Low-Risk Signings Could Pay Off For Penguins

Low-Risk Signings Could Pay Off For Penguins

let’s start with the name that I think caught the most Heat yesterday and that’s Matt grizzik I don’t personally understand the hate on this one what were your thoughts on the grizzli signing I don’t totally hate it either I get where people are coming from he was scratched for the last like 11 of their last 12 uh the Bruins um the numbers didn’t match up with what they’re used to with what the Bruins are used to when it comes to Matt grizli but also uh it’s not like he was a minus player he’s never been a minus player in his career so there’s some sort of Puck moving ability that he has that the penguins are going to look to take advantage of him I think that was the main part of main reason why they got him he’s not going to be your first line guy he’s not going to be un unless comes down to it because he’s on the left side um but he’s gonna be a solid Puck mover for a team that could use a bit of uh transition out of Their Own Zone at times it we’ll see how the defensive game plays out but also much in the way that we discussed Ryan Graves last year this is a good signing this is going to be good for the team it’s a bit long but so be it um then it turned out to be a bit of a disaster you have to look at this it’s looking like a disaster now it can flip the other way too you never know what’s going to happen on a player entering a new system entering a new season even um I get that on the surface it looks scary but you got to do your best to withhold hold judgment until you see something on the ice or at least you know at least not overreact until you see something on the ice I’m glad you mentioned new system in there because when you look at when Matt grizzli really started to fall off it coincides directly with a coaching change right they went from Bruce Cassidy to Jim Montgomery and grizz’s numbers started taking hit not only mentioning the fact that you know he dealt with injury last year as well early in the season and that can affect you know your play throughout a year you look at Chris lat Tang he was injured early in the season and his play Slowly deteriorated through the season but I think the big thing that I look at with grizzli yeah he’s had a couple of down seasons and whether it be because of injury or coaching change that is the performance that he put out on the ice and I think that’s the reason he got a one-year deal right 2.75 is a is a decent chunk of change but also look at the fact that the Penguins didn’t have very much to spend they needed a top four capable guy and they’re already spending a lot of money on Ryan Graves on Chris lat Tang on Eric Carlson on Marcus Pon for next season they needed somebody that could play bonus up in the lineup top minutes somebody that’s handled that before somebody that’s played with a defenseman similar to Chris lat tang and he has with Charlie McAvoy and I think grizzli checks a lot of those boxes is he the most flashy signing no would I have rather seen Jacob chikan you know if the salary cap wasn’t anything if trading assets wasn’t anything you had to take into consideration I know that Washington got got him for a steal but again would I have liked to see a guy like Jacob Chan yeah I would have preferred that but at the end of the day with what they could do with what they were handcuffed in because of what they’re already spending I don’t hate the Matt grizzli signing and I also think that there’s been a lot of revisionist history about po Joseph’s season after this signing um but I’ll let you respond before I get into that no I just you also mentioned new system let’s not forget that Matt Grizzly spent three years of his college career being coached by uh David Quinn MH who is now in the Penguins uh behind the Penguins bench as the defensive coach um so David Quinn’s can be tasked with revamping the career for the final years for at least the latter years of Eric Carlson bringing uh Chrystal Tang up another step this upcoming season and now maybe even a quick Reclamation project on M grizzli A guy he is familiar with and had relative success with I’d have to look into the deeper details uh relative success with at Boston University so keep that in mind too that there is that connection there and that could be a net positive for the Penguins now the big thing I before we move over and talk a little bit about Anthony boiler a lot of people are saying well I would have just rather brought back po Joseph and put him into that position because you know po Joseph is still young he has uh some untapped potential sure but at the same time I think there’s a lot of people that are saying you saw what he did at the end of the season wasn’t wasn’t that great guys like it was it was better it was better than Ryan Graves which is why I think a lot of people have rosecolor glasses on it but we’re so far removed from actually seeing those games and seeing the play on the ice that a lot of people are forgetting that PO Joseph wasn’t the next best thing at the end of the season right he wasn’t yeah a guy that is you know undeniable to bring back and at the end of the day if you’re bringing somebody back and you’re trying to keep things open going into the future especially on a left side where there are a lot of question marks Marcus Pon we’ll get into that later this summer uh Owen Pickering how far does he develop there’s a lot of question marks on that left side do you really want to eat up more years with a guy that at his best is nowhere near what grizzli was at his best so if you can get grizzli to his best he’s an analytical darling he’s a guy that played top pair minutes with Char Charlie McAvoy in some of their best seasons together I I think that if you can get that out of grizzli there’s not even a question that it’s better than bringing back po Joseph because let’s not forget about this with po Joseph he was healthy scratched for a good chunk of