Breakout your picks and shovels, it is time to go prospecting for a nugget or two of gold. The puck drops tomorrow at 3:30pm and the Penguins’ Prospects will take on the Boston Bruins’ prospects in the Prospects’ Challenge.
Penguins’ Prospect Schedule
Friday, September 7 – 3:30 PM – Game vs. Boston
Saturday, September 8 – 3:30 PM – Game vs. New Jersey
Monday, September 10 – 12:30 PM – Game vs. Buffalo
There is at least one good sign going into this weekend’s tilt, Jordy Bellerive will play. I didn’t really expect it. I would have thought he would take the extra days off and wait until training camp before taking some hits.
My excitement over Bellerive’s return is tempered to some degree though. I must confess that I don’t know who actually is eligible to play, but I really was hoping to see Kasper Björkvist, Filip Hållander, and Tobias Lindberg this weekend. In Bjokvist’s case, maybe college players aren’t allowed to compete in the Tournament and for Lindberg, maybe he has been playing too long.
Other points of note; looking down the Penguins’ Prospects’ Roster is that Anthony Angello is listed as a Right Wing (RW). Like Jake Guentzel, Dominik Simon, and Adam Johnson, the 6′-5″ 210lb, right handed Forward came up through the college ranks as a Center (C), but is now being asked to transition to wing. With the depth the Penguins have at C it does make some sense, particularly with the lack of depth the team now has at RW. Once you get past Kessel, Hornqvist, Sprong, and Rust, there really is not much left. Furthermore, I wouldn’t mind seeing a 6′-5″ fourth line RW banging some bodies around, wearing down opposing D’s so Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin can exploit them.
The last thing I looked at was the lack of size on the Penguins’ Defense (D). The tallest D prospects on the roster were only 6′-2″ and there were only three of them; Dane Birks, Wyatt McLeod, and Carter Robertson. I understand Mike Sullivan’s idea of puck moving D but there are puck moving D that are over 6′-2″. Why do we continually only look for smaller players? When lack size, you have to be exponentially better to compensate for lack of reach and mass.
Penguins’ Prospect Roster
| Player | No | Po | Shoots | Ht | Wt |
| Addison, Calen | 76 | D | R | 5′-10″ | 180 |
| Almeida, Justin | 61 | C | L | 5′-9″ | 158 |
| Angello, Anthony | 57 | RW | R | 6′-5″ | 210 |
| Bellerive, Jordy | 64 | C | L | 5′-10″ | 195 |
| Birks, Dane | 67 | D | R | 6′-2″ | 200 |
| Côté-Cazenave, Tristan | 60 | G | L | 6′-0″ | 183 |
| D’Orio, Alex | 33 | G | R | 6′-2″ | 209 |
| Drozg, Jan | 82 | RW | R | 6′-0″ | 174 |
| Herauf, Jacob | 34 | D | L | 5′-11″ | 190 |
| Johnson, Adam | 47 | LW | L | 6′-0″ | 174 |
| Josephs, Troy | 44 | LW | L | 6′-1″ | 183 |
| Krastenbergs, Renars | 78 | LW | L | 6′-0″ | 185 |
| Lacroix, Cedric | 49 | C | L | 6′-1″ | 183 |
| Lafferty, Sam | 37 | C | R | 6′-1″ | 195 |
| Masonius, Joseph | 70 | D | L | 6′-0″ | 190 |
| McLeod, Wyatt | 32 | D | L | 6′-2″ | 183 |
| Miletic, Sam | 80 | LW | L | 6′-0″ | 197 |
| Olund, Linus | 36 | C | L | 6′-0″ | 185 |
| Palojarvi, Antti | 83 | D | L | 6′-1″ | 176 |
| Propp, Christian | 65 | G | L | 6′-2″ | 183 |
| Roberts, Connor | 45 | RW | R | 6′-4″ | 214 |
| Robertson, Carter | 48 | D | L | 6′-2″ | 181 |
| Taylor, Jeff | 52 | D | L | 5′-11″ | 181 |
| Tiffels, Freddie | 79 | LW | L | 6′-0″ | 192 |
Nick Ritchie?
6-3 223 lb LW
Ducks hasn’t sign him.
Would sign him ?
Oh well, I was hoping to get to watch the Pens’ Prospects play, but I couldn’t/
To update you, they lost to the Bruins’ Prospects 4 – 2. Adam Johnson and Connor Roberts scored for our boys. That is all I have seen so far.
• Another thing Sullivan will tinker with during the preseason is the amount of time he plays Kris Letang.
Maybe it’s more some nights, less others. The challenge will be finding what Sullivan called “a sweet spot.”
“It’s finding that balance,” Sullivan said. “He is a guy who wants to be on the ice all the time. From a fitness standpoint, he’s in great shape. He’s a great skater. He can handle minutes. What we’re trying to do, based on our experience coaching him, is finding that sweet spot where he can be at his very best.”
Letang, of course, has finished among the top eight skaters in the NHL when it comes to average ice time each of the past four seasons. He topped out at 26:57 in 2015-16, which ranked fourth in the NHL.
But serious neck surgery and the fact that Letang is now 31 leaves Sullivan with a simple question: How much is too much?
“Over the course of an 82-game season, managing minutes for guys like him is important to allow him to maintain his peak performance throughout the course of the season,” Sullivan said. “It’s a discussion that we have almost daily after every game with our coaching staff. We’re going to try and do our best to put him in the best possible position to be successful.”
