Penguins - Do they need an overhaul?

[MXHockey]

byslma will get canned, most likely shero too.

the new gm will definitely try to sign a guy like Ott, Downie, B.Boyle etc so Crosby doesnt get knocked around so much. I suspect they will try to land a top winger for him too, seeing how ineffective he was in the playoffs. gaborik/vanek may re-sign with their current teams, so maybe a more realsitic option would be moulson? i don't see any monster trade going down (i.e malkin). the biggest thing we might see is letang on the move, but i doubt it. they were a couple goals short to making it to the conference finals, and that was with a subpar crosby and injured dupuis. they'll be fine.

Moulson and Hemsky would both be affordable additions. Agree with the sandpaper addition - Downie would be perfect. Cheers.

[agentzero]

byslma will get canned, most likely shero too.

the new gm will definitely try to sign a guy like Ott, Downie, B.Boyle etc so Crosby doesnt get knocked around so much. I suspect they will try to land a top winger for him too, seeing how ineffective he was in the playoffs. gaborik/vanek may re-sign with their current teams, so maybe a more realsitic option would be moulson? i don't see any monster trade going down (i.e malkin). the biggest thing we might see is letang on the move, but i doubt it. they were a couple goals short to making it to the conference finals, and that was with a subpar crosby and injured dupuis. they'll be fine.

Moulson would be a great fit I think. I could see he and Crosby developing the same chemistry that was with Tavares. I agree for the rest. No blow-up needed. Better PP for me and that perhaps means coaching staff goes and GM might fall as a result anyway, just because his experiments with wingers didn't work.. Sutter wasn't a bad move as Staal wanted out anyway.. On the whole though, he might be judged on the rest of his moves..(for good or bad).

Downie I'm not sure though... Didn't he once try to purposefully injure Crosby's knee...? Not sure that's the guy you want in that room. Yeah it's been a while, but I dunno..

[Dikoi]

Why? What have they done since 2009 to improve the team? And they haven't even drafted well. Their depth is lacking. That's on the GM and his staff.

Here are Shero's deadline acquisitions since 2009:

2010: Jordan Leopold, Alex Ponikarovsky
2011: James Neal, Alex Kovalev, Matt Niskanen, Alexei Ponikarovsky
2012: None
2013: Jarome Iginla, Jussi Jokinen, Brenden Morrow, Douglas Murray
2014: Lee Stempniak, Marcel Goc

Not all of them are great, but you're telling me Shero doesn't try to improve the team? Stempniak and Goc were quality acquisitions this year in my opinion, it's the coach's job to get the most out of the team on the ice.

[Big Ev]

BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHHHHHAHAH AHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA! How amazing was this? Hilarious. +1 Hilarious.

Poor Ev but this one was funny. (as long as you don't say this in the handshake line Mcgoo lol :P)

It's funny if you're a hypocrite who complains about trolls.

Grow up, people.

[agentzero]

It's funny if you're a hypocrite who complains about trolls.

Grow up, people.

No, it's just funny because it was a timely jab (due to your tenacious and unwavering defense of Turris as a whole and as the Senators' future #1 C). Take it easy Ev and I would advise that you grow up. Take it on the chin, fire back if you want. But it was funny and even you should see the humour in that one. If you can't I would suggest it is your approach that is unreasonable and needs a bit more perspective.

[agentzero]

Here are Shero's deadline acquisitions since 2009:

2010: Jordan Leopold, Alex Ponikarovsky
2011: James Neal, Alex Kovalev, Matt Niskanen, Alexei Ponikarovsky
2012: None
2013: Jarome Iginla, Jussi Jokinen, Brenden Morrow, Douglas Murray
2014: Lee Stempniak, Marcel Goc

Not all of them are great, but you're telling me Shero doesn't try to improve the team? Stempniak and Goc were quality acquisitions this year in my opinion, it's the coach's job to get the most out of the team on the ice.

Morrow, Niskanen, Neal and Iginla were all very good moves. Too bad Iginla didn't stay as he would have helped this year. On the whole he's about 50/50 or just a bit better and I consider that to be pretty good. Agree with you Dikoi, the rest is on the coach.

