Penguins Collapse: What Went Wrong?

Like most of you out there in Penguins Nation, I’m still trying to digest what happened to our team. How did a season that began with such promise end up in the crapper? As recently as February 18, the Pens were in first place in the Metropolitan Division. Then it all turned to…well…poop.

What went wrong?

I’ll try to address some of what I see in a reasonably coherent manner, starting with our general manager and coach.

Jim Rutherford

While I don’t hold GMJR as accountable as others might, he doesn’t get a free pass, either. It’s the general manager’s job bring in and develop players that give his team the best chance to succeed. Obviously, he fell short.

First, a little frame work. Following our Cup triumph in 2017, there was a noticeable dip in Rutherford’s performance (remember Matt Hunwick and Greg McKegg?) culminating in the disastrous Derick Brassard deal.

While I fully understand JR’s reasoning…he was trying to recreate the HBK dynamic after allowing Nick Bonino to walk…the trade cost us dearly.

At the time, the two-time defending champs were rambling through the 2017-18 homestretch on a 14-3-1 run and humming on all cylinders. But Brassard never embraced his third-line role and we haven’t been the same team since.

In a roundabout way it led to the unfortunate Jack Johnson signing (as a replacement for steady Ian Cole who was shipped out in the Brassard deal) which has proven to be an albatross to both JR and the team.

The downside to his aggressive and sometimes gambling nature. At times grabbing for the brass ring (pun intended) pays off in spades (the original Phil Kessel deal). At other times…

Still, I thought Rutherford regained at least some of his mojo beginning with the second Brassard trade, which netted Nick Bjugstad and Jared McCann. Both showed genuine promise…especially the latter.

I liked the Dominik Kahun for Olli Maatta deal and, while a bit lengthy, the Brandon Tanev signing. I could see where JR was going, trying the recreate the 2015-16 dynamic by adding speed and forward depth. And the John Marino trade? An absolute steal.

He’d lined up a beauty to swap Kessel, who’d worn out his welcome, and Johnson to Minnesota for Jason Zucker (and perhaps Victor Rask), but “Phil the Thrill” vetoed the deal. So Rutherford eventually peddled No. 81 to Arizona for talented but enigmatic Alex Galchenyuk. An admittedly poor fit.

Still, JR was able parlay Galchenyuk (along with Calen Addison and a No. 1 pick) into Zucker in February.

If only he’d stopped there.

Just before the trade deadline, the Pens suddenly blew a gasket. Following a pair of flat-line losses to Toronto and Buffalo, Rutherford was reportedly livid. And when JR gets his dander up…

Feeling a sudden need to fill the “Team Dad” role vacated by Matt Cullen, he acquired 41-year-old graybeard and former All-Star Patrick Marleau from San Jose for a conditional third-round pick. An admittedly low-risk move.

Then, in a shocker, he dealt Kahun, a solid second-tier player who could slot up and down the lineup, to Buffalo for Conor Sheary and Evan Rodrigues.

Following the trades, the Pens went an uninspired 3-5 in the stretch leading up to the covid pause. Worse yet, a squad that seemed so tightly knit earlier in the season suddenly appeared to be searching for an identity, as if they were trying to figure out how the pieces fit. Struggles that were evident in the recent qualifying round.

As the late Kenny Rodgers once sang, “You’ve got to know when to hold ’em. Know when to fold ’em.” In this instance, I think Rutherford overreached.

Mike Sullivan

People far more knowledgeable than I regard Mike Sullivan as an excellent coach. He seems to be very highly regarded in the hockey world. Contrary to what my esteemed colleague Other Rick might say, you don’t win two Stanley Cups by accident.

Yet, for the second spring in a row, Sullivan was badly outcoached by a peer who preaches structure and discipline. Last year it was Barry Trotz. This season…Claude Julien.

It’s beginning to look like Dan Bylsma all over again. He couldn’t solve defensive-oriented teams, either.

I’m no x’s and o’s guy. But Sullivan seemed to make precious few adjustments throughout the series, either tactically or personnel-wise. Once Montreal became the home team, affording Julien the last line change and favorable match-ups, we were overwhelmed.

