Pittsburgh Penguins

Basics Player: Matt Cooke Role: 3rd line winger, PK specialist, "pest" 2013 regular season Box car stats: 48 games played, 8 goals, 13 assists, 36 PIMs, -2 Playoff stats: 15 gp, 0g, 4a, 35PIMs, +1 Usage Along with his frequent center Brandon Sutter, Matt Cooke had the unenviable task of starting most of his shifts in the defensive zone, and frequently against the best players on the other team. As a not surprising result, he had negative shot-based advanced shots, as the situation would point to. Aside from that, Cooke had to do a lot of heavy lifting, and did a good job. While he was on the ice at even-strength (in this tough starting/competition position), Pittsburgh scored 25 goals and gave up 26. Thanks to keeping that almost even, it opened up a lot for the Pens top guns to out-score the checkers of the other team and help the Pens to many wins in the regular season. Interesting fact After scoring two goals in the wild 7-6 OT win in Montreal on March 2nd, Matt Cooke went on to score only three more goals for the last 41 (reg season + playoff) games of the season. Three Reasons to keep him: 1)Gimmicks aside- Cooke is a strong 3rd line player. He's effective physically and has shown another season of being able to play the game largely by the rules. Cooke can eat the toughest of minutes at even-strength and keep it about even on the scoreboard, all you can ask for. 2)Tough stuff- Cooke adds a lot of the sandpaper that a team composed of offensive players like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin need. Cooke was 2nd among forwards in SH time, 4th in the regular season in hits (97), 1st in the playoffs in hits (63), 1st in blocked shots (41). In all the hard-nosed, black and blue categories Cooke showed up as expected. 3)Better with than against- Lower line guys are largely replacable, but Matt Cooke is one of those handful of guys you want playing with you, rather than against you. He hits, he chirps after the whistle, he'll give out face-washes and run around. He's a pest, a jerk and a pain in the ass and it's better to have a guy like that rather than face him. Three Reasons to not keep him: 1)Circus- Matt Cooke is no stranger to controversy. He's been coached his whole career to "toe the line" and play physical and finish checks. But sometimes he crosses that line, and given his reputation and rap sheet, he's not going to get a break (and doesn't deserve one). Such could be the case with the hit on Adam McQuaid in the playoffs. Was it a penalty? Definitely. Is it a five minute major+ game misconduct for a player not named Matt Cooke? Probably not. If you bring Matt Cooke back, you have to live with things like that. 2)Over-rated?- It's not necessarily his fault, but the pure stats show Cooke was on the ice for 18 PK goals against. Compare that to 12 GA for Sutter and Craig Adams and 9 by Pascal Dupuis. If you look at the TOI, Cooke was second among Pens forwards in total PK time. Adams played 22 more minutes, yet was on the ice for six less goals. Dupuis played 13 minutes less than Cooke, and saw half the goals go in the net. 3)Terms of agreement-Cooke will be 35 before next season starts, and as we've seen, is prone to going long stretches without adding much offensively. Is he worth committing to for 2-3 years? Will he hold out, and possibly test the open market for more money or terms than Pittsburgh can comfortably fit him into the salary structure? Sometimes it's better to walk away from a player a year too early rather than a year too late, and in what is probably the last contract of Cooke's career, he'll be understandably looking to maximize it. For the Pens sake, they need to try an minimize it. Verdict: As always, with a veteran unrestricted free agent, it'll come down to what they're looking to do. If Cooke is dead-set on getting a long contract, or getting the most money possible per year (or both!) then he's probably not going to be coming back to the Pe

