Official GDT: Pens vs Sharks 1/28/23

[FLPensFan]

FSG with their deep pockets should cut a check to move on from Sully and see if Trotz wants to coach.

This team needs a new voice. They aren't competing defensively. 6 goals against the Sharks? Stop it. Get Trotz in here to have some accountability and structure to their game.

Although it just seems like they really don't care about winning, they just want to keep Sid/Geno/Letang happy....

I think that FSG thinks that Sid/Geno/Letang put butts in seats, winning or not. If they are paying attention (who knows since rumor is they haven't been around), that isn't the case.

This town wants to see winning and/or competitive hockey. The city and fan base is frustrated with the way this team has performed the last 5 years, and it is showing in the attendance.

[Sigwolf]

FSG with their deep pockets should cut a check to move on from Sully and see if Trotz wants to coach.

This team needs a new voice. They aren't competing defensively. 6 goals against the Sharks? Stop it. Get Trotz in here to have some accountability and structure to their game.

Although it just seems like they really don't care about winning, they just want to keep Sid/Geno/Letang happy....

FN to Trotz. I would rather have this team never make the playoffs again than have that troll behind the Pens bench. Trotz's claim to fame is excelling in cheating/interfering hockey. He is what is wrong with this sport. Trotz, and every official that allows that style of play to exist in this sport, should be banned for life.

Apart from that, I have no objections. /s

[Daniel]

FSG with their deep pockets should cut a check to move on from Sully and see if Trotz wants to coach.

This team needs a new voice. They aren't competing defensively. 6 goals against the Sharks? Stop it. Get Trotz in here to have some accountability and structure to their game.

Although it just seems like they really don't care about winning, they just want to keep Sid/Geno/Letang happy....

We all get that sports is to make a profit but so far FSG is making it pretty obvious that’s all their in for. Malkin’s 1000th game, Sid/Geno/Letang nearing a record for a trio. I’m honestly wondering if FSG is using this as a quick profit making and will see how much of a profit they can make in 2-3 years. So far they’ve done more marketing than fixing and maybe that takes time, but this team is too old to waste time.

[FLPensFan]

FSG with their deep pockets should cut a check to move on from Sully and see if Trotz wants to coach.

This team needs a new voice. They aren't competing defensively. 6 goals against the Sharks? Stop it. Get Trotz in here to have some accountability and structure to their game.

Although it just seems like they really don't care about winning, they just want to keep Sid/Geno/Letang happy....

We all get that sports is to make a profit but so far FSG is making it pretty obvious that’s all their in for. Malkin’s 1000th game, Sid/Geno/Letang nearing a record for a trio. I’m honestly wondering if FSG is using this as a quick profit making and will see how much of a profit they can make in 2-3 years. So far they’ve done more marketing than fixing and maybe that takes time, but this team is too old to waste time.

As I've said before, if FSG bought this team to make a killer profit, they surely were 2-4 years late on their purchase. The team value was at it's height...but the sellout streak was ending and their biggest assets are clearly on their downside. Not smart business for a quick profit and flip venture.

And if that is their goal, they better be ready for some huge vitriol, because I don't think the city/fanbase could deal with the Pirates AND the Penguins being owned by money-grubbing businesses caring only about profits and not actual winning.

[Daniel]

FSG with their deep pockets should cut a check to move on from Sully and see if Trotz wants to coach.

This team needs a new voice. They aren't competing defensively. 6 goals against the Sharks? Stop it. Get Trotz in here to have some accountability and structure to their game.

Although it just seems like they really don't care about winning, they just want to keep Sid/Geno/Letang happy....

We all get that sports is to make a profit but so far FSG is making it pretty obvious that’s all their in for. Malkin’s 1000th game, Sid/Geno/Letang nearing a record for a trio. I’m honestly wondering if FSG is using this as a quick profit making and will see how much of a profit they can make in 2-3 years. So far they’ve done more marketing than fixing and maybe that takes time, but this team is too old to waste time.

