Sidney Crosby писал(а):
И если каким-то чудом мы выйдем в ПО с новым тренером, это никоим образом не отменит его неэффективную работу в первые годы, особенно первое межсезонье
Erik Karlsson trade: BKarlsson was a definite disappointment versus preseason expectations, but there are a few reasons I am holding this at a B and not going lower. First is the fact they gave up so little to actually get him. They essentially dumped all of their bad contracts, lowered their salary cap hit for this season, and gained another potential impact player. He just did not make the expected impact. That also does not mean he was bad. He had some bad (and very bad) moments, but in general I think he was a good, but not great, player. The remaining contract is ugly if he repeats this performance again next season, but I think there is a chance he comes back better next season after a full year here. I also can not get past how little they gave up. I still have very little issue with any of this.
Reilly Smith trade: CThis is one of those “good idea at the time” moves. I have no complaints about trading a third-round pick for Smith, and it seemed like a great replacement for Jason Zucker. For whatever reason, it just didn’t work. Smith had one of his worst offensive seasons in years, seemed to make almost no impact, and was just generally invisible. He still has one year remaining at $5 million. If the trade for him wasn’t so small this might have been a D.
Ryan Graves signing: FThis was probably the most controversial signing of the offseason because of the term and salary cap hit for an okay, but not great player. The thing that gave me some optimism is that Graves had some success in previous stops playing next to high-level defensemen. But ... maybe we should have been more concerned that Colorado and New Jersey were willing to move on from a young defensemen without much concern. Graves had a brutal year and is signed longer than any player currently on the roster. Just a mess of a move.
Tristan Jarry re-signing: DAgain. I get it. The goalie market was thin. He was probably the best free agent available. There was also some reason to believe that a fully healthy Jarry might be productive. And for half of a season, he was. But the season ended in the same way most of Tristan Jarry’s seasons have ended — him not being counted on down the stretch either because of injury or ineffective play. Despite getting that big contract he ended up losing his job to Alex Nedeljkovic and didn’t even get a pity start thrown his way in a game that didn’t count in Game 82. Now you have four more years committed to a goalie that you simply can not count on in the biggest moments. That is a problem.
Lars Eller signing: AI think this was probably one of the moves that actually turned out better than expected. Eller is not going to score much, he is probably best suited to be a fourth-line center at this point than a third-line center, but I think he played very well and does not cost much. If he repeats this performance next season you might get a decent draft pick back.
Alex Nedeljkovic signing: BNedeljkvoic was really good in the first half, hit a huge lull in the middle of the season and into the second half, then took over the starting job and gave them a fighting chance in the end. Overall, he was a fine backup goalie option at a good price. Solid signing.
The rest of the bottom-six signings/additions: FThis includes Noel Accari, Matt Nieto, Jansen Harkins and every other player that was brought in and rotated through these spots (Jesse Puljujarvi, Emil Bemstrom, etc.).
It was clear from the very beginning what the Penguins’ plan here was: They wanted the first two lines and the power play to carry the offense, and then rely on a very defensive minded bottom-six to lock things down and hopefully skate to a 0-0 tie every night.
In theory, again, I can see the vision.
In reality, it was a huge miss.
The second line never found consistency (due in large part to Smith not working out), the power play was a mess that never got fixed, and the Penguins were then left as a one-line team because the bottom-six had zero threats to score. When the Penguins have been good in the Sidney Crosby-Evgeni Malkin-Kris Letang era, it has always been the result of having three — and often times — four lines that can all score. This team did not have that a year ago. It did not get any better this season. Most of these signings were small, short-term deals. But having Acciairi signed for multiple years is another big miss.
Jake Guentzel trade: BI was very lukewarm on this trade at the time, but I am coming around on it, mainly because they did get more for a rental than most teams tend to get. My expectations for the prospects and the draft pick remain low, but getting an NHL player in Michael Bunting who seems to be exactly what this team needs in its lineup is a big get, especially with him being signed for a couple of more seasons. That alone makes it a solid return for a rental. I would have liked to have seen them be guaranteed a first-round pick, but Bunting is a really good get and they still have some lottery tickets to wait on. Maybe in a year or two depending on how those lottery tickets pan out this goes from a B to an A.
Overall approach/strategy/plan: COverall I like that he came in with a clear mindset of trying to still compete. You only get so many years of players like Crosby, Malkin and Letang and as long as they are still playing at a high level, you owe it to them, your team, your fans, and yourself to try and take advantage of that. I loved the mindset behind the Karlsson trade. I loved that the intent was to take another big swing at the fence.