The loss to the Bruins was the most difficult reality to process in a long time. Every playoff run that falls short hurts, but this was below the belt and seemingly out of nowhere. Following Ray Shero's gold star performance at the trade deadline that earned him the title General Manager of the Year, many of us saw the Stanley Cup in our crystal balls. The thought of anything less felt impossible with just a glance at the talent and leadership beaming from the roster. This Penguins team was just too good to be beaten. I remember multiple friends (all Capitals fans) telling me after the Jarome Iginla trade that the Pens may have just sealed the Cup. I was hesitant to readily agree, but deep down, the confidence was bubbling. It didn't matter that expectations were impossibly high. This team could do the impossible. And they did. They allowed themselves to get swept. Games 1 and 2 were, for the most part, unpleasant to watch, but a 0-2 series deficit wasn't an impossible hole to climb out of, especially if the Pens shaped up and played like they did in March. I resigned to the truth when the Pens lost a heartbreaking Game 3 in double overtime. I remember throughout the game seeing people say that it would just take one goal for the dam to burst. But with every save, Tuukka Rask burned any chance of hope left. The opportunities were there, the puck was finding the post too many times to count, but it was clear that someone up there didn't want the Pens advancing. From such a great high came a low no amount of hair pulling or alcohol could numb. A wasted opportunity no different than a sucker punch. The laundry list of things that went wrong mirrored that of a team not worthy to make the playoffs: offense only putting up two goals in four games, the power play going dry, and impatience in the forecheck. To me, it all came back to one thing. A talented team doesn't always translate into a winning team. It's not Shero's fault. He did exactly what any GM with his skill set would do and that's to provide his coach with winning options. Shero traded for veterans, players with resumes and leadership qualities that go on for miles, who wanted to cap off their careers with a Stanley Cup (which added another incentive for the rest of the Pens). Keeping in mind the lockout-shortened season, we could only hope these hockey-smart veterans picked up Bylsma's style quickly and maybe add some cool, mature heads. It's a risk that speaks to Shero's trust in these player's natural hockey tendencies and how they would fit on the Pens. The potential was there, but time was not. Were the Pens better off staying as they were? It's possible, especially considering the time the Pens didn't have to develop chemistry. I see a lot of validity in those who claimed the Pens got slower when they picked up Iginla and Morrow (and yes, Douglas Murray). But hey, at least those guys brought a veteran presence, right? The question of leadership is a major one that isn't getting enough discussion time (that I've noticed, at least). The Pens dressing room was packed with leadership, but who was actually leading the team in the playoffs? You can argue that it's Sidney Crosby's job to lead and it certainly is, but as the stakes get higher, that responsibility has to trickle down. Every player has to be a leader in some way; being a follower simply means you're a step behind someone else. A team must lead together which is synonymous with playing together. Bringing leaders on board won't necessarily breed leadership. In fact, it could have the opposite effect. The Pens have no excuse; they aren't an inexperienced team. These are guys who have been there and back again so I'm done heading down the "Pens needed a Bill Guerin-like player" path. If the Pens haven't created leaders from within, especially through two consecutive Stanley Cup runs, then there are bigger issues at hand. The Pens do have leaders. They just need to play in a way that reflects the exper

Our series on profiling the class of 2013 free agents for the Pittsburgh Penguins begins today.. Basics Player: Craig Adams Role: 4th liner, PK specialist 2013 regular season Box car stats: 48 games played, 3 goals, 6 assists, 28 PIMs, -1 Playoff stats: 15 gp, 0g, 1a, 10 PIMs, +1 Usage Adams, like other fourth liners like Tanner Glass and Joe Vitale, were started frequently in the defensive zone against lesser competition and were all out-shot heavily while on the ice. And, that makes sense- if the Pens had a defensive zone draw against the opposition’s top opponents they would probably play the Brandon Sutter (or the Sidney Crosby) line against them. If it was lesser threats then they could use the 4th line that Adams was a staple on, to keep Crosby and Evgeni Malkin rested for the next shift and a potential offensive zone faceoff. Adams advanced statistics don’t paint him in the best of lights, but given his role that makes sense. A lower line grinder who eats tough minutes, starts out in defensive zone more often than not and doesn’t have