Penguins limp into the All Star break: Need Changes for the Stretch Run

“Ahh, but the strawberries that’s… that’s where I had them. They laughed at me and made jokes but I proved beyond the shadow of a doubt and with… geometric logic…” That is what Captain Queeg said in the 1954 classic film The Caine Mutiny. Has anyone here seen it? The Captain of the fictional U.S.S. Caine stubbornly refuses to change course in the face of a typhoon with his ship foundering. The executive officer, Lt. Maryk, mutinies and saves the ship and draws a Court Martial for his troubles.

The quote comes from Lt. Maryk’s court martial, when his defense attorney (played by Jose Ferrer) proves that Captain Queeg is incompetent to save his client. Ferrer shows that Queeg is living in past, reliving the one thing he did really well over and over again. In a mental quagmire, Queeg has a “Ground Hog Day” experience of his shining moment (a moment that occurs years prior to movie setting, when Queeg is just a junior officer) where he proves that a duplicate key had been made. Now, lost in his delusions, Queeg tries to resurrect days of yore by making a mountain out of a mole hill trying to prove a duplicate key was made to steal strawberries from his current ship’s food locker.

Well, that is what I keep hearing every time I watch a Penguins’ game. In 2015-2016 the Penguins’ ship Captain, Mike Sullivan, did his one thing; he created the HBK line and gave the Penguins a three headed monster. Sullivan’s hydra carried the team to a Stanley Cup victory, not just once but twice. First the “B” left (Nick Bonino) via free agency, last year. Now this year, the “H” is gone (Carl Hagelin), departed in a trade for Tanner Pearson. Yet, our own stalwart version of Captain Queeg, Coach Sullivan keeps trying to relive past glories brought to him on the back of the HBK line.

I am sorry Sullivan, there is no HBK line anymore (duplicate key). The team no longer has the talent (at least at this time, on this roster) to support scoring from three lines. This team only has 4 legitimate top 6 forwards and although not old by any stretch of the imagination, 2 of those forwards are no longer what you would call young guns. Furthermore, when an overpaid Defense is as bad as the Penguins’ Defense is, focusing on the strawberries of your once golden hydra, Sullivan, is hurting the team.

The good news for us Penguins fans is that our favorite ship really isn’t in peril of completely floundering yet. The typhoon of the rest of the league copying us, adjusting to us, and blowing past us isn’t a fore drawn conclusion. Even though our favorite flightless fowl are treading water at the fringes of the playoffs now after a lackluster (to say the least) road trip, they really still aren’t that far off from the top spot in the division.

Perhaps bringing up Teddy Blueger this year, or maybe Jordy Bellerive next year could replace the “B” in your HBK line Mr. Sullivan. Blueger did have a tremendous World Tournament this past summer and is now leading our Wilkes Barre – Scranton (WBS) Penguins in scoring. And Bellerive seems to have recovered now from his off season injuries. The Penguins prospect now has 23 goals, 32 assists and is a +12 in 45 games.

Perhaps Adam Johnson could replace Hagelin. He has comparable speed but potentially a better scoring touch.

I would still think fixing the 2nd line, giving Malkin at least 1 top 6 forward to work with on a nightly basis is far more important than your strawberries and duplicate key 3rd line, Mr. Sullivan.

Even more important than that Mr. Sullivan, is fixing your defense. You and Jim Rutherford employ one of the most expensive defenses in the league, but it sure doesn’t act like it. It is said that every so often even a blind squirrel finds a nut, well every so often this defense has a good game or 2 but then reverts right back to letting opponents get between them and their own net.

Yes, Justin Schultz is due back soon and once he gets his game legs back under him, he should provide a boost, but get a clue, that doesn’t mean you now can trade Jamie Oleksiak (there are rumors to that affect). Last year that kid was arguably your 2nd best Defenseman behind only Schultz and the two of them made a lights out pairing.

Barring injuries Brian Dumoulin and Oleksiak are your best 2 left handed Defensemen and Oleksiak is only a $2.1 million cap hit. Olli Määttä at roughly $4.1 million and Jack Johnson $3.25 million are much better trade candidates as odd man out. Furthermore, Juuso Riikola can be hidden in WBS until playoff time. Marcus Pettersson may appear to have some upside, but he is being overplayed to justify a trade. He is not going to replace a Dumoulin, Oleksiak, or Määttä in this lineup.

With Matt Dumba injured, expecting to miss 3 months, maybe the team could find a way to trade Jack Johnson or Määttä with maybe Pettersson, Riikola, or Dominik Simon for Charlie Coyle. I am sure frequent commenter Dee wouldn’t object to that trade. Coyle can play both Right Wing (RW) and Center and therefore add to the Penguins more flexibility.

They could then try and trade Derick Brassard for a cheaper Defenseman to replace which ever Defensemen they would lose in the Coyle trade.

I would still not like their chances of getting past Tampa Bay Lightning or Toronto Maple Leafs, even if they could escape their own division, but I do think that their probability of doing just that would go up exponentially.

Rest up Penguins, rest up and get ready for that stretch run!

Go Sidney Crosby! Go Kris Letang! Shine this coming weekend!