As I've said before, if FSG bought this team to make a killer profit, they surely were 2-4 years late on their purchase. The team value was at it's height...but the sellout streak was ending and their biggest assets are clearly on their downside. Not smart business for a quick profit and flip venture.

And if that is their goal, they better be ready for some huge vitriol, because I don't think the city/fanbase could deal with the Pirates AND the Penguins being owned by money-grubbing businesses caring only about profits and not actual winning.

That’s what makes no sense, but perhaps they thought they can make more money off Malkin’s 1000th game or the trios record longevity on the same team or whatever else that’s coming up. Mario might have sold a little bit too late, but there was still pretty good profit for him.

[ville5]

FSG with their deep pockets should cut a check to move on from Sully and see if Trotz wants to coach.

This team needs a new voice. They aren't competing defensively. 6 goals against the Sharks? Stop it. Get Trotz in here to have some accountability and structure to their game.

Although it just seems like they really don't care about winning, they just want to keep Sid/Geno/Letang happy....

We all get that sports is to make a profit but so far FSG is making it pretty obvious that’s all their in for. Malkin’s 1000th game, Sid/Geno/Letang nearing a record for a trio. I’m honestly wondering if FSG is using this as a quick profit making and will see how much of a profit they can make in 2-3 years. So far they’ve done more marketing than fixing and maybe that takes time, but this team is too old to waste time.

As I've said before, if FSG bought this team to make a killer profit, they surely were 2-4 years late on their purchase. The team value was at it's height...but the sellout streak was ending and their biggest assets are clearly on their downside. Not smart business for a quick profit and flip venture.

And if that is their goal, they better be ready for some huge vitriol, because I don't think the city/fanbase could deal with the Pirates AND the Penguins being owned by money-grubbing businesses caring only about profits and not actual winning.

Didn't they also obtain the development rights to the 28 acres or whatever around the arena?

[thehockeyguru]

3 point streaks continued tonight:

--Carter, zero points in his last 10 games (including tonight)
--McGinn, zero points in his last 16 games
-- Blueger, zero points in his last 14 games

To put that in perspective, over the last 16 games, the Penguins have scored 4 or more goals EIGHT times, and Carter, Blueger, and McGinn haven't managed to get a SINGLE POINT in any of those games.

That's what is so baffling, Blueger isn't the same player after his jaw injury. Move him for a pick, any pick if not put him on waivers. The cap space and roster spot let's you bring up fresh blood to that line. This team is dead on their feet right now.

[FLPensFan]

Fun fact:

Mike Johnston was fired on December 12th, 2015 with a 15-10-3 record (.589 points percentage). Rutherford cited the team was underachieving. Probably didn't help that Crosby got off to a horrendous start by his standards, only 19 points in those 28 games. Johnston's system in Year 2 didn't seem to mesh with Crosby's game.

Mike Sullivan is currently 24-16-9 (.582 points percentage). I think Hextall could easily say that this team is underachieving, although, I could also point to Hextall's roster construction just as easily as Sullivan's poor player usage and refusal to healthy scratch clearly non-performing vets.

The cap space is tight (again, looking at Hextall on those Carter and Kapanen contracts), but Hextall needs to be creative. Lottery protect 1st rounders if you have to but this team probably needs to pull off 2-3 moves to be a true contender. They likely need at least 1 3rd line piece, and maybe something different on a defense that clearly isn't defending well. They could help themselves by getting looks internally at guys like Puustinen and Nylander.

As my friend Judge Smails once said,

[DelPen]

I keep seeing tweets about how great the 3rd line is based on analytics which goes to show analytics are a useful tool but the eye test still matters. That line is garbage. This team needs a massive shakeup in players and lines in the bottom 6.

[FLPensFan]

I keep seeing tweets about how great the 3rd line is based on analytics which goes to show analytics are a useful tool but the eye test still matters. That line is garbage. This team needs a massive shakeup in players and lines in the bottom 6.

I'm not sure where people are looking to find good analytics for the 3rd line.

