Will a Lack of Youth, Grit Derail Penguins’ Quest for a Cup?

In the mid-1990s, the Penguins still were a most formidable team. Only a couple of seasons removed from back-to-back Stanley Cups, they featured no fewer than six future Hall-of-Famers, including Ron Francis, Joey Mullen, Larry Murphy, Luc Robitaille, Bryan Trottier and the incomparable Mario Lemieux, to say nothing of greats like Jaromir Jagr and freight-train-on-skates Kevin Stevens.

Despite the glittering array of talent, the 1993-94 squad underachieved during the regular season before being ousted in the first round of the playoffs by the vastly inferior Washington Capitals. Although better, the 1994-95 Pens bowed in the second round to eventual Cup winner New Jersey.

Something clearly was missing.

A glance at the rosters is revealing. The ‘93-94 squad was stocked with nine players age 30 or older…ironically the same number as our present bunch. The ‘94-95 team…a dozen. Indeed, the Penguins of the early ‘90s morphed rather rapidly from a team where youth was served into a veritable old-folks home for aging veterans.

On closer inspection, the 1991 champs featured three rookies who figured prominently in the Cup triumph, Jagr and first-year defensemen Jim Paek and Paul Stanton. Speedy Shawn McEachern and Mike Needham bolstered the black and gold during the ‘92 playoff run.

After that? The locals increasingly turned to 30-somethings like Norm Maciver, Troy Murray and Dave Tippett to flesh out the roster. Good players all, but hardly ones who provided youthful enthusiasm.

Perhaps not by coincidence, the Pens stopped winning Cups.

It’s beginning to seem like deja vu all over again. Having earned the trust of coach Mike Sullivan, then-kids Brian Dumoulin, Tom Kuhnhackl, Matt Murray, Bryan Rust and Conor Sheary were underrated (some would say vital) cogs in 2016. Yet along with Scott Wilson, who filled a valuable puck-hunting role in 2017, Kuhnhackl and Sheary have moved on. So has Josh Archibald, another speedy scrambler.

Time for a fresh batch of kids.

Yet GM Jim Rutherford’s filling those bottom-six slots with the likes of Derek Grant (28), Jimmy Hayes (29) and 42-year-old Matt Cullen…aka “Team Dad.” While I like the fact that Grant and Hayes are large and Cullen…ultra-popular…brings a bounty of leadership and experience, I’m concerned about a lack of speed and spark.

It’s starting to remind me a little of 2013-14, when retreads like Chuck Kobasew, Taylor Pyatt and the eminently forgettable Matt D’Agostini dotted the bottom six.

In particular, I’m concerned about the mix on the fourth line. During our recent back-to-back triumphs, Sullivan was able to roll four lines. Last season, not so much. It’s one of the main reasons the Pens failed to three-peat. It’ll stop us again if we don’t come up with a reasonably effective unit.

Ideally, the fourth line serves as the team’s power plant…its energy source. Fast and aggressive, combining a degree of skill with a physical bent. Tailored to track down loose pucks, bang bodies and apply heat to opposing defenders. Picture a pack of hounds on a fox hunt.

It’s a perfect role for hungry young kids. Wind ‘em up and turn ‘em loose.

Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of those guys in the system, at least not ones who are NHL ready. Second-year pro Adam Johnson has speed to burn, but he’s a center by trade and we’re comparatively stacked down the middle. Ditto Thomas DiPauli. Neither possesses the innate physicality I prefer.

Zach Aston-Reese does, but he’s not fast. I like him in a more elevated role where his hands and hockey smarts come into play, as opposed to serving strictly as a fourth-line mucker. While skilled, Dominik Simon and Daniel Sprong don’t fit the bill in terms of providing grit and adrenaline.

Factor in our gifted but aging core? I fear there will be far too many nights when the Pens lack the spirit and collective hop to compete, especially in the trenches.

While I’m airing my concerns, I’m worried about a lack of muscle, too. Like a trip-hammer driving a box of black-and-gold nails, the Capitals pounded us in the playoffs last spring. We simply had no answer.

Did I mention they just inked marauder and noted Penguin maimer Tom Wilson to a six-year deal?

“Big Rig” Jamie Oleksiak and newcomer Jack Johnson should provide the requisite gristle on the blue line. But I fret over our lack of shove up front.

A couple of kids with some speed, sand and moxie sure would help.