After watching Chicago’s dynamic rookie Artemi Panarin shred our Penguins to the tune of four goals over the past two nights, the difference between the organizations became painfully apparent. The Blackhawks sign studs like the undrafted Panarin. We sign duds who struggle to score.
Indeed, last night’s ugly 3-1 defeat in the Windy City served to underscore a gap between the clubs that has widened to an embarrassing degree. Regarded as the NHL’s model franchise, the Blackhawks continue to reinvent themselves under the brilliant stewardship of GM-extraordinaire Stan Bowman. Even if it means trading away a rising young star like Pittsburgh native Brandon Saad for the sake of salary-cap sanity.
On the flip side, the Penguins have frequently misfired on personnel decisions while emulating the failed and flawed Tampa Bay model from the early-2000s. Despite a significant offseason overhaul, the black and gold remains a top-heavy team whose fate rests squarely on the shoulders of its stars.
When Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang score, we usually win.
If they don’t? There isn’t enough secondary scoring to pick up the slack.
Ironic in a way, because GM Jim Rutherford focused his attention over the past summer on adding quality depth. Newcomers Nick Bonino, Eric Fehr and Phil Kessel have had their moments, but far too few. Recent call-ups Conor Sheary and Scott Wilson provided an energy boost, but little else.
Blend in a cast of top-six wingers who’ve been mostly MIA from the scoresheet and you have a team that doesn’t seem to know where its next goal will come from. A far cry from the offensive juggernaut everyone was expecting.
A pedestrian defensive corps hasn’t helped. It’s true there’s been more balance among the pairings since Trevor Daley arrived. But on a whole, the group lacks the creativity to drive a puck-possession game. Not to mention the size, strength and defensive acumen to make life easier for Marc-Andre Fleury.
A shame, too, because “Flower” continues to perform athletic wonders between the Penguins’ pipes. Like last night, when he stopped a point-blank shot by Hawks defender Trevor van Riemsdyk with the knob of his stick. But he’s not a miracle worker. There’s only so much a goalie can do.
One can argue the Pens are a work in progress. Indeed, after a dozen games on the job, new coach Mike Sullivan is still learning how the pieces fit. However, the countdown to the playoffs continues. And precious points slip away.
The bottom line? Following a first half that’s featured as many dips and curves as the Steel Phantom, our boys aren’t ready for prime time.
Penguins Promote Kuhnhackl and Rust
The Penguins promoted forwards Tom Kuhnhackl and Bryan Rust from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Rutherford announced today. In a corresponding move, the Pens returned Sheary and Wilson to the Baby Pens.
A hustling winger known for his flat-out style of play, the 23-year-old Rust had six points (3+3) in 16 games with the Baby Pens. He also skated in five games for the parent club this season, registering a plus-2.
Kuhnhackl, 23, is slated to make his Penguins debut Saturday night against Montreal. A fourth-round pick in 2010, the 6’2″ 196-pound winger netted 39 goals in 2010-11 with Windsor of the Ontario Hockey League.
Following a sluggish start to his pro career the native of Landshut, Germany rediscovered his scoring touch this year with Wilkes-Barre, tallying seven goals and 15 points in 23 games.
Hi Rick,
Since the new Coach has arrived,the Pens are more exciting to watch and many believe that we are on the way to becoming an Elite NHL club once more. As you point out this is really not the case.The new phrase of the day from the Pens is “we want to out play our opponents.” In order to accomplish that,you need to have the right talent thru out your entire line up and get that talent to play together every night. We simply do not have the right talent on our team to accomplish that.
As an example, we trade Rob Scuderi ,( a 6 or 7th d man to the Hawks for Trevor Daley,( their 6 or 7th d man.) Daley comes to our team and immediately he is seen as a key piece of our d corps.He and Letang are the puck movers.
On the Hawks,he hardly ever played. Meaning that Hawks had 6 d men better than him. We do not ! The same is true with the forwards.
Remember the Hawks traded future star Brandon Saad to Columbus. What is he 22 years old,and a key player for any team in the future looking to build a Cup contender around…and the Hawks still keep winning.
