Wasn't that Rikkola guy doing pretty good, what happened with him?

Pens re-signed him. There's very mixed views on him by the fans.

Pros: Excellent skater, carries the puck well, very good shot and plays physical.

Cons: Bad possession player, and not very good defensively. He's out of position quite often.

Hmmm, yes that sounds pretty mixed. Sounds like the cons can be improved upon with some coaching though.

I think adjusting to the speed of North American hockey was the issue. He should have played in the AHL for a season. They rushed him. If he can tighten up his game a bit he could be a very nice 3rd pairing dman.

The penguins don't want miller
They aren't trading Rust, and they sure as hell aren't sitting ZAR.

You spoke to them?

ZAR sucks.

Yup, sure did.

Shows how little you know.

Riiight

there isn't a simple person who watched penguins games last year who would tell you ZAR is a bad player. Not a one. So go on with yourself.

I want miller and 3.5 for rust must me traded

They don't have cap space for miller. Period. That's not even a real discussion.
Rust is a solid player. It's hard to find a guy bumping in 18 goals a year and doing the PK for 3.5 million.
Yeah he was streaky last year. He was streaky last year, but they got 3.5 million worth out of him. There just aren't that many options available at low cap hits to replace a player like Rust with his speed.
On top of it, miller does not fit what they are trying to do. He's an average speed player. Look how that team is setting up. Gunz, McCann, Kahun, on the LW. Young, Fast, skilled.
On the RW, you got Rust who is younger and fast. They would like to move Kessel, not going to happen. If they are moving a winger, it's Hornqvist. It just fits what they are trying to do.

Kahuna Matata

Didn't you know Pharrow is an insider?

ZAR is as vanilla as it gets. There has been this odd infatuation that he could be Hornqvist-lite and he's not. ZAR is Kuhnhackl 2.0 and the same as others before him. A vanilla 4th line player who occasionally shows flashes of top-six abilities.

ZAR is a pretty bad skater, has a mediocre shot, but he plays physical and has a serviceable two-way game. What does that give you? A prototypical 4th line fringe player.

That is not a fair evaluation. ZAR has good hands and good offensive instincts. He might not score 40 goals. But you can look at his stats in year two and see he's a 20 goal scorer. And he's doing that in 3rd and 4th line roles. He's an excellent penalty killer. He's a physical player who checks well and retrieves pucks. You need player like him to win, especially on the cheap. He's a solid NHL player and one they won't trade because he's the type of supporting cast you need to win games.

bro i've been at it with Pharrow before guys way too dense..

It's pretty amazing. There are a few guys on this board like him who really just want to trash talk.

Do you watch the games?

every single one of them. And he's a solid player. No one is confusing him for a top line player. But he's an above average bottom 6 player. Period. Don't tell me you don't need those to win. You do. Especially when they don't cost you all that much.

The type of player you described? Sure, you need one ore two. ZAR isn't one of them. He's garbage. The little production he has come when he gets thrown up with Geno and quickly goes night-night because he can't handle playing those kind of minutes. He produces next to nothing when on the 4th line.

You seem to think he's a 20 goal scorer and that's a joke.

You have no idea what you are talking about. Hell he's one of there best PK people. The only knock on him has been he's injured. But hell he took on injury dropping a guy with a right hook.

Wrong