GMRwings1983

That's good for us honestly.

True or false? Almost everyone here wishes we drafted someone else with those two draft picks. True or false?

Bertuzzi - Larkin - Mantha Lafreniere - Filppula - Zadina Svechnikov - Rasmussen - Fabbri Smith - Lesnar - Geralt of Rivia DeKeyser - Hronek Nemeth - Seider Cholowski - Lindstrom Sumo wrestler Bernier

Bergeron would quit hockey if he had to play a two-way game with this team.

He's gotten better at that, but I've never considered him a two-way center. Besides, Larkin is no Crosby. You're talking about the best offensive player of his era.

Imagine if Crosby had to play a two-way game like Datsyuk had to play at his peak. Would he still win all those Art Ross trophies? How many Art Ross winning centers cared about defense? Or imagine if Datsyuk didn't have to exert much energy defensively and could concentrate entirely on offense. Would he have scored more points? When you play a complete game and are disciplined defensively, you don't save all your energy just for offense. You can't just cherry pick. A guy like Mantha literally just floats on the defensive side of the ice.

He's also broken like half his sticks this season. That can explain why the offensive numbers are dropping. He's probably having to borrow Abdelkader's sticks to play with.

No, they're way worse this season. 2019 season 21st in goals scored 27th in goals allowed 19th on the PP 28th on the PK 2020 season 31st in goals scored (dead last and 19 goals behind LA) 31st in goals allowed (dead last and 26 goals behind Jersey) 30th on the PP 26th on the PK So only the PK slightly improved. Bad as they were in 2019, nobody was talking about record breaking +/- numbers for the modern era. Or the greatest goal differential the NHL has seen in some time. This team has significantly gotten worse. Everyone is part of the problem, including Larkin, Mantha, and Bertuzzi.

Sure it does. The defense is significantly weaker this season. Centers have more duties on that side of the ice. So he's had more to deal with having to make up for poorer players to play with. Also, the lack of depth at his own position. AA and Nielsen have been worthless for the most part. I suppose Connor McDavid could still lead the league in scoring with this same group but it wouldn't help the team one bit. Also, nobody is saying Larkin is that kind of offensive player. He needs more help around him. I don't know why you didn't read what I wrote about Mantha and Bertuzzi, but I can repeat. Mantha's sample size this season is small. Bertuzzi has started the season as a top liner and stayed that way throughout. Was that the case last season?

Read my post directly above. Honestly, I'm surprised Larkin is only -18.

Mantha is too streaky and hasn't played much this season. I'm curious to see if he can keep the same production as before his injury. He also doesn't do anything else. Larkin has other responsibilities. Those responsibilities are harder to meet when the defense is so poor at positioning and decision making. Imagine having to play center for this team? Mantha can just float around and worry about offense. As for Bertuzzi, I'm not sure why he's playing better. Maybe he was underachieving last year? I forgot where he started last season in the lineup. I know he ended up on the top line to finish the season. It could be he just needed more opportunities to show he can score.

So if Larkin was scoring more but was a -21 like Bertuzzi, you'd be happier with him? Mantha and Bertuzzi can pad their stats but the team isn't going to improve until they get some forward depth, especially at center, and can keep the puck out of its end. This defense is a joke. How much better would this team be if Larkin was scoring at last year's pace? Probably still dead last in the league. If Mantha can stay healthy and play with Larkin, I can see Larkin's numbers improving the rest of the season. I guess that will make you guys happy. If any other center could do anything besides make a fool of himself, that would help Larkin also.

This isn't the 1980's. Linemates rarely stay together during the season. Also, having injuries throughout the lineup affects how the other team matches up and how much pressure the top line has. So you can't say the other players don't matter just because they don't play with Larkin. Last year, AA provided good secondary scoring. This year, that hasn't happened. Nielsen scored 35 points last year. He's on pace to put up enforcer type numbers this year. Hence, more pressure on the top line. Also, the powerplay will often have different units. Not just the same lineup throughout the year. Not having AA and Vanek may affect what Larkin can do on the powerplay. Last season, this team was 19th on the powerplay. This year, they're next to last. Mike Green has played the same amount of games this season as he did all last year. However, last year he had 26 points and this year he has 9. Kronwall is also not around. They did gain Hronek, but overall the powerplay had a substantial decline. How much of that are you willing to pin just on Larkin?

Mantha played a lot more games last season than he's on pace for this year. Athanasiou has been hurt and has been poor even when healthy. Nyquist isn't here anymore and he scored a lot last year. I don't see this forward talent you're talking about this season. You lose Nyquist, gain Fabrri, and have more injuries to Athanasiou and Mantha. Who else is relevant here? Filppula replacing Vanek? That doesn't seem to be a net gain.

Larkin has been underwhelming, but last year I thought he overachieved. That top line got hot late in the season didn't it? It'd be curious to see how many points he scored over the last month of the regular season. His teammates aren't that good even on the top line. Mantha has been hurt a lot. Hasn't Larkin played with Glendenning at times? And let's not forget that Fabbri was a 4th line scrub for St. Louis. He's playing better in Detroit because of more ice time and because our forwards are so bad that he can just step in and look dominant compared to his teammates. Everyone likes Bertuzzi but he's not a top line forward on any other team in hockey. Zadina is a rookie. I'd like more from Larkin but I'm also the guy that wants to only bang hot chicks. Doesn't always work that way. I can give Larkin a pass somewhat due to the lack of top end talent around him. You cannot expect him to play like a 1C when you don't have a 1W on either wing.

Another Malte? Any chance they can call up Malte Setkov so that we can have two Maltes on the roster?

Does that count as a plus for Athanasiou?

How did the Penguins win the Stanley Cup with Trevor Daley on the team? This idiot has been in some way responsible for every goal given up in this game.

No. I'd like to say the guys they've drafted high over the years were progressing (Rasmussen, Zadina, Veleno, Svechnikov). That would make it easier to stomach the current roster. It would make fans feel that help is coming. However, none of these players look like they're going to be difference makers. Help is not coming unless Seider can be the second coming of Bobby Orr or if they can draft this Frenchie everyone keeps talking about and he becomes the next Mario Lemieux.

Women's hockey at the ASG. This is a new low.

Jimmy Howard needs to retire during the All Star break.

Don't have that game. In NHL 19, I was able to trade him for Bowen Byram and a few lower picks to boot. Wouldn't that be nice right about now?

He must have the same doctor as Rand Paul.

He needs to start taking palm striking lessons from Bas Rutten.

That sucks. This won't help the stereotype about French people and toughness. If this were NHL 19, I'd trade him for picks.