Look where this team would be if they weren't lucky enough to get Crosby that year. Tabarnac this team tonight looks like SHHHHHHHHHIT ON PAPER.

Forwards:
Kunitz - Letestu - Dupuis
Cooke - Staal - Kennedy
Rupp - Talbot - Conner
Adams - Jeffrey - RuppDefence:
Martin - Michalek
Orpik - Letang
Goligoski - Engelland
Goaltenders:
Johnson

__________________
Contract Fantrax 14 teams, 8 keepers. 4 max lifers +/-
3C, 3LW, 3RW, 1F. 5D,2G....5Reserves.
Goal heavy. G=3.5 A=2 Add 0.5pts for D.
Goalies:W=3,SO=4,start=2,Save=.1
Shootout Save=.2
C:CROSBY,STAMKOS,TAVARES,
LW:Sedin,MARCHAND,TLUSTY,ELIAS,Whitney
RW:MALKIN,YAKUPOV,Jagr,Brunner
D: BYFUGLIEN,YANDLE,VOYNOV,Carlson,Visnovsky
G:Lundqvist,lehtonen,Pavelec
Minors: Granlund
Baseball
Votto,Cano,hanley,longoria
McCutchen,Stanton,Bautista.
Verlander,Cain,Felix

I mean, that's not really a fair assessment. The reason they have 3rd line players getting first line minutes is because they have 17 million tied up in Malkin and Crosby, it would probably look vastly different without those two.

Also, Staal would probably be a lot more productive if he was groomed as their first line center of the future. He has the skills.

uh yeah because they wouldn't have Malkin, or use that 8.7mil in cap space, obviously.

__________________
The Ultimate Fantasy Hockey League. (Keep 17)
3C 3LW 3RW 6D 2G 6BE.
G,A,+-,PIM,PPP,SHP,GWG,SOG,FW,HIT; GS,W,L,GAA,SA,SV, SV%,SO
(C) Bergeron, Spezza, Ribeiro, R. O'Reilly
(LW) Ovechkin(RW), Clowe(RW), Hagelin
(RW) Eberle, Stewart
(D) Subban, Pietrangelo, Green, Byfuglien(RW), Bogosian
(G) Crawford, Varlamov, Neuvirth

8 Person Farm:
(C), Couturier, Teravainen
(LW) Kreider
(RW) Etem
(D) Dumba
(G) Holtby, Ramo, Subban

Yeah they'd be the Leafs, without studs as a result their 1st round picks (Malkin and Crosby in this scenario) unable to sign a significant FA (because who wants to go to Pittsburgh), and stuck with 3rd liners.

You can have all the cap space in the world but that doesn't mean it gets used wisely.

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14 Team Yahoo Roto (9 moves remaining)
G,A,PPG,PPA,Hits,PIM,SOG,W,SV%,SHO

(2)C: Getzlaf, Hopkins, Kesler
(2)LW: J. Staal, Tlusty, Ott
(2)RW: Horton, Kessel, Carter
(4)D: J. Schulz, Green
(2)Util: Skinner, Hartnell
(2)G: Rinne, Luongo, Elliot

Yeah I've always thought their team was seriously UGLY besides the 3 superstars. Letang has come in nicely...but I think Fleury is so overrated. So the rest of the parts besides malkin,croz and staal are pretty ugly.

__________________
Contract Fantrax 14 teams, 8 keepers. 4 max lifers +/-
3C, 3LW, 3RW, 1F. 5D,2G....5Reserves.
Goal heavy. G=3.5 A=2 Add 0.5pts for D.
Goalies:W=3,SO=4,start=2,Save=.1
Shootout Save=.2
C:CROSBY,STAMKOS,TAVARES,
LW:Sedin,MARCHAND,TLUSTY,ELIAS,Whitney
RW:MALKIN,YAKUPOV,Jagr,Brunner
D: BYFUGLIEN,YANDLE,VOYNOV,Carlson,Visnovsky
G:Lundqvist,lehtonen,Pavelec
Minors: Granlund
Baseball
Votto,Cano,hanley,longoria
McCutchen,Stanton,Bautista.
Verlander,Cain,Felix

They would be the leafs if they traded Fleury for a washed up Andrew Raycroft, and then Seguin and another sure fire 1st liner for Kessel. Then, they'd be the leafs.

In a shocking turn of events, this thread is full of ignorance.

Really - the Pens wouldn't look good if they hadn't picked Crosby? Malkin and Jordan Staal centering the two top lines, with another 8.7 million to throw at a top-level winger or two? Not to mention, their defence looks pretty solid btw - Martin, Letang, Michalek, Orpick, Goli as the top 5?

This team was built in a particular way - top-level talent down the middle, with mediocre wingers that they hope will complement the centre (worked for Crosby and Staal; not so much for Malkin).

I still think they should be looking for trade Malkin or Staal to a team with great wingers but no quality first-line C (say Calgary last year [debatable], or Edmonton now). But it's hard to argue with the success the Pens have had - finals loss, finals win, and loss against the hottest team/goalie in the playoffs last year? Pretty damn good.

I think the point is they happened to suck right when Crosby & Malkin were coming into the league...coincidence or strategy? Who knows, but the D is decent, Fleury is decent, but the struggle to add quality wingers and build around their stars has hurt them...

The Flyers did not seem to struggle vs the hottest team/goalie in the playoffs...maybe because their D is better and O has alot more depth

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12 Team Keeper - 12F, 6D, 3G, 3 Bench (Keep 9 -Bold)
$250 Cap (+3 0-9; +4 10-19; +5 >20)
WW = $20

F: Ovechkin(53), Hall (23), Couture(29), Benn(10), Galchenyuk(1), Duchene (10), Ribeiro(1), Tlusty(20), Pacioretty (15), Berglund(1), Roy(1), Tarasenko(20)

D: OEL(4), Shattenkirk(5), Phaneuf(1), Timonen(20), Doughty(16), Kindl(20)

G: Miller(45), Bobrovsky(20), Price(20)

G, A, +/-, PPG, PPA, GWG, SHG, W, GAA, SV%, SO

Yeah, we strategically made the team bankrupt years advance so we can draft Malkin and Crosby. We even traded the best player in the world (Jagr) for scraps so that our team would suck as a result. We also even strategically orchestrated the 2004 draft lottery and the lockout so that we wouldn't get the 1st overall pick in 2004 and Ovechkin because as a result we got a better chance for Crosby. And we all know the 2005 draft lottery was fixed so that Pens would walk away with Crosby.

Glad everyone is on the same page.

__________________
The Ultimate Fantasy Hockey League. (Keep 17)
3C 3LW 3RW 6D 2G 6BE.
G,A,+-,PIM,PPP,SHP,GWG,SOG,FW,HIT; GS,W,L,GAA,SA,SV, SV%,SO
(C) Bergeron, Spezza, Ribeiro, R. O'Reilly
(LW) Ovechkin(RW), Clowe(RW), Hagelin
(RW) Eberle, Stewart
(D) Subban, Pietrangelo, Green, Byfuglien(RW), Bogosian
(G) Crawford, Varlamov, Neuvirth

8 Person Farm:
(C), Couturier, Teravainen
(LW) Kreider
(RW) Etem
(D) Dumba
(G) Holtby, Ramo, Subban