With very little cap space to work with, and no first round draft picks AGAIN this year,how can GM Jim Rutherford really improve our team ?
It is going to be tough…
Hey Jim,
REALLY astute observations and comments. In particular, you hit the nail on the head when you questioned how Rutherford can really improve the team with little cap space and no high draft picks.
The answer is, he can’t. While I’m not a huge Rutherford fan (I think he’s turned us into the Hurricanes II) I do think he’s tried everything within his power to make the Pens a better hockey team. But when you constantly have to go outside the organization to bring in talent through free agency or trades, there’s a certain amount of risk involved. As you suggested, there’s a reason the guy you’re getting is available. Generally, you’re not going to score a hit each and every time. And there’s a not-so-small matter of chemistry and continuity, which I think is more difficult to achieve when you’re constantly bringing players in from the outside.
Again, it points to the Penguins’ Achilles heel—an inability to identify and draft viable NHL talent. Not easy to do when you don’t have high draft picks at your disposal. But not impossible, either.
Look at the job Craig Patrick and his scouts did in the early 2000s. Alex Goligoski, Tyler Kennedy, Kris Letang, Ryan Malone, Rob Scuderi, and Max Talbot all came in later rounds. As did Daniel Carcillo, Eric Christensen, Tom Kostopoulos, Matt Moulson, Michel Ouellet, and Joe Vitale. Letang aside, perhaps not a collection of all-stars. But some very good ones and some decent support players, too. Precisely the kind we need to fill the gaps behind our core.
Along those lines, I was curious to see how Conor Sheary and Scott Wilson would fare when called up. Not all that well, I’m afraid. Sheary did provide some energy and seemed to be around the puck a lot. But he also spent half his time scraping himself off the ice after taking a hit. A by-product of his tiny frame.
Wilson, frankly, was fairly nondescript. When a guy gets called up and becomes a frequent healthy scratch, it speaks volumes about his top-end potential. And this is our big goal scorer down at Wilkes-Barre.
I fear we’ve assembled a collection of prospects who are too good for the AHL, but not good enough for the NHL.
100% … Big difference between the elite of the NHL and the elite of the AHL.
My next question Rick….. What do we do next ? Sit and wait or really do something drastic ?
Cheers
A even better question would be Rick…..
What would Chicago do given our situation?
Would they trade the present for a better future knowing that nothing is going to really change unless they do ?
Stan Bowman would not hesitate !
My father used to say to me every time his Maple leafs lost to my mom’s Canadians,that when you watch a Hockey game on TV, really there are two games being played at the same time.One on the ice and another in the backrooms of management.” If you can not win the game off the ice you will never win the game on the ice” he said. That is why Montreal almost always won. They had better management.
What about us ??
A really good question, Jim. And I think your opinion about what Stan Bowman would do is spot-on. In fact, he’s already taken the course of action you suggest…twice.
When Bowman took over from Dale Tallon as Chicago GM in the summer of 2009, he inherited a deep and talented Hawks team that went on to win the Cup that season. However, he also had a legion of players…very good ones…who were due hefty raises. A veritable salary-cap calamity.
Bowman didn’t flinch. Following the Cup win he either traded or allowed a host of players to walk, including Adam Burish, Dustin Byfuglien, Ben Eager, Colin Fraser, Andrew Ladd, Antti Niemi, and Kris Versteeg. The next season—Troy Brouwer, Brian Campbell and Tomas Kopecky.
Although the Hawks still made the playoffs, they endured a couple of down years. All the while Bowman was repositioning the team through the draft (Saad, Marcus Kruger, Andrew Shaw), trades (Nick Leddy, Johnny Oduya) and shrewd free-agent pickups (Michal Rozsival) to compete for (and win) two more Cups.
Now he’s doing it again.
Your father sounds like a very wise hockey man. It reminds me of a quote attributed to Ray Shero a couple of years back but reinforced—I’m sure—by ownership. When asked what his priorities were, Shero answered “to provide an entertaining product and compete for the Stanley Cup.”
While those may not be his exact words, entertainment came first. Hence our top-heavy approach to team building.