The State of the Penguins Part 5: Left Handed Defense

The Pittsburgh Penguins’ Left-Handed Defensemen (LHD) does not have names as big as the Right-Handed Defensemen (RHD), but it may be a little more stable. So, let us talk about the LHD.

Brian Dumoulin

Brian Dumoulin may not be the prototypical 1st pairing Left Defenseman (LHD), his name may not be as big as Kris Letang, but he is definitely the best the Penguins have on the left side. His back may be a little sore from having to carry Letang around the ice defensively, but he is not a waste of money. I cannot help but wonder what Dumoulin could do if he didn’t have to worry about what Letang is doing or not doing.

If Jim Rutherford must trim the fat, he will not find any here.

Dumoulin is a Keeper.

Marcus Pettersson

Like everyone else I was incredibly pleased with Marcus Pettersson’s rookie season. However, I was not pleased enough to reward Pettersson with a $4 million dollar extension. Offensively the big Swede was static, putting up about the same number of Pnts/60 minutes, but defensively he back slid; team Goals Against per 60 minutes (GA/60) ballooned up from 1.76 to 2.37.

Some may argue that when you add the $874,125 Pettersson got this year to the $20,125,875 of contract extension, it only comes out to about $3.5 million per year. Reality check here. Pettersson will cost the team $4+ million this coming season when the team will only be allowed to spend about $70-$75 million, not the $3.5 million of your number massaging. So, dividing an extra year into the number to try and make it sound palatable does not help the team next season. Furthermore, Pettersson is not as good as Dumoulin who gets $4.1 million. Furthermore, Pettersson is not 3.5 – 4 times better than Juuso Riikola who the team could sign for much less. Pettersson’s contract may not be a bad contract in comparison to others across the league but when ownership says no more than the mid $70 million range this year, then it is a bad contract.

At 24 years of age, Pettersson, in any other year is a definite keeper. He should still have an upside. His rough year this past season is probably nothing worse than the sophomore jinx. However, our Penguins put themselves behind the 8-ball with bad personnel decisions and this contract could hurt the team. At 24, Pettersson can possibly be dressed up as trade bait.

Pettersson, it pains me, is shopped around to see what you can get.

Juuso Riikola

I used to love to watch the old “Hogan’s Heroes” TV show. There was an episode, where Colonel Hogan was asked to diffuse a bomb dropped into the camp. Hogan had to choose between cutting 1 of 2 wires. Cutting 1 of the wires would diffuse the bomb, cutting the other would explode the bomb and Hogan did not know which was which.

He asked the camp Commandant, Colonel Klink, which he would choose and then cut the opposite. Since this was a family show, of course Hogan cut the right one.

Klink then asked Hogan if he knew which wire to cut why did he ask him. Hogan answered that he did not know which one to choose but he knew Klink would choose the wrong one. I am getting that way with Rutherford and Mike Sullivan. I am at the point where I may treat them like Klink, do the opposite of what they think.

Sullivan keeps passing over Riikola. Some say that the Organization (Sullivan) does not think that highly of him. Well, I no longer trust their Judgement. When looking at the results of their play, Riikola does not seem worse than Pettersson and at times looks better.

Riikola, I try to re-sign him.

Jack Johnson

Jack Johnson is a flash point in Pittsburgh. Most fans would prefer him on a slow boat to China, while a few fans make excuses for either the player or his contract.

With the weakened state of the Penguins defense, comparing Johnson to the rest of the group may make Johnson look better than he really is, but his competition in Pittsburgh is not all that strong.

To argue that Johnson’s contract is not all that bad or that other teams have made worse deals is excuses. I do not care how badly other teams have wasted their money; in fact, I love it when they do. As for not that bad? I guess if this was the Howard Baldwin era when money did not matter and there was no Cap, then maybe it is not all that bad. However, again, just like Pettersson, the $3.25 million Cap hit and the $3 million in actual salary are monies that really are ill spent. Rutherford had many other options but chose Johnson.

The downside, all this talk of trading Johnson, forget it. Only Rutherford is willing to throw that kind of money at a veteran when younger Defenseman would play for less and do just as good (or in this case bad).

Johnson stays (barring a Rob Scuderi miracle)

How do I see the Penguins LHD next season (What I see the team doing)?

1st Pairing Brian Dumoulin
2nd Pairing Marcus Pettersson
3rd Pairing Jack Johnson

How do I see the Penguins LHD next season (What I would do)?

1st Pairing Brian Dumoulin
2nd Pairing TBD
3rd Pairing TBD

As I wrote above, I would trade Pettersson (only to save money) and probably fill the 2nd Pairing with Riikola. However, if I really had my druthers, I would never have let Andrey Pedan slip back to the KHL. Pedan had 6 Goals (G) and 10 Assists (A) and was a +16 with 55 Hits (Hts) and 25 Blocks (Blk) in 37 Games Played (GP) averaging 16:50 in playing time – much better than Pettersson, Johnson, or Riikola.

Also, if any of readers stretch their memories back in the summer of 2017, I argued that the team should not trade Oskar Sundqvist and their 1st round pick for Ryan Reaves and the St, Louis’ 2nd round pick. Not that I had anything against Reaves, one he was here I wanted him to stay – I just knew Sullivan would never use him.

I wanted the team to draft Nicolas Hague. Hague looks like he is ready to step into the NHL now. He had 1 G and 10 A with 69 Blks and 26 Hts in 38 GP in Vegas last season averaging 16:05 in ice time.

Right now, I certainly would not mind having the option to fill in some of my TBD with those names.

However, since that ship has passed, let us look at what may be in the Penguins system. Like some people, I was not all that impressed with Pierre – Olivier Joseph when Rutherford traded for him. Any kid who is 6’-2” tall and only 163 lbs looks way to small to handle the physicality of the NHL. However, according to a Taylor Haase article from June 6, 2020, Joseph was able to put on weight and get up to 175 lbs. Unfortunately, he contracted mononucleosis in December 2019 and lost all that weight and needed to gain it back. Which he apparently did. If he keeps working hard in the weight room and eating, he could be an option.

Would he be a real answer? No!! But I would rather see a kid making mistakes and maybe learning for $700k than a veteran making mistakes even though he is on the back side of his career and only getting worse while make $3 Million.