Call Jim Rutherford the ‘Miracle Man’. As he’s done so often throughout his brief but remarkable tenure as Penguins GM, the Yoda-esque exec marshalled all of his considerable experience, savvy and negotiating skill (perhaps ‘the Force’ too) to acquire center Derick Brassard—arguably the most sought-after player at the NHL trade deadline.
The fact that the Pens have a legit shot at a Stanley Cup three-peat stands as a glowing testimonial to ‘JR’s’ work. Patric Hornqvist, Phil Kessel, Nick Bonino, Trevor Daley, Carl Hagelin, Justin Schultz, Ron Hainsey and now Brassard…the names of his key pickups reads like an honor roll of recent black-and-gold heroes.
It took an incredible amount of conviction and plain old-fashioned guts on Rutherford’s part to even attempt a move like the Brassard deal, let alone have the ability to pull it off. As the old saying goes, you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet. No one understands that better than JR.
Still, it begs the question. Did he overreach?
One could argue the Pens were a more complete team before the trade. They were on a 10-1-1 roll. They were at long last playing sound defense, thanks in part to Kris Letang’s resurgence but also the solid, physical play of the Ian Cole–Jamie Oleksiak tandem.
Even the much maligned fourth-line was chipping in, due in no small part to the improved play of slugger Ryan Reaves. While it was no lock that “Reavo” was going to be a factor come playoff time, I liked having him around as a hard forechecker, not to mention his ability to neutralize loose cannons like Washington’s Tom Wilson.
Yes, an injury to Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin would’ve exposed depth issues down the middle and had a crippling effect. But all-in-all, the Pens looked really solid. I’m not even factoring in the potential long-term impact of dealing another first-round pick.
And now?
I’m not gonna lie. I’m worried about our defense. Really worried. To my eye, the Pens were probably a reliable d-man short before they dealt Cole. Let’s just say that signing Ian’s replacement, Matt Hunwick, to a three-year deal last summer was one of Rutherford’s few mistakes and leave it at that.
We all know injuries happen, especially come the postseason. Cole played last spring with a broken hand and broken ribs. Justin Schultz had a broken rib…Brian Dumoulin a broken hand. Daley’s knee acted up. Chad Ruhwedel sustained a concussion.
Factor in Letang’s checkered health history, and…well…it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see where I’m going with this. A couple of injuries, and we’re flying in reinforcements from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at crunch time. Which, depending on your perspective, may actually be favorable compared to a few of our present options.
Clearly, the Penguins are built to outscore teams. In fact, it’s safe to say they’re counting on it. Given the way they broke many an opposing goalie during their back-to-back Cup runs—including Vezina winners Sergei Bobrovsky and Braden Holtby—there’s a really good chance they’ll do it again.
Still, I can’t help but remember last spring, when we spent huge chunks of time having to stand and defend, especially against Columbus and Washington. Bulwarks like Cole and Hainsey helped weather the storm.
This year? I fear when all is said and done and the sun sets on our Stanley Cup hopes, we’ll be a man short.
The Penguins had one the best winning streaks in years. The Penguins had a chemistry. They had a very difficult balance of toughness and a defense that was solid, enough, to maintain the high powered offense that the Pens are known to produce.
Now, Rutherford went and mixed up that chemistry when there wasn’t anything wrong.
Sheahan has been scoring, not a lot but he has been stepping it up and he scored against Boston.
Brassard is a great player and he adds to any, team, but he hasn’t produced much in the last 3 games, and he came from a team that was really on the skids.
I think Rutherford, messed up this time and messed up big. The Penguins have lost a lot of grit and the ablity to wear down the other teams offense threats. He butchered parts of the team that didn’t need to be cut off. Actually, you could have made a good argument that they weren’t tough enough.
I hope things turn around but once a team that had a great chemistry and add something as a change, with Brassard, your shaking things up in a big way.
I just think that the old saying, “If it isn’t broken don’t fix it,” is something Rutherford just forgot about in order to make a perfect team, more perfect?
I
Down 8-3 after two, with three consecutive losses since Cole’s excommunication, it seems so, for the moment. Okay. 8-4 now, but still…
— 55
I hear ya, 55.
On whole, I think Rutherford’s done a terrific job. But I think this will prove to be one instance where he tried to fix what wasn’t broke.
Although he appears to be injured at the present (hopefully not long-term) maybe the Pens can bring up Andrey Pedan to provide a little backup for Oleksiak. He can’t do any worse than Hunwick (minus-2 tonight), and maybe he and the ‘Big Rig’ could form an imposing third pair.
Of course, the Pens will never do it. It seems in this instance, they’d rather die with Hunwick than admit to the mistake.
Rick
Hey Rick,
Great post! You have written something very similar to what I am thinking.
