DK’s Daily Shot of Penguins: It’s the defensemen

25 comments

1. @DK I just realized there was a defensive coaching change that also happened in the offseason. Do you think blame lies at David Quinn’s door?

2. FYI , Ned Stinks Too

3. Broken record 😂 you're right DK. Feeling older and older.

4. Agree. It's time for Sid to really speak up, although it's not his style.

5. Imo and I don’t expect others to agree with this, Pettersson is a smart player but is vastly overrated as a defenseman. I’m not saying this bc like DK said it’s all of them but he commits penalties when he gets in situations he is not skilled enough to get out of. He is physically not capable of moving or even diverting stronger players in front of the net. He falls down easily (not strong enough) and cannot win battles along the boards (⬆️ same as above). When in trouble he shoots the puck the length of the ice resulting in icing calls. On a good defensive team, he’s a 5th or 6th dman. Of course analytics will not show you this but your eyes will if you spend a significant amount of time watching him during games.

6. what a mess

7. Maybe we can bring Doug Bodger and Ville Siren out of retirement.

8. All I heard was we are tanking for Mario and I’m here for it

9. I'm not opposed to replacing the coach, but I do find it funny that people keep complaining that he isn't adjusting the system to fit all these bad players. I hate to break it to people … there is no system that works with Erik Karlsson. He's a pylon on defense. If Karlsson had played on the 1995 Devils, then the Devils trap would not have worked. He's that bad. You don't fix that. And then you have Grzelcyk … who should not be in the NHL. The reality is the GM has done a terrible job with the roster for two years after taking over for a GM that did a terrible job with the roster for 2-3 years. The Pens have bad players, so they are a bad team. It's that simple.

10. DK, I was at the game, 5th row to the left of the Canucks goaltender, where Sid on the PP sets up…..and I'll tell you from that close I could see Graves eyes whenever the puck came to him and he literally looked scared!!! He didn't want it to come to him. He's terrified, DK. I'm serious. It's obviously horrible but so very sad to watch. I could only imagine, but wouldn't a professional athlete be excited to play the game they love? Karlsson isn't playing with Petersson, why!?!? They got into such a great groove late last year and at the World's, why wouldn't Sully not play them together?!?! Every year they start off so ugly!! 😡😡😡

11. I disagree on two counts. First, when this team was winning cups, this team was playing TEAM defense. There was always one or two forwards getting on their horse to get back for the defensive play. That never happens now. Second St. Ivany is with Graves. Graves is the exact opposite of Sid in the fact that he drags down anyone who plays with him.

12. I;ve been banging the Defense is bad drum for a long while now, but a team is only as good as the components. I hope we can agree that Sullivan knows how to coach, but when he isnt presented with good components by 'management' his options become very limited. What I watched in the Canada trip is that this team overall is just slow..and looks old .Slow forwards do not help a less than good defense. A slow team does not help the goalie. So not only are the Pens now old and slow, they arent very physical. There didnt seem to be much planning for the future by 'management' and I think it has all caught up w. the Pens. It's a long season and the team can only skate as fast as they can. Am I blaming Dubus and FSG? Yep

13. Thank you for not being a cheerleader. October hockey… oi, vey. Granted hockey is so dynamic, you need a good offense to have a good defense, and vise-versa. The way we are playing, we cannot wait for a mid season change. Guessing ownership won't move until attendance falters. I give them 4 weeks to show a winning streak, not .500. How long do you think DK?

14. they are all around underachieving. Not sure where the issue even begins or ends.

15. So how long till we make changes?? Can this be fixed through trades or in house? We shouldn’t e this bad

16. Rebuild has started, anything else is just cope

17. Yes, there is plenty of blame to go around, but I agree the defense is abysmal…

18. I agree DK. If they plan on winning more games, they must play more aggressive on defense. For all the goals they made and caved in on defense, they must do a whole lot better. Thank you DK

19. Pens about to fire Sully and promote David Quinn to head coach

    We about to be the Karlsson show bois

20. Couldn't play devil's advocate if I even wanted to. Something slightly more recent, I just checked the stats for the X Generation team in 03-04. The top six D (in terms of TOI) were Dick Tarnstrom, Josef Melichar, (a 23 year old) Brooks Orpik, Drake Berehowsky, Marc Bergevin, and Dan Focht. I honestly believe they'd be better than the current top six, if you could teleport them to the present.

21. Dk what would your thoughts be on trying karlsson on the wing, I think he would be much less of a liability and could be an offensive weapon

22. Plot Twist: it's the captain sabotaging his own team, and getting a big fat $8.7 million paycheck to do so.

23. I'm very disappointed with all. From top to bottom.
    Been a fan since '84.
    What bothers me the most is management, coaches and players are pissing down our legs in interviews while telling us its raining.
    ✌❤🤘

24. Ill trade this start, for a fixed powerplay of yesteryear,,, yes please. … Thank You!!!

25. Please stop putting all the blame on the defense. Your best players are your worst I. Terms of plus minus. The forwards, including 87, have been awful. you act as you know hockey. Blame the forwards as wells. Defense is a 5 man game.