I totally agree. They are contenders as long as they dump weak link POJ. I like your team here

Ducks will pass, got enough of a logjam of youth at LD.

those won't be the lines... but I completely agree on zucker!!!

Good for him

Zucker about to have a 40 + point season

Damn good penguins team with him.

In fairness here, it was Pens fans that were the ones trying to dump him...

What did POJ do to you man - you are the weirdest individual ever.

Bringing up Freidman over Smith?

Been saying it too. Pens shouldn’t pay to dump him. It was too much of a risk being a contract year he is likely to do well. That’s usually how it works out.

A healthy Zucker is more than capable of it.

If used correctly. Unfortunately I have no faith in Sullivan to do that.

He needs to be played on Sid's wing if the Pens want to get the most out of him. Think Pouliot. Because he's got zero chemistry with Geno, and Rust does. But instead Sullivan refuses to take Rust off of Sid's wing.

Well Rust is currently on Geno’s wing. Jake and Rakell are with Sid, Zucker and Rust with Geno. I think the issue with Zucker and Geno together is 1. Geno has been coming into the season out of shape (probably due to injuries), and both Zucker and Geno do better if they are the ones carrying the puck into the zone but have different styles of doing it. Geno is more of a East/west player that makes it up as he goes and Zucker is a north/south systematic player. Hopefully both being healthy all offseason and getting work together they find that chemistry.

POJ sucks

In all fairness that's not true. I've seen countess fans of other teams attaching a 1st for them to take on Zucker.

Yeah, that's fine. I forgot to add any team. I just selected ANA because they're first on the list.

That's just my personal preference. I know Smith would get the call up.

I've heard this argument before and honestly, I'm calling BS on it. When Zucker first got here, while he did play with Sid a little, he was mainly with Geno and that line was very productive and effective. They were also the only effective line in the playoffs that year he was traded for. Zucker has just had terrible injury issues which drastically affected his game and obviously Geno has struggled with injuries.

Since the pre-season they've flowed very well together.

They'll be pretty close to this.

Gotcha - was just curious

Rust is already off Sid's wing - plus it's Rust and Rakell on the right side. Rust and Zucker aren't competing for the same spot on Sid's line. So not sure what your argument is here.

Everybody needs to be played on Sid's wing if you want to get the most out of a player. And Pouliot the defenseman? How doe she fit in this?

If we trade POJ it’s for Smith to play with Rutta not Friedman.

Rust didn’t play with Crosby once yesterday 5v5. They want Rakell to play with him and Guentzel. Did you even watch the game?

No I didn't watch it, because I was too busy either watching the Wild get their a$$es handed to them by New York, or just sitting there in the dark twiddling my thumbs because of having a transformer blow down the street that wiped out power in my neighborhood from 8pm CST to 9:50pm CST last night.

So no, I wasn't aware that Rust was off Sid's wing this year. But I'm glad he is, maybe Sullivan finally learned his lesson. But Zucker's best stretch as a Penguin came on Sid's wing not Geno's, and there's a reason for that. Zucker's north/south style of game is far more compatible with Sid than it is with Geno, especially on breakouts and oddman rushes.

And apologies, I meant Dupuis... not Pouliot. Wasn't thinking.

Edit: And for the record. Zucker is fully capable, comfortable, and productive playing his off-hand side on the right. Sullivan could have played him at 1RW next to Sid at any time in the last couple of years instead of Rust or trading for Rakell. But stubbornly chose not to do so. In Minnesota, Zucker was literally split between either playing left or right wing depending on whomever his linemates were any given night. If he played with Parise and Koivu, he played RW. If he was with Koivu and Granlund, he played LW.

Given the fact that Sullivan has refused to ever even use Zucker as a RW and simply deployed him as a LW, it boggles the mind of someone who watched Zucker play his off-hand side and be productive for years that it was something that was never even considered or attempted by the coaching staff.

Lol - those transformers always know to blow at the perfect time. And ah I gotcha - threw me for a loop with that Pouliot haha.

I'm not sure it's as much Sullivan learning a lesson as it is him finally having another right handed winger to replace Rust on that top line. Plus, you're acting the top line played bad with Rust and he shouldn't have been there - that line was incredible with Rust. It's not being stubborn, it's about making the best lines - plus Zucker has been hurt the entire time he's been in a Penguins uniform. It would be weird to break up a line that already has great chemistry to insert Zucker for short periods of time.

My point is almost everybody's best stretch would come with playing with Sid - so that's not really an argument for putting him there. This comes from someone who supported Zucker on the first line this offseason - but ripping Sullivan for not doing it is just a bit strange. Most importantly, if you actually look at Zucker/Malkin vs Zucker/Crosby - the Zucker/Crosby line didn't perform any better than the Zucker/Malkin line. So the narrative that Zucker fits great with Sid and not with Malkin just doesn't hold.