Dear GM Jim Rutherford

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

I am sorry. I really am. I doubted your competence and your abilities to make moves to make this team better. For what you had in chips (assets) to make deals/draft picks, this offseason was an A to A+.

Loved getting Eric Fehr. He is that playoff type of forward we have lacked. You got the superstar winger, premiere goal scorer. You got some more quality depth forwards. You have created now the ability to comfortably move David Perron if you so choose to clear some cap space, even if it is for few draft picks.

You didn't rush to make moves and overpay. I am still a bit squeamish on the overall physicality of the defense, but it is still July. People forget if Ollie Maatta comes back healthy and on the same career plane, you basically add an All Star caliber defenseman that you did not have last year.

Well done. And excuses have been eliminated. And it goes back to what I have been saying all along. Sid, Geno, it's on yinz. You got help. You got quality depth up front. If healthy, there is no excuses and it is time to start scoring those prime time goals that have eluded both of you most of your careers.

 

[Dr. von Yinzer]

Well, I have not agreed with you on the Penguins' postseason struggles being primarily the fault of its two main stars. I think the moves they have made shows the Penguins don't agree with your assessment either.

I think it is as obvious as the day is long that Pittsburgh lacked depth (severely) and these moves do help address that issue.

For example, during last year's playoffs Blake Comeau and Daniel Winnik were playing in top six roles. That is not the top six of the Stanley Cup contender. In fact, it is roughly equal to Edmonton's and Buffalo's top six.

We scored just six goals in a five game playoff series versus the Rangers.

On top of that, we don't get enough offense from our defense. I closely watch the playoffs every year and all of these teams that are generating offense by cycling the puck and getting it to the points for scoring opps.

It is not the most exciting hockey in the world to watch but it is a major way the team score goals right now.

Pittsburgh doesn't get anything like that. We get the puck to the point and our defense tend to play the puck right back into the corner where our mostly weak forwards can't do anything with it.

It is quite literally a vicious cycle.

 

[Dr. von Yinzer]

I really like Brandon Sutter as a hockey player. He is smart and versatile and plays his best in the game's biggest moments. Sutter was basically the closest thing we had to a clutch goal scorer over the past two seasons.

I understand that the advanced stats guys hate him but I think hockey analytics are FAR less reliable than baseball analytics. There are just so many variables and moving parts in a hockey game that distilling it to math, like you can do in baseball for example, doesn't always hold up as accurately as it would for other sports. That is not to say that advanced statistics are useless or meaningless. They are obviously a very helpful tool. However, they're just not as reliable as they are in sports that have fewer variables.

We have spent several years now complaining about the lack of a winner for Sid and Geno. We have been forced to play bottom six swingers like Daniel Winnick and Blake Comeau in top six roles. Well, when those guys have moved up into the top six, just imagine the quality of guys that Sutter has played with. Guys like Jason Megna, Beau Bennett, Brian Rust, and a host of other borderline NHL players.

Of course your possession numbers are going to struggle whenever you're constantly playing with guys who were not good enough to be in that league in the first place.

Also, I don't believe that Nick Bonino (likely our new L3C) is a better player that Brandon Sutter. At best, I think he is a small downgrade - at least in a one-for-one straight up comparison.

However, when you put it into the context of an entire team, this becomes a no-brainer. Bonino is much cheaper than Sutter and making this trade allowed them to sign a guy like Eric Fehr. Also Sutter was our best penalty killer and our two most recent additions are reputedly excellent penalty killers in their own right.

And that was before we even consider the fact that they also landed a young defenseman with offensive upside. You can never have too many of those.

The Vancouver Canucks got a very good player here. However, yesterday was a good day for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

 

[Dr. von Yinzer]

What I like most about the most recent moves is I think they send a clear signal that Rutherford is taking control of the organization.

It is my understanding that Rutherford did not want to trade Despres for Lovejoy but was essentially forced into it by other members of management - including ownership.

In fact, I've heard that Rutherford was very upset that we are making the trade and was quickly vindicated by each D's play down the stretch (unfortunately).

Also, my biggest problem with Pittsburgh last year even going into the season was that they were clearly a team but lacked in identity. They were not a fast team, they were not skilled team, they were not a big team, and they were not a physical team.

Injuries were ultimately the major culprit for the Penguins' disappointing season last year. However, the lack of a clear identity was also a major problem from the start.

What I like about what we've seen so far is they have learned from those mistakes. Instead of trying to manufacture a phony toughness by signing a clown like Steve Downey, they have gone out and signed a guy who is remotely not a physical player in Eric Fehr but who is a very effective player in today's game.

Fehr is injured and won't be available until roughly Christmastime. Also, the knock on him has always been his lumbering skating. However, he is long and competitive and versatile. You can never have too many of those types of players.

