The morning after. It’s most often associated with trying to recover from a hangover after a wild night of carousing. Well, this morning I guess I’m suffering from a hangover of a different sort.
One hockey trade too many.
By now those of us in Penguins Nation have had a full day to digest GM Jim Rutherford’s moves at the trade deadline. I’ll try to cobble together my thoughts as coherently as possible. Forgive me if I ramble or repeat some of the same opinions I shared in comments to my previous article. I guess I’m still trying to wrap my brain around this, as I’m sure many of you are.
I’ll start with the Patrick Marleau deal. I’m okay with it. While part of me wanted JR to acquire Wayne Simmonds from the Devils for his toughness and leadership, even I can admit that the former Flyer and Messier Leadership Award Winner wasn’t a good fit for our up-tempo style.
Too, as Other Rick pointed out on numerous occasions, we already have a supreme net-front presence in Patric Hornqvist, not to mention Anthony Angello waiting in the wings. From that standpoint, Simmonds would’ve been redundant.
On to Marleau. Once a deadly scorer with six 30-goal seasons and a 40-goal campaign on his resume, the 40-year-old Saskatchewan native isn’t what he used to be offensively (10 goals in 58 games for San Jose). But he’s fast, skilled and large (6”2” 218)…an anomaly on the Smurfish Pens.
Versatile, too. He can slot in at left wing or center, is reliable defensively and good on draws…an area of weakness on the black and gold (a sorry 25th in face-off percentage). As an added bonus, he can fill in up and down the lineup.
It might be interesting to try him next to Sidney Crosby and/or Evgeni Malkin for a spell and see what transpires. Perhaps a little hidden vigorish to borrow a phrase from the old “Gunner” Bob Prince. Too, I think Rutherford’s hoping to provide his troops with an extra dollop of inspiration. Win a Cup for Patrick.
My take? A no-brainer. If Marleau pans out, he could provide scoring, leadership and a veteran presence a la Bill Guerin in 2009. (Hopefully not Alexei Kovalev in 2011.)
Now on to the second trade. Frankly, I was stunned…STUNNED…and not the least bit disappointed when I learned JR had swapped Dominik Kahun to Buffalo for Conor Sheary and Evan Rodrigues.
My initial reaction? What was he thinking?
I’ve written before that I really like Kahun. He’s fast, skilled, creative, versatile, adaptable and involved at both ends of the rink. Certainly not a star, but a solid second-tier player. The kind you win with.
I thought he did an especially good job of filling in on the second line when Jake Guentzel went down with a season-ending injury. No, his production wasn’t off the charts…a goal and six points in the 10 games he skated next to Malkin and Bryan Rust. But he proved to be a really nice complimentary player.
For the record, Malkin had four goals and nine points during that span…Rust five goals and 11 points.
I fully understand the concept: you need to give up something to get something. But I don’t know why Kahun was deemed expendable. Perhaps looking forward, Rutherford saw that he has Guentzel and Jason Zucker ahead of Kahun on the depth chart at left wing. I don’t know.
As for what we got? I’m not a Conor Sheary hater like some. In many ways, he sort of resembles Kahun. Sheary’s a great skater and does a good job of creating time and space with his speed. He also has a knack for finding the seams.
My enduring memory of him during his first stint in the ‘Burgh (other than getting knocked down a lot)? Breaking open in front of the net courtesy of his quickness and a great pass from frequent linemate Crosby…and not being able to finish.
Nor do I think Sheary’s as good a passer or all-around player as Kahun. Tossing an extra contractual log on the fire, Conor’s a pending UFA…Kahun an RFA. So we’ve surrendered some control as well.
The unknown quantity in the deal is Rodrigues, a rather obscure 26-year-old forward. Even scouting reports on him are conflicting…one site raved about his speed while another claimed he’s an average skater. He’s reputed to be good defensively and on transitions, while possessing decent hockey sense. Not much of a scorer (26 goals in 192 NHL games).
