Having posted my playoff preview, I thought I’d take advantage of a little down time prior to the Penguins-Rangers series to compile my season ending Ex-Penguins Update.
The Blues’ David Perron was once again at the head of the expatriate class, leading the way in points (57) and tying for the top spot in goals (27) with Seattle’s Jared McCann. Perron, who scored a hat trick in the Blues’ playoff opener last night, has been productive everywhere but in the ‘Burgh. Still a mystery to me.
Back to McCann. Taking full advantage of a more prominent role out west, not to mention his lethal shot and release, Jared led the expansion Kraken in goals and points (50).
On the flip side, although his scoring touch has mysteriously waned, Phil Kessel remains an elite set-up man, topping the list (and the Coyotes) with 44 helpers. Remarkably, “The Thrill’s” iron-man streak of 982 consecutive games is second on the all-time list.
A special shout-out to Minnesota’s Frederick Gaudreau. I loved his grit, hockey smarts and compete level when he was here and hoped we’d re-sign him. Alas, Freddy inked a deal with the Wild and emerged as a bona-fide big-leaguer while centering Minny’s second line.
Kudos as well to his teammate, Alex Goligoski, who finished sixth in the NHL (and third among defensemen) in plus-minus (plus-41).
I always find it interesting how players of like abilities and styles tend to gravitate toward each other in these lists. Down toward the middle of the pack, rugged stay-at-home defenders Ian Cole (Carolina), Erik Gudbranson (Calgary) and Jamie Oleksiak (Seattle) are bunched together. Precisely the type of players our present blue-line corps lacks.
I find it especially interesting that another blog that shall go nameless recoiled at the thought of us signing Gudbranson this past summer. Yet he’s good enough to skate a regular turn with an excellent Flames squad.
A last shout-out (this one’s for PenguinPoop founder Phil Krundle). With a plus-17, former first-round pick Olli Maatta was quietly efficient for the Kings.
| SCORING | |||||||||
| Player | Team | Pos | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- | |
| David Perron | STL | LW | 67 | 27 | 30 | 57 | 48 | 8 | |
| Phil Kessel | ARI | RW | 82 | 8 | 44 | 52 | 40 | -24 | |
| Jared McCann | SEA | C | 74 | 27 | 23 | 50 | 33 | -26 | |
| Frederick Gaudreau | MIN | C | 76 | 14 | 30 | 44 | 8 | 12 | |
| Conor Sheary | WSH | LW | 71 | 19 | 24 | 43 | 14 | -2 | |
| Jordan Staal | CAR | C | 78 | 17 | 19 | 36 | 18 | 11 | |
| Tanner Pearson | VAN | LW | 68 | 14 | 20 | 34 | 30 | 9 | |
| Alex Goligoski | MIN | D | 72 | 2 | 28 | 30 | 34 | 41 | |
| Derek Grant | ANA | C | 71 | 15 | 14 | 29 | 27 | -16 | |
| Patric Hornqvist | FLA | RW | 65 | 11 | 17 | 28 | 19 | -5 | |
| Cody Ceci | EDM | D | 78 | 5 | 23 | 28 | 14 | 8 | |
| Nick Bonino | SJS | C | 80 | 16 | 10 | 26 | 18 | -25 | |
| Oskar Sundqvist | STL-DET | C | 59 | 8 | 15 | 23 | 29 | 5 | |
| Justin Schultz | WSH | D | 74 | 4 | 19 | 23 | 16 | -15 | |
| Alex Galchenyuk | ARI | C | 60 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 32 | -11 | |
| Daniel Sprong | WSH-SEA | RW | 63 | 14 | 6 | 20 | 8 | 0 | |
| Derick Brassard | PHI-EDM | C | 46 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 16 | 4 | |
| Ian Cole | CAR | D | 75 | 2 | 17 | 19 | 83 | 15 | |
| Erik Gudbranson | CGY | D | 78 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 68 | 15 | |
| Riley Sheahan | SEA | C | 64 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 2 | 6 | |
| Jamie Oleksiak | SEA | D | 72 | 1 | 16 | 17 | 54 | -1 | |
| Brandon Tanev | SEA | LW | 30 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 13 | 4 | |
| Zach Aston-Reese | PIT-ANA | LW | 69 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 28 | 9 | |
| Carl Hagelin | WSH | LW | 53 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 20 | 10 | |
| * Jake Muzzin | TOR | D | 47 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 16 | -6 | |
| Nick Bjugstad | MIN | C | 57 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 20 | -2 | |
| Sam Lafferty | PIT-CHI | LW/C | 56 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 33 | -16 | |
| Ryan Reaves | NYR | RW | 69 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 43 | -13 | |
| Dominik Simon | PIT-ANA | LW/C | 72 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 34 | 0 | |
| Jack Johnson | COL | D | 74 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 42 | 5 | |
| Olli Maatta | LAK | D | 66 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 17 | |
| Carter Rowney | DET | RW | 26 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 | -6 | |
| Robert Bortuzzo | STL | D | 73 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 36 | -4 | |
| Mark Jankowski | BUF | C | 19 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 2 | |
