To borrow from the Penguins’ slogan for the 1982-83 season, We have a hockey team?! As you may infer from my purposefully ambiguous punctuation, I’m now cautiously optimistic about our playoff chances. A far cry from where I stood only a couple of weeks ago.
Shows what a 4-0-1 run can do for your outlook.
Seemingly out of the blue, we’re resembling a team not far removed from back-to-back Cups, rather than the languid collection of underachievers that muddled through the majority of the campaign. Not coincidentally, the troops are displaying a crispness and chemistry that hasn’t been evident since the ill-fated trade that brought Derick Brassard to town over a year ago.
Following Sidney Crosby’s impassioned lead (my word has Sid been amazing) our Pens are oozing fire and purpose. They’ve displayed more than a cursory interest in their defensive chores. Thanks in no small part to the muscular presence of newly acquired Erik Gudbranson, we’re more showing considerably more backbone, too.
Indeed, Gudbranson’s symbolic flattening of brawny Blue Jacket Boone Jenner during Thursday night’s impressive 3-0 whitewashing of Columbus represented a paradigm shift between the bitter Metro Division rivals in terms of physical play. A point reinforced by our 48 hits and Garrett Wilson’s tete-a-tete with Jackets’ captain Nick Foligno.
To lift a line from the comedy flick “Johnny Dangerously,” we got spunk…we got spirit…we got verve.
Give general manager Jim Rutherford credit. Yeah, he’s made some clunkers. However, following a string of questionable deals and signings, he appears to have regained his touch. Trades that sent Brassard, Tanner Pearson and Riley Sheahan packing effectively stripped the passengers from the Pens’ lineup–a luxury we could ill-afford–while energizing a heretofore moribund bunch.
Ditto the deal that sent problem prodigy Daniel Sprong to Anaheim for defenseman Marcus Pettersson, a solid addition to the blue line.
Although Jamie Oleksiak didn’t exactly fit in the passenger group, I rate Gudbranson an upgrade thus far in terms of consistency and intensity. He’s vocal and a leader to boot. You can never have enough of those guys in your dressing room.
Speaking of the defense, I really like the look of our current group. Justin Schultz and Jack Johnson have blended like peas and carrots. While the former enjoys a Lazarus-like recovery from a broken leg, the latter continues a remarkable resurgence from a rocky start in the ‘Burgh, leading the club in hits (199) and blocked shots (124). Since December 4, Johnson’s a plus-10. Highly respectable.
Gudbranson and Pettersson look comfortable, too.
“He’s a steady guy and very easy to play with,” Pettersson said of his newest partner. “He adjusted very well to our style of play. We can build off that.”
Heck, Zach Trotman–arguably our No. 10 d-man–hasn’t looked the least bit out of place while nudging rookie Juuso Riikola to the press box. I rate Trotman ahead of both Riikola and the injured Chad Ruhwedel in terms of overall effectiveness.
Up front, Jared McCann has added youth, scoring punch (six goals in 17 games) and aggression to the mix, along with some much-needed speed. Nick Bjugstad hasn’t had the same impact, but he’s provided size and a certain dogged determination, not to mention the versatility to play wing or center, as does McCann.
When Bryan Rust returns, hopefully dislodging a slumping Dominik Simon (four assists in his past 16 games), I like our forward group. Thanks in no small part to JR’s moves, it’s a nice blend of skill and grunt, youth and experience. If we could add a dash more speed…perhaps in the form of blazing Baby Pen Adam Johnson…I’d really be pleased.
I’ll save the best for last. And tip my hat to PenguinPoop colleague, Other Rick, for his unwavering support of Matt Murray. Since returning from the IR on December 15, Murray’s quietly regained his Cup-winning form to the tune of a stunning .931 save percentage.
If he stays healthy?
Suddenly, I’m excited about our chances to make a little hay come the postseason.
Hey Rick,
Great stuff and thanks for the shout out.
I am not yet ready to order my playoff tickets though. The fact that Simon is still getting ice time concerns me. I would seem to me to be evidence that Sullivan will go back to business as usual once the IR list shrinks again. It would seem to me that A Johnson would be a better fit for this team than Simon, but like Sheary last year, Simon will always get ice time unless JR trades him.
And since you brought up Sprong, that is my biggest beef over Sprong. As I mentioned yesterday to you down the gym, I have heard from many sources (Kids that have played against Sprong) that the kid has the personality of sandpaper, so although I really do not, nor ever (despite some peoples perceptions) supported Sprong as a long term Penguin. However, if my alternate choices were Sheary or Simon, I would always take Sprong. I would put up with his personality until I could make a true upgrade.
