Team has virtually zero scoring depth and Geno gets to play with a rotating cast of offensive black holes, tired of people acting like he’s a liability on the team. When’s the last time a linemate finished his chances (2nd on the team to Sid btw) or hell, even created a single scoring chance themselves?
The problem is Graves is terrible, the bottom 6 can’t score(who would’ve guessed), Smith is soft and wants to be back in Vegas, Rakell forgot how to play hockey, and the PP sucks. I still don’t know how Reirden isn’t fired. You can at least do something about him
They have 2 legitimately bad defenseman that you can’t hide all night in Graves, then one of POJ/Gruden. Couple that with 3 forwards that have a consistent offensive pulse and you find yourself in a world of hurt.
He’s not the solution either. Sid elevates the play of all of his linemates which is why he’s an elite player, Geno absolutely does not, which just makes him a very good player, not elite, at least not any more.
Is he on the power play? Then He’s a huge part of the problem
*The* problem implies that there’s only one, which is something you’d have to be an actual meth head to believe. He’s definitely one of the problems. I mean, you can literally see on the graph where his offensive impacts have plummeted to the ~60th percentile from last year to this year. The counterpoint to that of course is that his defensive impacts are way up, but with all due respect we’re not paying Evgeni Malkin $6M to play defense on one of the lowest scoring teams in the league.
All of this having been said – he’s 37. This was to be expected at some point. I’m not suggesting he should be fired out of a cannon into the streets, but maybe let’s temper expectations about whether he can anchor a second line on a playoff team at this point.
I want the 2 headed monster back on the ice together as the top line. Put Jake or Rust on the 2nd line with literally anyone who can take a face off. Geno is nowhere near what he use to be offensively, have him skate with Sid to get his groove back then put him back on the 2nd line.
I do think he’s clearly not what he was. But it’s hilarious that he’s been skating with Colin White and Drew OConner most of like the last month and people are like “why isn’t the Malkin line doing anything?”
“Not the problem.”
People just assume Geno is going to be **ON** every night, and with absolutely no scoring depth they not wrong…
But ya, the biggest part is that he hast “sucked” like he plays bad, he “sucks” when he’s invisible. The guy’s a massive human being, I shouldn’t have to wonder *where he is* on half of his shifts.
When Geno’s on, everyone notices. When actually plays bad (which really hasn’t been too often) everyone notices, but when he’s invisible people go out of their minds because there’s literally no one aside from Crosby scoring at a consistent rate.
The biggest problem is coaching. Look at how many players you have underperforming. Smith, Rakkel, EK, anyone who ever enters the bottom 6.
Meanwhile guys like McCann who leave the coaching staff miraculously become better players.
How many GMs does Sully need to go through before the recognize he’s part of the problem?
I miss Geno and Zucker. I understand why we didn’t resign him but I wish we had a gritty player like that on the second line.
Except the data is three year, and you can see the clear drop off this year, in the graphic you provided.
He gives other teams so much momentum with his lazy, slow thoughtless play and it’s been getting worse for years
He’s lazy, its as simple as that
Geno needs help. I’ve been hoping he would get a spin with Guentzel, but that ship may have sailed last night.
Interesting.
But for a 37 year old, you really can’t use a 3 year weighted avg. though. You gotta see what they’re doing in the current season.
Malkin plays the same way whether down a goal or up by 2 so you have to take the good with the bad. But the fact that they brought in Smith to replace Zucker because Smith was cheaper was not a smart option. Zucker leaving is a much bigger deal to Malkin than people want to admit. Also, Zucker was always willing to put his body on the line, he played with heart and right now Sid seems to be the only one doing that.
He’s not THE problem. But he does look kinda washed to me.
Malkin *is* a problem, just not *the* problem. Analytics don’t prove everything. This has 90% on the PP? Is that still a WAR stat? Is anyone looking at Malkin’s performance on the power play and saying it’s working fine?
The truth is these analytics and stats don’t always prove anything on the ice. Is he helping the team get needed wins? Or are his stats stacked with games that we would have won anyway, or another line is contributing. Malkin is not THE problem, but I’ve watched enough hockey to see a man who isn’t making the right plays, who isn’t pushing as hard as opponents, who admitted he needs to take maintenance days because he’s slowing down, who obviously should have called out to his line-mate for a drop pass against Florida last night but chose not to, whose SOG have dropped, etc.
Geno isn’t the worst on the team by far, but fans have to understand context. This team sacrificed getting younger talent by keeping Malkin here. That means you either admit he is a bit slower and keeping the Pens from competing (fine, nbd, it’s Geno baby let’s go bud) or you somehow make him preform as Sid is- above his expected talent. Either way, you can’t gaslight fans by showing stats all the time when (IMHO) things like his bad passes and 2 SOG kept the Pens from having a chance last night, amongst a slew of other things the rest of the team needed to do.
None of the big 3 are the problem. It’s just the easy talking point that sells.
Our bed was made when Hextall pulled his inside job and gutted our little remaining depth / signed anchors. It would have taken several lucky miracles to recover from. Dubas tried, but couldn’t pull it off. No fault there, other than the coaching staff decisions (or lack thereof).
He is though turnover pick
I generally like these cards but how the hell is he “92%” on the PP
Malkin’s not the problem. He passes the eye test almost every night. The effort is there, he’s just too old to cover for wingers who are not producing. There was a time when you could put him out there with two random AHL guys and he would produce at the top of the league. He had to take over the game by himself. He just can’t do that anymore.
The one thing I find strange though is how high they ranked him in penalties. His penalty numbers should rival Kessel’s defensive metrics.