In other words, a depth guy. One who’ll likely be employed on the fourth line.
I guess the attraction is his versatility. Rodrigues can play all three forward positions. Too, he’s a right-handed shot, a scarce commodity among Pens forwards.
Does This Make Us a Better Team?
Getting Marleau was a low-risk, high-reward move. But the Kahun trade?
Wow, that’s a tough one.
It gives us more depth up front and a right-handed shot to take face-offs, something Rutherford was hoping to add. And it was painfully apparent that coach Mike Sullivan wasn’t fond of any of his fourth-line options, including kids Angello and Sam Lafferty, to the extent that he severely limited their ice time while taxing the top three lines. An unfortunate practice that may well come back to bite us in our collective keister down the homestretch and in playoffs (we look like a tired team).
Whether it’s quality depth is a whole other matter. Despite the fact that the Sabres employ a puck-possession scheme similar to ours, Sheary didn’t do much in Buffalo (23 goals in 133 games). Is he really going to make a difference?
Rutherford and others in the organization appear to be banking on it.
I’m not so sure.
And Then There’s the Competition…
Most, if not all, of our Eastern Conference brethren made significant upgrades.
Boston acquired a pair of forwards from Anaheim, slick scorer Ondrej Kase and hammer Nick Ritchie. The Bruins made themselves faster, more skilled and tougher.
Ditto the Capitals, who landed sharpshooter Ilya Kovalchuk (Canadiens), physical defenseman Brendan Dillon (Sharks) and our old friend, Daniel Sprong (Ducks). Philly got centers Derek Grant (Ducks) and Nate Thompson (Canadiens).
The Islanders acquired arguably the top prize of the day, Ottawa center Jean-Gabriel Pageau and defensive stalwart Andy Greene (Devils).
Perhaps the best work was done by Carolina. They added Pittsburgh native and former 30-goal man Vincent Trocheck (Panthers) and defensemen Brady Skjei (Rangers) and Sami Vatanen (Devils).
We play the Hurricanes four times down the home stretch.
Closing Thought
I know I sound like a broken record. But I’m (deeply) concerned about our lack of toughness.
It isn’t that our guys lack fortitude or aren’t willing to get dirty and compete. In terms of grit, we’re second to none. But grit only takes you so far. You need at least some muscle to back it up.
Our primary competition in the east…Boston, Washington and Tampa Bay…are large, talented and tough. And don’t forget the Islanders, who ground us into dust the past postseason.
From a physical standpoint, we simply don’t match up.
I get what Rutherford’s trying to do. He’s trying to recreate the dynamic we had in 2015-16 when we rolled four lines and skated other teams into the ice. Right down to acquiring a “Team Dad” (Marleau).
Personally, I think it’s a flawed model. Toronto tried the “speed kills” approach the past three seasons and came up short. So did a very fast ‘Canes squad last spring.
Times change and our competition has evolved. After all, they want to win the Cup, too. I think the aforementioned teams (and the Flyers) are more complete and better built to withstand the rigors and physical grind of playoff competition.
Bottom line? I hate to be a naysayer. But I’m not nearly as confident today as I was about our chances.
Way to go Jim!!!
Jim,
Congrats on beating cancer. You must be tougher than a waffle house steak to endure through that. Look into Sambucol (Elderberry Syrup)..clinically proven to boost immune system against virus’s.
You guys have all hit the high points so I won’t repeat.
The magic in the bottle this year, IMHO, was the TANEV-ASTON REESE-BLUEGER line and the emergence of Brian Rust as a premier goal scorer. Both of those have to come back into their glory to get even the re-tooled team deep into the playoffs.
The Tanev-AR-Blueger line was Sullys go to line when the chips were down and they delivered.
My fear with Rust is that he’ll end up this year statistically similar to every year past which pretty much means he craps the mattress from this point onwards. Praying its not so, but I think his game is going downhill. Lets hope it turns around with these added personnel.
