Mandatory Credit: Photo by Antti Aimo-Koivisto/Shutterstock (13910278ag) Goalkeeper Casey Desmith (R) of the US defends the net against Hannes Björninen of Finland during the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships preliminary round group A opening match between Finland and the United States in Tampere on May 12, 2023. IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships 2023, Tampere, Finland - 12 May 2023
Not all our Pittsburgh Penguins’ Players and former players are enjoying the fruits of frustration from their failure to make the playoffs this year. Several of our stalwart skaters earned themselves a chance to play in the International Ice – Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championships and compete for their home country in that tournament. So, I thought I would catch us up on their exploits through the preliminary round.
Now, don’t get too excited, this tournament is very watered down. The Russian team isn’t taking part in it and there few NHL calibre players that are participating in this tournament are pretty much centered in only a handful of teams.
| Name | GP | G | A | Pts | P/M |
| Bonino, Nick | 7 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| Joseph, Pierre-Olivier | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Nylander, Alexander | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| O’Connor, Drew | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 |
Drew O’Connor leads all current Penguins Players in scoring and +/- in this tournament with 3 Goals (G), 5 Points (Pts) and a +5. Nick Bonino a soon to be Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA) is 2nd 3 G and 4 Pts. Pierre Olivier – Joseph is second among Penguins’ skaters with a +4.
| Name | GP | G | A | Pts | P/M |
| Bengtsson, Lukas | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Drozg, Jan | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | -4 |
| Kahun, Dominik | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Kapanen, Kasperi | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 |
| Maatta, Olli | 7 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 1 |
| Tiffels, Frederik | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| Zohorna, Radim | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Former Penguins’ Right Winger (RW) and oft resident of Mike Sullivan’s doghouse of healthy scratches, Kasperi Kapanen leads among former Penguins in scoring with 3 G and 5 Pts just like current Penguin Drew O’Connor, but Kapanen has a better +/- at +8. Former Penguins property Dominik Kahun, who Sullivan and Jim Rutherford thought so highly of that they traded him to Buffalo for Dominik Simon and Evan Rodrigues has 3 points and is tied with O’Connor at a +5. Frederick TIffels, another former Penguin property who stood in such high regard as to ply his trade for the Wheeling Nailers, has the same number of Pts as Bonino, 4 Jan Drozg who impressed the Penguins brain trust so much that they didn’t offer him a contract last season for any level of play, has the same number of G, as both O’Connor and Bonino. And Lukas Bengtsson, one of our team’s earliest prospect defections back to Europe, thanks to our Penguins wonderful development program has nearly the same stats as our Penguins top Rookie from this past season, Joseph. Bengtsson has 1 point and is a +4. The only separation is that Jospeh’s 1 Pnt is a G and Bengtsson’s is an Assist (A). Oh, and Jospeh plays on what should have been a stronger Canadian team than the Swedish national team, but at this point that may not be true.
| Name | GP | W | Sv% | GAA | SO |
| DeSmith, Casey | 4 | 4 | 94.23 | 1.49 | 1 |
| Larmi, Emil | 5 | 3 | 92.24 | 1.78 | 0 |
In Goal, Casey DeSmith has feasted on the lack of talent in the tournament and has built himself some healthy statistics, a .9432 Save Percentage (Sv%) and Goals Against Average (GAA) of 1.49, en route to 4 wins (W) compared to 1 (L). Compare that to another Penguins defector, Emil Larmi, who is helping backstop Finland and who has a Sv% of 0.9224 and GAA of 1.78.
Even if DeSmith’s play is a result of playing against inferior talent, it may boost his confidence.
If players the team let go are playing just as well as players the team kept, was it just a question that the Penguins were just overloaded with talent or that these players may not be all that we would wat them to be?
We will see as the tournament begins the quarter final round tomorrow.
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View Comments
The Other Rick
Great work. Personally I don't see anything in current or former players
to get overly excited about. Drew O'Connor is playing well but IMO he
has limitations and doesn't get a lot of greasy, dirty work type of goals.
He will turn 25 in a couple of weeks.
Also, I know this is not a draft type article but I wanted to throw a hat
in the ring if the Pens decide to move down in the draft. After watching
film it wouldn't surprise me if this kid doesn't continue to improve his draft
stock and he's exactly what the Pen's need. His name is Dmitri Simashev.
6'4 201 ( LHD ) - He's considered one of the top skaters in this years
draft - excellent defender, passer and plays a physical / playoff type of
game. I realize he's Russian. This is the type of kid that will end up in a
Bruin uniform. I really believe if won't be long before he's playing in the
NHL. I know I'm watching tape and not seeing him live so I'm trying to
down play his abilities slightly but it wouldn't surprise me if someone takes
him much earlier in the draft. He has all the tools to go with size, reach
Defensive ability, skating, overall feel and physicallity.
Can't wait to start seriously kicking around players for this years draft.
Thanks Mike,
Agreed, There isn't that much to get excited about here. O'Connor may be among the top 5 or so players in our system, but he has limitations. He plays rather small for his size. Furthermore, he isn't the only one on the team allergic to scoring dirty Gs, that may be the biggest reason for the teams inconsistent scoring and poor playoff performance, nobody wants to earn their Gs, they all want highlight reel plays. The team hasn't never tried to replace Hornqvist.
About Dmitri Simashev, I had not looked at him until you mentioned his name right now, so I watch video of his game Sept 19 against Lokomotiv. He looked solid in that game. He wasn't a spectator. He got engaged on every shift. He took bodies in front of his Goalie, rather than stick waving (and as you noted he has a big frame). He blocked shots. He was strong on the boards and in behind the net. The video I watched looked like it was running a little fast, so I can't say for sure about his skating speed but he looked as fast as anyone on the ice but more importantly he looked like he had good balance on his skates and was very mobile, avoiding checks with agility and gear changes, speeding up or slowing down seamlessly. He pivoted well. He jumped up on one play to pick up a loose puck, didn't force play back in front, instead swung behind the net and found an open winger along the boards and quickly retreated back to his position, not leaving his Forwards exposed for a potential counter attack. The only thing I didn't see was a good shot. The only shot he took was blocked.
He is not the best defenseman in the draft but I sure liked the way he covered all three zones, in a way no Penguins D-man does. The Hockey writers are projecting him to go somewhere between 25th and 35th
The Other Rick
Simashev skating is something that caught my eye right away, Right now he's
considered one of the top skaters in this years draft class. The film that I watched
he was smooth and fluid for a player his size and the more I watched the more
I was intrigued by his outlet passes and ability to initiate transition offense. I don't
see how he stays on the board with the lack of elite Defenseman in this years
draft. Time will tell.