Going over the final player stats from the 2009 Penguins and the Penguins that have been traded over the last 2 years, a few things stick out. Probably the biggest for me is Mark Recchi and Marian Hossa. Marian Hossa was offered a huge contract by Ray Shero which he turned down and Mark Recchi was put on waivers, they finished only 10 points apart in the total season scoring race. I guess 10 points separate big contracts and being sent down to the minors.
Erik Christenen finished with the exact same amount of points as the guy he was traded for, Pascal Dupuis. While I’m disapointed in Dupuis’ numbers I would still take him in a heartbeat over Christensen. Matt Cooke had 10 more points than the guy he supposedly replaced, Ruutu. He may not be as good of an agitator, but he scores more.
Ruslan Fedetenko scored more points than Miroslav Satan in the same amount of games. Georges Laraque only played 33 for the Habs while Adam Hall played 74 for Tampa. While Ryan Malone’s season wasn’t horrible, there is no way it was what the Tampa owners where hoping for when they signed him.
Colby Armstrong scored more goals without Crosby. Staal, the third leading Penguin scorer who has played all season with the Pens, had less than half the points of the top two scorers. Where’s the depth?
The list is below:
Black – Played on the Penguins all season.
Blue – Current Penguins who joined the team mid season.
Red – Players traded, waived or lost to free agency last year.
Green – Players traded or waived this season.
| Name Evgeni Malkin Sidney Crosby Marian Hossa Mark Recchi Chris Kunitz Jordan Staal Bill Guerin Petr Sykora Ryan Malone Colby Armstrong Ruslan Fedotenko Miroslav Satan Tyler Kennedy Kristopher Letang Matt Cooke Pascal Dupuis Erik Christensen Ryan Whitney Maxime Talbot Jarkko Ruutu Alex Goligoski Sergei Gonchar Brooks Orpik Rob Scuderi Darryl Sydor Adam Hall Hal Gill Mark Eaton Philippe Boucher Gary Roberts Craig Adams Mike Zigomanis Eric Godard Dustin Jeffrey Bill Thomas Chris Minard Jeff Taffe Tim Wallace Georges Laraque Luca Caputi Paul Bissonnette |
GP G A Pts 82 35 78 113 77 33 70 103 74 40 31 071 80 23 38 061 82 23 30 053 82 22 27 049 78 21 27 048 76 25 21 046 70 26 19 045 82 22 18 040 65 16 23 039 65 17 19 036 67 15 20 035 74 10 23 033 76 13 18 031 71 12 16 028 64 07 21 028 48 02 21 023 75 12 10 022 78 07 14 021 45 06 14 020 25 06 13 019 79 02 17 019 81 01 15 016 73 03 12 015 74 05 05 010 62 02 08 010 68 04 05 009 41 03 06 009 30 04 03 007 45 02 05 007 22 02 04 006 71 02 02 004 14 01 02 003 16 02 01 003 20 01 02 003 08 00 02 002 16 00 02 002 33 00 02 002 05 01 00 001 15 00 01 001 |
Related post click here> Pittsburgh Penguins 2009 – 2010 Salary Cap Numbers
.
What makes Krundle’s comment about Recchi significant is that he’s playing on a third line with pretty much a stiff – Patrice (King Brown) Bergeron. Bergeron is not finding his game. It could be worse than Sykora’s right now!
I agree totally with the Kennedy is a third or fourth line player. Basically a sub on those foirst two lines. Same as Cooke and some others who were tried there. One or two games a year Max——— and Tabot’s another one!
I am sorry people (who think Kennedy is ready for the top two lines) but the only reason he is playing as well as he is now, is because he is not on the top two lines. TK is a very energetic player with great upside, but I would not want to count on him as a go to winger for Malkin or Crosby. He has not shown any kind of finishing touch to me…….so far.
@ PenQuin
I have no problem at all if the Pens don`t resign Petr Sykora or Ruslan Fedotenko as long as they can sign another winger for Malkin. Both Sid and Geno deserve at least one proven scoring wing on their lines to start the season. The one player that would fit well with Geno would be JAROMIR JAGR. Like it or not, it could work and the entertainment value would be extraordinary.