I think that Petterson could be a very good player if he took strength training very seriously in the off season. Every time I see his arms, I’m reminded I need to buy pipe-cleaners. And he’s listed as 177. He might be 177 with both arms full of groceries and constipated. He gets his clock cleaned a lot and 20 lbs of muscle would go along way to changing him into the player he could be. If he doesn’t he’s just mediocre. Great defensemen have to be able to separate men from the puck and move people out of the crease etc.
Hope everyone enjoys the game and thanks for letting me opine.
Hi Guys, Remember me !! Been a while.
15 months and yesterday I finally received the good news that I am now cancer free and I will be around a little longer to bug you guys. Still have serious vision issues and am awaiting a Cornea transparent. Pain thru out my skeletal frame, immune system weakened and unable to work, but other than that we are doing okay.
Here is my take on the Pen’s today after the trade deadline. I feel a lot better today than I did at the start of the season concerning the Pens 2020..
Jimmy did a good job in securing Marleau, Zucker, Sheary and Rodrigues. People in Pittsburgh tend to over value the Pen’s players in their minor system and wonder why other teams do not jump to make trades with us. Take a look at what other teams are offering to get deals done in 2020 and in that regard Jimmy did well with what he had to work with.
Secondly lets not forget the signing of young d man John Marino and signing Brandon Tanev. They have worked well for us. Marcus Peterson,Jared McCann and Tristan Jarry have all developed very well this season to become main stays with our team.
So I like what I see in Pittsburgh and with a little luck in the match ups in the first round of the 2020 Cup, I think this team can do some real damage. Provided as Phil says we get Dumo and Marino back soon and by April big Nick Bjugstad returns. I am hoping we go all the way to the Cup finals and Jake returns in May. That will make things really interesting.
So I am writing again with renewed hope for a successful 2020 Cup run and on a personal note a renewed look on life. 15 months ago I had an emergency operation and the shock on my system did some crazy things to my body and the doctors gave me 2-3 years to live.My older brother died of the same cancer and he lasted only 18 months.
I guess I got lucky and if I can so can our 2020 Pens !!
Lets go Pens and win another Cup before Sid and Geno retire.
Jim
Hello Jim,
That’s wonderful news about your medical report! And it’s so nice to have you back in the fold … 🙂
I agree that there’s a lot to like about this team. They have so much character and heart, not to mention a healthy dollop of speed and skill. And they’ve shown so much resilience through the face of adversity…kind of like a certain esteemed PenguinPoop contributor from New Brunswick … 🙂
But I do have concerns. They appear tired to me. Following a great start to the season in which they dominated puck possession, the flip side has occurred over the past couple of months, which was brought out in a recent article on Pensblog. It kind of meshes with my eye test that we’re chasing the puck (and the puck carrier) and not controlling it.
A lot of this could be due to the absences of Dumoulin and Marino. Both are adept at moving the puck out of our end, which of course aids our transition game. And they’re terrific all-around defensemen to boot…arguably our two best. Can’t wait to get them back.
I don’t dislike Conor Sheary. He did a lot of good things when he was here before. But I really like Dominik Kahun and think he has a chance to be a really good player. Usually, the team that gets the best player wins the trade, and I think Kahun’s the best player of the three involved.
I realize some of this may be about fit. They tried Kahun with Crosby early in the season and it didn’t work. And we know Sheary meshes at least reasonably well with Sid. Hopefully, he’ll produce more than Dominik Simon. (Note to Other Rick…I hate to think that’s what indirectly drove this trade.)
I confess, I’m a little frustrated with Mike Sullivan, too. While overall he’s done a really good job, I don’t think he helped the team by basically putting the fourth line in mothballs for a month. Maybe it bought us an extra win or two. But it also contributed to wearing down a forward group that was stretched thin to begin with.
