Penguins Update: It’s Sully’s Way…or the Highway

Fellow PenguinPooper Caleb Di’Natalie and I were discussing the merits of former Penguins defenseman Jeff Petry in the wake of his recent trade to the Red Wings. When I mentioned the fact that we had a pretty good record with Petry in the lineup, Caleb replied, “He didn’t do a bad job. He just didn’t fit (coach Mike) Sullivan’s system.”

No sooner did Caleb utter his truism than a light bulb turned on in my head.

I wonder how many other players were basically chewed up and spit out because they didn’t fit Mike Sullivan’s system (or weren’t Sully guys)? Off the top of my head, I can think of ten. For starters, there’s Petry and fellow recent departee Jan Rutta.

Reaching back a little farther, you’ve got Nick Bjugstad, Ian Cole, Erik Gudbranson, Sam Lafferty, Jamie Oleksiak and, of course, slugger nonpareil Ryan Reaves. I’ll toss in Phil Kessel, who Sully tolerated for a time, and sniper Daniel Sprong, who was basically run out of town. Although in fairness the Amsterdam native did net us steady defender Marcus Pettersson.

Not a list of all-stars by any stretch. But guys who’ve for the most part enjoyed solid careers and been solid contributors for other clubs.

Their biggest collective sin? They didn’t fit the way Sully wants to play. Ergo, a speedy, on-your-toes, puck-possession game.

It isn’t so much the type of game Sullivan favors as his stubborn refusal to adapt or adjust his system to the talent on hand that irks me. There have been three instances since he became our coach when his general manager (aka boss) tried to provide a more playoff-ready mix. In each instance, the attempt failed, and miserably, in part due to Sully pushback, subtle or otherwise.

In 2017-18, then-GM Jim Rutherford imported Oleksiak and Reaves to provide an underpinning of muscle and ride shotgun against rugged teams like the Capitals and Blue Jackets. Shortly after the former’s arrival in a midseason trade, we went on a 16-4-1 tear. But Sullivan didn’t like Reaves and Cole and forced Rutherford’s hand, leading to the disastrous Derick Brassard trade. Dousing our hopes for a three-peat.

The following season Bjugstad and Gudbranson arrived, the latter as a replacement for Oleksiak, whom Sullivan had also soured on. For the record, Jamie would emerge as a postseason pillar for Dallas in 2020, finishing second in playoff hits and third in blocked shots while helping the Stars reach the Final. Yet our coach had no use for him.

With Sullivan and the team looking hopelessly out of sync, we were swept in four straight by the Islanders in ’19. Prompting Rutherford to reverse engines in favor of a faster, speedier (and smaller) club that was kayoed by the heavier Canadiens in the ’20 qualifying round. In effect, not even making the playoffs.

Right or wrong, Ron Hextall tried to make us more playoff ready with the additions of bigger bodies like Jeff Carter (eight goals in 13 playoff games for the black and gold), Rickard Rakell, Petry and Rutta. The resulting hybrid team and Sullivan mixed about as well as oil and water. Frankly, I thought he did a poor job managing the troops last season. In the process exposing a lot of his flaws.

No matter.

Now Kyle Dubas is building a team tailored to Sullivan’s specs. As the old saying goes, if you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em. With ownership obviously committed to Sully, philosophically as well as financially (four more years), it just makes sense for Dubas to give our coach the type of team he wants. We witnessed first-hand last season the chilling effects of having a coach and GM on different pages.

Especially now that Erik Karlsson’s on board, we’ll probably do well during the regular season when the intensity level is down a notch and speed and skill generally win out.

But the postseason?

The Devils, the team that most closely employs Sullivan’s preferred style, skated circles around the Rangers in the opening round last spring. However, the second round was an entirely different story. The more physical and structured Hurricanes methodically ground the Devils down en route to a leisurely five-game conquest. It should be noted the Devils are younger, faster and arguably more talented than we are.

So how do we succeed where Lindy Ruff’s bunch failed?

The short answer is, we don’t.

Not to repeat myself like a broken record. But the teams that went deep into the playoffs, including the Cup winning Golden Knights, did so with a hybrid mix that blended skill, structure and sand.

Sullivan still wants to win with the speed game that worked for us back in ’16. I’ll omit our ’17 Cup winners because by then we’d evolved into a counter-punching team that relied heavily on goaltending, gritty shot-blocking defense and elite finishing to get ‘er done. Yet Sully remains wedded to his system and his type of player.

It’s his way or the highway…for now.