Penguins Trade Deadline Update: The Morning After

The morning after. It’s most often associated with trying to recover from a hangover after a wild night of carousing. Well, this morning I guess I’m suffering from a hangover of a different sort.

One hockey trade too many.

By now those of us in Penguins Nation have had a full day to digest GM Jim Rutherford’s moves at the trade deadline. I’ll try to cobble together my thoughts as coherently as possible. Forgive me if I ramble or repeat some of the same opinions I shared in comments to my previous article. I guess I’m still trying to wrap my brain around this, as I’m sure many of you are.

I’ll start with the Patrick Marleau deal. I’m okay with it. While part of me wanted JR to acquire Wayne Simmonds from the Devils for his toughness and leadership, even I can admit that the former Flyer and Messier Leadership Award Winner wasn’t a good fit for our up-tempo style.

Too, as Other Rick pointed out on numerous occasions, we already have a supreme net-front presence in Patric Hornqvist, not to mention Anthony Angello waiting in the wings. From that standpoint, Simmonds would’ve been redundant.

On to Marleau. Once a deadly scorer with six 30-goal seasons and a 40-goal campaign on his resume, the 40-year-old Saskatchewan native isn’t what he used to be offensively (10 goals in 58 games for San Jose). But he’s fast, skilled and large (6”2” 218)…an anomaly on the Smurfish Pens.

Versatile, too. He can slot in at left wing or center, is reliable defensively and good on draws…an area of weakness on the black and gold (a sorry 25th in face-off percentage). As an added bonus, he can fill in up and down the lineup.

It might be interesting to try him next to Sidney Crosby and/or Evgeni Malkin for a spell and see what transpires. Perhaps a little hidden vigorish to borrow a phrase from the old “Gunner” Bob Prince. Too, I think Rutherford’s hoping to provide his troops with an extra dollop of inspiration. Win a Cup for Patrick.

My take? A no-brainer. If Marleau pans out, he could provide scoring, leadership and a veteran presence a la Bill Guerin in 2009. (Hopefully not Alexei Kovalev in 2011.)

Now on to the second trade. Frankly, I was stunned…STUNNED…and not the least bit disappointed when I learned JR had swapped Dominik Kahun to Buffalo for Conor Sheary and Evan Rodrigues.

My initial reaction? What was he thinking?

I’ve written before that I really like Kahun. He’s fast, skilled, creative, versatile, adaptable and involved at both ends of the rink. Certainly not a star, but a solid second-tier player. The kind you win with.

I thought he did an especially good job of filling in on the second line when Jake Guentzel went down with a season-ending injury. No, his production wasn’t off the charts…a goal and six points in the 10 games he skated next to Malkin and Bryan Rust. But he proved to be a really nice complimentary player.

For the record, Malkin had four goals and nine points during that span…Rust five goals and 11 points.

I fully understand the concept: you need to give up something to get something. But I don’t know why Kahun was deemed expendable. Perhaps looking forward, Rutherford saw that he has Guentzel and Jason Zucker ahead of Kahun on the depth chart at left wing. I don’t know.

As for what we got? I’m not a Conor Sheary hater like some. In many ways, he sort of resembles Kahun. Sheary’s a great skater and does a good job of creating time and space with his speed. He also has a knack for finding the seams.

My enduring memory of him during his first stint in the ‘Burgh (other than getting knocked down a lot)? Breaking open in front of the net courtesy of his quickness and a great pass from frequent linemate Crosby…and not being able to finish.

Nor do I think Sheary’s as good a passer or all-around player as Kahun. Tossing an extra contractual log on the fire, Conor’s a pending UFA…Kahun an RFA. So we’ve surrendered some control as well.

The unknown quantity in the deal is Rodrigues, a rather obscure 26-year-old forward. Even scouting reports on him are conflicting…one site raved about his speed while another claimed he’s an average skater. He’s reputed to be good defensively and on transitions, while possessing decent hockey sense. Not much of a scorer (26 goals in 192 NHL games).

In other words, a depth guy. One who’ll likely be employed on the fourth line.

I guess the attraction is his versatility. Rodrigues can play all three forward positions. Too, he’s a right-handed shot, a scarce commodity among Pens forwards.

Does This Make Us a Better Team?

Getting Marleau was a low-risk, high-reward move. But the Kahun trade?

Wow, that’s a tough one.

It gives us more depth up front and a right-handed shot to take face-offs, something Rutherford was hoping to add. And it was painfully apparent that coach Mike Sullivan wasn’t fond of any of his fourth-line options, including kids Angello and Sam Lafferty, to the extent that he severely limited their ice time while taxing the top three lines. An unfortunate practice that may well come back to bite us in our collective keister down the homestretch and in playoffs (we look like a tired team).

Whether it’s quality depth is a whole other matter. Despite the fact that the Sabres employ a puck-possession scheme similar to ours, Sheary didn’t do much in Buffalo (23 goals in 133 games). Is he really going to make a difference?

Rutherford and others in the organization appear to be banking on it.

I’m not so sure.

And Then There’s the Competition…

Most, if not all, of our Eastern Conference brethren made significant upgrades.

Boston acquired a pair of forwards from Anaheim, slick scorer Ondrej Kase and hammer Nick Ritchie. The Bruins made themselves faster, more skilled and tougher.

Ditto the Capitals, who landed sharpshooter Ilya Kovalchuk (Canadiens), physical defenseman Brendan Dillon (Sharks) and our old friend, Daniel Sprong (Ducks). Philly got centers Derek Grant (Ducks) and Nate Thompson (Canadiens).

The Islanders acquired arguably the top prize of the day, Ottawa center Jean-Gabriel Pageau and defensive stalwart Andy Greene (Devils).

Perhaps the best work was done by Carolina. They added Pittsburgh native and former 30-goal man Vincent Trocheck (Panthers) and defensemen Brady Skjei (Rangers) and Sami Vatanen (Devils).

We play the Hurricanes four times down the home stretch.

Closing Thought

I know I sound like a broken record. But I’m (deeply) concerned about our lack of toughness.

It isn’t that our guys lack fortitude or aren’t willing to get dirty and compete. In terms of grit, we’re second to none. But grit only takes you so far. You need at least some muscle to back it up.

Our primary competition in the east…Boston, Washington and Tampa Bay…are large, talented and tough. And don’t forget the Islanders, who ground us into dust the past postseason.

From a physical standpoint, we simply don’t match up.

I get what Rutherford’s trying to do. He’s trying to recreate the dynamic we had in 2015-16 when we rolled four lines and skated other teams into the ice. Right down to acquiring a “Team Dad” (Marleau).

Personally, I think it’s a flawed model. Toronto tried the “speed kills” approach the past three seasons and came up short. So did a very fast ‘Canes squad last spring.

Times change and our competition has evolved. After all, they want to win the Cup, too. I think the aforementioned teams (and the Flyers) are more complete and better built to withstand the rigors and physical grind of playoff competition.

Bottom line? I hate to be a naysayer. But I’m not nearly as confident today as I was about our chances.