DK's Daily Shot of Penguins: The Tomasino trend?

If the Philip Tomasino trade becomes the trend.

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[Adam_Mitch]

I like this move. Highly touted prospect, great skater, only 23 years old. Hopefully a change of scenery will help Tomasino find his game. He will have plenty of opportunities to do so...

[crystalg]

Loved the question about crosby’s influence on team choices. Often wondered this myself … not so much in coaching but in players.

[TheBearGuyCanada]

Hey DK, thanks for your inside reports, sometimes they help sooth the open wounds for many of us fans, lol. In regards to your explanation on this recent trade, it definitely puts things into perspective. sometimes wonder or question Dubas and what he sees coming from players, and my skeptic attitude comes from his time in Toronto. There's always that discussion about playing the right way, attention to detail, and whatever other catch phrase Sullivan spits after a loss. The one I always circle back to and have for years now is, "being tough to play against", and playing Pittsburgh is a night off for most teams. They leave without a bruise, and the biggest hit I saw last game was Sid knocking the guy flat in front of the net, the game before was Sid fighting you see where I am going? Retooling this team as Dubas says he is doing, and doing that with average size players who bring no grit to the game will fail on this team. We expect pick ups to be slotted onto the third or fourth line and produce, and its unrealistic. O'Connor plays hard and inspired but his finish is not there, hopefully it comes. As for Jesse, I have been really impressed but the same applies to him, that said I think the third line has been the best line for a while. Just think of all the players who failed on line 3 because it was centered by Jeff Carter. But you take line one, Rakell isn't finishing great looks and his hot spell was with Sid and Geno. Rust, The Penguin seriously, is he a first liner anywhere else, does he drive offense, or hit, or possess the puck, or control play and make passes, no he doesn't, he dumps blindly and chases. Line one is routinely outclassed nightly and unless Sid drives the play, nothing happens, and you can somewhat say that about line 2 as well who have disappeared 5 on 5 as well. When I think of retooling, I think of how Vegas drafted its first year, they went got all those players who had a chip on their shoulder, they had no bonified superstars and were horrible to play against. They were guys who were overlooked and buried on lines and basically called out, they came and Vegas was legit. Does Tornasino bring that, does he bring some size that's been missing, or that take the opponents heads off attitude? If this is a retooling, and bringing in talent that is marginal at best, having the big guys here won't change things. Could an old injury prone Rust be a valued piece on someone's 3-4th line, bringing in a higher calibre return and draft pick? Would Sid, Geno, Letang, Karlsson entertain a trade, bringing back a few NHL worthy players and draft picks. As a business guy, I understand these guys sell seats, but are they with how bad they are, so many empty ones. When you look long term versus short term, you run all these contracts out to date and get nothing in return, the seats will be empty and the competitve years will be a distant past. Sorry for the long winded comment, but I turn on my computer each morning to listen to you, hoping to here something is it just never does. Welcome to the team Tornasino, Sullivan will have you the next McGinn, Kapenan, Granlund (23 pts), McCaan (40 goal scorer), etc. Right about now, put him with Sid, can't underperform anymore than Rakkel and Rust are, and who knows, may bring excitement to line one 5 on 5, lol. Thanks DK, just a frustrated fan on a rant!

[jerryyeager]

Thank you DK, It makes good sense to free up cap space. The team needs a better defense and younger players .Great show DK

[thesuneversets]

The moves this year remind me of the early 2000 pens taking guys off waivers like Andy hilbert and others who were once prospects.

[borisslager]

The Blues and Bruins fired their coaches. How many blow out losses will it take to fire Sullivan?

[JHockeyFan]

Petition for DK to do a Daily Shot on Tristan Broz: went from a terrible freshman year at Minnesota back to legitimate prospect after a couple very solid years at Denver & now a good start to his first pro year in the A with Wilkes Barre.

[nickmarshall]

Is anyone else feeling the second iteration of the Penguins “X Generation”? Where is Rico Fata when you need him? 😂

[yinzer]

This team is not hard to play against. This doesn't help at all.

[maczed]

I agree with you DK, I don't think Sid is the kind of guy that would try to manipulate things in his favour....but I wish sometimes he was....I think a few moves he may have been able to stop and helped things out

[gomesdamin]

I have read his problems stem from follwing structure and systems on top of being weak on the boards. Not sure how that helps the penguins especially with sully at the helm. But at least it is a move?

[chaseschneier]

Yep, that’s what this team needs… I guess the focus will be on scoring goals rather than preventing them.

[mikecrow]

Tomasino will replace Puljujarvi in the lineup and play 8-10 minutes a night with Nieto and Acciari until he becomes a healthy scratch himself when Lizotte returns from injury. Meanwhile, we will all get to continue to watch the worst blueline in hockey night after night. This trade doesn't tilt the needle at all.

[zimbob]

this seems like we now have 2 Sam worth a fourth rounder to find out

[SavageMoments]

It seems like the team is suffering from "Analysis Paralysis".

[chaseschneier]

I believe a big problem on this team is a lack of effective leadership. Sid is rightfully respected, but he is a crappy leader. Look at every successful team and you’ll see one or two active leaders who effectively get in the face of laggards to get the most out of them and can turn the mood around. This team doesn’t have that kind of individual… and THATS the missing ingredient that’s holding this team back.

[BeyondMusic]

Former 1st round pick usually means poor scouting and drafted over slot value

[keithrock]

The Pens have to get rid of Letang or Karlsson in order to save on the salary cap and turnovers...

[TheRealTravisAlden]

Tomasino was an absolute steal by our team. Play him with Sid and see what his potential could be. The kid is an incredible skater, and underrated playmaker.

[Mulavi]

I immediately thought of Rollo Tomasi when I heard his name.