Based on comments made in a recent interview with Mark Madden, it sounds as if Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford isn’t planning any more major moves, save for dealing a goaltender (most likely Matt Murray) and signing a couple of RFAs.
It makes me wonder. Are the Pens built to succeed in today’s NHL?
You see, things have changed quite a bit since our guys won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and ’17. In the wake of the Pens’ dual triumphs other clubs rushed to emulate our “speed kills” approach, mostly notably Carolina, Toronto and newly crowned champion Tampa Bay.
However, when Washington derailed the Pens’ three-peat attempt and captured the Cup in 2018 with a style that blended skill and structure with a physical edge, the pendulum began to swing back in the other direction. The trend continued to reverse when St. Louis triumphed in 2019 with a muscular, defense-first, grind ‘em down approach.
Need further proof that speed doesn’t always kill? Fueled by three 40-goal scorers and a mobile, puck-moving defense, the Lightning blew through 2018-19 regular season like an electrical storm on steroids, compiling a stunning record of 62-16-4 and 128 points. A lock to hoist Lord Stanley’s chalice, right?
Wrong.
The Bolts were swept in the opening round of the playoffs by the heavy, structured Columbus Blue Jackets. After racing to a 3-0 first-period lead in Game 1, the Lightning withered in the face of a Jackets counterattack.
The last three games weren’t even close. Columbus outscored the stunned Presidents’ Trophy winners by a lopsided 15-5 margin.
General manager Julien BriseBois recognized his team had been out-toughed and out-gritted and went about making the proper adjustments.
He parted with skill players like Pittsburgh-native J.T. Miller and Anton Strahlman and added a muscular presence in massive Pat Maroon, fresh off a Cup with the Blues.
BriseBois also signed a pair of rugged free-agent defensemen in Luke Schenn and Luke Witkowski to handle the policing chores. At the trade deadline he added two more players who embraced a hard-nosed style, power forward Blake Coleman and defenseman Zach Bogosian.
Buoyed by the infusion of muscle, the Lightning possessed the necessary underpinning of gristle to complement their front-line talent and speed. On the road to the Cup they did a little intimidating of their own against some pretty rugged competition in Columbus, Boston and the Islanders.
Anchoring a bruising, effective third line, Coleman and Maroon were front and center in the Cup-clinching Game 6, combining on Tampa Bay’s second goal. Coleman led all playoff performers with 126 hits, nine more than runner-up Jamie Oleksiak of Dallas (remember him?).
A very long-winded story to make a much-needed point.
As currently constructed, our Pens possess plenty of speed and skill. And they’re not a timid bunch by any stretch. Everyone in the lineup competes. But they’re seriously lacking in good old-fashioned snarl. Especially with kamikaze forward Patric Hornqvist now sporting the red, gold and blue of the Florida Panthers.
The Pens’ approach may work in the regular season, much as it did for the Lightning in ’18-19. But when the intensity gets amped up in the playoffs and teams really start to hit and compete, who’s going to step up and answer the bell? Brandon Tanev? Sam Lafferty (unsigned as of this post)? Evgeni Malkin?
You get my point. At present, there’s a dearth of Coleman/Maroon types in our lineup.
Perhaps prospect Samuel Poulin will earn a spot. He’s got some size (6’2” 216) and physicality and is good in traffic. Or maybe hulking Anthony Angello will work his way into the lineup, although he hasn’t been signed yet.
A side note to Rutherford and coach Mike Sullivan. The aforementioned Maroon won’t ever win a fastest skater competition. Yet he’s been a vital cog on the past two Cup winners.
Is any of this sinking in?
I sure hope so.
Without any type of real physical presence, the Pens will once again likely be Cup pretenders instead of contenders.
Hi Rick,
The simple answer is NO ! The ownership should have sold this team long a go when they had the chance. Now with Covid and the future of many NHL sports teams in question, the state of the current Penguins is dismal at best.
The team needs a complete over haul that will take at least 6-8 years to accomplish and will Pens fans continue to pay high ticket prices to watch a losing team for that long? No !
We have no First draft pick for the next TWO years . Hard to rebuild with no top draft choices and the GM keeps trading them away.