From Jason Mackey
Thoughts ?
I can’t. If Kris Letang is your top #1 defenseman, it say a lot about the problem with your defense. I get it . Betting on him. stop it. From fitness standpoint, he’s in great shape. He’s good skater. IMO. He’s nothing special. That’s fine
Kris Letang’s mental lapses, low hockey iq, bad offensive instincts, bad brutal turnovers, ill advised passes, selfishness,terrible passes to players, unawareness, doing to much on the ice,terrible defense position, bad defensively , leaves his defensive partner vulnerable , injury prone and rides the cock-tails of his teammates etc.. he’s on ther side of 31 with another big injury waiting to happen. He hurting the team than helping the team.
I don’t get it. I understand neck injury, I don’t think Letang should play over 17-20 minutes a night. Penguins balance D should be spread minutes to win hockey games.
Sullivan is giving Kris Letang what he wants, not what the team need every game. That’s a problem. Penguins losing Round 2 speaks for itself.
Kris Letang doesn’t needs to be on the ice all the time. Let others players shine and help the team.
Kris Letang can’t handle minutes.
Nhl teams need to change that mentality that only one defenseman play over 20 minutes. I like it to be spread around among other defenseman .
Take the blinders off.
I feel sorry Dumoulin and Shultz .
I agree with the sentiment that Sprong happens to have more center support and space playing with Sidney Crosby. Geno too. Sprong did it. But he had some lapses that probably frustrated Sullivan. I guess.
I disagree on move players up and down the lineup. I think they need consistency in one spot with the center they are more comfortable to thrive through games. Unless injuries and players having a bad game..
Thought?
Hey Dee,
Tune into my preview on the Penguins D for more on Letang, hopefully I will finish cleaning it up and posting it soon, however, I will say Letang is far from the best defenseman on the club and therefore I agree, he doesn’t deserve more than 20min, and most importantly not during critical points in the game.
Like you, I too feel sorry for Schultz and Dumoulin. Schultz is clearly the best over-all defenseman on the team and he has to play second fiddle to an aging one-dimensional player. As for Dumoulin, I liked what I saw from him all the way back to his first appearance in a Penguins uniform that season when Letang, Orpik, and Scuderi all had protracted injuries and the Penguins were forced to trot out rookie after rookie, including Ulfies son. Therefore I really loved the flashes of offense he showed near the end of the season and play-offs. However, unlike a lot people, I am not yet ready to hand over the keys to the city to him. He has yet to prove himself. Granted most of that may be attributed to having to cover for the veteran Letang, and that is why I feel sorry for him.
I watched Sprong very carefully when he played last season, particularly in the D Zone (on those rare occasions when the opponents did get into the D zone, from what I saw, I would not suggest he is a Selke candidate, but then again, he was actually better Defensively that some other players on this team who kept getting ice time in the NHL. Combining that with his CORSI prowess, he needs to play, at least until Björkvist, Hållander and/or some dark horse comes out of the woodwork to supplant him. Sullivan and a lot of fans read something about him and/or his personality is abrasive to Sullivan so they see what they want to see.
The Other Rick
Honestly, I would like to see two big body great defenseman behind Penguins blue line
on the team. Pedan is gone. Penguins prospects are ok good and very thin within development. Weak pool. I’m happy to see Sam, Jordy and Anthony.
I still think Penguins should go after Trouba or Ristolainen .
They might get traded. I don’t know. Another big body defenseman. 6’4-6’7
Sullivan gotta stop with the one way picking moving defenseman. (Letang)Miscasting players beyond their limitations,Bad pinching , not strong on the boards,get better clear attempts, covering middle of ice and stop giving big minutes to one player. I would like to see Retool D Corp that solid defensively within the system. Sullivan gotta change that. If not . They will continue to struggle with teams that play their game and beat the defenseman up with goals.
Penguins D seems very vulnerable on the boards , neutral zone and covering their man with fowards not committing to defense. Penguins needs some grit, great smooth two way tall Defensemen.
Rutherford and Sullivan are on different pages, imo. I see it.
I understand that coach can want their players. I guess. It tends to hurt the team. It hurt last season and back fire on Sullivan. I’m glad that some players that Sullivan gives favoritism and no accountability are gone. Sheary . I think Rutherford didn’t want to trade Reaves,Cole , Fluery and Gusto . Rutherford wants to move away small players . I understand why he got big guys like Grant and Hayes. Penguins do need to be better with first picks and trades to build around the future.
At the end of day, Penguins trading Kris Letang (maybe three-way deal) and using the first round picks (in the next few years)wisely will open great opportunities for them . Present and future.
The Other Rick
The size thing has always been a head scratcher for me – why is it
that speed is associated with size? I realize most speed burners
are undersized players but there are plenty of guys with size that
skate really well.
I’m really hoping at some point this season JR is able to trade for
a little size / beef at the forward position. I’m afraid if he doesn’t
address the lack of size and physicality issue going into the playoffs
it could be an ingredient for another quick exit.
Looking forward to the Prospect challenge this weekend – great to see
the start of Hockey is right around the corner.
Big Amen to that Mike, on all front.
Although, with the way Anders Lee pummels Penguin Goalies and now Phillie has JVR to park in front of the net, as much as the Pens could use a couple of big Fs, they need to give Oleksiak help too. He can’t be the only guy back there. That is one of the reason I am upset over having Pedan jump to the KHL. Maybe Jack Johnson will be able to help out, but….