The State of the Penguins Part 2: The Right Wings for the Starboard Side

It was not that long ago the Right Wing (RW) position was a position of strength for this team. Two seasons ago Phil Kessel had 92 Points (Pnts) in 82 Games Played (GP), Patric Hornqvist had 49 Pnts in 70 GP, and Bryan Rust had 38 Pnts in 69 GP. Those three players combined for 76 Goals (G). This past season Rust lead all RWs with 56 pnts in 55 GP, Hornqvist had 32 Pnts in 52 GP, and Dominik Simon had 22 Pnts in 64 GP. Those three combined for 51 G in 69 Games. Two years ago, Penguin RWs notched almost 1 G per Game. This past year they only managed about 0.75 Gs per Game. That is a fairly steep drop off.

So, let us move on to our starboard side Penguins.

Conor Sheary 1.0

Since Conor Sheary played RW on the Penguins 1st line through most of the Playoffs, I will start with him. Uh, did JR notice that Sheary was playing 4th line for the Buffalo Sabres when GM Jim Rutherford sent middle six Dominik Kahun to our northeastern neighbor? Did he remember that Buffalo was only willing to part with a 4th round pick for Sheary’s services when GM Jim traded for Sheary’s return? Rutherford wanted to bring him back?!? Adding insult to injury, Mike Sullivan put Sheary on the first line? To quote Jakobim Mugatu, “Am I taking crazy pills here?” Our Penguins only managed 3 Regular Season Wins after downgrading to Sheary and 1 of 4 Playoff Games.

Bring him back? Give me a nanosecond to think about this; that is a hard Pass – NO!

Sheary is out.

Conor Sheary 2.0 – Dominik Simon

After our Penguins found a way to wiggle out from under Sheary’s ridiculous contract Simon inherited the RW spot on Sidney Crosby’s line, the first line. Moving on to Simon…The ‘Friends of Dominik Simon Club’ will point to Simon’s CORSI stats 52.28% (5 on 5 – all scores) last season. They will choose to ignore the 68.61% Offensive Zone Starts (OZS)/Defensive Zone Starts (DZS). A CORSI of 52+% is not that hard when you rarely start in your own zone. They will also ignore Simon’s +/- of -10. Even though Simon never really started in his own zone, the puck found a way to get there and then into the back of the net. Simon’s CORSI drops to 50.54% when the game is within 1 G (up or down). His +/- remains a -10 even though his OZS/DZS goes up even more to 69.19%. Even though Simon spent less time in his own zone, his numbers got worse when the game was within 1 G.

The only good thing I can think of about Sheary is that he is not Simon

Simon is an absolute NO! Do not sign him back up!

Bryan Rust

Rust had a breakout season, averaging over 1 Pnt/GP in the regular season and 3 Pnts in 4 Playoff Games. Rust has speed and tons of heart. He is willing to do whatever is asked of him. And he costs a reasonable $3.5 million against the Cap. This is a no brainer.

Bryan Rust Stays!!!!

Patric Hornqvist

Hornqvist has Pittsburgh written all over him. He exemplifies all that we here in the ‘burgh admire. He is a lunch pail Winger who does all the dirty work, and it pays off for him. Even in the abbreviated season he notched 17 Gs. I wish the Penguins had more Hornqvists.

The problem that I see here is twofold; Hornqvist plays over 100% every shift whilst taking a beating, and then there is his contract. At his age, Hornqvist and the pounding he takes, Hornqvist may only play about 70% of a season (due to aforementioned beatings). If a season runs its full 82 Games, Hornqvist is then liable to play about 60 Games. Although I do not begrudge the heart of the Penguins his money, at $5.3 million per year for the next three years he may be a luxury the team may not be able to afford (and still be viable).

Unfortunately, Rutherford rewarded Hornqvist with a full No Trade Clause (NTC) through next season. It does drop to a modified (M-NTC) the last two seasons but next year it can really hurt the team.

I may not like it, but if Hornqvist would want out and agrees to a trade, that $5.3 million could come in handy.

Hornqvist is a Probably.

Anthony Angello

Anthony Angello is a Restricted Free Agent (RFA). He was not used at all during Post-Season, so he cannot be blamed for the lifelessness the team displayed. Angello was a Black Ace, but he never saw action. He is 24 years old, 6’-5” tall, 210lbs (according to NHL.com), and showed some flair for the Power Play (PP) in Wilkes Barre – Scranton (WBS). With Hornqvist’s risk of injury and the lack of PP production when he is out because no one else on the team can take away the eyes of the opposing Goalie, Angello seems the best person in the organization to fill that role.

Angello is a yes, sign him.