the season to start and he wasn’t put into that first line position because he was good the Penguins didn’t have a choice no it was out of the Press Box and onto the top line for him yep they didn’t have a choice it was all right here we go let’s get let’s give it a go and it happened to be okay it happened to be fine good it worked out that’s great that doesn’t mean it’s going to again also is po Joseph a lock if they bring it back is he even without M grizli was he a lock to hold that position again not necessarily again it wasn’t because he worked his way there it was because the team didn’t have a choice yeah so again I the door is not shut on Pierre Olivier Joseph K was mentioned that but if you’re bringing him back the best thing that I can say about that is there’s going to be competition whereas without that I don’t know if Ryan Shay’s really pushing one of those three guys for a spot in the lineup every day it’s just Shay’s a little bit of a injury you know injury help because you saw what he was able to do with Jack ivany down the stretch and that was good as well but you know grizzli I I saw a lot of people saying you know a lot of Doomsday after the grizzli signing and I was like it’s listen he wasn’t good the last two seasons but let’s not act like he hasn’t been good and let’s not act like that was eight years ago it was two seasons ago who knows a new system a new coach Mike Sullivan might bring a little bit more than Jim Montgomery did for specifically for m grizli so again we’ll have to wait and see what’s up with that let’s move over and talk a little bit about Anthony boiler because it was a similar reaction to boiler somebody that we put at number two on the you know top free agents to watch for the Penguins and that was simply because he was going to be cheap and it feels like he just fits with the Penguins uh couple days later bili is a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins what are your thoughts on this one we said Anthony bili sounds like he’d be a good fit for the good fit in Pittsburgh Pittsburgh went out and sign him and everyone freaked out yeah uh except for us because you can’t go listen much like grizzli one-year deal all right good start getting him for a season if you want to trade him because he’s not good later for nothing do it who cares you’re moving on that the point that the penguins are at it is bringing in guys for a season two seasons maybe moving on afterwards if you can bring Anthony bili in for a good season and he does some good work he helps out the bottom six refines the game that made him solid in New York then you’ve got then you’re cooking is it’s a lowrisk signing guys I I get that’s I get with you see the analytical numbers of of recent with grizzli boiler these guys but I’ll tell you what who cares it’s a season it’s going to they’re going to enter a new system you can’t overreact this early and I think it’s just a good choice it’s lowrisk option he’s going to come in and help the bottom six the best way he can it’s hard to judge the bottom six this at this point of the summer too little aside here yeah I enjoy the analytic side of hockey right I’m I’ve somebody that has embraced it I’ve tried to learn as much as I can about it and to be frank I’m still not as in the weeds as I’d like to be I want to continue to learn but the amount of people that just take and I love J fresh you know friend of the show the amount of people that just take the J fresh hockey card see red and take that as gospel and just post that and say uh how about we realize that these are more than just numbers on a paper these are humans when you look at last season it was bad for Anthony boiler that much you could sell on the ice and on the spreadsheet but let’s not forget there’s a human element of this the guy was traded twice twice twice in the middle of the Season he’s played on four teams in the last two years and I’m not saying that he’s going to come to Pittsburgh and he’s going to be you know some great piece to the bottom six what I’m saying is let’s not bury the guy a guy who has had previous success in the NHL and more specifically in the Metropolitan Division before he even steps foot on Pittsburgh ice not only that he’s had success in the Metro division he has shown that he has offensive upside and he’s a bottom six Edition and that’s the thing that I I I don’t understand what the hate on the Hayes deal the hate on the boiler deal is you look at those two you look at Yesa yvy you look at Emil bemstrom which is why I haven’t screamed and raved and ranted about him coming back they will all be bumped for the prospects that are in the system if those prospects prove to be ready as of right now these are placeholders that’s why it’s one year for boiler that’s why it’s one year for bemstrom that’s why you know Hayes has two years left but at the same time you could move on from that as the St Louis Blues did that’s why P yvey has one year left on his contract because if these young guys are better then put them on waivers send them to the miners it’s not going to hurt you that much so that’s why I don’t mind this move I understand that people say well he had a bad season last year but also this is a bottom six piece for a team that is not going to a Stanley Cup you have to realize that it’s not going to be that enticing for top free agents to come to Pittsburgh not to mention Kyle dubis mentioned on Friday in Vegas saying basically don’t expect anything flashy in free agency B fits right into that mold nothing flashy flashy excuse me doesn’t move the needle much but it is an expected move that at the end of the day fills out the roster with somebody that at his best could be a Difference Maker could be an impact player for the Penguins this season

The Pittsburgh Penguins locked down a pair of cheap reclamation projects on the first day of free agency in Anthony Beauvillier and Matt Grzelcyk.

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