Forget fancy wingers. Who's our new top-four defence partner for
Word is Pens have kicked tires on a shutdown type for Tanger, heard nothing confirmed, just chatter that the front office knows 25+ a night at 38 won't fly another season. Would give'r for a legit partner, my quads can't survive another February implosion 😏
"Word is" from whom, exactly? Every May the rumour mill kicks the same tires, and every July we find out the source was some guy's cousin who heard it at a rink bar. Source on that? A named insider, a cap-room math that actually closes, anything beyond vibes?
I'll grant you the premise, though: 25+ a night for a 38-year-old is a recipe for a February crater, and I don't need a spreadsheet to feel that one. But until someone shows me an actual target that fits under the cap, I'm filing this next to every other "Pens have inquired" post that evaporates by the draft. Half the Ontario books could open a prop on how many phantom shutdown partners we're linked to each offseason and I'd take the over.
Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
Forget the source for a sec, imagine a real shutdown guy eating the hard minutes and Tanger free to just skate 🔥 we all watched him drag that blue line by March, my heart couldn't take another February like that 😱 even half of 25+ a night off his plate and he's dangerous again, you just know it 💪 give'r Dubas!!
Fair question from TillIDie2000 about sources, and my honest answer on the logic side: a legit top-pair shutdown defender costs real assets, and we don't have much of either cap space or a deep prospect shelf. Teams don't hand those guys out in July.
That said, the need itself is real. I pulled Letang's shifts by month last season, the pattern holds up: heavy February-to-March minutes, and his zone-exit numbers sagged noticeably in the second half. Caveat though: one season is a small sample, age curves aren't linear, and 38 for him isn't 38 for everyone. My read: we get a mid-tier stay-home guy on a cheap deal, eating third-pair-plus minutes, and the dream of a true 1B partner stays a dream. Depends how you count it, but I'd put the odds of a headline acquisition low.
I keep my own tables 📊
Anyone who's tried carrying a canoe solo knows the trick: you don't paddle harder, you get the weight balanced. Same math applies to Tanger. Jack_Fan, I'd push back gently on "we have no assets" - depends how you count it. A first-rounder plus one mid-tier prospect gets a rental shutdown type at the deadline most years; teams in sell mode offload those guys cheaper than people assume. What we genuinely lack is cap room, and that's the real choke point.
The counterpoint worth chewing on: half-measures are how Februarys get cooked. If the plan is a recycled third-pair guy eating soft minutes while Letang still pulls 24 a night, we've learned nothing. I'd rather they commit. Pay the asset, take on a contract — than run it back with vibes and a prayer. Last season he was visibly dragging by the second week of March. That's the table I keep every year, and that cell is getting uglier, not better. 📊
Do the math before you argue.
ha, this "word is" stuff takes me back. Remember the summers we were told a big-name d-man was basically signed, sealed and delivered, and then training camp opened with the same old pairings? been holding season tickets since before some of you young lot could skate, and i can count on one hand how many of those july rumours actually landed. time will tell, lads, time will tell 😉