Penguins fire Bylsma and Shero

[leaffan]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=452180

Still disagree. He lead the team to a division victory with the league lead in man games lost to injury but lets fire him!

[Ravin]

You only fire Bylsma if Trotz is in the wake, ready to jump in as the next coach.

The issue is, that doesn't fix what is terrible wrong with the Penguins. From forwards to defence to goalie, to front office, there is something wrong in every location.

On forwards, we still have yet to find Crosby a legit person to play with. Malkin has Neal, Crosby is suffering with Kunitz and Dupuis. While he still leads the NHL in scoring year after year, if this team wants to be the dynasty everyone says they should be, they need to get him a legit winger. Everyone right now says Toews is the better player. But he has always played with Kane/Hossa/Sharp. Put a mix of those guys with Crosby and I bet you see some magic happen.

In the depth department, we know long have a bottom half that can do anything. in 2009 we had the Kennedy/Staal/Talbot line, which could grind away at the other teams best players, chip in a lot of offence when they turned it on, and be that physical force you need in the playoffs. If you look around the league, the playoffs are turning into that grind, and the Penguins just can't match anymore.

On defence, everyone throws Letang under the bus. The guy was a Norris finalist last season, got a big contract and everyone is expecting insane numbers. While I can say I think $7m is high, and he should have got in the $5-6 range, he is one of the best puck moving defencemen in the game, and is someone every team needs. But with Olli Maatta coming along nicely, he could take over that role. I'm almost thinking using one of the buyouts on Letang isn't a bad idea, considering our cap situation is shit.

And that leads to front office issues. With the cap going up to $71M or so next season, Pittsburgh has only 7 forwards 5 defence and 2 goalies signed for next season at a cap hit of $55M. So with $15M left, they need to resign a lot of players, including Jokinen and Sutter, while most likely Orpik and Niskanen are out the door. Shero's trading and drafting haven't been that great as of late, so if anything, I would like to see him moved out and someone else brought in.

I really hope some of the defence prospects start to pay off. With Martin, Letang and Scuderi left, that leaves a place for Maatta, Despres and hopefully soon, players like Derrick Pouliot, Brian Dumoulin, and if Scott Harrington would get his shit together, him as well.

And finally in net, Fluery I am torn on. There is times he is the best player on the team, and times when he isn't. If we had a better defence, they could afford to leave him in net. Remember this is a goalie who can win 40+ games a season. But with a lot of names out of the market, maybe Pittsburgh should cut him with a buyout, and use his money on two goalies and run the duel system.

Lots to do in Pittsburgh if this team wants to be a true cup contender.

[Guest]

They are definitely a team to watch in the off-season, I think they will be mentioned in a lot of rumors going forward for free agents. I do think MAF could get bought out, but I am not sure how likely that is. There are always some goaltending talents out there that take 1-2 year deals, so that could be an option.

Does anyone here think this is a team at the end of their playoff run? Ravin mentioned 2009 and the great checking line, but if you look at that team, top to bottom it was great. While you still have talents like Crosby, Malkin, Letang and Neal, it cost Pittsburgh a lot to extend those guys. They've traded some young talent to get talent at the deadlines, and with higher finishes, they've had lower draft picks and less talent coming into the system. It's hard to sustain a winner for this long in a capped environment. The saving grace for the Penguins has to be the cap increasing this coming season.

[Guest]

It's a done deal, both Bylsma and Shero are gone.

The housecleaning has begun in Pittsburgh. The Penguins will announce Friday that head coach Dan Bylsma and general manager Ray Shero have been relieved of their duties according to TSN's Bob McKenzie.


It was pretty clear coming out of the disappointing series against the New York Rangers in which the Penguins blew a 3-1 series lead to lose in seven games that Pittsburgh ownership led by Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle would not stand idly by.

Bylsma led the team to the Stanley Cup after taking over for Michel Therrien in the latter portion of the 2008-09 season. The team has not advanced past the Eastern Conference Final in the five seasons since.

Over his six years with the club, Bylsma never had a winning percentage below .600 and Bylsma won the Jack Adams as NHL coach of the year in 2011, but the playoff failings were apparently too much for ownership.

Shero will exit after eight seasons at the helm of the Penguins. He's had his share of ups and downs, but he helped put the team on a track for two Stanley Cup Final appearances, winning the top prize in 2009. He also secured long-term deals for some of the game's best players in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. He was named the NHL's general manager of the year last season.

