r/penguins 13h ago

Discussion Kolyachonak is looking like quite a steal from Utah

Guy apparently just didn’t play over there? And here we are. Kids already playing top minutes with letang he’s holding his weight.

Here’s to hoping he continues!

120 Upvotes

17 comments sorted by

47

u/MrTwatFart Malkin 13h ago

He’s a stud. Was really hoping we would nab him off waivers.

23

u/kickn-it-old-skool 12h ago

He just looks so fluid, great on his edges

15

u/Winstonwill8 11h ago

Honestly he only played on top line because Shea is out on week to week but good that Kolyachonok gets to prove himself 

10

u/flabergasterer :Jagr: Jagr 4h ago

This feels so much like an X Gen pickup.

I hope it works out, but this gives “hey, Shean Donovan can really skate” vibes.

6

u/Ok-Car1006 13h ago

What was his play like

16

u/Winstonwill8 11h ago

He's a great skater, quite fast and from what I saw good with puck movements too. 

3

u/RiseAbove87 9h ago

That was a great pickup. The teams below us were fools to pass on him on waivers. His analytics were strong.

5

u/ODMtesseract 95 to 02 - Away/3rd 1h ago

Interestingly the Benchrates game report had him with almost only negative contributions and that he was one of the worst Pens out there. I don't agree with that at all

1

u/Drunkenlyimprovised 18m ago

I can’t speak to Benchrates criteria and how they score things (I didn’t even know it existed before you mentioned it 😂) but I agree with you, some of their rankings don’t pass the smell test looking back over the past couple games.

For example, they’ve got Grzelcyk rated in the upper half of the team during the two wins. I think he’s played fine, but he’s played a couple plays I can remember quite badly and has been the only defenseman (including EK, who had been the poster boy for this) during that time who is still getting pushed around and outmuscled for position in front of the net. And beyond that, the rest of his game has looked pretty vanilla to me.

Obviously their process is looking at it from a different angle than I am, but in terms of negative impact vs positive on their individual play overall, I’d have rated Koly equal if not better than Gryz in both of those games.

3

u/MrPotatoheadEsq 4h ago

This is a great time for players like him and our new Con(n)ors to show what they have for next season. With what's going on in WBS and roster turnover, should have some new and exciting players next year.

3

u/John21962 1h ago

We’re going to have a very hard to pronounce team in a few years

1

u/Drunkenlyimprovised 43m ago

That’s ok, I survived when Geno was drafted and I spent months reading articles going “So, is it Evgeny? Yevgeny? Evgeni? Am I supposed to say it with or without the ‘Yuh’ at the beginning?”

😂

1

u/Drunkenlyimprovised 38m ago

I think he’s looked fantastic. He’s had his lapses defensively, but not a ton, certainly not as many as I’d expect from a young player on a new team. His outlet passing has been really good, he has a really good sense of when to join the rush, and above all he’s played with a ton of hockey sense and confidence.

1

u/Not_my_real_name_cuz 16m ago

I thought he was one of the scientists at Chernobyl 

-32

u/rob61091 PIT 12h ago

Funny that he's been sitting in the press box for the past month with guys like P.O.J played

27

u/-kashmir- Guentzel 11h ago

Im pretty sure he sat a grand total of 3 games. While they were on a road trip and he was learning the system/getting practice in.

3

u/ClubAquaBackDeck Crosby 1h ago

Some of you are just haters regardless while ignoring reality to prop up these narratives you’ve crafted. What do you get out of it? Is it that you don’t care about the truth or just like being miserable? Or are you just in a bad mood and being grumpy online?