And I hate the fact that he keeps benching Riikola and going with four right-handed defensemen. Every time one of the off-side guys is on the ice we struggle to get the puck out. Yes, Riikola occasionally makes a mistake (so do the other guys) but he also does a lot of things well as his metrics attest.
But it appears Riikola isn’t a “Sully guy,” and we know how that goes. Make a mistake and you’re banished to the press box or traded.
Lastly, I’m concerned about our lack of toughness. While our guys compete hard and as a rule don’t shy away from contact, how will we hold up over a physical, seven-game set against likes of Washington, Boston and Tampa Bay…teams that are fast, talented and tough?
That’s a whole lot of negative, and I don’t like to be negative. But that’s what I’m seeing right now.
Hopefully, my concerns will prove to be unfounded and we’ll go on to win a Cup as you say … 🙂
Anyway, it’s great to hear of your good news and it’s great to have you back … 🙂
Rick
Hi Rick,
So great to finally talk to you again my friend. By the way thank you for the wonderful book you sent me with a personal autograph on the cover.It really surprised me and brought much happiness in reading your excellent work. Very well researched. God bless you my friend. You’re truly one of a kind.
You watch the Pens a lot more than I was able to this past six months so I cannot argue with you the fact that the team may indeed seem tired. Could that be because of Crosbys long term illness and many had to Step up their game to be competitive and now it’s starting to take its toll?
I am not sure the cause but let us hope that the adrenaline will start flowing again during the playoffs.
With the size and grit issue you and I have been talking about this for the past four years. Not since the days of George Laroque have we had a player who struck fear In the opposition.Indeed there are bigger teams in the league and Boston plays a mean game but I was proven wrong many times in the past so I remain forever hopeful I’m wrong again.
With regards to Sully he seems to get the job done but I agree some of his luster has worn off with the faithful and he had better learn to adapt to new styles that are appearing in the league or we’ve will have a short playoff run!
Thanks so much for your response Rick.
It’s so nice to just think about hockey and not have to worry about anything else!
Go Pens!!!
Cheers, your friend always…
Jim
Welcome back Jim!!!!!
Great to hear from you.
I am going to push slightly back at you though Jim.
There are a lot of things I do like about this 2020 Penguins team, but not our recent trades.
Galchenyuk for Zucker – A win but not a panacea. Getting anything for Galchenyuk was a win. As for how much Zucker will contribute…? If you look at his split stats, he does well in October and February – the start of the season and coming back off of the All Star break, but fades down the stretch. Historically he has been a relative non-factor in March and April. Down that stretch he has played 92 Games scored 19 Goals with 16 Assists, and is -18. Maybe that is because he is a smaller guy playing in the heavier West. Hopefully, in the East he can change that pattern, but it doesn’t fill me with a ton of confidence. It just makes me glad Galchenyuk is gone.
Marleau, ? I do hold out hope here, I am hoping he can be a Culleneque player for the team to rally around, but if that holds true than that is a serious condemnation of our Captain and Core players. They have won 3 Cups together, they shouldn’t need a Marleau to rally around.
But Sheary? sorry, getting him back only fills me with dread and makes me think this is going to be another frustrating post season. Going back to what you said – people in Pgh over-value players in their system, well Sheary is a supreme case of that. When we dealt him to Buffalo, all they were willing to part with for him was a 4th round pick, a 4th round pick. Yet Jr traded a kid who, in limited TOI, showed he can play and play in multiple roles.
I do think that he will have some success during the back stretch of the regular season and he is better than Simon (At least he will go into the dirty areas. He may get tossed around like a sack of potatoes, but he stick his nose in there and not get scared and shoot from the perimeter or defer to a bad pass). But let’s remember his playoff history, it all happened here. JR traded for a guy that only managed 6 Goals in 57 playoff games and is a -8 in those games. You know he fails, you don’t know how Kahun would have done. he may have thrived.