Looking at the entirety of Shero's career as an administrator with the Penguins, he had a lot more hits than misses. Looking back at some of the trades he made, particularly in acquiring James Neal and Matt Niskanen for Alex Goligoski, Shero proved he had a talent for the job and an ability to get the better of opposing GMs. He also acquired Chris Kunitz for a declining Ryan Whitney while the former became one of the league's better goal scorers.

Those are the types of deals that usually bring job security, but those were moves that only addressed the top of the lineup and Pittsburgh's bottom six forwards were constantly a source of disappointment and a detriment to the team.

The Penguins' drafting has come under fire, also, particularly the team's apparent inability to draft contributing forwards under Shero. The club selected defensemen in three consecutive first rounds, landing Derrick Pouliot and Olli Maatta, who was an impact player for the Penguins this year. Joe Morrow, the other first-round defenseman was used as trade bait last season to acquire Brenden Morrow. Additionally, second-round pick Scott Harrington looks like a potential impact defenseman for the Pens down the line.

Still, not having any forwards moving up into the lineup to provide affordable depth players with potential to move up the lineup is a failure, even against those hits among defensive draft picks. Is it firable though? That's tougher to say.

Perhaps another of the team's mistakes was hitching its wagons to Marc-Andre Fleury in net. His career .910 save percentage is below average. This last postseason, he actually had his best numbers since the Stanley Cup run. The four preceding playoff campaigns, Fleury had a sub-.900 save percentage. Not many teams are going to win with that.

The head coach and general manager are ultimately held responsible for what happens on the ice. While the Penguins were always one of the better teams in the league, their postseason mishaps were not totally unpredictable.

Relieving Bylsma and Shero may be the right move at this time for the Penguins, at least to the team's ownership, but it's hard to imagine those two will be out of work for long. Bylsma has been a star coach in the league, despite the fact that his teams have fallen short in the postseason of late and he helmed the disappointing fourth-place Team USA at the Olympics this year.

With a number of openings still out there, Bylsma probably shoots to the top of the list for most teams looking for a new head coach.

Shero should find work rather quickly as well, possibly even in Vancouver where the Canucks are in need of restructuring.

The postseason collapse certainly expedited the possibility of Shero and Bylsma being replaced, but this is a drastic change for what could amount to being a few bad days. While the postseason failings of the last few years have been disappointing and sometimes baffling, what would have happened if the Penguins advanced to the next round? It's interesting how that works out.

If the Penguins can find a way to get appreciably better at their head coaching and GM openings, then this is the right move. It's hard to tell if they're going to be able to do that, though.

Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin remain young and talented and remain the kinds of players you'd love to build off of. Whoever steps in has a nice core to work with, but ensuring the long-term health of this roster with a lighter prospect pipeline and only 12 roster players under contract for next season, there will be some challenges.

That said, with the group the team ahs at the top of its lineup, there will remain potential as a Stanley Cup contender. Interesting days lay ahead for this organization.

http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/eye-on-...a-gm-ray-shero

[Woy]

New reports are saying that Shero is out, but Bylsma is safe until the new GM is hired and he'll decide his fate.

[Guest]

New reports are saying that Shero is out, but Bylsma is safe until the new GM is hired and he'll decide his fate.

Usually the GM takes the fall because of their support for the coach in situations like this, weird that they would reverse it. Most GM's want to bring in their own coach, so I am surprised they are keeping Bylsma for now. What sucks for Bylsma is if the new GM decides to go in a different direction, most jobs for coaches will be filled by that time.

[Ravin]

Again though, I don't mind Bylsma at all. He has a winning record in Pittsburgh, has so many franchise records, and has been a solid coach. It isn't his fault Shero didn't get certain players. He can only do with what he has. Sure he has had Crosby and Malkin his entire run as coach, but I'd be soft on firing him just yet. You just got rid of the GM, just slow down first and get that guy in place and go from there.

Just please not McPhee. I'll become a Panthers fan if that happens.

[Guest]

Again though, I don't mind Bylsma at all. He has a winning record in Pittsburgh, has so many franchise records, and has been a solid coach. It isn't his fault Shero didn't get certain players. He can only do with what he has. Sure he has had Crosby and Malkin his entire run as coach, but I'd be soft on firing him just yet. You just got rid of the GM, just slow down first and get that guy in place and go from there.

Just please not McPhee. I'll become a Panthers fan if that happens.

I agree with that, something can be said of consistency from the bench and still making the playoffs year after year. I also agree on needing the depth all around, the Caps have always been in a similar situation so far as needing the depth and grit players who could grind it out. If you get McPhee, it would be a whole lot more of the same, and I don't wish that for you at all. Everyone has their strengths, and McPhee is a builder, he's not going to take what is there and improve upon it once it gets to a certain point.