The current team itself is to small,to old,NO Cap space,No high end talent in the minors, and has a Coach, GM and one particular Owner who is out of touch with today’s NEW NHL. This is the final season of the Crosby era Penguins and now we must rebuild COMPLETELY.
Nobody wants to hear that Rick !
What I am afraid of Rick, with no Cap space, no top end talent in the farm system, is the coming Pen’s team for 2021 will be LESS talented than the one in 2020 that just got beat by 70% of the league.
Many NHL teams have at least 4 or 5 young future stars in their minor systems to help them get better eventually. We may have one in Poulin. Maybe…
Please prove me wrong….
Cheers
Jim
Hey Jim,
Spot on! my friend.
The sad thing is, it didn’t have to be this way. The current state of disrepair is self-inflicted. As you mention, JR loves to trade away 1st round picks in the hopes of getting a high priced veteran that has yet to pan out. but more importantly he holds on to players until their stock has dropped, usually out of sentiment. So rather than buying low and selling high, he is buying high and selling low.
As for Cap space, again self-inflicted, He trades away bad contracts (Hornqvist) for worse contracts (Matheson). But even before that, he was the one to give Hornqvist the bad contract to begin with, but now add to that the contracts JR handed to Hunwick, Johnson, and Pettersson and you see where the problem lies.
The only pass I give JR is on the smallness of the team, that is squarely obstinate Sullivan. JR has tried in the past to get bigger players, but they just languish on the bench until they are traded.
Every Penguins team since 2015-2016 was a weaker, less talented team compared to the one before it but like people with a gambling addiction the team thinks it can break the bank with one more dice roll, one more pull on the slot lever.
I am not sure if there really is a new NHL though. It seems to me that the Penguins two Cups were an anomaly. The balance that the Bolts had this year has been a paradigm for years, combine speed and talent with some size and grit, Ownership may still be out of touch but only so far as the idea that a team full of one type of player can win the Cup, a one trick pony is not a champion long.
I would like to think we have two future NHLers in both Poulin and Legare. I liked what I saw of Legare last preseason, skating with Lafferty and Bjorkqvist. They were the best line. However, even with Poulin, I am not willing to anoint any prospect, just willing to give them all a chance. We already know players like Simon can’t score at the NHL level and players like ZAR are a dime a dozen, so all 6 bottom Forward slots should be up for grabs (maybe even 8 – Crosby, Malkin, Guentzel, and Rust may be the only ones safe) as well as 4 of the 6 D-spots.
There is always hope, even if it is faint, during the off-season, so I’ll join you in that invocation, please prove us wrong Penguins.
Well said Coach !!
Hey Rick,
Good stuff, Oldie material – we have been preaching it for a couple of years now, but on target.
And that gets to the heart of my angst over the Hornqvist trade, not only did the team give up toughness up front but it added to its already over flowing icecapades defense. There is no balance what so ever on the Blue line. It is chalked full of puck moving, slick defensemen with an aversion to physical contact.
Worse than that the slick puck moving defenseman they added also has trouble holding on to the puck, a recipe for disaster.
I am already feeling sympathy for the Penguins Goalies. They will be facing more odd man breaks from more Gv and worse, they still won’t have anyone clearing the shooting lanes for them to see what’s coming. JR is going to need to sign Peter Parker, and maybe his Spider Sense will help him sense where the shots are going since his eyes will be taken away by opposing Wingers that Pens D – men can’t or don’t have the will to move out of the way.
It goes back to Reeves, Gubrandson, Olekisiak will fight you, puck in face Cole – How did they come to be left go ? Marios model, loved that Paul Coffey could get him the puck, but the defensive D like Dumoulin are rare to stick. Then we have JJ, maybe slowing down like for his age. The idea that Vegas has used to deploy Reeves line is just a joy to watch. We have speedy little tenacious guys, but enter Wilson, and someone gets punched in the noggin. The third line was never so obvious in the 90 cups, because Ron Francis is he HOF , yet ? Even Jordon was a good two way center here. Another difficulty is working with guys making 3x your salary, can that explain the Brassard, Bjugstad, Bonino, not fitting ?