| Greg McKegg | NYR | C | 43 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | -11 | |
| Colton Sceviour | EDM | C | 35 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 26 | -6 | |
| * Calen Addison | MIN | D | 15 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | -4 | |
| James Neal | STL | LW | 19 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | -1 | |
| Jayson Megna | COL | C | 20 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | -2 | |
| Marc-Andre Fleury | CHI-MIN | G | 56 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| Blake Comeau | DAL | RW | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | -1 | |
| * Ethan Prow | BUF | D | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 | |
| Josh Archibald | EDM | RW | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | -2 | |
| Thomas Greiss | DET | G | 31 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| Scott Harrington | CBJ | D | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | -4 | |
| Andrew Agozzino | OTT | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| * Filip Gustavsson | OTT | G | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Maxime Lagace | TBL | G | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Matt Murray | OTT | G | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Stefan Noesen | CAR | RW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| GOALTENDING | |||||||||
| Player | Team | GP | GA | SH | AVE | SV% | QS% | W-L-OT | |
| Marc-Andre Fleury | CHI-MIN | 56 | 159 | 5 | 2.90 | .908 | .500 | 28-23-5 | |
| Matt Murray | OTT | 20 | 60 | 1 | 3.05 | .906 | .550 | 5-12-2 | |
| * Filip Gustavsson | OTT | 18 | 62 | 0 | 3.55 | .892 | .438 | 5-12-1 | |
| Thomas Greiss | DET | 31 | 92 | 0 | 3.66 | .891 | .500 | 10-15-1 | |
| Maxime Lagace | TBL | 2 | 10 | 0 | 6.11 | .828 | .000 | 1-1-0 | |
| Italics—Draft pick or free agent who began his NHL career with the Penguins | |||||||||
| Asterisk—Draft pick who didn’t appear in a regular season or postseason game for the Penguins | |||||||||
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View Comments
Hey Rick,
Great stuff as always and thanks for the leg work on this. I love keeping up with former Pens. Not sure if I would really want any of these guys back, now but it is good to see what they are doing now. Cole and Gudbranson and even Oleksiak probably represent upgrades over Dumoulin, Pettersson, Ruhwedel, and maybe even Marino, but they wouldn't really add any confidence of getting out of the first round and none of them are all that young anymore.
I did hate to see former Penguin Perron light up former Penguin MAF last night.
Question, how many of the players on this roster will be appearing on your ex-Penguin Updates next season?
Just musing.
Rick
Good article. It's always interesting to see how former Pens players are performing with their new teams. I look back
and try to remember the circumstances under which we moved on with some of these players.
Perron - I still believe it was another instance where the Pen's pulled the plug to soon - we seem to pick up a player
and expect him to immediately flourish and when he doesn't everyone blames it on chemistry.
Kessel and McCann - I liked both players but agreed with the Pen's plan to move in another direction. I know both
Seattle and Arizona struggled this year but I cringe when I see players putting up 50 or 60 points and having a plus/
minus of ( -24 & -26 ) respectively - "that shouldn't happen". Kessel in his last year with the Pens had 82pts and
ended up with a -19.........that's mind boggling.
Gudbranson - I'm with you Rick, the guy is a solid defenseman ( +15 ) playing for one of the better teams in the
league and would of given the Pens some much needed toughness in front of our net. Another head scratcher.
Jack Johnson - Run out of the Burg - played just under 17min a game for arguably the best team in the league. If
you watch Colorado play he's still used to kill penalties. I know his age and contract factored into us letting him go.
Conor Sheary - This is one player I thought would totally fall off the map but to my surprise he has really done well
for the Caps.
Tonight vs Rangers "Any predictions"? Rangers in 6
Great article Rick.
Speaking of David Perron of the Blues.... Last nite he scored 3 goals and assisted on Ryan OReilly's goal in game 1 of the Play offs, and was a one man wrecking crew for the Blues as they Blanked the Wild 4-0..
MAF was in nets for the Wild.
That game's outcome really surprised me Rick as I thought the Wild would dominate the Blues.It did not happen.
Cheers
Jim
Jim
I agree with you on the Blues / Wild game but it's only one game. The Blues are a dangerous opponent - well
coached, with experience and play a discipline style of hockey - It should be a great series.
Fully agree Mike. I really like what GM Bill Guerin did in Minnesota.
This series could go 7 games..
Cheers
Jim