On the Penguins: A Tale Of Two Defensemen

We Penguins’ fans cannot bury our head in the sand. The Penguins’ Defense has been atrocious. Something has to be done. To that end, Mike Sullivan looks like he is about to do something. Newcomer Juuso Riikola, late of the Finnish League, looks like he is about to get his first taste of NHL regular season hockey. However, he is neither of the 2 Defensemen that I want to talk about.

I just read a quick little article by John Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette in which Riikola’s fellow Finnish Defenseman Olli Maatta owned up to his part in the debacle that has been the Penguins’ Defense; “There’s a lot of scoring chances we’ve giving up. We have to clean that up.”

You said a mouthful Olli Maatta. However, you aren’t the Defenseman who needs to sit. Unfortunately, it appears you will be made the scapegoat.

So, on to the point that has motivated me to writing; on one hand you have Defenseman 1; a 24 year old, 6′-2″ tall, 204 lb Defenseman who, over the course of his career has been on the ice for 2.3 Goals Against per 60 Minutes (GA60) at even strength. In fact Maatta has the second best +/- of all Penguin Defensemen since 2000-2001.

Mackey, mused about the fact the Penguins will be paying him $4+ million to sit in the press box. However, despite having good numbers for his career, Maatta has been struggling this year. His GA60 is 5.4, which is well more than twice his career average. Sitting him would seem to be a good motivation for the rest of the team. Sitting a $4+ million veteran should reinforce commitment to playing better Defense.

However, let’s move on to Defenseman 2. Defenseman number 2 is a 31 year old, 6′-0″, 201 lb Defenseman named Kris Letang. Letang’s career GA60 is 2.7, which is nearly 20% higher than Maatta’s GA60. Furthermore, this season, Letang’s GA60 is 7.2 or 33% higher than Maatta. Considering the amount of Ice Time (TOI) Letang is given, that means he is responsible for far more goals against than Maatta.

Unfortunately for Penguin’s Goalies, Letang doesn’t appear to be getting the much earned rest in the Press Box. Instead Maatta will serve Letang’s time in the dog house. (It must be nice to have others pay for your mistakes)

If someone thinks that sitting a young but veteran Maatta who makes $4+ million per year shows Sullivan’s willingness to do what it takes to get players attention, sorry, I don’t buy it. I don’t buy it, when a $7+ million per year, true veteran, a veteran who has been around long enough to finally learn how to actually play defense, a player who should have several veteran tricks up his sleeves by now, but who still under performs pretty much everyone else on the ice when it comes to defense, not only doesn’t get press box time, but still gets 25+ minutes per game to give nightmares to his goalies. Sitting Letang will gain far more attention to detail and remove the biggest stumbling block.

And sorry the argument that the team needs him doesn’t fly. The Penguins won a Cup without him 2 years ago. In fact, the Capitals won without him last year.

Wait, maybe not, Letang was on the ice for over half of the Capitals goals against the Penguins in the Penguins – Capitals series. Letang was the Capitals best offensive force.

Letang is a solid offensive force, but the team doesn’t need offense. The team needs defense. The Penguins have Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, Patric Hornqvist, Derick Bressard, and Jake Guentzel, who all can provide tons of offense for them. On Defense, Justin Schultz provides amble offense as well.

It is time to to get Letang’s attention. Sit him!