--75 minutes together for the trio
--Corsi % is 2 shots below 50%
--Shots % is 1 shot above 50%
--Goals For % is ZERO, because they have no points in 10 plus games. (they've been on the ice for 4 at 5v5)
--Expected Goals For % is a hair above 50%
--Scoring Chances For % is 2 chances below 50%
--High Danger Chances For % is 1 chance above 50%
--High Danger Goals For % is zero, because they have no points in 10 plus games (they've been on the ice for 2 HDGA)

To make matters worse, McGinn and Carter have been together for 237 minutes without Blueger
--42% CF, 46% SF, 44% GF (actually have 8 goals for, 10 against just these 2 on the line), xGF% is 41%, HDCF 38%, HDGF 22%

McGinn has played 135 minutes without Carter or Blueger, and with the exception of a nearly even 50% CF%, all his numbers are mid-50% without Teddy and Jeff.

What does that all mean? Well, the analytics are telling me that Carter and Blueger are @ss, and if we had some decent bottom 6 centers maybe some of these guys like Heinen or Kapanen or McGinn or DOC would start scoring more. The eye test at least matches up with the Carter/Blueger are @ss theory.

Sounds like a much improved 3C (I like where Poehling's game has progressed as a 4C, but don't think he's a 3C at this point) is the Penguins #1 target on the trade market...when Hextall finally realizes there is a problem.

[thehockeyguru]

I keep seeing tweets about how great the 3rd line is based on analytics which goes to show analytics are a useful tool but the eye test still matters. That line is garbage. This team needs a massive shakeup in players and lines in the bottom 6.

I'm not sure where people are looking to find good analytics for the 3rd line.

--75 minutes together for the trio
--Corsi % is 2 shots below 50%
--Shots % is 1 shot above 50%
--Goals For % is ZERO, because they have no points in 10 plus games. (they've been on the ice for 4 at 5v5)
--Expected Goals For % is a hair above 50%
--Scoring Chances For % is 2 chances below 50%
--High Danger Chances For % is 1 chance above 50%
--High Danger Goals For % is zero, because they have no points in 10 plus games (they've been on the ice for 2 HDGA)

To make matters worse, McGinn and Carter have been together for 237 minutes without Blueger
--42% CF, 46% SF, 44% GF (actually have 8 goals for, 10 against just these 2 on the line), xGF% is 41%, HDCF 38%, HDGF 22%

McGinn has played 135 minutes without Carter or Blueger, and with the exception of a nearly even 50% CF%, all his numbers are mid-50% without Teddy and Jeff.

What does that all mean? Well, the analytics are telling me that Carter and Blueger are @ss, and if we had some decent bottom 6 centers maybe some of these guys like Heinen or Kapanen or McGinn or DOC would start scoring more. The eye test at least matches up with the Carter/Blueger are @ss theory.

Sounds like a much improved 3C (I like where Poehling's game has progressed as a 4C, but don't think he's a 3C at this point) is the Penguins #1 target on the trade market...when Hextall finally realizes there is a problem.

They need to find a creative way to move out Carter

[KG]

I keep seeing tweets about how great the 3rd line is based on analytics which goes to show analytics are a useful tool but the eye test still matters. That line is garbage. This team needs a massive shakeup in players and lines in the bottom 6.

I'm not sure where people are looking to find good analytics for the 3rd line.

--75 minutes together for the trio
--Corsi % is 2 shots below 50%
--Shots % is 1 shot above 50%
--Goals For % is ZERO, because they have no points in 10 plus games. (they've been on the ice for 4 at 5v5)
--Expected Goals For % is a hair above 50%
--Scoring Chances For % is 2 chances below 50%
--High Danger Chances For % is 1 chance above 50%
--High Danger Goals For % is zero, because they have no points in 10 plus games (they've been on the ice for 2 HDGA)

To make matters worse, McGinn and Carter have been together for 237 minutes without Blueger
--42% CF, 46% SF, 44% GF (actually have 8 goals for, 10 against just these 2 on the line), xGF% is 41%, HDCF 38%, HDGF 22%

McGinn has played 135 minutes without Carter or Blueger, and with the exception of a nearly even 50% CF%, all his numbers are mid-50% without Teddy and Jeff.

