DK’s Daily Shot of Penguins: Odd men out

#Penguins #NHL #Pittsburgh

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[DKPS_Penguins]

Here's where to download the free DK Pittsburgh Sports app I cited on this episode. We'd love to have you for hockey talk! - DK

[ethanmcclelland]

I have one thing to say: MAN I MISS HOCKEY

[johnnythunder]

Almost September...we're getting close

[edom]

Could the issue with not being able to pick the starting forwards lineup be that the Pens have so much depth at forward? The question remains is if the bottom 6 is still mediocre depth. Unfortunately they still have no depth at D and are not a good D, and I think much more should be talked about our horrible D.

My suggestion for the forwards would be to have Puustinen in there somewhere..He is a creator and one of the few or likely the only Pen who can stand at the Ovetchin spot and fire slappers and one timers...good ones. Other teams effectively have a player who does that. Zibanejad comes to mind with the Rangers. It seems to be an effective option. Ed

[Galilelo_Telescope]

I don’t see any way that pustinen isn’t in the lineup on opening day. I agree with Eller on the third line over Hayes. I also don’t have a problem with Glass dressing over Hayes as the center on the fourth line.

[mikecrow]

Salary/Contract factors into lineup decisions, whether we like it or not. For example, if Puustinen doesn't play, his $775K can be completely buried in the AHL. No dead money added to the big roster, let the Pens already have with Jack Johnson, Jeff Petry and Reilly Smith this season. But if say Kevin Hayes doesn't play, the only option is to waive him and if unclaimed (which surely he would be), you can only bury a little over $1M in the AHL, so that would add roughly $2.5M of more dead money to the Pens cap. So as much as you would like for an open competition for playing time, when the GM gives you players with contracts from $2M-$4M AAV ... those guys are going to play. And that's not a "Sullivan thing" ... that's an "NHL Salary Cap and Managing Assets thing".

[chrisvangorder]

Thankfully, I'm not hearing much about the ownership is/is not a factor in the future progress of the Pens. In your view, how is the FSG doing at this point- what can be better and what are the concerns you have about this ownership group? Is this/could it be an issue?

[sammmy]

I thought Nolan was being sarcastic. The goalie size along with their equipment remains a joke. There are very few odd man rushes and even few breakaways. Also, breakaways used to favor the offense and is now heavily weighted for the goalie. How many playoff games were won with the losing team having a goal or less?? The sport is dumpster fire. I would bet that Nolan and DK think that Papa Johns is great pizza as well.

[Ikonicre_Moonshield]

You know, DK, if you want to sound "soccer'ish" (I appreciate the park the bus reference), start calling it football which it is. But your point is why I'm a former football fan. Seeing guys like Ronaldinho, Henry, Suarez (compared to the NHL, all star guys) just denied, blocked, delayed by all kinds of tiny fouls.. it really soured me on the sport. It came to a point where Greece won Euro2004 with a team which would equate to a bunch of AHL'ers that just ran all game, not being good at passing, or shooting, or creating chances, or anything. Just standing in the passing lanes and blocking shots like a handball team. Used every trick in the book to keep the other team from scoring and they won the fricking tournament by getting lucky on a corner kick, a free kick or winning on penalty shootouts.

Ice hockey is kinda not a thing in Sprong's native country, where I'm from. But I love watching this sport. It's fast, dynamic, takes a lot of heart and trying to slow it down can get you killed in a cold second.

I don't think Poulin, Puustinen or Pujujärvi will be in the opening 20. I think Poulin will have an uphill fight to get out of the AHL this season. His best shot will be to prove right out of camp he belongs over 2-3 other guys. Not impossible but a tall task.

[garycorle]

They should have unloaded ALL THE AGING TALENT, it's a bussiness, the name of the game is winning, you could have rebuilt this team to an elite level with the trade of the big three and been in contention for years to come, it should have started after losing to the caps after back to back cups, how many playoff series have they won since, it's a business that has no room for sentiment.

[hockeyfreak]

No ! I like a game that is low scoring..a 2, 2 game going into the 3rd, is good..lol..I like watching players trying to score instead of flying up an down the ice..to me that's boring