Pens soon to be the TBL?

[Xi Retlah iX 0]

Crosby, Malkin, Hossa (if signed) and Gonchar

Levav, Richards, St.Louis, and Boyle

Pens better be careful not to handicap themselves with lack of cap room and keep some secondary talent around.

[Penguinsfanatic 0]

well Crosby is already signed through July 2010 so they would only have to worry about Malkin, Gonchar and Hossa (if he signs) putting them over the cap if they sign long term....but i bet the penguins management are already working those numbers out

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

Then they have the 2nd tier, Staal, Fleury etc etc.

[Rustpot 1]

The cap is going up ~5mil next year, that takes care of most of Hossa if they keep him.

[Xi Retlah iX 0]

o wow. i didnt know it was going up 5 mil. they should still be careful either way.

[gxc999 7]

The Pens are on track for a similar fate, it would appear. However, Gonchar will only play another couple years then retire. Hossa won't be fetching 10 mil a year, maybe around 6-7. I think they'll be ok.

[Hockeyman9621 0]

A smart move by the Pens this summer would be to sign Hossa at whatever he asks... then trade him when Malkin gets his big contract.

[killthepoodle 0]

I thought the same thing- they are getting to be a pretty scary team with a lot of depth.

[TBLfan 25]

They have better goaltending(pre-richards trade, actually probably currently too). And they don't have Tortorella. They'll do much better.

[Chadd 916]

They have better goaltending(pre-richards trade, actually probably currently too). And they don't have Tortorella. They'll do much better.

I don't think they have the coach they need to win. He's worse than Tortorella about throwing guys under the bus publicly to deflect blame.

[TBLfan 25]

agreed. Give the pre-trade deadline Lightning a Lindy Ruff or Ted Nolan and they're a playoff team. Give these Pens the same coach and they make a solid run for the cup.

[Penguinsfanatic 0]

I just think the Pens are better off then the Lightning because the everything the Pens have gotten is post lockout and cap and I think they are working well under the cap right now only time will tell, which is unlike the Lightning who had everything pre lockout and cap and had all those established stars from the get go ya know....and too the cap is set to increase 5mil so that will help

[mattzilla 0]

I dont think they need a good goalie. Conklin is a good goalie, this isnt a fluke. im an oilers fan, but they threw conklin and jussi under the bus when shit went bad, when really it was a horrible defense at fault. Im not saying hes a great goalie, but hes a good solid tender.

[Fire0nIce228 1]

Chadd maybe you can merge this topic and some of the posts from the 08 trade topic and maybe merge it all into the malkin and the pens topic.

Anyways, I don't think we need any new goalies. Fleury is young still. Even if they don't make it this year very deep, they still have plenty of time with the goaltenders and the rest of the forwards to get even better. I think if they do sign everyone somehow, but then have to get rid of someone, Hossa will be the one to go. Obviously Sid isn't, and the fans are too attached to Geno to move him without being an upheaval :)

[Trooper 8]

They have better goaltending(pre-richards trade, actually probably currently too). And they don't have Tortorella. They'll do much better.

I don't think they have the coach they need to win. He's worse than Tortorella about throwing guys under the bus publicly to deflect blame.

He may not be the coach to take them to the Cup, but it's not for his public criticism of players. Every time he calls someone out, people get on his case, and then the players respond. He's been coaching some of these guys since they were in WB and seems to know which buttons to push.

[Chadd 916]

They have better goaltending(pre-richards trade, actually probably currently too). And they don't have Tortorella. They'll do much better.

I don't think they have the coach they need to win. He's worse than Tortorella about throwing guys under the bus publicly to deflect blame.

He may not be the coach to take them to the Cup, but it's not for his public criticism of players. Every time he calls someone out, people get on his case, and then the players respond. He's been coaching some of these guys since they were in WB and seems to know which buttons to push.

That's why he can only coach kids. Most guys who have been around for a while don't put up with that, especially from a coach that hasn't done anything at the NHL level.