What does that all mean? Well, the analytics are telling me that Carter and Blueger are @ss, and if we had some decent bottom 6 centers maybe some of these guys like Heinen or Kapanen or McGinn or DOC would start scoring more. The eye test at least matches up with the Carter/Blueger are @ss theory.

Sounds like a much improved 3C (I like where Poehling's game has progressed as a 4C, but don't think he's a 3C at this point) is the Penguins #1 target on the trade market...when Hextall finally realizes there is a problem.

They need to find a creative way to move out Carter

If Carter would agree to it, I could see some Western teams who need a veteran C come playoff time. Edmonton makes sense. Calgary with the Sutter connection makes sense.

I’m sure we would have to retain and take back a similar bad contract, but it shouldn’t be impossible.

[FLPensFan]

I keep seeing tweets about how great the 3rd line is based on analytics which goes to show analytics are a useful tool but the eye test still matters. That line is garbage. This team needs a massive shakeup in players and lines in the bottom 6.

I'm not sure where people are looking to find good analytics for the 3rd line.

--75 minutes together for the trio
--Corsi % is 2 shots below 50%
--Shots % is 1 shot above 50%
--Goals For % is ZERO, because they have no points in 10 plus games. (they've been on the ice for 4 at 5v5)
--Expected Goals For % is a hair above 50%
--Scoring Chances For % is 2 chances below 50%
--High Danger Chances For % is 1 chance above 50%
--High Danger Goals For % is zero, because they have no points in 10 plus games (they've been on the ice for 2 HDGA)

To make matters worse, McGinn and Carter have been together for 237 minutes without Blueger
--42% CF, 46% SF, 44% GF (actually have 8 goals for, 10 against just these 2 on the line), xGF% is 41%, HDCF 38%, HDGF 22%

McGinn has played 135 minutes without Carter or Blueger, and with the exception of a nearly even 50% CF%, all his numbers are mid-50% without Teddy and Jeff.

What does that all mean? Well, the analytics are telling me that Carter and Blueger are @ss, and if we had some decent bottom 6 centers maybe some of these guys like Heinen or Kapanen or McGinn or DOC would start scoring more. The eye test at least matches up with the Carter/Blueger are @ss theory.

Sounds like a much improved 3C (I like where Poehling's game has progressed as a 4C, but don't think he's a 3C at this point) is the Penguins #1 target on the trade market...when Hextall finally realizes there is a problem.

They need to find a creative way to move out Carter

If Carter would agree to it, I could see some Western teams who need a veteran C come playoff time. Edmonton makes sense. Calgary with the Sutter connection makes sense.

I’m sure we would have to retain and take back a similar bad contract, but it shouldn’t be impossible.

I think Dejan even mentioned a buyout today, and, well, that won't work either. As a 35 plus contract, if the Penguins bought out Carter this summer, his full cap hit still counts against the Penguins. So, a buyout isn't an option either. They'd be better off waiving him to the minors to save the 1.125M in cap hit. Christ did Hextall royally screw the team over with re-signing Carter and the contract options he gave him.

Speaking of Hextall, Dejan also kind of called him out. Says he hasn't been around the team much lately, whereas earlier in the season, he was at every game, some of the practices, and was even making it to road games. Burke was outside the locker room last night after the loss, but Hextall has frequently been MIA lately. Says unless something personal is going on causing him to be away, it's a REALLY BAD look for Hextall right now. Hextall hasn't even given any type of media availability. He last spoke publicly (besides the Penguins podcast this week) for Letang's stroke related issues.

[thehockeyguru]

I honestly don't see anyone wanting Carter we are going to have to have a team like Anaheim take him with a sweetner

[FLPensFan]

I honestly don't see anyone wanting Carter we are going to have to have a team like Anaheim take him with a sweetner

Anaheim has been the one team I keep looking at, because, I don't think Carter is going to go to a Chicago or Ottawa type team. If he's gonna move his family, he's either going to go to a strong contender (which I don't see having interest), or he's gonna go back to the LA area. LA probably wouldn't want him back (just because they've moved on), but maybe he's the type of player that could help Anaheim next year.