a lot of offensive talent himself (or on his line) isn't going to generate a lot of shots, which will explain his negative advanced stats. More important for Adams is keeping a low GA/60, he can't be giving up a lot of goals on the ice, because he's not a player that's going to be celebrating a lot goals for, and he's been largely able to do that at even strength. Interesting fact Two of Adams’ three goals of the season came on empty nets (February 15th vs. Winnipeg, March 14th vs. Toronto). This obviously shows that in a full season he’s not going to score a ton of goals, but it’s interesting proof that Adams is still is a player that the coach will trust to play in the final minute of a game when the Pens are clinging to a close lead. To have a long career without much pure skill, a player has to create a niche, and Adams has definitely made a career out of earning the trust of his coaches. Three Reasons to keep him: 1)It would probably be easy- Adams has signed short-term contracts with the Pens for at or near league minimum without much hesitation or negotiation. At this point in his career if Pittsburgh would be interested in keeping him, he’d probably be willing to stay for a friendly price against the cap. And with the salary cap lowering to $64.3 million next season and with several key free agents, the Penguins could use having a solid, reliable contributor without paying hardly anything for it. 2)PK abilities- Craig Adams led Penguins forwards in 2013 with 2:39 played per game while the team was short-handed (and 3:34 SH TOI/game in the playoffs). He’s been a key cog in what’s been a Top 5-10 PK unit league-wide for the past four seasons. It’s yeoman’s work to eat up tough PK minutes and risk blocking shots, and Adams has been an excellent player on that unit for Pittsburgh in his time here. He’s smart to angle off the puck and get his stick in correct shooting/passing lanes, capable along the boards at working to win puck battles and makes simple and effective zone clears when he gets the chance. 3)Bang for the buck- Despite being 10th out of 12 regular forwards in ice-time per game, Adams was second statistically among forwards in overall blocked shots (37) and in hits (107). He was very solid in his role as a grinding 4th line checker. As the cliché goes “you always know what you’ll get” out of Adams- a consistent effort, a willingness to throw his body at other players or to block pucks without fear or regard for injury. Adams has also played 292 of the last 294 regular season games since the start of the 2009-10 season, he’s been incredibly durable and tough to keep being ready to make the lineup. Three Reasons to not keep him: 1)Age- As good as Adams was for his role in 2013, he’s also now a 36 year old veteran wh

Who woulda thunk it. 7 goals by both teams in a game I expected to be under 5. Chicago didn't expose Rask as Rask played decently. But they did show the league is he is not superhuman. Rask couldn't be as stingy as his owner Jacobs in Game 1. Can he shut down Chicago in Game 2? And we get to see Jim Cornelison (Sent to Chicago by The Mighty Thor himself) one more time before we get to chuckle at Robert Goulet lite in Boston. Game on. Who woulda thunk it. 7 goals by both teams in a game I expected to be under 5. Chicago didn't expose Rask as Rask played decently. But they did show the league is he is not superhuman. Rask couldn't be as stingy as his owner Jacobs in Game 1. Can he shut down Chicago in Game 2? And we get to see Jim Cornelison (Sent to Chicago by The Mighty Thor himself) one more time before we get to chuckle at Robert Goulet lite in Boston. Game on.

Sidney Crosby is the recipient of the 2012-13 Ted Lindsay Award— NHL on TSN (@NHLonTSN) June 15, 2013 Zero surprises there. Sidney Crosby truly was the most outstanding player this season, racking up 56 points in 36 games. A few people are probably peeved about Alex Ovechkin edging out Crosby in a close race for the Hart. We can argue about Ovechkin being mediocre for the first half of the season, among other technicalities, and they're all valid reasons. But Crosby summed it up nicely. #TribHKY Crosby: "Will be (judged) by championships. Winning always defines players." #pens— Rob Rossi (@RobRossi_Trib) June 15, 2013 Simple as that. Winning the Hart wouldn't make the loss to the Bruins any less painful. All we can ask is that Crosby finds the level of play pre-broken jaw again next year and carries the Pens to the most important trophy in hockey.