[hamstercaster 2]

I don't think the Pens are cup contenders at all. Sure they have fire power but they got no defense. Whitney is a good Dman although he's having a slower year this year, but that's about it. You can count on Gonchar for the Power Play and to move the puck up but that's about it... and Hall Gill is not what's gonna make the Pens a good team defensively.

In nets they are doing fine I guess with Conklin's play, wether he can keep it or not remains to be seen though as he's never been a number one goalie and he'll probably end up like Huet and falter after too many games. Fleury, although he's a good goalie or is supposed to be good, hasn't proven sh!t yet and I don't think he'll take them all the way.. at least not yet.... and now Hossa's hurt already and will be out for about a week with a sprained mcl... but it may be longer after they run tests and find out that there's a tear...if there is a tear that is.

In my mind, the team to watch in the east is New Jersey. They are firing on all cylinders. Brodeur has brought his game up a notch or two and they are on a roll!!! IMO Pittsburgh will not make it past the 2nd round.

[Trooper 8]

I don't think the Pens are cup contenders at all. Sure they have fire power but they got no defense. Whitney is a good Dman although he's having a slower year this year, but that's about it. You can count on Gonchar for the Power Play and to move the puck up but that's about it... and Hall Gill is not what's gonna make the Pens a good team defensively.

In nets they are doing fine I guess with Conklin's play, wether he can keep it or not remains to be seen though as he's never been a number one goalie and he'll probably end up like Huet and falter after too many games. Fleury, although he's a good goalie or is supposed to be good, hasn't proven sh!t yet and I don't think he'll take them all the way.. at least not yet.... and now Hossa's hurt already and will be out for about a week with a sprained mcl... but it may be longer after they run tests and find out that there's a tear...if there is a tear that is.

In my mind, the team to watch in the east is New Jersey. They are firing on all cylinders. Brodeur has brought his game up a notch or two and they are on a roll!!! IMO Pittsburgh will not make it past the 2nd round.

They're 12th in the league in goals against, that's plenty to be a contender. You can't be first in every category. And Whitney is an offensive defenseman, who is two goals short of his total from last year, I don't know how that is an off year. People keep pointing to their defense but that hasn't been their problem at all when they were losing (the beginning of the year). Team D needs to tighten up because they give up too many shots.

[hamstercaster 2]

It's an "off year" because he's on pace to be about 12-15 points short of last year, that's all. I still don't think they are cup contenders... and you kind of contradict yourself by saying that the D is not the problem and then add that Team D needs to tighten up because they give up to many shots. I understand that one hand you are talking about the d-men themselves and then the team's defensive play as a whole but that pretty much sums up what I say. Good defense starts with good d-men first and obviously the forwards have to do their share too and IMO they are lacking in both defense and defensive play. that's the way I see it anyway. I still don't think they'll go anywhere this year even though they have a promising team but I guess your allowed to see things differently lol ;-)

[Trooper 8]

It's an "off year" because he's on pace to be about 12-15 points short of last year, that's all. I still don't think they are cup contenders... and you kind of contradict yourself by saying that the D is not the problem and then add that Team D needs to tighten up because they give up to many shots. I understand that one hand you are talking about the d-men themselves and then the team's defensive play as a whole but that pretty much sums up what I say. Good defense starts with good d-men first and obviously the forwards have to do their share too and IMO they are lacking in both defense and defensive play. that's the way I see it anyway. I still don't think they'll go anywhere this year even though they have a promising team but I guess your allowed to see things differently lol ;-)

Yeah, I meant that the dmen themselves aren't the problem and that one facet of the entire team game that needs improved is shots. But they aren't giving up a lot of goals and that's the bottom line, there's no way to ascertain how many of those shots are quality scoring opportunities and how many are the tons of long shots teams have been taking on Conklin.

[hamstercaster 2]

Indeed as shots themselves are sometimes inflated by the teams "shot counter". Some teams have really good people counting shots while others add shots all over the place.... so counting scoring opportunities is probably not an exact science either lol