Trading out of panic, trading just to trade only weakened the team.
Had JR stopped at the Marleau trade, I would be feeling good right now. I have been feeling pretty good about this team all season. The injuries and kids had them 4th in the league.
Now I dread the day I see Sully (whether or not he wants to, or someone whines) trots out Simon and Sheary on Crosby’s flanks. Dumoulin and Marino should solidify the D, but the team still needs to score from more than Malkin’s line and the PP.
Again, great to have you back, your still my prayers.
Hi Coach, Thanks..
So glad to be able to correspond with you again OTR because there was a time I was unable to get out of bed.The Penguins were the last thing from my mind. But I’m glad to be back and I miss your statistical mind and the way you view the game of hockey. It is excellent!!
That’s why Goalies are a different breed of cat.
I too did not see the infatuation with Zucker
but he was an upgrade over Alex Galchenyuk!! I expected more.
I think it comes down to how well Sid,Geno,Tristan and the D Corp plays from now on. They need to be lights out if they’re going to get anywhere in the cup Chase of 2020.
I still think they’ll be a need in the off-season to move another piece of the core to continue the rebuilding process of a true champion. But that’s a conversation for another day.
Once again, thanks Coach and I really enjoyed all your Articles this year on the blog. Pens Poop Is very grateful to have a contributor of your many talents.
Cheers
Jim
Hey Jim!
Super happy to hear you beat cancer! It’s also great to hear your positive spin on the Penguins after a dismal hockey weekend.
At the beginning of the season I commented on the board here that I thought that this was one of the best group of guys ever assembled under the Penguins name. A few of the guys didn’t work out as I had hoped, but Rutherford switched Galchenyuk out and now we have Zucker.
Kahun, if I were to guess was looking for a bigger contract than JR was willing to give and after the concussion and second injury JR decided to cut his losses because he knew he would be around next year anyway.
Looking at the lineup tonight, the offense is one that could beat any team on any night. Once the defense is healthy I feel the same way about them.
Everyone is talking about the moves Boston and Washington made before the deadline.
As a Penguins fan, I love the moves the other teams made. Washington brought in players that are notorious for not playing defense, Boston got a little bit slower.
Carolina seems like they made an upgrade, but that team was winning because it had incredible chemistry. They just had their chemestry taken away from them. Which was evident last night.
Penguins went and got themselves a solid playoff 4th line. There is a lot of speed, hustle and playoff experience between Marleau and Sheary. I’m reading good stuff about Rodrigues and hearing not so good stuff. If he doesn’t work out, move Marleau to center and pop in Lafferty.
The two biggest upgrades this year are Marino and Jarry. Who knew Jarry would come in and be a top 5 goaltender.
The media is complaining about Sullivan’s platooning the two. I think it’s a great idea. He’s showing no favoritism. Goalies are rested. Each goalie knows which games that they will be playing ahead of time, it’s every other game. Come playoffs, the best goalie plays unless this keeps working out. If so, why not every other game in the playoffs until one falters.
My only wish is that these next three games were earlier. lol
I’m rooting for you to have a quick recovery! My father in law is working his way back from a kidney transplant. On tough days he had been ready to give up. He hung in there and has really turned the corner, so hang in there, better days are ahead!
Thanks Phil for those kind words of encouragement.
It is funny that I could contribute a bit to your reply regarding Tristan Jarry. In his junior career Jarry was the far better Goalie than Murray. Jarry played in several WJC ,WHL and National championships. Murray was always the inferior of the two Goalies!!
I am very pleased to see the natural order of things reestablished this year and Jarry playing so well. I was always a bit shocked that Murray actually exceeded Jarry in his career. Many of my Canadian friends say the same thing.
I believe there is no doubt now just how valuable Tristan is to the Pen’s and I boldly predict he will be the number one starting goalie next year and Murray will get traded as a RFA in the off season and we will get a First, a second and a Third pick for Murray as compensation.