Jaromir Jagr has already stated that he is going to honor his contract with the KHL. Plus, ya-know—— do we really need Jagr? It surely would make headlines and daily fodder for the media but why even think about going back to the past. It’s not worth a risk of spoiling the good apples we have right now. Also, I think a lot of you are underestimating the value of Fedotenko.
@ Justin37
I don’t believe the signing of Sykora is a no-no. I think it depends on the length of the contract and the cost. Is Kennedy really a top-6 wing like you and lateharvest claim? I think the jury is out on that one. I like his energy but top-6??? I’m not so sure about that.
And, just because Talbot, Cooke, and Dupuis have played there all three IMO are third and fouth line players who provide a shot but aren’t Top-6 for a Stanley Cup team.
And…. Craig MacTavish, why?
@ Jesselvis & Boombastic
As much as I think the value of a ‘goon’ is tremendously overrated—— and more so in the playoffs. There are occasions when there is a role for them and this playoff series against the Flyers may be one of them. The Flyers ice some really pug players such as Arron Asham, Riley Cote, Danny Carcillo —— and all three can be goaded into losing their cool. Not so much Cote who will fight anyone but the other two are a few beers short of a six-pack. When you add Hartnell into that mix made three beers short!
Comparing the two—— Godard and Laraque I think Shero again made a terrific decision in bringing in Godard for two reasons. First, Godard knows his role and carries it out while Laraque (one of the best fighters of all time) has had it on cruise control since with Edmonton. Second, is the salary cap once again—- Godard signed for 3-years at $750k and Laraque signed for twice that.
This is a big deal if you look at the Flyers who have major problems managing the salary cap and ice players like Jamie Fritsch and the above mentioned too many ‘thugs’———- Shero, compared to the rest of the league is doing a good job of keeping the salary cap it under control.
@ lateharvest & Reg Dunlap
Although Ruutu was becoming a bit of a fan favorite – Cooke was signed for 2-seasons at $1.2 mill. Ruutu was signed for 3-seasons at $1.3 mill. That $100k a year and extra season IMHO makes Cooke the better value.
As much as we may not talk about it, Shero has done a good job of managing that salary cap. And qutie frankly this season given the choice of either/or I’d take Cooke.
Plus, there are no shootouts in the playoffs!
@Phil Krundle
Although statistics are interesting and also can almost always be used (twisted) to support a point – statistics never tell the entire story. You seem to conclude that Recchi would have been a key on either the Crosby or Malkin line. Yet, before they arranged for the recall from waivers and move to Atlanta he was performing at a 36 point pace for the season and really just couldn’t keep up to the pace. He just look bad here last season.
I have no problem at all if the Pens don`t resign Petr Sykora or Ruslan Fedotenko as long as they can sign another winger for Malkin. Both Sid and Geno deserve at least one proven scoring wing on their lines to start the season. The one player that would fit well with Geno would be JAROMIR JAGR. Like it or not, it could work and the entertainment value would be extraordinary.
@late harvest
Great call on Kennedy being ready for top 6
@ Boombastic
The young talent in the system is amazing
@Krundle (Malkin needs a winger)
I completely disagree with resigning Sykora. As Late Harvest says, Kennedy is ready to move up. Tangradi, Caputi or/and Jeffery will make the team next season and can step into a third or fourth line slot. The Penguins also will still have Dupruis, Cooke and Talbot that have all shown the capability of playing with the top lines for 3 to 4 game stretches.
With the Salary Cap looking as if it should fall in 2010/2011 (believe that as you will), I say start preparing now. DO NOT resign Sykora and Fedotenko. Neither are (nor have ever been) Top Two line wingers. The future is in Crosby, Malkin and Staal, all of whom are a half decade away from reaching their phyical prime.
Worst case for next season is you start with Chris Kunitz as the only proven top line winger…That’s one more player on the top lines than they started with this year.
Crosby, Malkin, Staal…..Who was Edmonton’s 3rd line Center in the 80’s?
