James van Riemsdyk

... for a coach at, at UMass Lowell who is currently the coach at, uh, at Colby College.

But, um, for you Hutz as a goalie, you, was it more difficult when a guy would camp out on top of the crease? Or was it more difficult, like we've had James Van Riemsdyk on here a, a, a, a number of times where he used to really kinda move around almost in a box where he would let his momentum take him to different points of the net front.

Maybe more unpredictable that way? Like, what's harder for a goaltender to defend, the stationary net front player that's, like, in your way or the guy that kinda moves around the box?

Moving around.

So that's pretty big for a coach at UMass Lowell who is currently the coach at Colby College.

But... for you huts as a goalie you was it more difficult when a guy would camp out on top of the crease or was it more difficult like we've had James Van Riemsdyk on here a a number of times where he used to really kind of move around almost in a box where he would let his momentum take him to different points to the net front maybe more unpredictable that way like what's harder for a goaltender to defend the stationary net front player that's in your way or the guy that kind of moves around the box.

Moving around, without a doubt, in my opinion.

Because I think when you're stationary, for us as goalies, we're so used to establishing our depth and closing the gap.

Spencer Stastny comes over from Edmonton, although I've really liked the way that he skated as well.

Van Riemsdyk's been hurt.

Will we see him again soon? There's just so many unknowns, but hopefully when it all kind of meshes together, this offense from the defense can get rolling.

yeah i agree i mean when you look at it like that's an area that on paper has been a strength for the penguins because they're right up there at the top of the league and in points from the blue line and eric carlson leads the team in points overall and i think that's what you expect from carlson whether that's fair or not because of the season he had last year and how important he was winning the team mvp award that's voted on by the players he's kind of followed that up as far as just his overall production this year but I think what you look for from your blue line is can they facilitate offense? And that doesn't necessarily mean can they shoot the puck into the back of the net? That means are they making a good first pass out of their zone and giving the forwards an opportunity to gain the offensive zone with speed and with pace and with an opportunity to make a scoring chance happen? And I think by and large, they actually have been doing that.

um you know i think um declan carlisle moves fairly well um these guys are all and we obviously know chris letang and he's you know built a career on being an elite skater so i think we have guys back there that can facilitate and i think we have you know a blue line that's not the the meanest but can skate with you.

And if they're with you and they're stride for stride with you and we have some bigger bodies back there, like a few guys that are 6'3 and 200-plus pounds, they should be able to body you and make sure things are difficult to get into the penguin zone.

So I'm with you on Van Riemsdyk.

I think if he's healthy, he goes back in.

I'm going to guess it's a mesh of Chinnikov and Robertson.

I forgot Russ was hurt, but to my point, I'm expecting a guy like Van Riemsdyk to step up.

Declan Carlisle to step up.

I hope it's not him because he looks great.

But you don't really have roster spots based on all the names we just ran through to get them up here.

And you also have Van Riemsdyk, who's getting himself healthy.

He was a nightmare at the end of his last couple games.

He was a big culprit in terms of turning the puck over as well.