Jake Muzzin.

[owtahear]

Because it has to be said.

Drafted by your Pittsburgh Penguins an' at.

Salary, one more year at $1,000,000 per year then an RFA.

Imagine.......just imagine the possibilities if we didn't let him walk.

Would Letang have been reupped?
Would we have drafted Maatta AND Pouillot?
Would Paul Martin or Matt Niskanen been a Penguin this year?
Would we have signed Rob Scuderi.

Talk about trickle down.....

Wait....is this NPR or PR?

[MRandall25]

Here's another thing:

He was 16 when the Pens last had his rights. He had to receive surgery for a herniated disc in his back.

Why would anyone have signed a 16 year old who had to have major back surgery to a deal?

Why does a 141st overall pick from 2007 mean anything? Do people expect GM's to be psychic or something?

[Dickie Dunn]

Here's another thing:

He was 16 when the Pens last had his rights. He had to receive surgery for a herniated disc in his back.

Why would anyone have signed a 16 year old who had to have major back surgery to a deal?

Why does a 141st overall pick from 2007 mean anything? Do people expect GM's to be psychic or something?

Muzzin was 18 when he was drafted by the Pens and 3 years removed from any injury issues when the Pens decided not to offer him an ELC.

[Gaucho]

Hey, did you guys know the Pens drafted Matt Moulson?

[MRandall25]

At any rate, why do people suddenly care about him? He was an afterthought in the NHL for 3 years until the Kings signed him in 2010.

Losing a 141st overall pick doesn't make or break a team, and I almost guarantee OP had no idea who Jake Muzzin was until this year's playoffs. He's been pretty much an AHL guy until this year because Mitchell got hurt and Scuderi left.

Complaining about not signing a mid-4th rounder is useless. If Muzzin were a forward, signed with the Pens, and didn't pan out, he'd be right at the top of everyone's "Shero Can't Draft" list.

[JS©]

Here's another thing:

He was 16 when the Pens last had his rights. He had to receive surgery for a herniated disc in his back.

Why would anyone have signed a 16 year old who had to have major back surgery to a deal?

Why does a 141st overall pick from 2007 mean anything? Do people expect GM's to be psychic or something?

Fire Ray Shero!

[Dickie Dunn]

At any rate, why do people suddenly care about him? He was an afterthought in the NHL for 3 years until the Kings signed him in 2010.

Losing a 141st overall pick doesn't make or break a team, and I almost guarantee OP had no idea who Jake Muzzin was until this year's playoffs. He's been pretty much an AHL guy until this year because Mitchell got hurt and Scuderi left.

Complaining about not signing a mid-4th rounder is useless. If Muzzin were a forward, signed with the Pens, and didn't pan out, he'd be right at the top of everyone's "Shero Can't Draft" list.

- Of course he was an afterthought in the NHL for the 3 years after he was drafted, he was playing junior hockey like every other prospect that takes time to develop.

- Played the entire season in the NHL last year once the lockout was over.

- People suddenly care about him because its another illustration of Shero's failings. Jake Muzzin has played the 2nd most games in the NHL by Shero draft picks (behind Jordan Staal) and the Penguins didn't even bother to offer him a contract. At the point they had to make a decision on Muzzin their best defense prospect in WBS was Ben Lovejoy. Brian Strait and Alex Grant were signed while Muzzin was left to dangle in the wind until LA signed him midway through his overage year in juniors. It was bad asset management and poor scouting of the team's prospects.

[mikey287]

Yeah, Muzzin was a middling OHLer that wasn't really tracking upward all that much. We had a metric butt-ton of these type of guys at that time, Grant, Sneep, Strait, Lovejoy, etc. So, at the time, it just seemed like an unnecessary contract for a guy that did not (and really, still, does not) appear to have all that much upside. So, they took shots on home run skill guys like CPZ or Veilleux or whoever else at the time because the need for skill was there, the need to find the next Melichar or Scuderi was really not...

As an overage player he ended being the OHL d-man of the year, and if you think that's impressive, well, consider that he beat out Thomas Hickey for that moniker (I'll pause while you check up on him, as he's a fringe NHLer). Muzzin got healthier and improved and that's good for him. He's doing just fine paired with Drew Doughty, perhaps the league's best defenseman, but honestly, he's not special.

Someone might be able to convince me otherwise, but I have a hard time thinking he gets a shot here anyhow...if it makes you feel any better, we essentially got Dumoulin for free, and he's projecting to be a similar type of player just about...so, you win some, you lose some...but my gut says, he gets Lovejoy'd or Sneep'd, or Letestu'd and I can't imagine a scenario where he makes this year's club...

