Penguins Mix is Off

Other Rick and I were talking hockey and discussing our favorite team the other day at Wright’s Gym. As you can imagine, the conversation became rather animated and passionate. We touched on a lot of issues and concerns that you, our faithful PenguinPoop readers, have read and commented about on this blog countless times before.

I’ll try to give them a fresh spin. Hope I succeed.

There’s a sameness about our players that, in my humble opinion, holds the team back and diminishes our chances for success. Especially among our forwards.

Obviously, there’s some variation in ability, makeup and skill. But when you boil it all down, Teddy Blueger is Jake Guentzel is Jared McCann is Evan Rodrigues is Bryan Rust is Colton Sceviour is Jason Zucker. I’ll exclude Sidney Crosby for obvious reasons and Brandon Tanev because he brings an extra spark. But physically…they’re cut from the same cloth.

We’re built that way by design. Coach Mike Sullivan wants to play a speed game, and the team’s tailored to suit his preferred style. Understandable to a degree. But these guys are almost too homogenous, right down to their demeanor. It’s almost as if they’re automatons cranked out on an assembly line. Small ones at that.

It shows in the way we play. The guys have a tendency to go around obstacles rather than through them. Or to make that extra pass. Again, understandable. If I’m a 5’11”, 190-pound forward and I see a 210-pound defenseman looming in my path, I probably do the same thing.

For all of our considerable talent, we’re not built to penetrate and excel in the prime scoring areas. Which is why so many of our shots seem to come from the perimeter or long range.

I did an informal analysis of the average length of our goals at 5v5 compared to our opponents, based on data from Natural Stat Trick. Excluding our 5-4 overtime win over Washington (no data available on shot length), the average length of our opponents’ goals is 16.7 feet. Our average is a little over 22 feet. A significant difference.

Not surprisingly, the Pens also lag when it comes to generating chances from the high danger scoring areas. Again, according to Natural Stat Trick, we average 9.64 shots per 60 minutes at 5v5 in the ‘hot’ zones…18^th best in the league.

To our credit, we do finish once we get there…an average of 1.77 high danger goals per 60 minutes at 5v5…tied for sixth best in the league. A testament to our skill level. It’s the getting there that’s the problem.

Some functional size and aggression might help.

That goes for our defense, too. Although it’s tough to properly evaluate our rearguards due to the Biblical plague of injuries we’ve endured, the Pens have yielded an average of 2.28 high danger goals against at 5v5 per 60 minutes. That’s 29^th worst in the league.

Defense is a team endeavor and some of the leakage surely falls on the forwards and goalies, not to mention a general lack of structure. But Sullivan’s preference for stick-on-puck (or air) defense is a major culprit, too. As a group, our defensemen touch nary a soul around our net.

I’ll bet Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith wouldn’t complain a lick if our new GM brought in a physical defenseman or two to dispatch opposing forwards from their doorstep. They’d probably treat him to a full-course dinner at a five-star restaurant.

So what’s the optimal mix of players? Think Montreal, currently occupying second place in the Scotia North Division with a sparkling record of 7-2-2. Yes, those Canadiens…the ones who dispatched us lickety-split in four easy games last fall.

Sure, the Habs have skill and speed to burn…players like Tyler Toffoli, Nick Suzuki, Jonathan Drouin and Jeff Petry to name a few. But they also feature a Mack truck like Josh Anderson and abrasive veteran Corey Perry up front, and bangers Shea Weber, Ben Chariot and Joel Edmundson on the back line.

Think anyone impedes Carey Price’s sight lines for very long?

I’ll pose another question. Think we’d survive a playoff series against these guys…or other teams constructed along the same lines (Boston, Philly)?

Not likely.

It’s truly going to require a paradigm shift in our organizational philosophy in order to build the type of team that can compete for a Stanley Cup. Frankly, Sullivan, good coach that he is, may need to go. He’s far too wedded to his preferred style…and type of player.

It’s time to think outside our traditional box.

Although the Pens’ talent pool is short on aggression, there are some players who could help. Right wing Nathan Legare, for one. The 19-year-old spitfire plays an abrasive game, and he’s got great hands to boot. Perhaps a natural successor to Patric Hornqvist.

Hulking Anthony Angello and Sam Lafferty could provide some jam, too, although the latter appears to have taken up permanent residence in Sullivan’s doghouse. All-too-reminiscent of “Sully’s” treatment of bedrock defender Ian Cole.

I’ve used this analogy before but it bears repeating. Skilled though they are, you wouldn’t stock a football team solely with wide receivers and expect to get very far. You need the big guys to block and tackle and do the dirty work in the trenches.

Likewise, you wouldn’t build a basketball team with point guards. You’ve got to have forwards and big men to play around the hoop.

The same goes for hockey. Let’s hope our future GM gets it.