I was perusing Hockey Reference this morning as I do from time to time when I decided to check on a few former Penguins.
First on my list was winger Daniel Sprong, exiled to Seattle at the recent trade deadline by Washington. I was surprised to see he’d scored three goals in three games for his new team.
Then again, maybe I wasn’t surprised. The one thing Sprong can do is shoot the puck. He’s scored 43 goals in 189 NHL games…roughly a 19-goal pace over an 82-game slate. And that’s averaging a shade under 12 minutes of ice time a game.
Since leaving the ‘Burgh, where he played infrequently? A 22-goal pace per 82 games. With scoring at a premium, that ain’t exactly chicken feed.
Yet despite his obvious talent, the 24-year-old sniper is already playing for his fourth NHL team. It’s long been rumored the Amsterdam native rubs coaches the wrong way, a charge that must have some validity given his frequent travels. The knock you always hear is that he needs to work on the details of his game.
Kind of a latter day Phil Kessel, if you will.
Still, the raw talent is there. You wonder if one of these days a coach will come along who’ll let Daniel be Daniel, similar to the way the Pens, for a time, let Phil be Phil. They just might have a 30-goal scorer on their hands if they do.
While scanning the Kraken roster, I was surprised to find another long-lost Penguins prospect on the list…Derrick Pouliot. I was aware he’d recently been called up by Vegas on an emergency basis, but didn’t know Seattle had claimed him on waivers.
In two games with the Kraken he’s a plus-three.
Pouliot’s career has pretty much mimicked Sprong’s. Picked eighth overall in the 2012 draft following a stand-out junior career with Portland, Pouliot was expected to be a left-handed version of Kris Letang. Expectations that only heightened when he scored a dramatic back-door goal against Florida’s Roberto Luongo during his NHL debut back in 2014.
In some ways, it’s been all downhill after that. Pouliot spent a significant portion of his time in the Penguins’ organization honing his all-around game with the Baby Pens. While his defensive play improved, it seemed to take the edge off his offensive game…his bread and butter.
The Pens dealt Pouliot to Vancouver following a failed 11-game cameo (no points) in 2016-17. Reunited with his junior coach Travis Green in the Pacific Northwest, Pouliot played in 133 games for the Canucks over a two-season stretch. However, with only six goals during that span he failed to rediscover the offensive chops that had made him such a dynamic player in junior.
After appearing in two games for St. Louis in 2019-20, Derrick’s played exclusively in the AHL…until now. At age 28, can he possibly resurrect his career with the Kraken?
Speaking of resurrecting a career, I checked up on Sam Lafferty as well. Following a sluggish start statistically with Chicago, he’s come on of late, tallying three goals and an assist in his past eight games while seeing a decent chunk of ice time.
Apparently the ‘Hawks are quite high on the Hollidaysburg native. They love his speed, aggressiveness and work ethic and see him as a possible replacement for the recently traded Brandon Hagel. Sam’s generating scoring chances, too, 8.1 per 60 minutes.
‘‘He has been playing real good, solid hockey, working hard without the puck,” said his new coach Derek King. “And he’s managing the puck a lot better; he’s not overhandling it as much. He’s going to the net and obviously showing some good hands… When he does shoot the puck, he’s got a pretty good release. For him, he just has to play both ends of the ice [and] not worry about the points or the goals; they’ll come. And they are coming because he’s working right.’’
And perhaps getting the opportunity that was never afforded to him in the Steel City, where he always seemed to be in coach Mike Sullivan’s dog house.
I’ll close by looking in on Dominik Simon and Zach Aston-Reese in Anaheim. Each has played in two games with the Ducks. Simon has an assist while averaging 16:53 of ice time. ZAR has four hits and three blocked shots, but has yet to score.
Once a Penguin always a Penguin. Here’s hoping they all have success.
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Just thinking out loud here... Sprong is a guy who always played a shoot first sort of selfish game, Simon played a dish it first instead of shoot game, probably because he couldn't finish. I wonder if they would have paired the two like Hull & Oates. I might be out of touch but I could've went for that, or at least trying it.
Hey Rick,
I really wanted to see what Sprong and Simon could do oh so many years ago, when I got tired of Sheary getting tossed around like a rag doll in the playoffs. However, since then, I have talked to several players that have played with Sprong and they were less than complimentary of him - personality wise. I, too, wish him all the best. He does have a talent for scoring. I think for him, if he ever matures and starts getting along with team mates, that could be the key.
Simon, I actually do feel bad for him, but please no, I don't want to see him in a Penguins sweater again.
Lafferty? I liked him too. I wish he could have made it here. I am not as sure that his lack of opportunity was really just a numbers game. Even if you remove the favoritism shown Simon and ZAR, I wonder if Zohorna, Angello, O'Connor, and now Puustenin would be better or at least equal options.
Hey guys,
I probably misfired on my title. I didn't mean to infer that I wanted these guys back. Rather, I was just interested in their career paths and what might have been...and perhaps still could be.
