playing and injuries to Penguin players blocking shots. Your statement is black and white; that is unless you want to debate the meaning of the word “is”.

            Since the laws of probability demand that each blocked shot has an equal chance of resulting in an injury and that although statistically equivalent the Penguins sacrifice themselves a tad more for Jarry than Murray your statement that Murray is at fault for injuries due to players going out of their way for the “nice guy” is false. They go out of their way for everyone equally.

            1. You did twist my words and make stuff up, twice now. I’m used to it though.

               Players get set to block shots reducing their chance for injury. If you watched you would know that. You won’t find that in the stats.

               When Murray is in net, the players dive in front of anything knowing he has a low percentage of stopping a puck on net. Risking injury to themselves.

               Even if you don’t understand shot blocking, you have to agree Murray stinks and would be a great player to use as trade bait.

               1. Wow, even when I use your own quotes you deny it. Are you practicing to run for a political office? I won’t bother belaboring the point anymore because you really are attempting to create an operant definition for the word “is”; most especially when you, once again, insist there is a causal relationship between Murray’s TOI and Injured Players “When Murray is in net, the players dive in front of anything knowing he has a low percentage of stopping a puck on net. Risking injury to themselves.”

                  Next, Murray has the higher HDSV% 0.827 to Jarry’s 0,805.

                  Next, the average shot distance Murray faces is roughly 3′-0″ closer than when Jarry’s is in Goal; 35.97 (Murray) to 38.54 (Jarry). Murray also faces more HDC/60 than Jarry; 7.96 (Murray) to 7.08 (Jarry). And Murray faces more Rush Attempts/60 1.52 (Murray) to 1.34 (Jarry). So if anyone is getting shelter by his D more it is Jarry.

                  Fine, I will stop here and let you say what you want now, since you will, as Fox Muldur once said, “Deny Everything” regardless of what the facts are, regardless if the evidence is coming out of your own mouth.

               2. You used a quote then twisted it. That’s novel. Then you did the proverbial blame the other person for doing exactly what you are doing. Methinks the lady doth protest too much.

                  Once again you are comparing Murray to Jarry. I didn’t do that. Jarry didn’t play the last two years in the playoffs after they shrunk Murry’s pads, neither did Desmith, Murray still sucked.

                  For every one stat you dig from the bottom of whichever ten sites you go to find an ounce of anything that could back up your point, there are 50 that prove Murray is not a good goaltender. As an option, you can just watch the games and see for yourself.

               3. Phil,

                  I did nothing but quote you. I twisted nothing.

                  And for you to say that the Pens skaters go out of there way to block shots for Murray DOES invoke comparisons by its very nature of the statement. To argue otherwise is to argue the definition of “is”. If the team blocks shots evenly, regardless of who is in net, that invalidates your claim that Pens skaters are injured trying to insulate Murray, most especially when all of the empirical evidence says the opposite.

                  If you refuse to acknowledge your own quotes, then it calls into question your objectivity in what you claim to see at games.

               4. What I said does invoke comparisons, not just to Jarry, but to all of the goalies in the NHL.

                  That is where you twisted what I was saying to fit your narrative. Throwing out stats of how Murray faces closer shots and other stats compared to Jarry.

                  Sure Murray faces closer/tougher shots than Jarry. Murray has horrible rebound skills, he can’t even catch a wrister in his glove, and 1/10 of the stick handling skill that Jarry possesses. I’m actually surprised the average shot was only 3 feet closer. Every shot the other team takes, they get two close rebounds.

                  Then toss in the fact Murray plays too deep in the net, you can watch the last goal yesterday for reference, and what you have is a goaltender that I would like the Pens to play against on a regular basis.

                  Murray didn’t play bad yesterday. He was playing a dead tired Tampa team that was missing most of their snipers, and he was also outplayed by Tampa’s goalie.

                  All that and once again, if you don’t understand a player getting set for a shot block vs one that throws himself willy nilly in front of one, I can’t help you.

               5. Phil,

                  I goaltended and goaltended way back when goalies equipment , outside of leg pads was not very protective, including a face hugging mask that even when worn, still risked concussions when hit there. I also watched players block shots. You can’t school me.

                  Every, every time you step in front of a shot, you take the same risk It isn’t whether you set for a block or go diving “”willy nilly”. The blocker is only one factor in the equation. The shooter is the other. Witness the last 2 games against the Bolts. 2 Bolts players left the game after getting set to block shots.

                  As for last game, If Murray was outplayed, how about the rest of the team. They only managed 1 goal. How did they manage to get outshot against a dead tired team missing its top guns? How did they managed to give up more High Danger Chances?