I still keep looking at some type of deal where the Penguins get Henrique at a minimum, but I wouldn't mind getting either Vatrano or Comtois in that deal as well.

How the Penguins could make all of that work, I'm not sure. Maybe something like Henrique 50% retained plus Vatrano for Carter, Kapanen, POJ and a 2nd. We can't just trade our junk to get what we want. Maybe Anaheim would be willing to take a flyer on Kapanen and hope he could rebound better in Anaheim.

But I think as far as getting a 3C, Henrique has to be the top target...unless there is some other non-rental 3C I'm not seeing as available right now.

[Take the Body Shoot the Puck]

Just a little screen grab I took at the end of the first period since it was blatantly obvious how horrible our defensive zone coverage was.

[offsides]

I think Dejan even mentioned a buyout today, and, well, that won't work either. As a 35 plus contract, if the Penguins bought out Carter this summer, his full cap hit still counts against the Penguins. So, a buyout isn't an option either. They'd be better off waiving him to the minors to save the 1.125M in cap hit. Christ did Hextall royally screw the team over with re-signing Carter and the contract options he gave him.

Speaking of Hextall, Dejan also kind of called him out. Says he hasn't been around the team much lately, whereas earlier in the season, he was at every game, some of the practices, and was even making it to road games. Burke was outside the locker room last night after the loss, but Hextall has frequently been MIA lately. Says unless something personal is going on causing him to be away, it's a REALLY BAD look for Hextall right now. Hextall hasn't even given any type of media availability. He last spoke publicly (besides the Penguins podcast this week) for Letang's stroke related issues.

I don't do social media but I bet Hextall is getting a lot of likes from Flyer fans.

[Daniel]

I honestly don't see anyone wanting Carter we are going to have to have a team like Anaheim take him with a sweetner

Anaheim has been the one team I keep looking at, because, I don't think Carter is going to go to a Chicago or Ottawa type team. If he's gonna move his family, he's either going to go to a strong contender (which I don't see having interest), or he's gonna go back to the LA area. LA probably wouldn't want him back (just because they've moved on), but maybe he's the type of player that could help Anaheim next year.

I still keep looking at some type of deal where the Penguins get Henrique at a minimum, but I wouldn't mind getting either Vatrano or Comtois in that deal as well.

How the Penguins could make all of that work, I'm not sure. Maybe something like Henrique 50% retained plus Vatrano for Carter, Kapanen, POJ and a 2nd. We can't just trade our junk to get what we want. Maybe Anaheim would be willing to take a flyer on Kapanen and hope he could rebound better in Anaheim.

But I think as far as getting a 3C, Henrique has to be the top target...unless there is some other non-rental 3C I'm not seeing as available right now.

Frankly, I wouldn’t give up an asset for a trade without trying Nylander and/or Puustinen first.

Try something like Jake-Sid-Rakel, Zucker-Malkin-Nylander/Puustinen, Rust-Blueger-Puustinen/Nylander, O’Conner-Poehling-Carter

Or even switch O’Conner/Blueger or whatever combination has Nylander AND Puustinen in the lineup. Swap Heinen and McGinn for whoever isn’t playing well (Carter?), but you get the gist.

If that works and you think you need to move from Blueger to Henrique, fine, but I don’t think they are a 3C away from getting past the 1st round.

[FLPensFan]

I honestly don't see anyone wanting Carter we are going to have to have a team like Anaheim take him with a sweetner

Anaheim has been the one team I keep looking at, because, I don't think Carter is going to go to a Chicago or Ottawa type team. If he's gonna move his family, he's either going to go to a strong contender (which I don't see having interest), or he's gonna go back to the LA area. LA probably wouldn't want him back (just because they've moved on), but maybe he's the type of player that could help Anaheim next year.

