There’s a word we don’t dare mention. Kind of like when a pitcher in baseball is throwing a no-h***er. Or a goalie in hockey is posting a sh**out.
The word I’m referring to? It starts with an ‘i’ and ends with an ‘s’ with six letters sandwiched in between.
Yes…injuries.
Why am I bringing it up? I guess it was the news that Casey DeSmith was being evaluated for an upper-body injury.
Save for Teddy Blueger sitting out the first month of the season and a handful of short-term absences, our Penguins have been remarkably injury free thus far. Especially when you compare us to division rivals Philly and Washington. Both clubs have pretty much had the guts ripped out them.
The Flyers are missing top scorers Sean Couturier, Cam Atkinson, James van Riemsdyk and now Travis Konecny and Scott Laughton, not to mention defenseman Ryan Ellis. In black-and-gold terms? That’s roughly akin to having Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, Rickard Rakell, Jason Zucker, Brock McGinn and Dan Petry on the shelf. (You have to wonder if karma is paying the Flyers back for the sins of Bullies past.)
The Caps are nearly as crippled with Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie, Tom Wilson, Dmitry Orlov, Connor Brown and old friend Carl Hagelin parked on IR. In the cases of Backstrom and Hagelin, the injuries may be of the career-ending variety.
Among other Eastern Conference clubs, the Maple Leafs are plenty banged up as well, with key defensemen Morgan Reilly, T.J. Brodie and Jake Muzzin MIA along with co-No. 1 goalie Ilya Samsonov.
The fact that our Pens have been relatively unscathed? I call it good news…and bad news.
It seems the law of averages is bound to catch up to our boys at some point, especially given our age and history as one of the more injured teams over the past decade. If and when it does? It’s liable to put a significant dent in our playoff hopes, especially with the sudden emergence of teams like New Jersey and Detroit. Not to mention the resurgent Islanders.
If the injury bug does bite? There are a handful of players at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton who could serve as plug-ins. Among the forwards, Sam Poulin, Drew O’Connor, Valtteri Puustinen, Drake Caggiula and top scorer Filip Hallander are the leading candidates for a call-up. Throw in Alex Nylander as well.
On defense? Ty Smith and Mark Friedman. Between the pipes, journeyman Dustin Tokarski would likely be first in line for promotion in the event of an injury to DeSmith or Tristan Jarry.
While all of the above have NHL experience, none save for Smith project to be a potential impact player.
Let’s pray our boys stay healthy.
Let’s Make a Deal
According to a report by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, GM Ron Hextall is kicking the tires around the league in search of a deal. The Canucks and Canadiens are likewise rumored to be in the hunt for fresh talent.
While I’m not privy to any insider info, I’ve got to think spare forward (and $3.2 million-dollar man) Kasperi Kapanen and perhaps fading defenseman Brian Dumoulin are available. Maybe Danton Heinen, too.
While Marcus Pettersson’s done an admirable job in relief, IMHO the Pens could use a top-pairing defender on the left side, the role Dumoulin once filled so ably. I’d also welcome a forward with some jam who’s capable of playing on the third line. Someone in the mold of Nashville’s Tanner Jeannot, off to a sluggish start following a 24-goal rookie season. Or perhaps Arizona’s Nick Ritchie, whose cap hit is somewhat in the range of Kapanen’s.
Of course cap considerations loom large. Depending on the asking price, GMRH may experience sticker shock as well.
Still, here’s hoping for an early Christmas present for our Pens.
Good Article Rick, been thinking down those lines for about a month.
However, my thoughts travel a slightly different path. I am not just thinking about the next man up mantra. That mantra was passable in 2015-2016, when the Organizations was actually developing their kids by playing them and letting them learn from being the player on the ice rather than now, having them watch aged veteran has-beens and never-wases steal ice time that belongs to them both in Pgh and in WBS. However, now, what little talent there in in WBS is rotting on the vine, waiting for the day that someone actually lets them lace up their skates and take the ice.
Besides the who will replace a Penguin should he get injured, I have been thinking,
1) Since our Penguins are only 2 games over 500, with an opportunity to climb to the lofty heights of 3 games over 500 before the 1/4 point of the season, but still only 5th in the division and 9th in the conference, still out of the playoff picture as of now, what will happen to the Metro when Philly, the Caps and even the Leafs start to get healthy. If they can barely eke out 9th with these teams injured, do our Pens go back into their death spiral in the standings?
2) Again, given the barely average play of our Penguins with a healthy Crosby and Malkin, both producing better than have in some time, what happens if these guys get injured for their usual, or worse, our Penguins get hit with the same bug that is currently crippling Was and Philly? Where do our boys of winter go?
Remember Roy Blount’s “Three Bricks Shy of a Load” book about the Steelers? This teams has considerably more bricks missing, almost an entire Defense.
Our Penguins have clawed back to be close to the playoff picture, thanks more from a generous helping of injuries plaguing Philly, plunging them into a 7 game losing streak, more so than any real change in the team.
As fans, we should always wish for the best, but stay grounded with our expectations.