Too, there’s his stubborn streak if not downright intransigence when it comes to playing his guys. It was evident from the start of the qualifying round that Marleau (minus-4, 34.3 Corsi) had nothing left. Yet Sully penciled him in each game over younger players such as Sam Lafferty, who might have made a difference with his speed and willingness to battle.

We’ll never really know because Lafferty got precious little time to prove himself. Despite dishing out a couple of big hits and being noticeable with his speed and energy early in Game Three, the Hollidaysburg native was on the ice for the opening goal. Predictably, he was tethered to the bench after that.

It’s an area where Sullivan has really fallen down…developing young players. When we were winning Cups, he not only took a chance on kids such as Sheary, Tom Kuhnhackl, Bryan Rust and Scott Wilson, but he gave them prominent roles and they delivered. In his biggest coup, he rode rookie netminder Matt Murray to two Stanley Cups.

Since then, he seems almost allergic to youth. Lafferty’s the poster child, but there are others, too. Juuso Riikola and speedy Adam Johnson come to mind.

Perhaps Sullivan’s at cross purposes, feeling he can’t win Stanley Cups while letting the youngsters play through their mistakes. But it led to him overtaxing his top three lines in January and February, exhausting guys who were already stretched thin due to injuries. I’m not sure we ever really recovered.

We could’ve sorely used a groomed and confident Riikola with his mouthwatering array of skills in place of the bumbling Jack Johnson against Montreal. The price you pay for not developing the kids. When the veterans go down there’s no one to turn to.

While we’re on the subject of players, I think Sullivan wields too much power and authority when it comes to personnel decisions. Rutherford has tried at various times to introduce a different element into the lineup by acquiring players like Ryan Reaves, Jamie Oleksiak and Erik Gudbranson.

With almost zero exceptions, Sullivan sours on them. It’s almost like watching a tennis match. Rutherford serves ‘em up, and the Pens’ coach slams ‘em right back.

As a result, virtually everybody on the team is roughly the same size and carries the same skill set. Phil Guentzel, Teddy Blueger, Zucker, Tanev, Sheary…it’s literally like they’re cranked out of an assembly line with “Sully Guy” stamped on them.

That’s no good. You’ve gotta have some size and gristle. You’ve gotta have some players who go in and battle…who relish physical confrontations. The only guys we have like that are Patric Hornqvist and Tanev. With everyone else it’s a perfunctory duty and it showed.

With their playoff lives on the line, the Pens had no one who could just go get the puck and possess it. As a result, everything came from the perimeter.

Perimeter teams don’t win Stanley Cups.

The Players

I’m not going to delve too deep into who’s culpable and who’s not. The problem areas were pretty obvious. The third pairing of Johnson and Justin Schultz was an unmitigated disaster (a combined minus-8).

Dear Lord, what happened to Schultz? So good during the Cup years, so bad now. A writer from another blog opined that he’s never really recovered from the broken ankle he suffered in 2018. Whatever the reasons, it’s sad to see him devolve like this.

Marleau was complete dead weight (a minus-21 in 5-on-5 shot attempts). Shame on Sullivan for not trying another option. Although reputed to be a good defensive forward, Zach Aston-Reese appeared to do nothing positive and was on the ice for several critical goals against.

McCann–who finished the season on a 25-game goalless skein–didn’t exactly shine, either, although he was saddled with Marleau. Murray had his moments, just not enough of them.

In the end, too many passengers and not enough drivers.

Perhaps the biggest shortfall was the third line. Actually shortfall is kind…black hole is more like it. All of our recent Cup teams featured strong third lines. In 2009, it was the buzz-saw trio of Jordan Staal, Matt Cooke and Tyler Kennedy. In 2016, and to a lesser extent 2017, it was the HBK Line. In fact, the Bonino-Kessel-Carl Hagelin unit led all black-and-gold lines in postseason scoring in ’16.

I’ll conclude with a Captain Obvious observation. There are a heck of a lot of holes and a ton of work to be done in order to return this team to anything resembling a contender. It’ll be interesting to see who oversees the reconstruction.

Before the series began, Other Rick…only half in jest…said if the Pens weren’t going to win the Cup (which we both doubted), he hoped they’d lose in the qualifying round so they’d have a shot at drafting phenom Alexis Lafreniere.

Well, my friend, you got your wish.