Why Simon Després Should Start His Hockey Season In Pittsburgh

Interesting perspective.

I’d argue studs you cite are very much the exception to the rule and two of them were top 10 picks — they were known very early to be players that were already very good.

A guy like Luke Schenn is a reason why you don’t rush young defensemen. Toronto threw him into the deep end to quickly and he’s regressed a little. He’s still young and could turn it around, but you don’t rush it.

From what I’ve seen of Despres, it’s so far so good. If he keeps playing the way he has been, I would start him for the first nine games in Pittsburgh to give him that taste of what NHL action is like. But I’d definitely return him to Juniors for this season. He’ll be able to play a ton of minutes and probably be on the Canadian U-20 team and will get a lot of experience.

I must predicate this post by saying that I have never seen Simon Depres play a hockey game. I watched a couple of YouTube high lights after he got drafted, but that is it.

With that being said I am of the opinion that he should not spend this season for the Pens because unlike the situations in Buffalo, Montreal, and LA, Despres is not NEEDED here.

The before mentioned teams didn’t have 5 other quality NHL defenseman like Pittsburgh does. The before mentioned teams played these youngsters largely because they have no other choice.

In Pittsburgh he would have to be the 6th defenseman, not the 7th because that would make no sense for countless reasons, so you are talking about only providing him with limited minutes within a defined role. The Pens already have NHL ready defenseman who can fulfill that role, why limit Despres?

I say let him play those first 9-10 games (what ever it is) to get a taste if he really is one of the best defenseman coming out of camp, and you are not the only one to suggest that he is. If after that first few games he proves that he clearly belongs here, like Staal did, let him stay but if it is clear that his role is too simple let him go back, like Letang did, and become a better player so next year he can be part of the conversation about him being a 1-5 defenseman as opposed to a 6th or 7th defenseman.

Frankly, I think Despres can push Gogo for a spot on next year’s roster, if what I am hearing about him is true.

is awesome! His prescience, poise, and wrister impress me. I can’t remember the last time I saw any defensemen in the NHL wrist it from the point like that! That thing BOOMS. His skating is good – only getting better – and he has Letang level hands when it comes to puck handling.

I am really excited for him and what he can bring…I think as of right now today he is not as good as Lovejoy or Engelland but within the next year and the next training camp he will be FAR superior…I also highly recommend the Pens let him play 7 – 9 games then send him back down where he will dominate!

Quickly moving up my fav prospects list! Tangradi is still the man, though.

Like Hooks said, the examples you used are very much the exceptions to the rule. It is definitely too early to compare Despres to those guys.
However, I do agree that Despres has outplayed the WBS players in camp. Therefore, he should get his 9 games because I believe he’s earned them. Who knows maybe he totally goes nuts and has a great first 9 games. Even then, I think the Pens send him back to juniors.

I don’t think there’s a need to rush Despres, and since we don’t have a dearth of NHL-ready defensemen, I think it will be best for everyone to send him down for the season.

Also, while I see the benefit of keeping him up for 7-9 games, there are also some problems with this move. First, as was pointed out by PensAreYourDaddy in another thread, the first 7-9 games the Pens play this year will be tough games. Rewind to last season, and this worry might go away. But this is going to be an interesting opening stretch. While Despres might benefit from being thrown into the fire, I think it’s probably better for the Pens, long term, to go with the team they plan to ice for the balance of the season.

My second concern is about roster management in general. The Pens have to get their roster down to 23 guys. We talked about this briefly in another thread, but the basic problem is that (barring a trade or the unlikely waive of someone like TK or Godard) there are already 13 forwards, 5 defensemen, and 2 goalies on the roster. J-Staal is out, and it looks like Letestu is going to get in. And from what I can tell, either Tangradi or Jeffrey is going to get a chance to play, at least for awhile. That leaves space for just one defenseman — or 2 if Staal goes on LTIR. If we keep Despres, then one of the guys we intend to have as a regular part of our roster will have to get through waivers in order to be sent down for those games, only to be called up again in a few weeks. There are lots of reasons to dislike this, but my main concern is that if that guy is actually ready to be on the Pens NHL roster, then it is a pretty big risk to put him on the waiver wire (and yes, all the guys in question have to be waived because of their age). If Despres were hands down better than all those guys, and stood a strong chance to stick with the Pens for the entire season, then maybe. But I’m not convinced that’s the case here, so I’m not convinced keeping Despres for 7-9 games is the best move for the Pens to make.

I’ll agree with just about everyone else here with the sentiment that he has outplayed all his competitors in camp so far and certainly has earned 9 games with the team. But there’s also a few things about your examples you missed – Doughty and Myers really had nobody to stop their progress in the NHL. Buffalo needed defensemen last season while LA had nobody worth giving playing time to over Doughty.

The Pens this year have 1A and 1B set in stone, the top four of Martin-Michalek-Orpik-Letang will each get 20 minutes per game. I know Gogo had more points than LeTanger last year BUT his defense was abysmal for most of the year and I surely don’t want him out there against any top lines when we have 3 much superior defenders now instead of maybe 1-2 last year. That leaves Despres with about 14-15 minutes of ice time per game at the max. Is that worth it?

I think unless he gives the team no doubt whatsoever about keeping him, he should dominate the Q for one more season and then possibly be a Subban-type late season call up if necessary.