Of the bunch, if I could have one guy back it would probably be Lafferty. Other Rick, I hear ya about us having other, perhaps more attractive options. But like you, Mike, I really like the package he offers...the speed, the aggressiveness and what I still think may be an underrated skill set. He just had such an incredibly short leash here...any time he took a penalty or made a mistake...and he did make his share...it seemed Sullivan would park him on the end of the bench if not the press box.
It sounds like Sam's actually getting an opportunity with a coach who's allowing him to play through his mistakes and develop his game. This isn't meant to be a shot at Sullivan...with the bar set consistently high for the Pens, I can understand Sully perhaps not having the patience or feeling like he has the leeway to allow kids to develop.
Anyway...blah, blah, blah. I'm glad Lafferty's getting a chance in Chicago.
Rick
Hey Rick,
Now, with Simon and ZAR gone, I am not sure I am upset with any of the Pens forwards per se. I don't know if we always use them to their best affect and/or if we have too many with the same skill set (referring back to our discussion with Phil on another page about another player who can and will Center drive - for Crosby's line) but all in all, I do like most of what we see from them.
I don't even hold them accountable for a lock of secondary scoring as much as others would. I think it is more systemic rather than a player liability.
I am not even sure how I view the Pens Defense. They must have some skill to be able to play the PK the way they do. Again, my thoughts drift to a system error for all of the odd man breaks.
Mind you I am not saying that this team could win the Cup, even under a better system - there are some really good teams out their to oppose them.
From a player perspective, my biggest concerns are these; 1) Goaltending Depth, 2) Lack of size/Snarl on the blue line, 3) Another Carter/Rakell type to drive the Center of the ice.
But you mention players you would want back, hmmm.... I would rather look at prospects than ones that got away but.... maybe
1) Gustavsson - I like the way he has handled Jarry and wonder if he had Gustavsson, would we be set in Goal.
2) I am not sure I want his Salary, but I do like Oleksiak.
3) would love to throw Pedan's name in here too, since we did have his rights and let him slip (the player we got for Poulliot)
Let me reiterate these names as well, players to which we never had the rights but still wish we would have signed as Free Agents, back when I suggested it and before they signed with other teams.
1) Adam Reideborn
2) Oliwer Kaski
3) Ilya Mikheyev
Hey Coach, Rick,
The one guy I would like to see back in a Pen's uniform is Jordan Staal. I saw Rick write about Derrick Pouliot and it brought back memories. I just wondered how our Pen's would have done if we did not trade him to Carolina and kept him all these years. His big size,long reach and hockey IQ made him difficult to play against.Even Jeff carter does not truly replace a player like Staal.
I wonder which Pen's team shows up tonight to play the Rangers ??
Cheers
Jim
Hey Jim,
I did like Staal too, but didn't want to leave? I can't remember. I thought he wanted to play with his brother and get out from under Sid's and Geno's shadow. Statistically, he may have been the best 3rd line Center the Pens ever had. And I certainly understand why some people would like to still see him here. He hits more than Carter, so he makes for a better 3rd line banger. It is a close call, however, I do like what Carter brings and I am not sure I would want to reverse that trade.
Game is starting as I am writing, so it won't take long to see which team is playing.
Go Pens
Hey Jim,
I only had time to watch the first period. Among the problems I saw was that the Rangers out Penguined us. They gave us no time or space, particularly on the breakouts.
In the box score I also saw that our boys gave the puck away with extreme regularity, probably a function of the Ranger's Checking game. If you saw the whole game, you could answer that question better.
As you and I have mentioned many times, the league has passed our Penguins by, both in terms of talent and in coaching. We are still good enough to beat the bottom half of the league with regularity but there are many teams far better than us, now the Rangers look like one of those teams and so does Carolina.
I do like Rakell to some extent, but I still wish we had been sellers at the deadline and not buyers. We could have turned this ship around a whole lot faster with 2 more first round picks in this years draft.
Coach,
We got our answer.
Rangers 3 Pens 2....But don't let the close score fool you.We had just 5 shots in the first period! 8 more in the second.They are not normal Pen's numbers. Plus we had 13 give a ways to Rangers only 2.
They out hit as well. Rangers took 2 penalties in the third and gave us a real boost.
BTW Rangers forward Barclay Goodrow hit the post with 42 seconds left in the game.
Jarry held us in their tonight.
NYR have our number I think.
Good night..
Rick & The Other Rick
My source has always told me Sprong was a "different dude" and I never asked him to elaborate but from my
experience with players it meant they were quirky, a loner or just plain wierd.
As for Simon, much of my dislike for him was his size and his inability to finish "nothing personal" he was a
hard worker / relentless but with limitations.
ZAR - Not a fan and even though he led the team in hits I never viewed him as a physical player. I mean he
would end the game with 6 or 7 hits and I couldn't remember him playing - that's not a good sign.
Lafferty has potential - he's physical and he can really skate - If I were scouting in the NHL he's the type of
player you take a chance on - he just never had a defined game with the Pen's. He needs to find away to
score 8 - 10 goals per year.
GO PENS