I do have to say that Brassard looked pretty good in a Pens uniform, but like you write, the Pens D is very suspect, even without any possible injury in the process.
During the frenzy that was Monday and the trade deadline, I had heard a rumor that the Pens were possibly looking to deal for Ryan McDonagh, unfortunately that rumor turned out to be false and he went to TB. Now that would have been a better trade.
JR and many of the Pens mouthpieces have repeated the mantra the team was all in for it this year and 3-peating. Somehow or another I don’t believe that. Maybe they want to be, but they pulled up short, chickened out. If they were “all in” they JR would have pulled out all stops and even offered up Sprong for McDonagh. Furthermore, he would have put Hornqvist’s contract negotiations on the back burner until after the deadline past, concentrating on shoring up the hole he created on “D” because Sullivan couldn’t play nice with Cole.
Oh before anyone misinterprets, I am glad to see Hornqvist signed and in the fold and I do agree with not over-paying, but my rant is aimed at the team saying it was all in, when it clearly was holding at least a little back.
Not only am I concerned over the D, but I am concerned over Sullivan’s obstinacy in continually playing Sheary despite the downward spiral of his play. Adding to his already exposed weakness on the puck, he is now showing serious signs of pressing. Watching passes bounce of his stick like he was playing with casts on his hands rather than softly deadening the puck so he could maintain possession brought back imagines n my mind of how Perron was playing here and you commented on his inability to receive a pass. There were at least 5 times that I saw passes bounce off of his stick last night, I am not sure how many bounced before I realized what I was seeing. Despite giving Kessel, Brassard to work with, Sullivan is negating it by hamstringing that line with Sheary.
Wow, Other Rick.
Really insightful comments…especially regarding Sheary. Over his first 21 games he had eight goals and 11 points…decent enough. But since November 18, he’s got four goals in 40 games, and that’s with Conor seeing significant ice time alongside Sidney Crosby.
Your comparison to Perron was spot-on…and made me howl… 🙂 In hindsight, it was hard to imagine how such a skilled guy (Perron actually has very good hands) could play so poorly. It goes to show you that, as talented as these guys are, they’re human just like the rest of us.
Rick
Rick
Between the 2nd and 3rd period vs Boston and I’m sick to my stomach
thinking OMG what has JR done. The thing he feared the most with our Skilled players being targeted is now his worst nightmare “again”.
Here’s the problem teams like Boston and Winnipeg are not only physical
but they both may have surpassed the Pen’s in the speed category. We have zero toughness – you can’t have “one” player – Oleksiak is a one man band stand – “Jesus” – I’m frustrated beyond belief – what was JR thinking??
Hey Mike,
I agree 100 percent. I know they needed more depth at center. And hindsight’s always 20/20. But to me, they needed to bring in a Cullen-type on the cheap instead of blowing things up to get Brassard.
Before the trade, the Pens were playing really, really well. They looked really solid and balanced, with just the right touch of physicality.
And now? As you so aptly noted, it’s back to opposing teams taking liberties. And while I love Oleksiak’s toughness and willingness to stand up for the team, you really don’t want him to do all the fighting. One…because he’s an emerging young player and you want to see him develop his game, which he was able to do playing next to Cole. And two, because it puts us short a d-man for five minutes.
Anyways, suddenly things ain’t lookin’ too rosy … 🙁
Rick
Hey Rick. I completely get the injury scenario where we would be in for it. However, if everyone stays healthy and they regain chemistry after adding Brassard, I feel like they should start rolling again.
One question I have about Hunwick though. I’m not into analytics as much as some people, but do his career numbers show what we’re seeing in his game now, or his he having a career bad year?
Hello Andrew,
That’s a really good question regarding Hunwick. I’m not a huge analytics guy either, but a glance at his season-by-season Corsi shows that he had a mid-career spike with Colorado and the Rangers before falling off again the last few seasons.
“The Hockey News” scouting report says Hunwick’s susceptible to a heavy forecheck and that he lacks puck skills, which…frankly…is exactly what I’m seeing. He appears to be indecisive with the puck in his own end and often makes a lateral first pass to his defense partner rather than trying to move it to a forward, a la ex-Pen Rob Scuderi. Which means he’s a poor fit for Mike Sullivan’s “get the puck to the forwards in a hurry” approach.
Ironically, the one time Matt seemed to shine was last spring’s playoffs. I watched a lot of the Leafs-Cap series, and Hunwick really jumped out at me. He looked really fast and played very well at both ends of the ice. It wasn’t just my perception…I read an article pointing to a pronounced spike in his metrics.
Maybe Rutherford saw the same thing. But thus far, the signing looks like a dreadful mistake.
Rick