Penguins Update: Nothing Could be Finer Than to be in Carolina…

Just play.

It’s been the Penguins’ unofficial mantra ever since Mike Sullivan assumed the coaching reins from Mike Johnston back in December 2015.

Loosely translated, it means play through cheap shots, extracurriculars and other assorted shenanigans foes might dish out over the course of a hockey game. Sound in theory. But is it practical…or realistic?

Playing the right way is another favorite catchphrase of Sully’s. But do we?

Ever since we won those back-to-back Cups with a speed-based, forechecking system that was long on grit but short on actual muscle, Sullivan has resisted every attempt to add a physical element to the Pens’ lineup. Stubbornly so.

Such notable tough guys as heavyweight champ Ryan Reaves and twin tower defensemen Jamie Oleksiak and Erik Gudbranson have gone the way of the Dodo here in the Steel City.

Meanwhile four of the past five Cup winners have blended skill and speed with muscle. While a bit more Penguin-esque, the Avs did, too. Yet Sullivan continues to double-down on his speed first, physicality-be-damned approach. With all due respect to Kyle Dubas, who’s done a lot of good work, he appears to be drinking Sully’s Kool-Aid.

Our coach insists we need to stick to our identity.

Last season opposing power forwards ran amok against us. Islanders horses Anders Lee (seven) and Brock Nelson (five) combined for a dozen goals in four games. Rangers hulk Chris Kreider, six.

We couldn’t stop ‘em then. With all due respect to free-agent signee Ryan Graves, we won’t stop ‘em now.

For the record, Lee’s explosion against the black-and-gold represented a quarter of his goal output for the season. It’s safe to say he had a way easier time scoring against us than other teams. That’s because we have no net-front presence at either end of the ice.

How’s that for an identity?

Apologists will tell you the game has changed, that physicality isn’t as important as it used to be and it’s all about “the process.”

Process my arse. I agree the game has changed…but only to an extent. To draw an analogy, when you strip it down to its essentials, football is still all about blocking and tackling.

Same with hockey, especially come playoff time. It’s all about winning the battles in the trenches. Or as new Toronto GM Brad Treliving so eloquently and succinctly put it, “As much as the game’s changed, some things have never changed. At the most important times, the rink shrinks. There’s no space. You need courage.”

Think the Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk would (and will) think twice about massaging our prized pickup Erik Karlsson with a well-placed elbow or the blade of his stick? To coin a phrase once used to describe Flyers great Bobby Clarke, Tkachuk would skate over his grandmother if it meant securing two points.

And Tkachuk has backup with the likes of Sam Bennett, spitfire Ryan Lomberg and ex-Sharks heavy Johan Gadjovich, who beat up game but outgunned Marcus Pettersson last season. With the possible exception of newcomer Noel Acciari, tough but miscast as an enforcer, Karlsson and the other Pens stars won’t be afforded that type of protection. All because of the limits Sullivan and his single-minded preferences place on roster construction.

I’m not posturing for Dubas to acquire a hired gun, although having one to ride shotgun would be preferable to not having one at all. Where we consistently miss the boat is the lack of toughness spread throughout the lineup. When you have a handful of guys who can handle the rough going, like defending Cup champ Vegas, you don’t need a heavyweight.

Treliving took note. Looking to add sandpaper to the Leafs, he signed a trio of abrasive forwards…Todd Bertuzzi, Max Domi and old friend Reaves.

His players were delighted.

“All three of those guys can play with snot, piss, and vinegar,” Mitch Marner said. (They’re) three guys that aren’t afraid to get in people’s faces and down and dirty, and at the same time bring a lot of pace to our game, can do a lot of things around the net, (and) add a lot of different qualities to your team.

“And they all have that grittiness. Obviously, what Ryan does, it’s going to make people not really want to get down and dirty too much with our team.”

Hurricanes’ GM Don Waddell took note, too. Although the ‘Canes are already hard to play against, he made the two-time Metro champs even more prickly with the additions of Michael Bunting, Tony DeAngelo and Brendan Lemieux. And now ex-Pen Zach Aston-Reese.

Waddell gets it.

We don’t.

Penguins Prospects

Just a quickly blurb about the Prospects Tournament in Buffalo. Our guys fell to the Bruins’ prospects, 4-2, last night. Lukas Svejkovsky and Sam Houde scored for the Pens. Joel Blomqvist stopped 12 of 14 shots in 30 minutes of action.

First-round pick Brayden Yager also participated.

The Pens square off against the Senators’ prospects this afternoon.