                  Murray stole that point against TB.

                  You have an extreme bias, there is no objectivity in your argument. Your prejudice clouds your vision.

               6. I didn’t have a whole lot of time when I wrote the above, lat’s also acknowledge deflections when we look at all the factors that affect shots, blocks, saves, and injuries. Again, skating around and throwing yourself “willy nilly” in front of shots is far from a valid premise for stating Murray is responsible for the injuries the Penguins have suffered this year.

               7. As for Rebound shots per 60, look again before stating; Murray’s Rebounds per 60 minutes is in the top 30% of the league (24th of 83). Former Penguin MAF is in the Bottom 20% (67 out of 83).

                  I don’t want to say negative things about Jarry because I like him, but although he does have better stick handling skills, he also has 25% more give aways as well and his rebound shot attempts against is statistically equal to Murrays’ so once again your eye test is skewed by your bias.

               8. When I say top 30%, his rebounds are less than 70% of the leagues goalies, The way I wrote that it was misleading. Murray faces 3.19 per 60 while MAF faces 4.03. And Sorry, I did make a slight mistake, Murray and Jarry face statistically equal Rush Attempts against about 0.1 different but Jarry has lower rebound attempts against at 2.75 but then again opponents are boxed out better, unable to get to those rebounds, since they are much farther away when they shoot.

                  Face it, you were wrong.

               9. I give, you’re talking nonsense. If you seriously think you can get a good idea of rebounds from the stats then I’m wasting my time.

                  I would quote Mark Twain, but you probably have a stat for that.

                  TRY WATCHING THE GAMES.

   2. Hey Phil,

      Good to hear from you.

      I heard, albeit from a totally unreliable source, that the Pens are playing Murray to showcase him for a trade. I really don’t believe that for one second…I still think behind the scenes he’s Sully’s guy. But coupled with the fact that the Pens really don’t have any other tradeable assets (other than Poulin and Legare) it is an interesting thought.

      Of course, I don’t know what he’d fetch trade-wise.

      Like you, I’m a Jarry guy. I just have a lot more confidence in him…especially at crunch time with a game on the line. And I do think the Pens will be able to sign him for less than Murray.

      Maybe it’s a luxury we can’t afford. But for now I do like having two starting goalies a la Murray and Fleury in 2016-17.

      Switching gears I, too, am worried about Dumoulin. Forgive me if I got this wrong, but someone mentioned he has an Achilles injury. And if that’s the case, the recovery process could indeed be long and complicated.

      In the meantime, it will be interesting to see if JR has anything else up his sleeve. But I like the Zucker trade, too.

      Rick

      PS–Wish Bjugstad were available as trade bait. But it doesn’t look like he’ll be healthy enough, soon enough for that to happen.

      1. Hey Rick,

         I will say this about the whole Murray trade bait thing, Sullivan isn’t playing him that easy games like he did last year. Tampa was the harder of the two games this weekend. The Panthers are on a downward spiral.

         I would also think that after this weekend, Jarry would start tonight, but I haven’t seen anything posted.

         I doubt there is a chance Bjugstad is traded.

         The way I look at it is the Pens right now are one defensive injury away from having a big problem. Plus Shultz isn’t the healthiest of defensemen.

         If a GM out there believes the Murray talk, trade him now. I’m sure Rutherford has talked contract with Murray already. They obviously can’t come to an agreement. That being said, I would bet Murray will be gone sooner rather than later if the Pens can get a solid defenseman that has a few years left on his contract.

         Zucker is supposed to be playing tonight, hopefully on Crosby’s line but I see him ending up on Malkin’s once Guentzel is healthy. If Zucker is as good as I thought Galchenyuk was going to be, this team is loaded on offense!

5. Hey Rick,

   I am not sure I know what I think about this trade.

   On the surface it really doesn’t look like we gave up much. Sitting 4th in the league, within striking distance of at least 2nd if not 1st, that 1st round pick looks an awful lot like a 2nd and Calen Addison was a 2nd round pick. Furthermore, although, it looks like Addison may be starting to mature, they brief snippets of time I have seen him play, I wasn’t all that impressed. And with the way Marino has played, Addison, even if he does become a top player, may be redundant. (I still would have rather traded P-O Josephs and completely wiped out Kesssel deal all together)

   You add in the failed Galchenyuk experiment, and it still looks like the Pens gave up little.

   Therefore, this trade may not be the debacle the Brassard trade turned out to be.