It’s so fun to watch Ray Shero creating and following his plan….What’s better is that he has all the pieces that he needs tomake it reality….
Maybe, just maybe, The DYNASTY is not dead in professional Sports.
Not to take anything away from Cooke, but in defense of Ruutu, he could draw a lot of penalties. He was also valuable as a shootout guy. He never got the opportunity that Cooke has gotten with this team.
What about Laraque vs. Godard? I do think that Godard has lived up to his role more effectively here. I do think that Godard is a top notch badass, but I think Laraque still strikes more fear into opposing teams. He seems to be more of a deterrent than Godard. And another thing about Laraque, when he was ragging the puck, no one could get it off of him.
I think the key to analyzing Satan and Feds is to compare them to the hole they were to fill, which was the one left by Hossa. Hossa had 40 goals and 31 assists. Satan and Fedotenko combined for 33 goals and 42 assists. Interesting………
Kunitz has been great since coming here, but I personally still miss Malone. I don’t think he was worth what he got in Tampa, but they would probably agree right now. He along with Colby were important pieces in the overall character of the team. I thing their value may have been more intangible than anything. That’s not to say that some of the newer guys can’t be important that way as well.
13 penguins with 10+ goals
9 with 15+
6 with 20+
2 with 30+
The sharks have
10 with 10+
6 with 20+
2 thirty goal scorers.
Crosby, Malkin and Staal are the highest scoring trio of centers in the NHL…
Kennedy is emerging as a top-six talent, Staal has been ridiculous as of late…
I would argue that we’re one of the deepest teams in the playoffs.
Cooke may not be as much of a pure “agitator” as Ruutu was, but he cycles the puck better, can fill a top-six role from time to time, and frankly, Ruutu’s antics were getting old. Cooke has some dignity…not many cheap shots from him.
Recchi still has it. He just didn’t really fit in with the Penguins anymore. You have to remember, Shero tried to trade him, then put him on waivers, and it wasn’t until he was on Re-entry waivers that Atlanta claimed him.
There may only be a 10pt difference between Recchi and Hossa, but there’s a 17 goal difference, as well as Hossa’s +27 to Recchi’s -18.
The numbers don’t lie . . . you can be playing the majority of your season on a team who’s the favorite for the(first overall)pick in the entry draft and be 16th in total points for all other RW’s in both leagues and you have to wonder why he couldn’t finish out his career here.
Wow, Cooke was a deal for 100g less than Ruutu. I guess Whitney hasn’t had a goal since he left. Was Laraque hurt or was he benched?
I think Recchi had a lot to offer – his mentoring – his past contributions – his love of his team which is obvious because he’s probably sticking around for another season! His wanting to win no matter where he was and the two Stanley Cups and a chance for a third this year shows that. Just because you retire or want to play on past your prime doesn’t make you a has been.
But enough with the Recchi worshipping – let’s face it he couldn’t keep up with either Crosby or Malkin and quite frankly isn’t a typical 3rd or 4th line wing either. The Pens went to the finals last season because they didn’t find room for Armstrong, Recchi, and Christensen on the first two lines. And really Godard as a replacement for Laraque and Cook for Ruutu have been more than major upgrades not just because of their play but because of their salary differences when factored into their performance. I think Godard may be one of the best enforcers we’ve ever had.
All of these trades by Shero have been made with a purpose and/or met with success. That’s why we are into another playoff and quite frankly I like our chances of coming out of the EAST again.
Where’s the depth————-? The depth is in Kennedy, Talbot, Dupuis, and now Satan with the forwards with a defense that is actually surprisingly strong. Garon, whether most will admit it or not is a major upgrade over Sabourin.
Prospects (depth) in the system are Tangradi, Moon, Veilleux, Gogigoski, Lovejoy, Strait, Caputi, Jeffrey, Grant, along with Crosby, Staal, Malkin, Talbot, Kennedy, Bissonnette, Wallace, Caputi, Letang, Goligoski, Fleury, Lovejoy, all under 25 years old and most closer to 20 than to 25. Lemieux and Shero have put together a solid team for now and for the future.
Cripes am I ever getting fired-up – when do the playoffs start.