I do think that long term the Sprong trade will workout. Long term I do think Pettersson could be a solid D man but he still makes many mistakes and needs to put on some muscle. If this team had gone into the season with real NHL defensemen, then Pettersson could ease his way into the NHL but the team is D man bereft. Outside of Dumoulin, Schultz, Gudbranson, and yes Johnson (I do think that he has gotten better over time), the team is weak in quality defensemen.
Yes, I do think Trotman has been an upgrade and may be an answer, but with only a handful of games under his belt I will hold off on a definitive statement. And as I wrote above, I do think Pettersson could end up a good D man (Same goes for Riikola), maybe next season. However, what concerns me is the lack of depth. Bump Trotman and Pettersson out and put beck Maatta and Letang and I worry about the number of quality shots opponents will start getting again.
I do disagree to some extent with you about Oleksiak – Gudbranson. First, I think that is like comparing apples to oranges, one is a left D man one is a right, one is more of a fighter the other has better moves. In the end, I think the team would have been in a better place, playoff wise if they had kept Oleksiak and traded Simon or Ruhwedel or both to get the assets necessary for the other trades.
Again, I don’t dislike Pettersson, but a D that had Dumoulin, Johnson, Oleksiak, Schultz, Gudbranson, and Trotman would look better to me.
As for JR. he is a hit or miss man in his trades but his misses would seem more to be due to his coach not being on the same page as what JR wants. If you recall, I was not a fan of JR swapping a 1st pick and a center for Reaves and a 2nd pick. Despite acknowledging the team needed more grit after watching Subban getting away with murder against Crosby in the Cup Finals, I said Sullivan would never play him and I was pretty much right. Sullivan grudingly gave him 3 – 4 minutes of TOI until the Willie O’Ree celebration, then Sullivan roughly doubled his ice time to a whopping 6-7 minutes.
Then Sullivan forced JRs hand with his limited use of Cole and Reaves to deal them for an even less effective Brassard, sending a 1st round pick a former 1st round pick, Cole, and Reaves for Brassard and Lindberg. Wow what a clunker of a trade – but lets face it Sullivan pressured JR into that pathetic trade.
Fortunately JR may have salvaged that debacle by trading Brassard and Sheahan for McCann and Bjugstad. It is still early but McCann is looking really good and Bjugstad has been an upgrade over Brassard and Sheahan too. Bjugstad has as many with the Penguins as Brassard and Sheahan have combined (4) including that beauty last game going backhand to forehand causing half of CBJs skaters to play Twister to try but fail to catch up. Combined McCann and Bjugstad have 10 goals since coming here – looks like a bit of improved secondary scoring.
I am seeing a bit of a silver lining but I will be a whole lot happier if our Pens win again tonight and take at least take 3 of the 6 points up for grabs over the next 3 games (Boston, Washington, and Buffalo).
Speaking of which; if you are coach (anyone) do you play Murray on the front end, back end or both games of this back-to-back? (CBJ – Bos)
Rick – you once again hit the nail on the head.
This has always been my problem with quoting numbers “they lie” – 80% of the
Pen’s fan base was killing Rutherford for bringing in Gudbranson – their disgust
was solely based on numbers. He’s been way more than steady and actually show’s signs of grabbing a goal or two.
Tongue in cheek (maybe not) – I could get grilled for saying this but I do believe
it holds some merit. The Pen’s are a much better team defensively with Letang out of the lineup. I know you’ll understand my comparison to basketball – when one of your elite players has the green light to take bad shots it becomes contagious. I think the same rings true with the Pen’s defensively – Letang although putting up points offensively he has the green light to gamble and expose the team to odd man breaks. Correct me if I’m wrong but it seems obvious to me that since Letang was injured the odd man breaks have been few
and far between. “Your thoughts”
One last point – I couldn’t agree with you more on Simon – he has a decent feel
and skill set but we need someone that can convert their chances. I’m not a
Simon hater – I think he’s a great guy to have when your hit with injuries.
Hey Mike,
Thought I’d jump in on the question you asked (re Letang).
I was saying something very similar to what you wrote several times yesterday, in conversations I had with several Pens fans that I ran into, including Rick B. That is why I have always pushed for a Letang trade. This team seems to play a whole lot better defensively when Letang is out of the line up. That is why I still wish the Pens had traded him and Maatta before they got hurt. The team is playing better defensively and they would have freed up to $11 mil in Cap.
I don’t want to be completely negative about the Pens Right Handed D man, he does have great offensive skills and is one of the few Penguins D me that have played physical and tried to protect their goalie instead of stick waving, despite being one of the smaller D men.
Nor do I want to dis Maatta, he is young and has good instincts but, Suddenly, so far, the D is looking a lot better.