I decided I would go ahead and make a FanPost so that I have somewhere to post free agency updates as they happen throughout the off-season. The first and most prominent was big news and everybody already knows about it. Evgeni Malkin was signed to an 8-year $76M contract with a No Movement Clause that comes to a $9.5M per year Cap Hit. Ray Shero is reportedly set to begin talking to Pascal Dupuis next week and Kris Letang within the next 10 days. Dupuis there is no word on what kind of figures either side is leaning towards, but there are rumblings that Dupuis is seeking a 4-year deal whilst Shero is reluctant to lock him up for that long. Speculations for his price range from the conservative $2M-$3M to a lucrative $3M-$4M. The rumours about Letang suggest that he is looking for a 5-8 year deal in the $7M-$8M range, but that he may be willing to return to Pittsburgh for a "mere" $6M-$6.5M in order to get the 8 year long term stability. Having previously looked up the contracts of his peers, his actual value should be in the $4M-$5M range with $6M being quite generous. However, as we have seen last year and even in some of the other teams' recent signings, there are plenty of GMs more than willing to overpay. Now, the reason I decided to make this post in the first place. The first Penguins casualty has happened today. Pittsburgh native and Harvard Graduate Dylan Reese becomes the first player to sign elsewhere. Reese signed a 1-year deal with the Amur Khabarovsk of the KHL. This is unfortunate, as I had hoped Reese would sign on for another year and move up to Pittsburgh, where he could bring a veteran role and fill in the missing 7th D roster spot. Now we have to hope that either Robert Bortuzzo is resigned to become the 7th D or else that Philip Samuelsson is ready to move up. I decided I would go ahead and make a FanPost so that I have somewhere to post free agency updates as they happen throughout the off-season. The first and most prominent was big news and everybody already knows about it. Evgeni Malkin was signed to an 8-year $76M contract with a No Movement Clause that comes to a $9.5M per year Cap Hit. Ray Shero is reportedly set to begin talking to Pascal Dupuis next week and Kris Letang within the next 10 days. Dupuis there is no word on what kind of figures either side is leaning towards, but there are rumblings that Dupuis is seeking a 4-year deal whilst Shero is reluctant to lock him up for that long. Speculations for his price range from the conservative $2M-$3M to a lucrative $3M-$4M. The rumours about Letang suggest that he is looking for a 5-8 year deal in the $7M-$8M range, but that he may be willing to return to Pittsburgh for a "mere" $6M-$6.5M in order to get the 8 year long term stability. Having previously looked up the contracts of his peers, his actual value should be in the $4M-$5M range with $6M being quite generous. However, as we have seen last year and even in some of the other teams' recent signings, there are plenty of GMs more than willing to overpay. Now, the reason I decided to make this post in the first place. The first Penguins casualty has happened today. Pittsburgh native and Harvard Graduate Dylan Reese becomes the first player to sign elsewhere. Reese signed a 1-year deal with the Amur Khabarovsk of the KHL. This is unfortunate, as I had hoped Reese would sign on for another year and move up to Pittsburgh, where he could bring a veteran role and fill in the missing 7th D roster spot. Now we have to hope that either Robert Bortuzzo is resigned to become the 7th D or else that Philip Samuelsson is ready to move up.

With the first hurdle out of the way, the Penguins locking up Evgeni Malkin for the next 9 years, now we turn to star winger Pascal Dupuis. Sure, we still have questions about Kris Letang, but he is a less pressing matter at the moment since Dupuis will hit the open market if he is not locked up by July 5th. So now the question is, what kind of deal will Dupuis be looking for? And can we fit it under the Salary Cap? The report coming out of the Trib (so take it with a grain of salt) is that Dupuis is seeking a 4 year deal, which the Pens are reluctant to consider. Of course I can understand that, Dupuis is already 34 so locking him up until he is 38 is a risky move, especially for some of the figures that have been bandied about. Looking at this season, the NHL website has listed only 15 forwards that are currently 38 or older and still playing in the NHL, out of a list of 549 total forwards. I like Dupuis, and I would love to have him stick around until he is ready to retire, but there aren't many players that are still viable past 35. But, if the price is right, I have no problem risking it. The problem is that there has been no clear indication of what kind of money to expect. And there aren't an awful lot of players to compare him to. As mentioned previously, there are only 15 forwards who are 38 or older, the age Dupuis will be at the end of his deal if he gets the 4 years he wants. But even expanding that to players that are currently his age or older, we still only have 54 forwards to work with. Of course we can also narrow that list down a bit more, since if we are looking for players who have already signed a