[LawMan]

Not earth shattering by any stretch of the imagination but Bob McKenzie told TSN Radio that Bylsma's firing is a "foregone conclusion"

I found this paragraph of the article rather interesting:

Sources told the Tribune-Review the players weren't happy with the length of practices, the number of meetings and a general lack of fun atmosphere around the team this season. Specifically, Crosby and Malkin were not happy with the perceived criticism they received from Bylsma during team meetings.

full article: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=452180

[Pengwin7]

Wow - crazy.
Good behind-the-scenes stuff... I think Lemieux (& co.) value Crosby's opinion highly enough where if Crosby truly believes/d that Bylsma had lost the team... he's definitely gone.
I always thought Bylsma looked like a good coach, but there is absolutely no arguing a coach that has lost his team.
If Crosby isn't on board with DB... he's toast.

And from what I've seen from Bob McK over the years... he's rarely wrong.

[MXHockey]

Bylsma and Shero (if he goes too) will be employed within the week.

[agentzero]

Bylsma and Shero (if he goes too) will be employed within the week.

I agree. I think Shero will stay but by the few accounts I have heard/seen, if it is true that Bylsma has lost the room, he could be out. He's still a very good coach IMO and there will be offers for him.

[MXHockey]

Not to stream away from the topic in this thread - but speaking of coaching changes, if SJ was going to fire McLellan wouldn't they have done that by now?

[agentzero]

Not to stream away from the topic in this thread - but speaking of coaching changes, if SJ was going to fire McLellan wouldn't they have done that by now?

Maybe, true. But turns out they could be waiting on Bylsma.....? lol. He could be a good fit there too.

[rataylor22]

San Jose has all but come out and said McLellan is staying.

In that, ownership came out and said they support Doug Wilson and his vision for the future of the team, and Doug Wilson's recommendation to ownership was that McLellan not be fired.

As for the statement that Bylsma will likely be hired immediately if fired, while I don't argue, that doesn't necessarily mean he shouldn't be fired. Sometimes good teams just need a new voice. Hell, look at the NYR. Tortarella actually coached that team well, but he was played out. Fire him, bring in AV, still a good team. Sometimes even good coaches just lose the team and their time runs out.

[Big Ev]

Here are Shero's deadline acquisitions since 2009:

2010: Jordan Leopold, Alex Ponikarovsky
2011: James Neal, Alex Kovalev, Matt Niskanen, Alexei Ponikarovsky
2012: None
2013: Jarome Iginla, Jussi Jokinen, Brenden Morrow, Douglas Murray
2014: Lee Stempniak, Marcel Goc

Not all of them are great, but you're telling me Shero doesn't try to improve the team? Stempniak and Goc were quality acquisitions this year in my opinion, it's the coach's job to get the most out of the team on the ice.

There;s one big move in the whole bunch. For a franchise that's .500 since 2009 in the playoffs, that's not good enough.

[Fast Tony DeNiro]

Here are Shero's deadline acquisitions since 2009:

2010: Jordan Leopold, Alex Ponikarovsky
2011: James Neal, Alex Kovalev, Matt Niskanen, Alexei Ponikarovsky
2012: None
2013: Jarome Iginla, Jussi Jokinen, Brenden Morrow, Douglas Murray
2014: Lee Stempniak, Marcel Goc

Not all of them are great, but you're telling me Shero doesn't try to improve the team? Stempniak and Goc were quality acquisitions this year in my opinion, it's the coach's job to get the most out of the team on the ice.

Some good additions in there for sure. Shero has always done a pretty good job at the trade deadline. But I have two gripes with this....

1: Why not make moves like this in the summer before the season starts? A rental or two at the deadline is nice, but a lot of the time those moves don't work out because these players only have a month or so playing together. Bring Iginla, or Jokinen, or Stempniak or whoever in before the season starts and give them a whole season. They wouldn't be overly expensive to acquire through trade or free agency.

2: Lot's of forwards on that list, very few defenders. Scoring is not the Pens problem, yet almost all of those players are forwards acquired to play in the top 6. In fact, no defender added in 3 years (sorry I don't count Doug Murray he's awful). Defense is the Pens' weakness, yet the position is continuously ignored. They brought back Scuderi and Mark Eaton? Oh boy they were good in a Cup run 5 years ago that's so exciting. They trade for Doug Murray who can't skate, can't pass....how exactly does he fit with a high-octane scoring team exactly? All of this happens while they pass on someone like Mark Streit who would be awesome in Pittsburgh and let him sign with their rivals instead. But because of the team's salary structure, they can't really go after the better free agents or afford to make good trades in the summer.....they have to wait until the deadline so they can afford these players.

Honestly I feel like Shero should be on short leash for sure if not outright gone in the next month or so. Yes he has given Bylsma "pieces" but throwing shit at the wall and hoping it sticks is a pretty awful way to run a team imo.