Penguins History Repeating Itself

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.