contract at Dupuis' current age they would have to be older than him. Another issue is that while Dupuis skates on the 1st line with Crosby now, he was a Bottom 6 forward for most of his career, and could very well find himself being a 3rd liner again if he were to move to a different team. So how do we determine whether he would have more in common with Top 6 elite scoring wingers or depth defensive forwards if he were to hit the open market? Having read some of the comments about him from non-Pittsburgh sources, it seems that nearly everybody feels that he is a fringe 3rd liner who is riding on Crosby's coattails, and they scoff at the suggestion that he should have been in the running for the Selke. That works in our favor though, because it means his value on the open market should be a lot lower than it is in Pittsburghers' minds. But let's look and see who we can compare him to. Teemu Selanne is the oldest forward in the NHL, and back when he was Dupuis' age he was missing an entire season due to the lockout. The oldest contract CapGeek lists for him was in 2008-09, when the Salary Cap was much lower ($56.7M) and he was 38. He made $2.625M at that time. However, since then, with a larger Cap, he signed for $4.5M in 2010-11 and $4M in 2011-12. Considering Selanne at this point in his career was still scoring around a point per game, 389 Points in 380 games between the lockout and his 2011-12 extension, means Dupuis is hardly in the same league. In that same time he also had 2 40+ goal seasons, a 30+ goal season, and 2 20+ goals seasons. Dupuis has had 2 20+ goal seasons since the lockout, his most recent two. So Dupuis is no Selanne, and as such shouldn't be getting paid anywhere near $4M per year. Jaromir Jagr is the next oldest forward, back when he was Dupuis' age he was racking up massive numbers, netting 30 Goals and 96 Points at 34, and another 54 Goals and 123 Points the year before. He then moved on to the KHL for a few years, and came back for the 2011-12 season. That year he earned $3.3M. Considering that he was signed with the assumption that he would still be an elite goal scorer, Dupuis' really isn't in his league either. Of course, Jagr came in and put up similar numbers to Dupuis, but they had no way of knowing his production had fallen off that much at the time of signing him. So it s

Now that Evgeni Malkin has been re-signed, general manager Ray Shero’s focus turns to two players on opposite ends of the spectrum. On one hand you’ve got Kris Letang, the talented but inconsistent Norris Trophy nominated defenseman. He’s got skating ability and puck skills in spades and will command a healthy pay raise on his current $3.5 million contract that runs through 2013-14. Shero will have to see if he can sign Letang for a reasonable amount to the team, or he’s likely to trade Letang much the same as he did with Jordan Staal last summer. On the other end of the spectrum there’s Pascal Dupuis. The quiet first liner. Running partner of Sidney Crosby. Dupuis has been a staple on the Penguins for the past five years, playing on any of the four lines and either wing position, and even some center this season for a few games in an injury pinch. Dupuis, and not Jarome Iginla, Brenden Morrow will have to be the first unrestricted-free-agent-to-be that the Penguins look to sign, if possible. Here’s why that is: Impressive goal production In the past two seasons, (a stretch where Crosby has missed 72 games) Dupuis is tied for 9th in even strength goals in the entire league, ranking ahead of more heralded (and higher paid) teammates in James Neal and Chris Kunitz. Look deeper at who has scored in short-handed and ES situations and Dupuis ranks 2nd in the league, behind Chicago captain Jonathan Toews in goals scored. Dupuis has been a rare player to improve his production into his 30’s, a rarity, but one that makes sense. He’s playing more minutes in a top six forward role in the past few seasons, where throughout most of his early career he was a lower line grinder/role player. Dupuis doesn’t have elite hands, but he does have above-average skating ability and mental understanding of positioning and has been able to parlay that into production. Dupuis is also an effective player as a forechecker and often wins battles along the walls and behind the net to continue cycling plays. Extending plays and keeping pressure on the opposition often results in more zone-time with the puck and eventually more shots and opportunities to score. Usage Learn About Tableau What does this fancy chart mean? If you’re new to fancy stats, it’s ok- the bigger and darker the bubble, the better for how the player did in terms of Corsi. The bigger and redder, the worse. If it’s neutral in size or color, so was the play in terms of Corsi. The position on the chart depends on where on the ice they started their shifts and a measure of Quality of Competition that they faced. The above paints a very flattering picture for Dupuis, he’s near the top, meaning he played some of the toughest minutes of any Penguin forward at even strength. He’s towards the left, meaning he often had to start shifts in his defensive zone, which makes sense for a coaching staff looking to spring Neal and Evgeni Malkin with better