   If this trade doesn’t bump Simon off of top 6 TOI, right now then I am not sure it is a win either. McCann proved himself a solid player and a top 6 last season and so has Hornqvist, yet neither could buoy up Crosby’s line with Simon on it. If this trade only means Crosby now plays with Zucker and Simon, this trade becomes, at best, a push.

   A more interesting question is what about the Penguins D, which may be a more pressing problem. With Dumoulin still not skating and Marino now, also out for an indefinite period of time (whatever that means) can the team still find a D-man to fill the void.

   I am somewhat okay with Riikola, Johnson, and Pettersson on the left side (providing they stay healthy) but as we both have written, Ruhwedel may be service able as a 7th in brief stints, he already has played too many games. He is getting exposed – particularly when Sullivan pigheadedly tries to shove a square peg into a round whole by deploying him on the port side instead of Riikola.

   Maybe Sullivan can reverse his Gudbranson banishment by sending Simon and whatever to get him back, thereby killing two birds with one stone – getting a legit 3rd RHD while Marino is out and removing the final Millstone from the top Penguins’ top 6.

   Look at the evidence, as bad as Galchenyuk has been on the Pens, Simon has been worse, and Simon put up his all too forgettable numbers on Crosby’s line while Galchenyuk never got a sniff.

   Two last things, when everyone said oh Galchenyuk is going to fill the Phil void I said no, guess I was right.

   Finally, after watching Galchenyuk, I really thought he was trying too hard, I can’t help wonder if he may get a little bounce back now that the pressure is off of him not having to try and play under Phil’s shadow.

   1. Hey Other Rick,

      In my wildest (no pun intended) dreams, I would’ve preferred to get Chris Kreider because of the power element he’d add. But even I can admit the folly of spending a first-round pick and perhaps a prospect on a rental.

      I do think Zucker will be a good fit. He sounds like a Sullivan-type player through and through…fast, feisty and competitive with a scoring touch. Rust, McCann, Kahun, Tanev, Blueger…you could almost pop these guys out like automatons on an assembly line.

      It also sounds like Rutherford singled out Zucker as a trade target long before the failed Kessel deal last summer. So he must be at least reasonably assured that Zucker will blend in well and make an impact.

      I know you’ve argued against making any moves, and I do understand some of your logic. But I think the Pens have sagged lately and needed a boost…especially since Kahun went down. His loss seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back, unsettling the line combinations and stretching us too thin.

      To my point that we look worn down, we’ve sagged to 12th in the league in 5-versus-5 shots attempts percentage at 50.8. The last time I checked maybe a month or two ago we were in the top five. We need a lift and I think (hope) Zucker can and will supply it.

      Hopefully, it’ll have a trickle-down effect and help make the fourth line useful again. You simply can’t play three lines in the NHL and expect to compete for a Cup in June. It’s far too much of a grind, especially for a team as injury-riddled as the Pens.

      Sully, if you don’t like the guys you’ve got, then get together with JR and figure out what your best options are. Don’t just put the fourth line in mothballs.

      I’m going to put this out there simply because someone else is going to. If you back up to the Kessel trade this summer, we in essence traded Kessel, Galchenyuk, Addison and a first-round pick to get Zucker. Wow…that’s a lot to give up in anyone’s book.

      But I do think he’ll work out well for us.

      Rick

      PS–Agree with your assessment of Ruhwedel. He can sit for long stretches and then come in and play at a decent level. But he generally flat-lines and then regresses if he plays more than a handful of games.

      I’d like to call up Trotman. He brings some size and a little physicality and he’s pretty steady to boot.

      1. Rick,

         I apologize if it sounds like I don’t like Zucker because that is not the case. Had the team traded Kessel for Zucker straight up last summer, I wouldn’t have been against that trade. However, I was against trading with Minn because the Pens were going to have to take on Rask’s hossible contract in that deal.

         My trepidation is that I just am not sure Zucker will be used effectively. As I wrote if Sullivan thinks that moving Zucker in along side Crosby – Simon, I will be very afraid. As I wrote if McCann and Hornqvist couldn’t help Crosby carry Simon, I don’t think Zucker will either.

         As for the team sagging, seems to me that the team started sagging once Simon was once again elevated to top 6 minutes. I would rather have kept Galchenyuk and dumped Simon. (If I had to keep 1 of those 2)

         Who knows maybe my prayers will be answered and the Pens will get Gudbranson back in exchange for Simon and they will be free of their 2 worst forwards – but I am not holding my breath.

         Barring bringing Gudbranson back, I too would prefer Trotman to come back up and supplant Ruhwedel until Marino gets back (3-6 weeks – ouch!)

6. Thanks for the two cups Phil and my Presidential Vote for the foreseeable Future N@

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