I confess, I can’t take sole credit for this article. There’s an excellent piece on Pensburgh written by Gretz titled, “What kind of team are the Penguins?” that provided quite a bit of inspiration. He does an outstanding job of writing about what I’ve been struggling to describe throughout the fall.
Namely, that our present Penguins have a bolted-together, Frankenstein feel to them. Especially among the bottom-six forwards.
Gretz mentioned that this team feels a lot like the 2013-14 version at the end of the Ray Shero/Dan Bylsma era and he’s right. That group featured two scoring lines and essentially two fourth lines. The bottom six was strewn with players like Taylor Pyatt, Chuck Kobasew, Marcel Goc, Matt D’Agostini, Brian Gibbons and Jayson Megna. Veterans who were past their primes and kids who never had one.
Hardly a roll call of black-and-gold greats.
No surprise then that come playoff crunch time, that squad couldn’t hang with the deeper, more balanced Rangers.
Does a similar fate await our current crop?
How does that old saying go? A failure to plan is a plan to fail? Indeed, there seems to have been very little planning in terms of adding players over the fall. Colton Sceviour just kind of showed up as part of the Mike Matheson deal and, well, okay, I guess we’re forced to take him so suddenly he’s part of our mix.
We acquire Evan Rodrigues from Buffalo last spring, don’t really use him, trade him to Toronto in the Kasperi Kapanen deal, and then run out and sign him on the first day of free agency. Is he really a valued piece? It sure doesn’t seem that way, does it?
This stands in stark contrast to Rutherford’s early work, especially in 2015-16. Nick Bonino, Matt Cullen, Trevor Daley, Carl Hagelin and, of course, Phil Kessel. Each player was targeted for a specific skill set and purpose. Needless to say, it worked out…in spades.
So when did Rutherford stop operating to a plan, or at least one that isn’t constantly shifting like the tide? Good question. As near as I can tell, it was somewhere after the original Derick Brassard trade at the 2018 deadline. Agree with the deal or not, JR definitely had a purpose in mind…to recreate the HBK dynamic sans Bonino. Good on paper and maybe even admirable. It just didn’t work out as we’d hoped.
The wheel-spinning began in earnest the following season. Hagelin was traded for Tanner Pearson, who was dealt months later for Erik Gudbranson. Around the time JR tried to reacquire Hagelin. In the meantime, guys like Ryan Reaves, Jamie Oleksiak and, yes Gudbranson, came and went. Brassard, too.
It’s like watching them spin through a revolving door. In and out.
Frankly, Rutherford seems to have been chasing his tail ever since.
Training Camp Roster
The Penguins have invited 40 players training camp, including 23 forwards, 13 defensemen and four goaltenders. Here’s the list.
Forwards — Anthony Angello, Zach Aston-Reese, Teddy Blueger, Sidney Crosby, Josh Currie, Frederick Gaudreau, Jake Guentzel, Mark Jankowski, Kasperi Kapanen, Sam Lafferty, Nathan Legare, Evgeni Malkin, Jared McCann, Sam Miletic, Jordan Nolan, Drew O’Connor, Sam Poulin, Evan Rodrigues, Bryan Rust, Colton Sceviour, Brandon Tanev, Radim Zohorna, Jason Zucker.
Defensemen — Cody Ceci, Kevin Czuczman, Brian Dumoulin, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Cam Lee, Kris Letang, Josh Maniscalco, John Marino, Mike Matheson, Marcus Pettersson, Jussi Riikola, Chad Ruhwedel, Zach Trotman.
Goaltenders — Casey DeSmith, Alex D’Orio, Tristan Jarry, Maxime Lagace.
Rick
This is part of what I mentioned in an earlier post – one JR / Sully take a player
who initially struggles and immediately get rid of him “zero patience” and two
we have no structure personnel-wise when we create our 3rd and 4th lines.
I’m not sure how the new acquisitions will play out but for me, it was a good
sign when we let Simon and Sheary leave. The two of them are perfect examples of players not good enough to crack the top 6 and don’t have the needed playing style to work on the 3rd or 4th lines.
Even though this group appears to be slapped together with tape I do believe we’ve added a couple of players capable of playing their roles in the bottom six.
It should be interesting. Look forward to your feedback.
GO PEN’S
Hi Mike,
Great comments as always. As you so aptly noted, the Pens showed next-to-no patience with so many guys…Reaves, Oleksiak, Pearson, Gudbranson, Bjugstad, Sheahan, Brassard…the list goes on and on (and on).
I’m not saying some of these guys didn’t deserve a quick hook, but still. Some barely had time to find an apartment while they were here.
I do agree about Simon and Sheary…they weren’t effective in a top-six or bottom-six role. And I like your comment about the third and fourth lines maybe working out despite being scotch-taped together…lol.
Pittsburgh Hockey Now wrote glowingly about Evan Rodrigues…I guess he had an outstanding second camp last year. Why they didn’t play him in the postseason is beyond me. Some think Samuel Poulin is NHL ready, and he certainly adds some interesting elements. And I like Sam Lafferty, so who knows? Maybe the bottom six fleshes out okay.
We can only hope…
Rick
PS–Mike, I have to ask. Are you originally from Pittsburgh? And are you around my age (I’m 63)? Your comments about the 1974-75 team made me curious.
Yes and Yes!!