starting positions and using the more two-way lines centered by Crosby and Brandon Sutter to draw tougher assignments. Dupuis’ Corsi, Corsi Rel and GVT stats are all strong, especially relative to his teammates. In short, Pascal Dupuis was a guy the Penguins could start in the defensive zone, and he would still end up getting more shots on the other goalie than on his own (unlike the red-bubbled Sutter and Matt Cooke, who saw started defensively but surrendered more shots than had shots for.) Dupuis, while a beneficiary of playing with Crosby, also maintained high marks while Crosby was out for ¼ of the season with his broken jaw. Contract Dupuis signed a two-year, $3 million contract ($1.5 million cap hit) before the increased production of his past two seasons, which almost surely will have him at least double his pay. Dupuis also just turned 34 years old and has completed his 13th y

Heading into this off-season the Pittsburgh Penguins biggest priority was to re-sign supserstar center Evgeni Malkin. Well, check that one off the list.> The Pittsburgh Penguins have agreed to terms with forward Evgeni Malkin on an eight-year $76 million contract extension, it was announced today by executive vice president and general manager Ray Shero. The deal begins with the 2014-15 season and runs through the 2021-22 campaign, and has an average annual value of $9.5 million. He will earn $9.5 million for each of the eight seasons. Malkin, 26, is one of just three Penguins in franchise history to win multiple Art Ross Trophies as the NHL scoring leader (2012, ’09), joining Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr. He has also won the Hart Trophy (2012), Ted Lindsay Award (2012) and Calder Trophy (2007). A three-time 100-point producer and a four-time 30-plus goal scorer, Malkin has been named team MVP on three occasions (’08, ’09, ’12); earned a spot on the NHL’s First-Team All-Star squad three times (’08, ’09, ’12); and has been named to four NHL All-Star Games (’08, ’09, ’11, ’12). At first blush, this is a great deal for the Penguins. Ryan Getzlaf set the market a few months ago with a $8.25 million per year for eight year deal and Malkin is a more explosive offensive player and could have commanded a lot more than that on the open market, had he decided to go that route next summer when his current contract expired. Malkin had said he wanted to re-sign and Pittsburgh AND allow some cap space for the team to be able to pay other players, and he's certainly done that by accepting a contract more than $3 million per year under the maximum allowed salary. Pens captain Sidney Crosby will carry a $8.7 million cap hit, but signed his deal in the last CBA and will make north of $10 million for the next nine seasons. Crosby knew and didn't mind that Malkin's cap hit would be more than hit own, and he shouldn't, because his contract (12 years, $104 million) is a lot better than the new CBA limit of eight years that the Pens could sign Malkin to. Malkin, for his part, as always stated he wanted to remain in Pittsburgh, despite rumors from big pay days looming in Russia. And again he has showed this by signing a less-than-max deal to stay with the Penguins for the prime of his career. The Pens are structured now with only three players under contract just three years in the future. In a NHL world where many teams are handcuffed to players long into the future, GM Ray Shero and the Pens have done well to have only Crosby, James Neal and now Malkin signed past 2015. The rest of the team will have to be filled out around them, but that's a great core to keep together for the future. In what's very likely to be an off-season of changes with a lot of dominos falling, it's nice that the biggest domino in question will be sticking around.

Had to weigh in on Wednesday's Ray Shero press conference, in which he announced an extension for Dan Bylsma and endorsed Marc-Andre Fleury, among other highlights. As always, Ray Shero was flawlessly polished, putting a tense Penguins' fan base at ease and bracing us for what could be an off-season of roster turnover. I go over much of what Ray said in his presser, and examine the ramifications of the likely Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang contract extensions. Click the link below to read the article. Thanks in advance for reading, and as always, I welcome intelligent criticism almost as well as compliments. Jack http://jackhasspoken.wordpress.com/2013/06/13/sanity-prevails-ray-shero-is-my-religion-part-ix/ Had to weigh in on Wednesday's Ray Shero press conference, in which he announced an extension for Dan Bylsma and endorsed Marc-Andre Fleury, among other highlights. As always, Ray Shero was flawlessly polished, putting a tense Penguins' fan base at ease and bracing us for what could be an off-season of roster turnover. I go over much of what Ray said in his presser, and examine the ramifications of the likely Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang contract extensions. Click the link below to read the article. Thanks in advance for reading, and as always, I welcome intelligent criticism almost as well as compliments. Jack http://jackhasspoken.wordpress.com/2013/06/13/sanity-prevails-ray-shero-is-my-religion-part-ix/