Derek Ryan went from serviceable bottom 6 guy to taxi squad. Kind of wild

That RW though...

Thats what I meant with the pittsburgh line technique.

Pittsburgh would always put two skilled guys with one rando. Ironically they used this technique with Simon too, among others.

It CAN work on some teams... but I don't know if the complementary skill equates even half the same as it would in PIT.


I've heard it in the air that this is what they might actually do. I'm not for sure. Just tried to see it on paper here.

When you have guys as good as Crosby and Malkin it's a bit easier haha -- but yeah, I gotcha.

The best example of this was 2016 playoffs when penguins steamrolled their way to a Stanley cup win with:

Sheary-Crosby-Hornqvist
Kunitz-Malkin-Rust
HBK
Khunakle-Cullen-Fehr

That team just steamrolled their competition. It hit you in waives and was way too tough to defend.

That was the best puck possession team I’ve ever seen. They didn’t need to defend much cuz they were always in the offensive zone.

Pitt does this because Sid can turn an AHL player into a serviceable line mate. Malkin can most of the time too.

He'll be back shortly. I was also surprised by the move, but at a minimum, it's a big wake up call for him to find another gear/edge.

I think he's still a serviceable bottom 6 guy. He was definitely a Bill Peters guy, Geoff Ward has been using him less, but he's still a good defensive 4C and PK specialist, can chip in 10-15 goals, play 3rd line if you need him to. I think the waivers to taxi squad move was more for cap purposes than anything, they'll probably abuse paper transactions to get him in the lineup more often than not for the next 30 days and just accrue a little cap space. I think it's a sign that Treliving might be preparing to pull off a big move at the deadline if this squad clicks, which is exciting, we could use another good RW.

Refer back to other comments. This isn't just me trying an idea out of a tophat. This appears to actually be what calgary will start the season with. I also agree that the odds of it working are slim.