Rick
I just saw where Chara signed a one year deal for 795K. I know the
guy has slowed down but for that price, the Pens should of grabbed
him. The Caps keep adding size and we keep getting smaller.
GO PENS
I hear ya, Mike.
I remember when we had Hal Gill. Won a Cup with him in ’09. He wasn’t much of a skater, but when he spread his arms out he literally took up an entire side of the ice by himself.
He was a big reason Montreal beat us in 2010. We just couldn’t get around or through him.
Yeah…Ovechkin, Wilson, Hathaway, Dillon, Oshie and Chara. The Caps are going to be a pain (literally) to play against.
Rick
PS–Where in Pittsburgh? I grew up in Bethel Park.
This article is ridiculous. The Pen’s plans are obvious. Bring in speed and get younger. Bring in a big body to replace Johnson. Mission accomplished. The top 6, the Bleuger line, the defense and the goalies are set based on the plan. McCann is fine as a 3rd liner.
So out of a 22/23 man roster, you are saying the team looks haphazard because you don’t like 2 players? Everyone seems to forget that Rutherford explicitly stated that e wanted the 3C to be a strong defensive player. So that’s what he got. So Jankowski was far from a haphazard addition. So now you’re down to one player to complain about.
Going back two years, JR said he wanted to address the lack of young defenseman in the system. This lead to getting Marino, Petersson, POJ and Matheson. JR has always had a plan, stated it publicly and followed it. Whether you like the plan or not is another story. But JR’s action have always been far from haphazard.
In fact, JR followed the plan he laid out to a T as usual. But people want to constantly whine about something. The haphazardness is in the thinking of posts like yours, not in JR’s moves.
of players? That’s an absurd generalization. McCann is fine, so it actually comes down to 2 players. You are complaining the Pens look haphazard because you don’t like 2 players at the bottom of he line up? Yes it would be nice to have better players.
This constant whining about players lasting a short time is pointless. What difference does make? All that matters is who is on the team right now.
I stand by what I wrote. If you go back to our Cup teams, there was very little turnover from the first season to the second. The pieces were firmly in place.
Of course, there’s some luck involved with that. But also a lot of good work in identifying the right players.
Now it seems as if a third of the team turns over every season. I’m not saying guys should stay if they aren’t worthwhile. But to me it means we’re operating from more of a reactionary mode than actually driving positive change.
As for your assertion that Rutherford accomplished his goal to make the Pens younger and faster, did he really? Cody Ceci is a plow horse…a virtual Jack Johnson clone. Jankowski moves well for a big guy, but he’s not going to win a fastest skater competition.
You say McCann will be fine. Really? Who’s going to get him the puck? Jankowski has some ability, but he’s not much of playmaker and he’s streaky. Even during his good seasons he went long stretches without showing up on the score sheet. A problem last year with McCann and other members of the bottom six.
Maybe Rodrigues works as a setup man off the right side. He has comparatively high assist totals and he skated with Jack Eichel in college. But he’s an unknown commodity at this stage.
I think we all would feel better had JR acquired an established piece for the third line. I know you don’t like Haula, but he’s a proven producer and he would’ve fit our style.
And, honestly, I don’t know what role Sceviour is supposed to fill. But he sure isn’t going to score (11 goals over the past two seasons). Taxi squad material.
So did JR really work to a plan and fill our needs as you assert? Or did he just plug gaps with the nearest available warm bodies?
You tell me.
More important, do we burn another year off the fading primes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang with hit-or-miss experiments in team building?
Rick
Hey Rick,
You don’t need to defend what you wrote, it was spot on. Getting faster and younger does not equal having a plan, particularly when the faster and younger players are almost all reclamation projects. Picking up this many cast-offs is the embodiment of poking and hoping, not planning. Planning would have begun after the loss in the Capital Series two years ago.
Reactionary GMing started here in Pgh after beating Nashville for the 2nd Cup and has progressively gotten worse.
Capital loss, 3 seasons ago, sorry typo
Don’t listen to him.. your article is right on..
I think Rutherford is making knee jerk reactions at the end of a playoff exit.
The last few seasons he didn’t let some of the new players get comfortable or some confidence, they were tossed aside and new players injected.
One thing I can say( As you guys know I am not a fan of Jimmy) the defense could be a bright spot but if they fail…. it will be a bad season.
A lot of if’s!!!
If Mark does very well with McCann on 3rd line, it will make us even better.
It does feel though that the team is kinda bandaged or duct tape together…. including the D and bottom 6.
Thank you, Pens4ever.
Overall, I think JR’s been in reactionary mode for a while. I’m not saying he hasn’t done some good work, but for every good deal there’s been a clunker in the mix. Not that you’re always going to get it right…no GM does. But it just seems he’s been more hit or miss the past couple of seasons.
I have hope for some of these guys, too. Specifically, Kapanen and Matheson and maybe (maybe) Jankowski. And I agree, the defense could be a bright spot. We certainly have depth back there. So it isn’t all negative.
I think it all boils down to the third line and how the pieces fit. Mark Madden on the Trib suggested Teddy Blueger, McCann and Brandon Tanev on the third line. That just might work.
Then you could go with a combo of Jankowski, Lafferty and maybe Rodrigues (or Angello) on the fourth line, with Zach Aston-Reese slotting in when he returns.
I guess we’ll see how it shakes out.
Rick