Pittsburgh fires GM Ray Shero - Head Coach Dan Bylsma NOT fired

[GhostofPotvin29]

@TSNBobMcKenzie 

PIT will announce this morning GM Ray Shero and head coach Dan Bylsma have been fired. #TSN

EDIT:

‏@mirtle

Dan Bylsma not in fact let go yet. New GM will decide.

 

[louisstamos]

Wow.

 

[Deebo]

I didn't think Shero would go, but Bylsma doesn't come as a surprise to me.

 

[pmrules]

Not surprising at all.  Consistent underachievers.

 

[Boston Leaf]

maybe they go as a team to Washington. The enemy for them

 

[bustaheims]

I didn't think Shero would go, but Bylsma doesn't come as a surprise to me.

I don't think Shero being let go is a surprise, either. The team is severely lacking in terms of depth. Other than the guys at the very top of the depth chart, it's a pretty poorly constructed roster, and that's all on Shero.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Shero deserved to be fired. He really hasn't done anything to improve the team in a very long time. He pretty much just relied on his core players and neglected his depth as it dwindled season after season. His draft record is pretty bad too, particularly at forward. Since Staal in 06 the team hasn't developed a single full-time NHL forward. Dustin Jeffrey has the most GP of anybody but even he's up and down with the AHL. Beau Bennett is a maybe and he's still young.

Byslma I would have kept though, but I guess I can understand wanting to start fresh with a new GM/coach.

 

[Kin]

For all the talk about team construction regarding this move I think it speaks to how random this all is when realistically neither of these decisions get made if A) the Penguins win one more game against the Rangers or B) MA Fleury doesn't have a mid-career collapse.

 

[ZBBM]

Let this be a lesson to all GM's and head coaches - if you want to keep your job (and perhaps get a sweet extension in the process) you need to miss the playoffs entirely.

You just made me cry. PALESHNOCA!!

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

So Bylsma has not been fired (has Bob McKenzie ever been wrong before?) but will be up to new GM to decide his fate.  I've updated the main post to reflect this.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

The biggest indictment of Shero has to be that when they did win the cup in 09 they had a larger percentage of the cap tied up in Malkin/Crosby.

So technically he's had more to work with since and has mismanaged the cap and his depth since.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Smart move by Pittsburgh. Although they're going to have to move quickly. You probably don't want to be figuring our your coaching situation in July.

 

[Redleaf]

Ownership isn't happy the team doesn't get to the finals enough? Spoiled bast.....

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Down Goes Brown ‏@DownGoesBrown  3m
A reminder that the Penguins could have drafted Jonathan Toews instead of Jordan Staal in 2006 and won every Stanley Cup.

Hah. I actually forgot about that. So the one NHL forward Shero ever drafted was actually a gigantic miss. Imagine Crosby, Malkin, and Toews on the same team? Or even Backstrom or Kessel?

 

[Boston Leaf]

Down Goes Brown ‏@DownGoesBrown  3m
A reminder that the Penguins could have drafted Jonathan Toews instead of Jordan Staal in 2006 and won every Stanley Cup.

Hah. I actually forgot about that. So the one NHL forward Shero ever drafted was actually a gigantic miss. Imagine Crosby, Malkin, and Toews on the same team? Or even Backstrom or Kessel?

Imagine that salary nightmare though

 

[Frank E]

Not surprising at all.  Consistent underachievers.

I'm not so sure about that...they had the 6th best record in the league, and they were within a game of the conference finals this year.

I think calling them underachievers is a little unfair.  And to the point about their depth being suspect, it's not like Crosby and Malkin put the team on their shoulders this spring.  I might think that Carlton's point about not bringing in and/or developing additional talent might be the issue here.

 

[bustaheims]

Down Goes Brown ‏@DownGoesBrown  3m
A reminder that the Penguins could have drafted Jonathan Toews instead of Jordan Staal in 2006 and won every Stanley Cup.

Hah. I actually forgot about that. So the one NHL forward Shero ever drafted was actually a gigantic miss. Imagine Crosby, Malkin, and Toews on the same team? Or even Backstrom or Kessel?

Man, imagine how much they'd love to have Kessel for Crosby's wing right now.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

I think calling them underachievers is a little unfair.  And to the point about their depth being suspect, it's not like Crosby and Malkin put the team on their shoulders this spring. 

Wouldn't that tie into the depth issue?  No 2 players on any team can do it all and will always have stretches of below-their-standard play that better depth could help offset.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

And to the point about their depth being suspect, it's not like Crosby and Malkin put the team on their shoulders this spring.

Looking at a teams line-up from their last game...

The Penguins bottom-6 forwards in their lineup (Bennett, Stempniak, Vitale, Goc, Adams, Gibbons) had a combined 14 points in 68 games.

The Rangers group had 32 points in 82 games.

Montreal had 29 points in 63 games.

Boston had 17 points in 59 games, and their 4th line just managed 2 of those.

You need offensive production from all 4 lines to go deep into the playoffs. The Penguins didn't, and they weren't getting it all season long so it's something Shero should have tried to address (and I mean by doing something other than bringing in Lee Stempniak).

 

[Kin]

You need offensive production from all 4 lines to go deep into the playoffs. The Penguins didn't, and they weren't getting it all season long so it's something Shero should have tried to address (and I mean by doing something other than bringing in Lee Stempniak).

I don't think that's necessarily an issue of construction though. Boston had essentially the exact same 4th line this year as they did last year where they got within two games of the cup.