Penguins Three Bricks Shy of a Load?

As we so often do, Other Rick and I were talking about the Penguins off-season moves and discussing our chances for the coming season. As we spoke, I opined that our boys are about three players short of being a solid team. Or to borrow from Roy Blount Jr.’s classic book about the 1973 Steelers, about three bricks shy of a load.

The three problem spots to my eye? Third-line center, right defense and goal.

Hold the phone, you say. Didn’t general manager Jim Rutherford address those areas of need over the past several weeks? Well, sort of. But addressing them and addressing them effectively are two entirely different animals.

Think giraffe and hippopotamus.

Before I begin, I don’t envy Rutherford and the challenge he faces trying to revitalize a fading former Cup winner. A nearly impossible task. He didn’t have a ton of cap space with which to operate, and with other teams dealing with COVID/cap concerns as well… I’m sure it wasn’t an easy marketplace to navigate.

He had to find a taker for Viking warrior Patric Hornqvist and his $5.3 million cap hit. While I initially squawked at receiving Mike Matheson in return, I have hopes he’ll develop into the second coming of Justin Schultz…before the latter’s game mysteriously went to hell.

Too, JR needed to get out from underneath the collective $7.35 million owed to damaged goods Nick Bjugstad and ineffective Jack Johnson. He managed to free up roughly $4.2 million.

Then there was the not-so-small matter of gleaning a decent return for two-time Cup winner Matt Murray, coming off a down year in a crowded goalie market. The general consensus? Rutherford did well to land the 52nd overall pick in the draft and a second-tier prospect in forward John Gruden.

Whether he overpaid or not, JR’s acquisition of Kasperi Kapanen could prove to be one of the major coups of the offseason. His bold stroke to acquire the flying Finn well before the postseason ended fleshed out our top two lines and ruffled the feathers of more than one Cup contending GM.

Still, as I mentioned above, some spots weren’t filled to my satisfaction.

Third Line

In my humble opinion, JR needed to land an impact player for the third line. What we got was Evan Rodrigues, a versatile little player who may turn out to be a capable addition (72 points in 199 career NHL games), and center Mark Jankowski, a former first-round pick of Calgary whose numbers dipped dramatically this past season.

I’ve already detailed my concerns about Jankowski in a previous article.

I’d hoped the Pens might sign Dominik Kahun (still available) or Jesper Fast, the speedy former Ranger who inked a very affordable three-year deal with Carolina for $6 million. Recently, Pittsburgh Hockey Now floated the idea of center Erik Haula, a 29-goal scorer with Vegas back in 2017-18. The going rate is likely to be in the $3 million range.

To my eye, any of these players could’ve brought some serious mojo to the third line, while complimenting incumbent Jared McCann.

Right Defense

Given who was available, I’m not sure the Pens could’ve done appreciably better than Cody Ceci.

I personally would’ve preferred Zach Bogosian, fresh off a Cup win with Tampa Bay and signed by Toronto for $1 million. Bogosian is bigger and plays with more of an edge than Ceci, but we know how that works in these parts (not well). However, his advanced stats aren’t anything to write home about.

Trevor van Riemsdyk was another option. His career Corsi is considerably better than Ceci’s (52.8 vs 46.1) and he spent the last three seasons in Carolina, a team that employs a style similar to our Pens. Alas, the Capitals snapped him up for $800,000.

For the record, Other Rick pushed for ex-Oiler Matt Benning, perhaps the best all-around option. Nashville snagged him for two years for a cool two mil.

My main concern with Ceci, hideous advanced stats aside? He’s got heavy feet, a condition that didn’t work out too well for a recently bought-out blueliner who shall go nameless. Too, descriptions of Ceci’s play from his time in Ottawa are chillingly Johnson-esque.

Goal

Wouldn’t it have been wonderful if the heavens parted and Marc-Andre Fleury had returned to the ‘Burgh? Unfortunately, the fairy tale didn’t come true. So the Pens will enter the season with a largely untested tandem of Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith between the pipes.

I really (really) like Jarry and think he possesses a world of promise. But he’s only one season (albeit a very good one) removed from being an unknown quantity at the big-league level.

During his 50 NHL games spread over two seasons, DeSmith proved himself to be a solid backup, posting a .917 save percentage and a decent 2.66 goals against average. My biggest concern about the New Hampshire native is something he has no control over. Namely size…or a lack of. Through no fault of his own, there’s an awful lot of net to shoot at when Casey’s in goal.

I’d feel a heck of a lot safer with an experienced backup floating around somewhere in the organization. To that end, Rutherford seemed quite pleased when he signed former Golden Knight Maxime Lagace as the No. 3 goalie. I’m not sure I share his enthusiasm. Lagace’s an equal opportunity netminder…he’s struggled at both the NHL and minor-league levels. His goals saved above average with Vegas in 2017-18 was a mind-numbingly atrocious minus-19.26.

Doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence if DeSmith or, heaven forbid, Jarry is sidelined for any length of time.