Zach Aston – Reese

Zach Aston – Reese was part of the Penguins highly effective checking line. Like Angello, he is RFA. He really wasn’t all that effective as a G scorer, notching only 6 Gs in 57 regular season games and only picked up an assist in the playoffs because he failed to convert on a golden scoring opportunity of his own. If Teddy Blueger had rock hands like Aston-Reese, then neither would have had a point this post season.

Aston – Reese did play very responsibly in his checking role but added very little offensively. If he isn’t asking too much to re-sign, then I may re-sign him.

Aston – Reese is a maybe, but I do think the Penguins could do better…

How do I view the Penguins Right Wings next season?

1st Line – TBD
2nd Line – Bryan Rust
3rd Line – TBD
4th Line – TBD

Boy do I miss 2017-2018

As a former Goalie, I do know the value of a left-handed shot patrolling the RW and I would love to see Sidney Crosby and his 1st line have a lefty. In my previous article discussing Centers I said that I believed Jared McCann looked better on the Wing and he does have a wicked shot. If I could sign McCann, I would give him an audition on Crosby’s line.

Jason Zucker is also a left-handed shot that can play RW however, in a limited sample size he did not seem to click all that well with Crosby. I may try this again at the start of the season but probably not.

Another left-handed shot that can play RW that comes to mind is Kasper Bjorkqvist. We really have not seen much of him. He looked pretty good in the pre-season this year on a line with Sam Lafferty and Nathan Legare but he was playing Left Wing (LW). Bjorkqvist got sent down to WBS and was injured early in the season, and really never returned before the season was cut short. However, he is said to be a physical specimen at 6’-1” and 198lbs (according to NHL.com) and he had 33 Gs and 20 As in 82 College GP. He is a mere $792,500 Cap hit. I grant him an audition with Crosby as well.

Last season I wrote that I would have loved to see Rutherford sign Ilya Mikhayev the 6’-2”, 194 lbs, left-handed RW from the KHL whom the Toronto Maple Leafs signed. He only signed a one-year contract for $925,000 but is RFA. He had 8 Gs and 23 Pnts in 39 GP in his rookie season before injuring his wrist; instead Rutherford signed Oula Palve. I cannot say that I really looked deeply at Toronto but Capfriendly listed them as having less than $5 million in Cap space. I am not sure what it would take to get his rights, but I may be willing to still gamble on his wrist being healed.

I would look to try and fill Crosby’s wing with one of these players; McCann, Bjorkqvist, or Mikhayev. Some people have suggested to put Samuel Poulin on Crosby’s RW because some sites list him as a RW even though he is a lefty, however, as Dan Kingarski points out, Poulin is playing LW, his natural Wing. If I play Poulin with Crosby it would be there and maybe flip Jake Guentzel to RW?

I list 3rd line as TBD because as much as I like Hornqvist and am still a fan, I would rather find a way to save $5 odd million in Cap space. If I could free up that 3rd line, I would fill that spot with a right-handed RW.

Even though I said I would love to see Crosby get a left-handed RW, I do believe the team needs a true right-handed sniper. Perhaps one of the bigger reasons the Penguins PP suffered was the removal of PP extraordinaire Phil Kessel and his lethal shot.

There is one player in the organization who is has a legitimate shot right now, Legare. However, as Kingarski recently pointed out, Legare may need to work a little on his skating. If the team can find a right-handed shot to play the LW boards on the PP then it may be best to let Legare develop his skating during a final year in the Juniors. However, if the team cannot find an NHL level shooter, maybe Legare can work on his skating now? And be ready for camp? (I doubt it, but I would love to see it).

I have seen some Draft projections suggesting the Penguins drafting a right-handed RW named Seth Jarvis. Cam Robinson of Dobber Prospects said of him, “He simply refuses to be denied access to the inner portion of the offensive zone. His penchant for clicking at a high conversion rate blends well with this style. Jarvis mixes good speed with a fearless and skillful approach.” He scored 42 Gs and had 98 Pnts in 58 GP in the WHL last year. More importantly he is Sullivan sized; he is 5’-10” and 172 lbs.

The downside? Jarvis is only 18, I have not seen anything to make me believe he is NHL ready.

In my last post I mentioned a Center playing for the Edmonton Oilers, Raphaël Lavoie. He is a right-handed shot and can play RW as well as Center. If I did make that trade, he may be the righty that I could use on the PP freeing me up to allow Legare and or Jarvis (if we did draft him) time to develop and I may not worry about using a right-handed shot, filling the 3rd line with one of the left-handed shots that didn’t get the 1st line nod.

For my 4th line and maybe extra forward I would rather see Lafferty or Angello than Aston-Reese.