I still keep looking at some type of deal where the Penguins get Henrique at a minimum, but I wouldn't mind getting either Vatrano or Comtois in that deal as well.

How the Penguins could make all of that work, I'm not sure. Maybe something like Henrique 50% retained plus Vatrano for Carter, Kapanen, POJ and a 2nd. We can't just trade our junk to get what we want. Maybe Anaheim would be willing to take a flyer on Kapanen and hope he could rebound better in Anaheim.

But I think as far as getting a 3C, Henrique has to be the top target...unless there is some other non-rental 3C I'm not seeing as available right now.

Frankly, I wouldn’t give up an asset for a trade without trying Nylander and/or Puustinen first.

Try something like Jake-Sid-Rakel, Zucker-Malkin-Nylander/Puustinen, Rust-Blueger-Puustinen/Nylander, O’Conner-Poehling-Carter

Or even switch O’Conner/Blueger or whatever combination has Nylander AND Puustinen in the lineup. Swap Heinen and McGinn for whoever isn’t playing well (Carter?), but you get the gist.

If that works and you think you need to move from Blueger to Henrique, fine, but I don’t think they are a 3C away from getting past the 1st round.

I don't think we are going to see a situation, short of dire injury, where Sullivan willing inserts Puustinen AND Nylander into the lineup at the same time. And from what I am seeing, with the lack of scoring and the analytics, if you don't change out the 3C, I don't know that anyone playing with Blueger or Carter as their center can be accurately evaluated because those 2 aren't creating and are dragging the 3rd line down.

Dejan also brought up something else that I really didn't think of, but it might make some sense in terms of Sullivan's player usage. The screenshot a few posts above, which shows the Poehling line all collapsing on the puck carrier while leaving Karlsson all alone uncovered, was kind of the emphasis of this statement. It seems like Sullivan doesn't have the right guys to play his system. For as good as DOC-Poehling-Heinen had done the past few games providing some much needed offense, that defensive collapse is indicative of them not doing some of the little things right. We saw it with POJ in this game too, as he made a lazy pass that turned into a giveaway and the GWG for San Jose. Dejan went as far as saying the team needed more Tanev, ZAR, Simon and Brian Gibbons type. Those guys didn't score and took tons of criticism from the fans, but they were just as willing to put in the hard work defensively, rather than just trying to generate offense and possess the puck. They need to be consistently showing a strong forecheck and willingness to put it all out there for the defensive effort.

But, I'm pretty convinced that in part, some of McGinn, and Heinen, and Kapanen not being able to produce is because the centers they are being given just aren't good. It's kind of a worse Brandon Sutter situation...Sutter was a solid 3C, good defensively, centered PP2, strong PKer, but he got to a point where he didn't mesh with a SINGLE WINGER we had on the team. His last year, he had 21 goals and 12 assists...6 of those assists were 2nd assists, and, even some of the 1st assists were simple plays that your worst offensive player could have made (I remember I went back and watched EVERY Sutter assist that year to break it down).

There is no trade freeze during the All-Star game. Hextall should be working the phones this week, with every attempt to make a trade before the team plays its next game. Buffalo is now 1 point behind Pittsburgh with same number of games played, and at the rate Buffalo is playing vs the Penguins, it's only a matter of a week or two before the Sabres move ahead and pull away from the Penguins. The Penguins go out West coming out of the break, with their 2nd game in Anaheim. If there is a different, better option, fine, but otherwise, I'm really hoping they don't leave Anaheim without Henrique a Penguin.

[Daniel]

I honestly don't see anyone wanting Carter we are going to have to have a team like Anaheim take him with a sweetner

Anaheim has been the one team I keep looking at, because, I don't think Carter is going to go to a Chicago or Ottawa type team. If he's gonna move his family, he's either going to go to a strong contender (which I don't see having interest), or he's gonna go back to the LA area. LA probably wouldn't want him back (just because they've moved on), but maybe he's the type of player that could help Anaheim next year.