Honestly, I'd rather harp on drafting Naslund today, May 27, 2014, than worry about Jake Muzzin...

[DelPen]

Let's say we held on to Muzzin, he would have been treated just like Lovejoy, Strait, Despres, Bortuzzo, etc. under Shero/Bylsma.

[Kaizer]

Hay guis, i just saw a guy on a team that made it farther than the pens did OMGGGGGGG

[owtahear]

Let's say we held on to Muzzin, he would have been treated just like Lovejoy, Strait, Despres, Bortuzzo, etc. under Shero/Bylsma.

Yep. This is probably the most accurate comment in this thread. Though MRandall's ravings are the most entertaining. Still looking for that 16 year old sweat shop draft the Pens took Muzzin in.

[Jim]

I do not mind looking back and thinking of the "what ifs"... but even more than letting someone that you had drafted go... it really heads to the face-palm area when you look at that actual drafts themselves and think, "Oh man, so-n-so was available in the third round... if we had only taken him..."

[meow]

Muzzin is a tough case to play the what-if game with. He had some very serious back issues that almost ended his career before it started. Cutting a guy loose with that kind of medical report isn't a bad thing...until he fully recovers and is a contributing member of another NHL team.

[DelPen]

I am looking forward to the threads on Ruopp and McNeil and maybe even Dumoulin when they can't crack the lineup for whatever reason and move on to be top 4 guys on other teams.

[Dickie Dunn]

Muzzin is a tough case to play the what-if game with. He had some very serious back issues that almost ended his career before it started. Cutting a guy loose with that kind of medical report isn't a bad thing...until he fully recovers and is a contributing member of another NHL team.

His serious medical issues occurred before the Penguins even drafted him. His playing time was limited his first season of junior hockey due to his back surgery. The Penguins drafted him after that season and he played two healthy seasons of junior hockey before the Pens made the decision to not offer a contract.

[MRandall25]

And then he spent 3 years unsigned.

Again, let's not act like Jake Muzzin was a surefire prospect that we should be ashamed of not having.

[slappybrown]

I understand your reaction to this thread to some extent given the OP, but this:

Complaining about not signing a mid-4th rounder is useless. If Muzzin were a forward, signed with the Pens, and didn't pan out, he'd be right at the top of everyone's "Shero Can't Draft" list.

Doesn't make sense to me. Why is it not fair to say that Shero should have kept Muzzin, or that Shero missed on a forward in the draft. That's kind of how you evaluate GMs, no? There are mitigating circumstances in this case, and its not like Jake Muzzin is Exhibit A in the case of LGP v. Ray Shero, but I don't see why its unfair to point out that, "hey that guy we let go for free seems like a good player."

And then he spent 3 years unsigned.

Again, let's not act like Jake Muzzin was a surefire prospect that we should be ashamed of not having.

Right; isn't the ability to determine the potential success of non-surefire prospects the distinction between those orgs that excel at drafting and player development versus those that don't? I don't understand why you seem to think that saying these things is so offensive.

[slappybrown]

And to be clear, I don't "blame" Shero for Muzzin.

[Kovy27]

Breaking news: Who cares.

[count2infinity]

Obviously the people discussing in this thread care. If you don't, just leave. No need for posts like that. Seems like you've been doing it a lot lately. Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?

[columbia]

[Kovy27]

Obviously the people discussing in this thread care. If you don't, just leave. No need for posts like that. Seems like you've been doing it a lot lately. Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?

Yes...crying about a dman that was 20ish years old and we let walk. Definitely worth caring about. Carry on.

Can't wait for 2 years from now, we have a thread about Goligoski and 4 years from now and we have a thread about Despres.

[Pitt87]

And then he spent 3 years unsigned.

Again, let's not act like Jake Muzzin was a surefire prospect that we should be ashamed of not having.

This... and LOL at comparing Jake Muzzin to Kris Letang.

[count2infinity]

Obviously the people discussing in this thread care. If you don't, just leave. No need for posts like that. Seems like you've been doing it a lot lately. Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?

Yes...crying about a dman that was 20ish years old and we let walk. Definitely worth caring about. Carry on.

Can't wait for 2 years from now, we have a thread about Goligoski and 4 years from now and we have a thread about Despres.

[Great58]

- People suddenly care about him because its another illustration of Shero's failings.

Can we fire him again?