I still think the David Perron trade was the worst decision Pittsburgh made last year. He doesn't fit well into anything we do. He is slow and limited and make horrible decisions with the puck and is not committed defensively (to be kind). In short, he is just not a top six forward on a team like ours.

To give up a first round pick for that guy made no sense at the time and makes even less sense in retrospect - especially after trading away so when the other first-round picks in recent years.

If we are able to trade Perron and get that contract off our books, even if it is just for draft picks, I am all for acknowledging that mistake moving on.

It sucks trading your first round pick for some other team's second and/or third round picks but it's better to quickly acknowledge a mistake than to keep doubling down on a player who obviously doesn't fit and likely never will.

 

[vegasgreed]

like the moves yesterday. both the trade and the pickup of fehr.

 

[geeman2001]

I like Sutter and regret they had to move him. I guess we'll see how it goes.

 

[vegasgreed]

in the last two years, bonino had more points than sutter. plus we got more than just bonino. and we saved money. also, sutter is coming up for a new deal soon.

its widely known the Vancouver gm is one of the dumbest in the league.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Well, I have not agreed with you on the Penguins' postseason struggles being primarily the fault of its two main stars. I think the moves they have made shows the Penguins don't agree with your assessment either.

I think it is as obvious as the day is long that Pittsburgh lacked depth (severely) and these moves do help address that issue.

For example, during last year's playoffs Blake Comeau and Daniel Winnik were playing in top six roles. That is not the top six of the Stanley Cup contender. In fact, it is roughly equal to Edmonton's and Buffalo's top six.

We scored just six goals in a five game playoff series versus the Rangers.

On top of that, we don't get enough offense from our defense. I closely watch the playoffs every year and all of these teams that are generating offense by cycling the puck and getting it to the points for scoring opps.

It is not the most exciting hockey in the world to watch but it is a major way the team score goals right now.

Pittsburgh doesn't get anything like that. We get the puck to the point and our defense tend to play the puck right back into the corner where our mostly weak forwards can't do anything with it.

It is quite literally a vicious cycle.

Like is said, excuses have been removed. Superstars have to sometimes be "super". Especially when the chips are down.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

I really like Brandon Sutter as a hockey player. He is smart and versatile and plays his best in the game's biggest moments. Sutter was basically the closest thing we had to a clutch goal scorer over the past two seasons.

I understand that the advanced stats guys hate him but I think hockey analytics are FAR less reliable than baseball analytics. There are just so many variables and moving parts in a hockey game that distilling it to math, like you can do in baseball for example, doesn't always hold up as accurately as it would for other sports. That is not to say that advanced statistics are useless or meaningless. They are obviously a very helpful tool. However, they're just not as reliable as they are in sports that have fewer variables.

We have spent several years now complaining about the lack of a winner for Sid and Geno. We have been forced to play bottom six swingers like Daniel Winnick and Blake Comeau in top six roles. Well, when those guys have moved up into the top six, just imagine the quality of guys that Sutter has played with. Guys like Jason Megna, Beau Bennett, Brian Rust, and a host of other borderline NHL players.

Of course your possession numbers are going to struggle whenever you're constantly playing with guys who were not good enough to be in that league in the first place.

Also, I don't believe that Nick Bonino (likely our new L3C) is a better player that Brandon Sutter. At best, I think he is a small downgrade - at least in a one-for-one straight up comparison.

However, when you put it into the context of an entire team, this becomes a no-brainer. Bonino is much cheaper than Sutter and making this trade allowed them to sign a guy like Eric Fehr. Also Sutter was our best penalty killer and our two most recent additions are reputedly excellent penalty killers in their own right.

And that was before we even consider the fact that they also landed a young defenseman with offensive upside. You can never have too many of those.

The Vancouver Canucks got a very good player here. However, yesterday was a good day for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

I am not that big on analytics in hockey. And it is not because I am not a big math guy, I was at one time, a Quality Assurance Manager, I had to set up analytics to measure processes. But I see this crap like "driving play" or possession and I can remember back to the Mario Pens, when they would be outshot 40 to 22 and win the game 7 to 3. They reminded me of Indiana Jones when the one guy pulled out a sword and was doing all of this fancy stuff and Indy just shot him. That is what I think sometimes of analytics in hockey. Fine, dipsy doo, zone control, "driving play" but at the end of the day, "did you put the puck in the net more than the other team". That is THE "analytic" that matters. I love how some people passed off our recent playoff play as not being so bad analytically, but you know and I know a 1 goal deficit in those games might as well been 10.

Letang, Pouillot and Maatta getting the puck forward to 87 and 71, 81 and 72 with guns loaded, the Pens will be mighty dangerous.