I am only writing this because a couple of people who actually read my blog have labeled me a Kunitz hater. To set the record straight I like Chris Kunitz but believe he was the wrong player to trade away Ryan Whitney for. However this trade is looking much better as I believe Tangradi will be the scoring winger that the penguins desperatly need in the near future. Below are two lists, one of why i like Kunitz for the Penguins, and one of why i think he is a bad fit for the Penguins.
Good for Penguins.
1. He hits often and is good on the forcheck.
2. He is a fast skater.
- Both of these attributes make him sound like a third line player which is where his skill set dictates he should play.
Bad for the Penguins.
1. We were suppose to trade Ryan Whitney away for one of two reasons 1. to get a scoring winger for Crosby, 2. to clear cap space so we could sign a scoring winger for Crosby in the off season. Trading for Kunitz solved neither of these issues, we got a guy who rarely scores 20 goals in a season and in his best year he had two more points than the D-man Whitney we traded away for him. Also he makes 3.75 million a season which is almost exactly what Whitney was making.
2. We needed a scoring winger we got a guy that has all the same attributes of about 5 other players on our team (Kennedy, Talbot, Dupuis, Taffe, Rupp) accept Kunitz makes much more money.
All that being said I like Kunitz, I would love him if he was making 2.0 million a year. I just find it hard to believe we have a winger in Fedatenko who produces consistantly in big games, and puts up better all around numbers than Kunitz that only gets paid 1.8 million but we can afford to pay a third line talent in Kunitz 3.75. Do to the Penguins cap situation i can almost gaurantee you either Kunitz or Staal will be traded before the end of there respective contracts. Now you tell me, who would you rather have on your team Jordan Staal at 4.0 Million a season or Chris Kunitz at 3.75 a year. I do however expect Kunitz to have a career season playing beside Crosby reaching 30 goals this year but i think Kennedy would be capable of putting up the same numbers.
This ones for you Eric
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haha, very nice post. Although I think you forgot another reason why we traded Whitney, and that's because he was playing like total ass for us. Like I said, Whitney has the ability and skill to be a really good defensemen, but I just think it wouldn't have happened in Pittsburgh.
ReplyDeleteI also tend to think that Shero wanted Kunitz because he has won a Cup before (and rather recently), and that had to have meant something intangibly.
Kunitz will be money this year...at least I hope so.
Eric
I agree Whitney should have been traded I just think we could have done better than Kunitz.
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