Ex-Penguins Update: Checking on Fish That Got Away

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.