That is a good thing for us in the long run Phil.
Hope he signs with Detroit !! haha …
Once again thank you for your kind words and I hope we talk many times between now and June !
If we can get the guys all back healthy I really like our chances Phil !!
Cheers,
Jim
Lines at practice today. McCann had a service day and Recchi filled in.
Simon is off first line, for practice at least. Would not be surprised to see Sulli sneak Crosby in on 3rd line
Zucker-Crosby-Sheary
Rust-Malkin-Hornqvist
Marleau-Rodrigues-Simon
McCann-Blueger-Tanev
Thanks for the update Phil. And for all your great comments and support. PenguinPoop wouldn’t be without you … 🙂
Staring into my admittedly clouded crystal ball, I wonder if the top two lines may eventually look like this:
Marleau-Crosby-Sheary
Zucker-Malkin-Rust
Marleau’s a good cornerman and could get Sid and Sheary the puck. And it would get Rust off the off-wing (???) and back to his natural position.
Rick
Great Stuff Rick,
In a similar fashion, I was still very hopeful for this team after the Marleau trade. If we had won the Cup we would have had to give up a 2nd round pick and that is a very acceptable trade to win a Cup.
(past tense intentional here)
Worst case, as it is now, it will only be a 3rd round pick, no big deal.
However, trade 2, well, I don’t have any confidence at all that this version of the Penguins will even get out of the 1st round.
As I reply to something on the previous post, Sheary is abysmal in the playoffs; only 6 goals in 57 games and a -7. Furthermore, if you stretch your memory back a couple of years, Buffalo was only willing to part with a 4th round pick for Sheary. Only JR and Sully apparently view him as something valuable. The rest of the league is no doubt laughing right now.
I am not being a Sheary hater, just realistic.
Buffalo wins this trade by a country mile.
And if you read what Phil wrote on the other board Rodrigues is a head case
My worst trade deadline fear was realized, JR stripped the team of any chance of winning the Cup. Useful pieces like Lafferty and Angello were consigned back to WBS and although I was no fan of Aggazzino, we lost him to waivers like Noesson earlier this year.
I don’t want to hope for more injuries but this teams best hope for this year is to be minus Sheary, Simon, and Rodrigues. They played their best this season with Lafferty, Kahun, and Blandisi holding the fort. Blandisi and Kahun are gone.
My only consolation is that Poulin and Legare are still Penguins for the moment. JR didn’t throw them away.
Hey tOR,
I think the Pens sending Lafferty and Angello back to WBS was a technicality. They had to be on the WBS roster by 3pm yesterday or the Pens couldn’t move them up and down freely the rest of the season. It’s one of those dumb rules that I really don’t get, but it may be to stop teams from loading up their AHL team come playoff time.
I, like you and Rick, also really liked Kahun way better than Sheary or Rodrigues. I’m still not going to say that trading a 24 year old player coming off a concussion who has only spent a year and a half in the NHL and has zero playoff experience is going to be the definitive change that takes the Penguins chances from winning the Cup to losing it.
I’m not sure the reason, but the Penguins were looking to unload Kahun. His name came up in many trade discussions online Sunday before Sheary was even mentioned. He was also listed on one of those NHL TV news things as the Penguins bargaining chip.
My personal opinion is that a healthy defense will be the decider for the Pens.
Hey Phil,
I knew of the rule about the AHL players needing to be sent back down but not what day that was. However, with 3 new guys coming in and only 1 leaving, there really are no roster spots open until playoffs when teams can call up their black-aces.
I wasn’t aware until last Friday ish that Kahun was in that much disfavor with the team that they were shopping him. I would have loved have used him for a deal for Trocheck (the first time I heard his name in trade rumors)
I do agree that Dumoulin and Marino are hole cards for the regular season and will be a big factor in the playoffs. And now in the wake of the final trade their role is more important, I can see playoff goals coming in a slow drip.