22 comments
Team has virtually zero scoring depth and Geno gets to play with a rotating cast of offensive black holes, tired of people acting like he’s a liability on the team. When’s the last time a linemate finished his chances (2nd on the team to Sid btw) or hell, even created a single scoring chance themselves?
The problem is Graves is terrible, the bottom 6 can’t score(who would’ve guessed), Smith is soft and wants to be back in Vegas, Rakell forgot how to play hockey, and the PP sucks. I still don’t know how Reirden isn’t fired. You can at least do something about him
They have 2 legitimately bad defenseman that you can’t hide all night in Graves, then one of POJ/Gruden. Couple that with 3 forwards that have a consistent offensive pulse and you find yourself in a world of hurt.
He’s not the solution either. Sid elevates the play of all of his linemates which is why he’s an elite player, Geno absolutely does not, which just makes him a very good player, not elite, at least not any more.
Is he on the power play? Then He’s a huge part of the problem
*The* problem implies that there’s only one, which is something you’d have to be an actual meth head to believe. He’s definitely one of the problems. I mean, you can literally see on the graph where his offensive impacts have plummeted to the ~60th percentile from last year to this year. The counterpoint to that of course is that his defensive impacts are way up, but with all due respect we’re not paying Evgeni Malkin $6M to play defense on one of the lowest scoring teams in the league.
All of this having been said – he’s 37. This was to be expected at some point. I’m not suggesting he should be fired out of a cannon into the streets, but maybe let’s temper expectations about whether he can anchor a second line on a playoff team at this point.
I want the 2 headed monster back on the ice together as the top line. Put Jake or Rust on the 2nd line with literally anyone who can take a face off. Geno is nowhere near what he use to be offensively, have him skate with Sid to get his groove back then put him back on the 2nd line.
I do think he’s clearly not what he was. But it’s hilarious that he’s been skating with Colin White and Drew OConner most of like the last month and people are like “why isn’t the Malkin line doing anything?”
“Not the problem.”
People just assume Geno is going to be **ON** every night, and with absolutely no scoring depth they not wrong…
But ya, the biggest part is that he hast “sucked” like he plays bad, he “sucks” when he’s invisible. The guy’s a massive human being, I shouldn’t have to wonder *where he is* on half of his shifts.
When Geno’s on, everyone notices. When actually plays bad (which really hasn’t been too often) everyone notices, but when he’s invisible people go out of their minds because there’s literally no one aside from Crosby scoring at a consistent rate.
The biggest problem is coaching. Look at how many players you have underperforming. Smith, Rakkel, EK, anyone who ever enters the bottom 6.
Meanwhile guys like McCann who leave the coaching staff miraculously become better players.
How many GMs does Sully need to go through before the recognize he’s part of the problem?
I miss Geno and Zucker. I understand why we didn’t resign him but I wish we had a gritty player like that on the second line.
Except the data is three year, and you can see the clear drop off this year, in the graphic you provided.
He gives other teams so much momentum with his lazy, slow thoughtless play and it’s been getting worse for years
He’s lazy, its as simple as that
Geno needs help. I’ve been hoping he would get a spin with Guentzel, but that ship may have sailed last night.
Interesting.
But for a 37 year old, you really can’t use a 3 year weighted avg. though. You gotta see what they’re doing in the current season.
Malkin plays the same way whether down a goal or up by 2 so you have to take the good with the bad. But the fact that they brought in Smith to replace Zucker because Smith was cheaper was not a smart option. Zucker leaving is a much bigger deal to Malkin than people want to admit. Also, Zucker was always willing to put his body on the line, he played with heart and right now Sid seems to be the only one doing that.
He’s not THE problem. But he does look kinda washed to me.
Malkin *is* a problem, just not *the* problem. Analytics don’t prove everything. This has 90% on the PP? Is that still a WAR stat? Is anyone looking at Malkin’s performance on the power play and saying it’s working fine?
The truth is these analytics and stats don’t always prove anything on the ice. Is he helping the team get needed wins? Or are his stats stacked with games that we would have won anyway, or another line is contributing. Malkin is not THE problem, but I’ve watched enough hockey to see a man who isn’t making the right plays, who isn’t pushing as hard as opponents, who admitted he needs to take maintenance days because he’s slowing down, who obviously should have called out to his line-mate for a drop pass against Florida last night but chose not to, whose SOG have dropped, etc.
Geno isn’t the worst on the team by far, but fans have to understand context. This team sacrificed getting younger talent by keeping Malkin here. That means you either admit he is a bit slower and keeping the Pens from competing (fine, nbd, it’s Geno baby let’s go bud) or you somehow make him preform as Sid is- above his expected talent. Either way, you can’t gaslight fans by showing stats all the time when (IMHO) things like his bad passes and 2 SOG kept the Pens from having a chance last night, amongst a slew of other things the rest of the team needed to do.
None of the big 3 are the problem. It’s just the easy talking point that sells.
Our bed was made when Hextall pulled his inside job and gutted our little remaining depth / signed anchors. It would have taken several lucky miracles to recover from. Dubas tried, but couldn’t pull it off. No fault there, other than the coaching staff decisions (or lack thereof).
He is though turnover pick
I generally like these cards but how the hell is he “92%” on the PP
Malkin’s not the problem. He passes the eye test almost every night. The effort is there, he’s just too old to cover for wingers who are not producing. There was a time when you could put him out there with two random AHL guys and he would produce at the top of the league. He had to take over the game by himself. He just can’t do that anymore.
The one thing I find strange though is how high they ranked him in penalties. His penalty numbers should rival Kessel’s defensive metrics.