Back in 1995-96, the Penguins boasted a powerhouse team. Paced by the lethal Mario Lemieux–Ron Francis–Jaromir Jagr line, which combined for a ridiculous 158 goals and 459 points (!!!), they came within a cheesy Tom Fitzgerald goal of a berth in the Stanley Cup Final. (Sidenote: Fitzgerald was a forerunner to present-day Penguin-killer Jordan Eberle.)
Naturally, hopes were high for the following season.
In an effort to protect his superstars against aggressive foes like the Capitals and the Legion of Doom Flyers, then-GM Craig Patrick concentrated on making the team bigger and tougher over the offseason. In a high-profile swap of defensemen, he dealt highly skilled Sergei Zubov to Dallas for hulking Kevin Hatcher (6’3” 230). Patrick also added monstrous left wing Shawn Antoski (6’4” 235) and rugged defenseman Craig Muni, at 208 pounds a comparative lightweight.
As a result, the Pens’ opening night lineup for the ’96-97 season featured 13 skaters who tipped the scales at 200 pounds or heavier, including eight who weighed in at 224 pounds or more. (Francois Leroux was the heftiest at 247 pounds.)
Featuring more dinosaurs than Jurassic Park, we were a huge team. Problem is, we were a slowwwww team, too.
Despite the presence of our megastar core and talented sidekicks Petr Nedved and Tomas Sandstrom, the Pens slogged out of the starting gate by losing nine of their first 11 games. In the process, we were outscored by the staggering margin of 25 goals for to 47 against.
Bottom line…we stunk.
Recognizing the error of his ways, Patrick moved decisively to correct the imbalance he’d created. Within a three-day span he pulled off three high-profile trades.
In the first, he acquired wrecking-ball defenseman Darius Kasparaitis and forward Andreas Johannsen from the Islanders for the rights to holdout forward Brian Smolinski. Then he dealt talented but enigmatic d-man Dmitri Mironov and the massive but immobile Antoski to Anaheim for smooth defender Fredrik Olausson and scrappy forward Alex Hicks. In his best swap of all, he peddled failed former first-round pick Chris Wells to Florida for two solid pros, center Stu Barnes and mobile defenseman Jason Woolley.
Thus fortified, the Pens began a swift and dramatic turnaround. Over the next 10 weeks they went on an incendiary 25-6-4 run to vault back into playoff contention.
Why am I drawing a comparison to our current Pens? There are some similarities, albeit on a modest scale. GM Ron Hextall spent the off-season retooling the defense with an eye toward adding size and a bit of a physical presence in Jeff Petry and Jan Rutta. Like the ’96-97 squad, this version of the black and gold is way underachieving out of the starting blocks despite a talented core. To the extent that the season…and a playoff berth…may already be in serious jeopardy.
Hextall’s Hall-of-Fame predecessor was able to right a sinking ship with a series of savvy trades, an option that may not be available to GMRH due to the salary cap. With virtually every team in the league navigating cap constraints of one form or another, you aren’t likely to move a struggling player unless you’re willing to inherit someone else’s problems.
How does Brian Dumoulin and Kasperi Kapanen (with some retained salary) to St. Louis for Nick Leddy and Noel Acciari grab you?
Exactly.
While it’s possible one of the few teams with cap space…say Arizona…might be willing to take a “Dumo” or a “Kappy” off our hands, the cost in terms of surrendering draft picks and assets will likely be prohibitive.
So what’s a GM to do?
The truth of the matter is, not much. Perhaps scan the waiver wire for players you think could help. One such player, physical right wing and former Hextall draft pick Nicolas Aube-Kubel, was plucked off the waiver wire by the Capitals on Saturday and will likely play against us Wednesday night.
In the meantime, any improvement needs to come from within. A notion Hextall reinforced in an interview with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.
“The good news and the bad news is that we’re beating ourselves,” Hextall said. “It’s been a bit of a collective team effort, to be honest. You look at our PK, our PP, turnovers at inopportune times, poor decisions, defensive play — there’s a lot of things. We sit here and go, ‘We’re making egregious mistakes that this group doesn’t typically make.’
“Again, the good news and the bad news: We’re beating ourselves. But we still believe we’re a very capable team.”
In other words, the onus is on the coaching staff and players to figure things out and rise to the occasion.
Here’s hoping they will. But I wouldn’t bet the ranch on it.
Hallander Recalled
The Pens have recalled Filip Hallander, their 2nd round pick in 2018, from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The 22-year-old forward, who can play left wing and center, leads the Baby Pens with five assists and nine points. His four goals rank second to Alex Nylander.
Hey all,
Just saw that Sullivan juggled the line combinations and defense pairings in practice. His form of adjusting.
The one tweak I wish he’d make? Switching Rakell back to the top line and dropping Rust to the second. I thought Rakell’s creativity opened up the ice for Sid and Jake, and I felt like Rust and Zucker made a really nice set of fast, north-south bookends for Geno while likewise opening up some space for No. 71.
Unfortunately, it’s the one adjustment Sully seems loathe to make. Of course…
Rick
Hey Rick,
I saw the post about Sullivan shuffling the deck but didn’t read it yet. Thanks for that update.
And 100%, the only appreciable change that he can make is reuniting the 1st and 2nd line combos from when the team was scoring, making any other changes means nothing. But it does show why the only appreciable change the team could make will be behind the bench.
Hey Rick,
There is always hope that a trade can be made. JR was able to talk Chi into taking Scuderi off our hands and still give us Trevor Daley in the process. There are many examples of highway robbery.. However, don’t count on it. There aren’t too many disposable assets on this roster. Dumoulin, as much as I like what he has done in the past, is playing so awful right now, that unless he turns his game around, no GM in their right mind will want him, at least until the trade deadline, when desperation makes people do stupid things. And if Dumo does turn it around, why trade him?
That is just one example.
The point is, we can wish for a trade that will help the Penguins but that is all, there is no reasonable factor to hope in.. Help has to come from the inside. Most particularly the Coach. The best bet for this team is the Coaches start Coaching the team they have and not the one they wish they had and infusing youth into the lineup (not just sitting on the bench but giving them TOI)
Hallander may second on the team behind Nylander in Gs but he leads the club in Pnts and +/- with 9 Pnts and a +7. We wil see if he does anything more than sit in the press box or on the bench.
PS great reminder of Penguins’ history!
Thanks Other Rick. Great input as always.
I found the following statement to be very interesting:
“In order for us to become a better team we have to play with a stronger system and really be more accountable for some of the things that some of the players are struggling with… We’re at a point now where we have to make players more accountable and we’ll have to take the necessary steps to get players’ attention…. When we talk to the coaches, we stress it. I do believe that the style that the team played that had success in the second half of last season was a loose style and more on the offensive side and our goaltender played great and really helped win a lot of those games or bail us out in wide open games. And I don’t believe that that’s the style of play that you could sustain over a long period of time if you want to contend for a playoff spot.”
It’s former GM Jim Rutherford talking about the Canucks. But he could easily be describing the Penguins.
Rick
That is funny Rick, I just read that quote right before checking in here to see what was happening on our boards.