Pensburgh wrapup: Brooks Orpik

If you guys don’t want him, the Devils will take him XP

Doesn’t matter until someone steps up as a shut down d-man, but Brooks should never see much PP time, so that would immediately take him out of contention for being GoGo’s linemate during those situations . Here’s a crazy idea, what if the Pens rotated Tyler in at D on the top PP and made him a QB option? He’s not as tentative as GoGo, he’s got a great feel for getting the puck towards the net at the right time, good passing instincts and he can pinch really well, plus he’s certainly gritty enough to recover well on short handed break aways. Just an interesting option I thought…

I really like Orpik. He did not have his best year and was not able to step into the role as a “shut down” guy to replace Gill/Scuderi. Now we find out about his injury. I think he can play better. I think he will play better next season.

As for pairings, if Shero can find the right D for the Pens, maybe this guy would play well with Orpik. I would like to see him become more of a shut down D, but at least he is gritty. Just stop taking dumb penalities.

I like Orpik’s outspokeness, his ablity to say what needs to be said. He is a good leader because of that. The Pens need more guys like that.

I don’t think Orpik was necessarily supposed to be a shutdown guy last year. He was paired mostly with Gonchar, right? That’s not a shutdown pair, it’s a balanced pair. I wonder if some of Orpik’s negative Corsi rating is due to Gonchar’s shaky defense this past year.

Also, I agree that Orpik + Gogo might be a solid combo, but I bet they will dress Orpik + Letang

huge fan of Orpik’s
he should be even better next year once he has a chance to heal up

as for pairing…no i don’t like either the Letang or Goligoski ideas
when Gonchar leaves, IF Leopold is re-signed, he might make a good “balanced” pairing with Orpik
if they want to pair him w/ someone as a “shutdown tandem” they prob need a FA (and i favor Michalek there)

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I’m basically just going to agree with what others have said. I agree with Hooks that Orpik may have done a better job picking his spots for the big hits this year. Also, I like Orpik-Letang in theory, but as Max Powers said above, that kind of depends on who else we have on D next year. I like seeing Brooks’ offensive numbers improving. I certainly don’t want it to take away from his defense, but I see no reason why he can’t contribute more offensively. He has a good shot, decent instincts for getting the wrister in on net, and he isn’t bad moving the puck up the ice. I can see him hitting the 3/30 mark next season.

It’s likely Orpik is at the peak of his development as a player, so my assumption is that what we’ve seen is what we’ll get – mostly solid defensive play, good leadership, good hitting, and the occasional big, momentum-changing hit. Orpik’s defensive game isn’t that of a shut-down defenseman. To be at his best, he needs to be free to roam a bit – his hitting is his best weapon, and that sometimes means putting positioning second in priority (the phenomenon we call “picking your spots”).

He still skates very well, gets the puck free of his zone well, but he can’t be all things.

As to the question – Orpik-Letang works similarly to Orpik-Gonchar, and for similar reasons. As Letang learns and develops, that could be a strong pair. If the Pens re-sign Eaton, I like Eaton-Letang better (in my view, Eaton is at his best alongside Letang). Still leaves the Pens without a shut-down pair, though.