The Elephant In The Room

well number one remember that this season just started. yes i agree 100% that dups is looking as lost as a kid in a victoria secrets but we need to evalate this at a later date. maybe ray is hoping that tangardi and caputi imrpove dramatically this seaseon and show great promise during thier inveitable call ups as the season goes along.

but who do we have that is trade bait? no one i would really be willing to give up. not tk, not cooke, not bill, not kunitz. we wouldnt get anything for pascal or adams and i certianly wouldnt want to see gogo or lovejoy leave the system. to me the only option is the development of tangardi and caputi.

Well they could have waived a couple of the useless contracts (since we had a little cap space, all we really needed to do was dump a million, maybe less) and signed a winger over free agency. They should have resigned Sykora, but maybe they could have worked a deal with someone else who would have taken less. It’s all idle speculation now, but I didn’t get the impression they were working toward that end.

Pens won’t miss Sykora. Bylmsa is mixing up the lines, the Staal/Fedotenko/Malkin combination looked pretty good last time and moving Adams up with Cooke and Kennedy, that trio made a real nice setup on the 5th Goal. Wouldn’t be surprise if these same 2nd/3rd line combinations are together for the Toronto game. Once Talbot gets back, we’ll be even better.

Talbot’s not really a second liner… And Staal’s not a winger.

Bourque on Geno’s right. Problem solved.

 I agree with your point, just not with the tone. It is not that dire; it is certainly not an elephant in the room. Elephants in small spaces ruin everything; second-line wingers are complementary. We could certainly use an upgrade at that position right now, but this is such a small concern considering 1) other teams concerns (imagine staking your seasons hopes on Ray Emery or Jose Theodore) and 2) we have options on IR, our roster, and in Wilkes-Barre.

Staal on Geno’s wing. This is not a full-time solution, it is a spot work combo. Staal needs more Ice Time, he’s too good to sit on the bench. Both him and Geno have played some wing and can do it. Alternating Dupuis and Staal isn’t a bad idea, it gets us to when Talbot comes back. Talbot is a third line wing, Kennedy is a second line wing. Thing is they meshed in the lines they are in. So that is where they play.

As for Sykora, that boat sailed, let it go.

Young players develop, let’s give them time. Tangradi doesn’t fit Crosby. He’d do better with Malkin. Playing on Sid’s line is tough. Sid plays at a high level, but he plays in a way that requires smart line mates with a lot of versatility and soft hands. That’s a lot to ask of a rookie. And when we called up Gogo, it wasn’t to be the main defensive guy, his job fit him. Tangradi doesn’t fit Sid’s line. If you want Tangradi up you put him on Malkin’s line and let him play Ryan Malone for a bit. He would be better suited to that, and Malkin can do more with guys like that than Sid can.

When Tangradi played on Sid’s wing during the preseason, he meshed just fine there. Tangradi is a smart linemate with versatility. I think he’d do fine. Plus it almost takes more to play with Malkin because Malkin’s usually the one pulling really random stuff at really random times that most players would never see coming.

As for Sykora, everyone seemed so ready to just write him off at the end of last year. Obviously it was disappointing that he wasn’t scoring, but as was mentioned earlier, it’s hard to score with a bum arm. He was our best winger through two seasons (not including Hossa’s brief stint) and one of my favorite Pens over that time, but when it comes time to maybe spring for a million or two to keep a 25 goal scorer who fits well with Malkin, nobody seemed to think it was worth the trouble. I’d rather have Sykora right now than Fedotenko, and trust me, that’s nothing against Feds.

….what’s wrong with winning 80% of your games whether you have a winger or not.

This team has chemistry and that is the most important thing.

Shero will do what is necessary. He does it every year and this is no different.

This team as constructed now has zero major flaws and yeah could use and upgrade or two, but so could every team in this era.

We have a great defense, great goalie, and as Mario said, when you have Sid and Geno, you can do anything!

You have a 29 goal scorer on the team already and nobody wants to use him like one.

Staal being the center on the third line, making it maybe the best third line in the NHL is great, but it’s still just the third line. I liked Staal on the wing as a rookie, and I like him there now. The kid has hands. So what if Cooke, Staal, and Kennedy could cycle (like the Sedins?) the puck around the offensive zone like they owned it. Adams can fill the same role nearly as well, so let him do it and fill someone in on the 4th line.

Like, I don’t know, Dupuis.