I still keep looking at some type of deal where the Penguins get Henrique at a minimum, but I wouldn't mind getting either Vatrano or Comtois in that deal as well.

How the Penguins could make all of that work, I'm not sure. Maybe something like Henrique 50% retained plus Vatrano for Carter, Kapanen, POJ and a 2nd. We can't just trade our junk to get what we want. Maybe Anaheim would be willing to take a flyer on Kapanen and hope he could rebound better in Anaheim.

But I think as far as getting a 3C, Henrique has to be the top target...unless there is some other non-rental 3C I'm not seeing as available right now.

Frankly, I wouldn’t give up an asset for a trade without trying Nylander and/or Puustinen first.

Try something like Jake-Sid-Rakel, Zucker-Malkin-Nylander/Puustinen, Rust-Blueger-Puustinen/Nylander, O’Conner-Poehling-Carter

Or even switch O’Conner/Blueger or whatever combination has Nylander AND Puustinen in the lineup. Swap Heinen and McGinn for whoever isn’t playing well (Carter?), but you get the gist.

If that works and you think you need to move from Blueger to Henrique, fine, but I don’t think they are a 3C away from getting past the 1st round.

I don't think we are going to see a situation, short of dire injury, where Sullivan willing inserts Puustinen AND Nylander into the lineup at the same time. And from what I am seeing, with the lack of scoring and the analytics, if you don't change out the 3C, I don't know that anyone playing with Blueger or Carter as their center can be accurately evaluated because those 2 aren't creating and are dragging the 3rd line down.

Dejan also brought up something else that I really didn't think of, but it might make some sense in terms of Sullivan's player usage. The screenshot a few posts above, which shows the Poehling line all collapsing on the puck carrier while leaving Karlsson all alone uncovered, was kind of the emphasis of this statement. It seems like Sullivan doesn't have the right guys to play his system. For as good as DOC-Poehling-Heinen had done the past few games providing some much needed offense, that defensive collapse is indicative of them not doing some of the little things right. We saw it with POJ in this game too, as he made a lazy pass that turned into a giveaway and the GWG for San Jose. Dejan went as far as saying the team needed more Tanev, ZAR, Simon and Brian Gibbons type. Those guys didn't score and took tons of criticism from the fans, but they were just as willing to put in the hard work defensively, rather than just trying to generate offense and possess the puck. They need to be consistently showing a strong forecheck and willingness to put it all out there for the defensive effort.

But, I'm pretty convinced that in part, some of McGinn, and Heinen, and Kapanen not being able to produce is because the centers they are being given just aren't good. It's kind of a worse Brandon Sutter situation...Sutter was a solid 3C, good defensively, centered PP2, strong PKer, but he got to a point where he didn't mesh with a SINGLE WINGER we had on the team. His last year, he had 21 goals and 12 assists...6 of those assists were 2nd assists, and, even some of the 1st assists were simple plays that your worst offensive player could have made (I remember I went back and watched EVERY Sutter assist that year to break it down).

There is no trade freeze during the All-Star game. Hextall should be working the phones this week, with every attempt to make a trade before the team plays its next game. Buffalo is now 1 point behind Pittsburgh with same number of games played, and at the rate Buffalo is playing vs the Penguins, it's only a matter of a week or two before the Sabres move ahead and pull away from the Penguins. The Penguins go out West coming out of the break, with their 2nd game in Anaheim. If there is a different, better option, fine, but otherwise, I'm really hoping they don't leave Anaheim without Henrique a Penguin.

I get that Sullivan won’t play them, but I think Henrique does nothing to help this team get far in the playoffs. He might help them make the playoffs but I don’t see this team getting past the 1st round with just a 3C.

Not that he isn’t a good player, but I think the assets they’d give up to get him is going to be too much compared to what improvement he’d make. Unless Carter is in the trade then it’s addition by subtraction but otherwise, I can’t see that Henrique would help much.

This franchise needs a wake up call and some humility so to me missing the playoffs isn’t a huge deal. Might wake up this stagnant franchise.