With a bit of a lull in the Penguins’ schedule, I thought I’d check up on former black-and-golders around the league. Stats are current for games played through November 1.
A couple of surprise names are perched atop the pack. The ‘Canes Stefan Noesen and Evan Rodrigues of the Panthers each have a pair of goals and eight points thus far. Noesen, a grinding go-to-the-net forward, was never given much of a shot in the ‘Burgh (or anywhere else) despite displaying a scoring touch with the Baby Pens (14 goals in 22 games). Not to mention scoring a dirty, net-front goal in his first game with the locals before his ice time predictably fell off the table.
Don’t have to tell you about Rodrigues, a fast, versatile, play-anywhere forward who produces. What in the wide, wide world of sports was former GM Ron Hextall thinking when he neglected to re-sign E-Rod?
Both would look awfully good in a Pens uniform right about now.
As for others near the top of the expatriate heap? Jared McCann continues to score goals (five of ’em) for the Kraken. In hindsight, trading the speedy winger (for failed prospect Filip Hållander) to make room for Jeff Carter on our protected list ahead of the 2021 expansion draft rates as one of the all-time blunders in franchise history. Another Hexy special.
Detroit’s Daniel Sprong is proving last season’s breakout with the Kraken was no fluke. Like McCann, the Amsterdam native can flat-out snipe, and he’s playing a better all-around game these days.
After suffering severe abdominal muscle issues in the ‘Burgh, Arizona’s Nick Bjugstad has quietly resurrected his career with the desert dogs. The trade that brought the big fella and McCann to the Pens for Derick Brassard and Riley Sheahan back in ’19 remains one of the best in recent black-and-gold history.
Tanner Pearson, who suffered a serious hand injury with the Canucks last season, has bounced back in surprising fashion with Montreal (three goals, five points). Teammate Mike Matheson (two goals, six points) has assumed a leadership role with the Habs while logging a Kris Letang-ish 24:28 of ice time per game.
On the flip side? Jeff Petry, the player Matheson was traded for, has been a frequent healthy scratch for the Red Wings. His two assists came courtesy of our Pens of course. Trade mate Ryan Poehling has likewise entered the press-box nachos realm for the Flyers.
Two former Pens have yet to play a game due to injuries. The Canucks’ Teddy Blueger is week-to-week with a leg injury. Anaheim’s Brock McGinn is on LTIR with a lower-body malady.
In net, Casey DeSmith is holding down the fort reasonably well in Vancouver. Phenom Filip Gustavsson and venerable Marc-Andre Fleury have experienced some struggles with the Wild.
| SCORING | ||||||||
| Player | Pos | Team | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
| Noesen | RW | CAR | 10 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 7 |
| Rodrigues | C | FLA | 8 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 7 |
| McCann | LW | SEA | 10 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 9 | -5 |
| Sprong | RW | DET | 10 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 6 |
| Matheson | D | MTL | 9 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | -1 |
| Pearson | LW | MTL | 9 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 4 |
| Bjugstad | C | ARI | 9 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 18 | 3 |
| Kulikov | D | FLA | 8 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 4 |
| Marino | D | NJD | 8 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 1 |
| Perron | LW | DET | 10 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | -4 |
| Kapanen | RW | STL | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | -2 |
| Staal | C | CAR | 10 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | -3 |
| Addison | D | MIN | 9 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | -2 |
| Lafferty | C | VAN | 9 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 18 | 3 |
| Dumoulin | D | SEA | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | -2 |
| Sundqvist | C | STL | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Zucker | LW | ARI | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| Schultz | D | SEA | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | -2 |
| Määttä | D | DET | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Petry | D | DET | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | -2 |
| Sheary | LW | TBL | 9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -3 |
| Ceci | D | EDM | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Cole | D | VAN | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 8 |
| Johnson | D | COL | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Oleksiak | D | SEA | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | -1 |
| Bonino | C | NYR | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| Bortuzzo | D | STL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| DeSmith | G | VAN | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fleury | G | MIN | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Friedman | D | VAN | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 |
| Gaudreau | C | MIN | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| Goligoski | D | MIN | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -3 |
| Granlund | C | SJS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Gudbranson | D | CBJ | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | -4 |
| Gustavsson | G | MIN | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Heinen | LW | BOS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| Poehling | C | PHI | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 |
| Reaves | RW | TOR | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | -6 |
| Rutta | D | SJS | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -7 |
| Tanev | LW | SEA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| GOALTENDING | ||||||||
| Player | Team | GP | GA | SH | AVG | SV% | W-L-OT | |
| DeSmith | VAN | 4 | 10 | 0 | 3.07 | .905 | 2-0-1 | |
| Fleury | MIN | 4 | 13 | 0 | 3.25 | .888 | 1-2-1 | |
| Gustavsson | MIN | 5 | 22 | 1 | 4.36 | .885 | 2-2-1 | |
| Italics indicates a Penguins draft pick or a free agent who began his NHL career with the Penguins. | ||||||||
Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda (or Maybe Not)
I thought I’d borrow a page from colleague Other Rick’s book and list some players I would’ve pursued over the off-season.
