Wednesday Grab Bag 11.14

It’s grab bag time again. Well, here we are. The god damn sky is falling down. Rutherford should be fired. Sullivan should be jailed and tried for treason. Might as well put Kris Letang on unconditional waivers. While we’re at it, screw it, get some draft picks for Sidney Crosby.

Hang on, I’m hearing it’s November and a lot of these issues are fixable within in the next few weeks.

Take a breath, folks. It’s a very long season. A lot of wounds here are self-inflicted and self-healable. Some consistency from the bottom-six. A move or two and we’re right back on track.

UPDATE: Pens trade Carl Hagelin to LA for Tanner Pearson. Josh has your takes. It’s a good trade. Thank you.

You can’t live and die with every game in an 82-game season. You’ll go crazier than you already are.

Links

The Good

The Capitals last week donated the proceeds of the 50/50 raffle to the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. Unbelievably thoughtful gesture and showing us there still is some genuine good in this world. It didn’t stop there. Get your tissues ready, because this will cause some waterworks: The fan was a Caps season ticket holder and donated the winnings along with the Caps portion, making the donation $38,570.

“When the synagogue shooting happened, we had a long talk about why anybody could hate somebody just because of where they go to church. Or where they’re born. Or what color they are. Or who they’re dating. There’s just way too much of that. So it was just natural to help out those people.”

The Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2018 has been inducted. While we can talk about the flaws, of which there are many, the selection process has, today we focus on honoring those inducted. It’s about damn time Willie O’Ree got the call. A great step into the future putting in O’Ree as well as Jayna Hefford – a four-time Olympic gold medalist and current interim commissioner of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League. Here’s to hoping those that broke down barriers keep getting their deserved place in the Hall.

Who knows if this is good. You all have takes.

The Penguins have signed GM Jim Rutherford to a three-year contract extension through the 2021.22 season.

Details: https://t.co/2XVx91LSbG pic.twitter.com/06QG0ej5ek

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) November 14, 2018

The Bad

Looks like Quenneville wasn’t the problem.

The National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players Association and their retired members have reached a settlement in the ongoing concussion lawsuit. You know that one – the one where people like Colin Campbell have said empathic things such as:

“I’m sorry to Boston, but someone should teach that young man something about keeping his head up. Hitting is a vital aspect to everything our game is about and we may be adjusting it too much if we are not careful … and give in to the masses.”

Also, how could we forget:

“Since the Ottawa trainer indicted a lot of the other medical trainers I would like to see a show of hands (please write down the names) … all those trainers who think the atrocious officiating is a major contributing factor to concussed players. Please tell them I want to know and if they don’t like it then keep their stupid opinions out of mass distributed emails.”

You know, typical things someone concerned about player safety, health and longevity would say.

Anyway – the settlement? Hold your applause – $19 million.

“The settlement is significantly less than the billion-dollar agreement reached between the NFL and its former players on the same issue of head injuries. Each player who opts in would receive $22,000 and could be eligible for up to $75,000 in medical treatment.”

Go get a CT scan and good luck. What a joke.

The Ugly

You can hear it. Listen. Poor Kings, can’t catch a break this year.

I dunno, will Lucy finally let Charlie Brown kick the football? Get real.

Update: No. No she won’t. Good work, arbitrator.

Numbers

Standings

Metropolitan

Atlantic

Central

Pacific

Points

Save Percentage

What These Numbers Tell Us: Casey “The Smith” DeSmith is tied for third in SV%. As an unapologetic Matt Murray stan, it’s DeSmith’s net right now. That’s not an indictment on Murray. DeSmith has earned the starters net for now and you know what happened last time Matt Murray had a potential starter breathing down his neck? He won a Stanley Cup. Then a second. Competition is good.

The Metro Division is somehow competitive, but woeful right now. The Pens are in seventh, but only five points off the lead. Compare that to the Central where 12 points separates first from last. I know I said it’s early up top, but as we reach the quarter pole, the big dogs are starting to run.

I don’t want to take away from Colorado’s success this year, but how badly does this reflect upon Matt Duchene? Colorado looked a lot more Ottawa when he was in town and he goes to Ottawa and it follows him. Is it solely on him? Not at all, but man, what a tough break. Just keep your damn mouth shut in your next Uber pool.

McJesus is pulling away.

The Week Ahead:

Well, we hoped for four out of a possible six points last week and we got…two.

Same chance stares us down this week. Tomorrow, one of the best teams in the league in Tampa Bay comes to PPG. There’s no two ways about this; The Bolts are really, really good. Expect a 60-minute effort tomorrow night.

Know Your Enemy: Raw Charge

The Eeyores of the NHL are taking up residence in Canada’s capital and the Penguins will head there Saturday night. We should expect two points out of this one, right? Who are we kidding? Mark Stone is gonna go off for like fifty.

Know Your Enemy: Silver Seven Sens

Then it’s time to see an old friend in Conor Sheary and first overall pick Rasmus Dahlin when the Sabres come to town Monday. They’re holding their own in a pretty top-heavy Atlantic Division. Let’s see what happens.

Know Your Enemy: Die By The Blade

Like last week, it’s not unrealistic to expect four out of a possible six. Like last week, this hasn’t been a realistic season.

Thanks for reading, follow me (or tell me how bad this was) on Twitter @SynonymForWet.