Quoting: athrin
Bubble team? what kind of drugs are u taking, they are 4th OA in the LEAGUE and are 8-1-1 in their last 10, they are not a bubble team.....
Quoting: dgfresh78
I wouldn’t see them being a bubble team anymore...idk if you’re well versed in analytics and advanced metrics or not but Sean Tierney (@chartinghockey) does a really great job at illustrating how good the penguins are and could be. I’m not a fan of them selling the farm either but if they have a reasonable opportunity to replace Galchenyuk with someone like Toffoli they should do it.
Lets be real honest on their situation.
A. They got lucky and went through a stretch of really easy games with injuries.
B. the luck is running out because the schedule is getting harder for them. You are seeing this in their last few games. where they are 1-1-1. Their one win was in OT.
They got Boston twice, Philly twice Colorado, VGK, AZ during this month. Those are all hard games for a team that is reeling. Even when Crosby comes back those are tough teams.
C. they just lost a 40 goal scorer, and that was at a point where they were keeping their heads a float. They aren't 1st in their division, they have been ping ponging between the 2WC and 3rd place for most of the last month. Which is exactly what a bubble team does.
They don't have crosby back, they shouldn't rush him. Even when he does come back you aren't getting 100% Crosby, you are getting after injury Crosby. Injuries are pilling up. Lets not act like they are in some great place. They aren't. They have been lucky till now but the schedule is starting to catching up with them.
Then you got Feb, where you are looking at a hard schedule too with WSH twice, TB twice, Toronto twice.
I think you are kidding yourself if you think this is a 4th OA place team, especially in their current make up. They aren't. This team is struggling and they have been struggling for the past few games if you have been watching. They have lost that offensive pop. They have been able to hide it till recently because they haven't really had to play good teams in stretches. But that is about to hit.
They are probably realistically 3rd in the division currently. They are 2 points ahead of NYI, but they have played 2 more games than them.
They are 6 points ahead of everyone else. That's 3 games.
You have a highly injured team, hitting a rough schedule with a 3 game lead. You want to tell me that's not a bubble team?
Lets wait and see till Feb and look at where they are in the standings. Because there is no doubt they are doing the same. It's way to early for this team to make a push in a trade market.
You guys act like this team is in 1st place with a 10 game lead. They aren't. The metro is a dog fight and they haven't really distinguished themselves out of it like say WSH has.