| SCORING | ||||||||
| Player | Pos | Team | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
| Tatar | LW | COL | 8 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 6 | -2 |
| Athanasiou | C | CHI | 8 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | -5 |
| Wood | LW | COL | 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -2 |
| Kostin | LW | DET | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | -2 |
| Mrazek | G | CHI | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| GOALTENDING | ||||||||
| Player | Team | GP | GA | SH | AVG | SV% | W-L-OT | |
| Mrazek | CHI | 6 | 16 | 0 | 2.96 | .917 | 2-3-0 |
Yikes! Goalie Petr Mrazek aside, my would-be acquisitions have been varying degrees of disappointing, although Klim Kostin engaged noted heavyweight and ex-Pen Erik Gudbranson in a rousing slugging match.
Bottom line? Don’t hire me to be your GM…lol.
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View Comments
The Other Rick & Rick
I got a chance to watch a couple of games last night. Mont vs AZ and the Canucks
vs Sharks. Lafferty had a goal and assist and now has 3 goals on the year. The Other
Rick I wouldn't jump on Matheson to quick he's still better than 90% of the Defenseman
we have playing with the Pens. He has 14 giveaways while Letang has 3 but I wouldn't
be surprised to see those numbers flip as the season progresses. Matheson looked
really good last night and hit the crossbar with 30 seconds left in the game that would
of knotted it at 3-all. According to the Canadian broadcasters he still trying to
work thru some type of early season injury. Plus he's playing a ton of minutes.
As for the shot blocking - we don't have one player in the top 32 and I find it rather
interesting that (4) former Pen's are in the top 15. Bonino (2nd), Gudbranson (7th),
Oleksiak (8th) & Matheson (15th). GO PENS
Hey Mike,
Matheson played very well here and I agree he is better than any LHD on this team or its AHL affiliate. I haven't seen him play this season, but those Gv did make me wonder, Mtl may not be a good fit for him.
When I looked at the Blk totals I didn't really look as closely as you. Interesting to see so many ex Pens in the top of the league. However, it seems to me that Blk totals show a teams desire/willingness to do what it takes to win. One quick look tells a huge story. After reading your post I took a look at team stats - our Penguins rank 23rd in the league in Blks/60; this team isn't hungry enough to win games. They aren't willing to make the tough plays. They would rather lose than step it up.
Sullivan talks out of both sides of his mouth. He talks about toughness but then doesn't give the tough players TOI when they are here and dumps them ASAP.
By the way, did you see Sully's talk about missing the red line. Hypocritically he wants a return to the red line to slow the game down. Wasn't it he who brought preached speed kills and really made the flip pass over the D-men for Hags to chase down a regular part of the game. Now he is whine about just that tactic, flipping the puck over the opposing D and chasing it down.
Now, according to the article on that other web site, Sully is no longer a fan of the speed and pursuit game. He is preaching that he wants a possession identity; a 180 from what he was whining over the summer.
Hey Rick,
Great stuff! as always.
Did you see who leads the league in Gv right now? Mike Matheson. He has returned to his old Gv king self.
Not that I would ever want him back, but Sprong continues to vindicate me in terms of the Simon-Sprong argument. Not only is he scoring G and getting A but his +/- would put him at the top of our Penguins with a 4 point cushion. His 7 pts would tie him for 4th with Rust and Smith.
Other points of interest for me are Gustavsson who turned 180 in a negative way - wow how could he be a Vezina candidate last season and look so horrible this season?
E-Rod is looking good in Fla, Going to have to watch them to see what's up.
Bonino is back to being the Shot block master, he is tied for 2nd in the league right now with 31. our Pes could use that sort of grit - butmaybe from a younger candidate.
Jan Rutta -7, yikes.