Michalek and the Pens

[ELYEAH82]

Anyone have a take on this, 5-20 mill and to be honest I didnt watch a ton of Yotes games. Just curious if the Pens made a smart move

 

[HonusWagner66]

I love the move.

 

[evolver115]

He's 27 years old. Blocks a ton of shots, and logs a fair amount of minutes. IMO, he's an upgrade over McKee, Leopold and Gonchar when speaking on his defense.

 

[Forty_Sixand2]

A good player but a big chunk of change for a long time for a shot blocking defensive defensemen.

 

[loki604]

Absolutely perfect. A moveable contract if it's ever needed (Hell, Shero moved Whitney making four million). Coming into his prime as a d-man. Only making four million when we're hearing rumors of 5-6 for Martin and Hamhuis. Underrated because he was playing in Phoenix. He was Phoenix's number one priority this offseason.

 

[Urkie]

He's the guy that I wanted Ottawa to get.

Michalek blocks a lot of shots and can chip in offensively. He's a great defensemen.

 

[Vadered]

He's very different from Gonchar, and very much the type of defenseman I hoped the Pens DIDN'T sign.

 

[HonusWagner66]

Martin - Orpik
Letang - Michalek
Goligoski - Lovejoy

Oh yeah.

 

[scottflyers88]

i wanted him on the flyers for their 3rd pair. o well. not to rub it in although check it out.

pronger-carle
timmonen-coburn
meszaros-o'donnell

booya.

 

[HonusWagner66]

i wanted him on the flyers for their 3rd pair. o well. not to rub it in although check it out.

pronger-carle
timmonen-coburn
meszaros-o'donnell

booya.

Who gets the start in goal, Leighton or Boucher?

 

[scottflyers88]

not sure if the flyers even have a goalie yet. they have a decision to make. they have bobrovsky, backlund, and eriksson and i heard at least 1 will be ready by next year. they could go with leighton and boucher for a year or sign a goalie to a one year deal which would require us to lose some money. possibly hartnell being moved. i am still unclear as to what they will do.

either way, leighton got us to the finals where we played a stacked team and pretty much only used 4 defensemen. our defense is now probably the best in the league.

 

[evolver115]

A good player but a big chunk of change for a long time for a shot blocking defensive defensemen.

Michalek is worth that kind of dough. He's locked up for the peak years of his career, 27,28,29,30. And, he was the lynchpin in front of Bryz all season down in the desert last year. He's got the cred to back up his dollar amount. 4.0 may be slightly steep, i mean 3.75 a la Orpik sounds better, but this is UFA day. Gotta make 'em happy.

A perfect kind of d-man to put beside either letang or goligoski.

 

[scottflyers88]

yea he is a bit overpaid although he is a free agent so its going to happen. i would have said 3.5 mil or a bit more would have been fair. the pens did well with their defense.

 

[evolver115]

yea he is a bit overpaid although he is a free agent so its going to happen. i would have said 3.5 mil or a bit more would have been fair. the pens did well with their defense.

Yea, Shero hit some home runs today. There is no question that outside of A-train, Z was one of the top three defensive-defencemen on the block. He has shut-down ability, and he was a top TOI guy for PHX. That'll help ease the loss of Sarge's TOI that will be gone.

Plus, with Martin there is your new PP QB. Until Malkin is ready to take it over, which i think he will eventually.

 

[pixburgher66]

really, unless something horrific happens to these two guys, these are homeruns from ray. our D is now top 5.

 

[scottflyers88]

i am not so sure about that. it is better though.

 

[evolver115]

i am not so sure about that. it is better though.

It's lightyears better! Gonchar is replaced by Martin. Paul Martin is one of the best two-way defencemen available in the UFA class. And, he handles himself very well on the PP. He will not be what Sarge was on the powerplay, but i'm not concerned with that. The powerplay is going to become more of a responsibility of Geno and Crosby. I don't think it will be long before Malkin is on a point, with possibly Letang as the other pointman.

Speaking of Martin in comparison to Gonchar defensively... there is no comparison. Gonchar is made to look like a pylon all too often in his recent years. He just doesn't have what he once did when it came to defensive responsibility.

With Michalek, there is no one worth comparing to him from last season's roster. Possibly McKee, but with added youth and a tad more ability on offense, it makes Z a huge upgrade.

Do they have the D-corps of Philly? No, but this is WAY better than last years version.

 

[scottflyers88]

yes. i know. i said it was an upgrade. i think martin is a slight upgrade over gonchar and michalek is an upgrade over mckee or whoever. since they did lose gonchar though it is not incredible in my opinion although they did get better.

 

[evolver115]

yes. i know. i said it was an upgrade. i think martin is a slight upgrade over gonchar and michalek is an upgrade over mckee or whoever. since they did lose gonchar though it is not incredible in my opinion although they did get better.

Gonchar was a great puck-mover. And, his presence on the point with the man advantage was vital and will be the same with Ottawa. But, his defense is average on a good day. He's slow to move his feet, and he looks weak compared with some of the muscle he has to put up with down low. He just can't box guys out like he used to, which really was never a strong suit of his game to begin with.

I just look for Malkin to continue making more of a presence on the powerplay as his career progresses. His slap-shot from the point is already lethal, but with Sarge there, he had no need to be back there.

Now, he has a reason to be on the point. Plus, I really feel that Letang is going to make himself at home there, as well. The Pens D corp went from a low B grade to a low A grade, today. Michalek and Orpik on the same D-corp is HUGE. And Paulie will make his presence felt in areas that Sarge did his handywork.

 

[h X c Chris]

This is a good move, I wanted the Flyers to scoop him up as well. I'm not a fan of the Martin signing though, 5 mil is a lot, and he had half the production of Gonchar with more games played. Martin is a better two way player but i'm relieved that these numbers go away:

Gonchar - Career vs Philadelphia 64games 15goals 36assists 51points -1
Martin - Career vs Philadelphia 37games 1goal 12assists 13points -3