Penguins Update: The Bigger They Are…

The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

That time honored axiom is attributed to English boxer Robert Fitzsimmons, who beat “Gentleman” Jim Corbett at the turn of the 20^th Century to become heavyweight champion of the world, despite the fact that he tipped the scales at a mere 165 pounds.

It reminds me of our Penguins. With three fairly recent Stanley Cups to our credit, to say nothing of a 16-year postseason run, it’s safe to say we’ve been a heavyweight in terms of on-ice success for a good long while.

When we fall? We’re liable to fall hard, just like many of Fitzsimmons’ fistic foes.

To digress, Other Rick and I were talking hockey yesterday during the shift change at Wright’s Gym, as we so often do. As PP’s resident prospects expert, he takes a keen interest in the players we have in the developmental pipeline. The other day he posted his most recent prospect review.

As TOR so aptly pointed out, the dearth of young talent…especially at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton…is alarming to say the least. Former first-round pick Sam Poulin, currently out with an injury, has struggled to put up numbers in the AHL and likely projects to be a bottom-sixer in the NHL at best. Right wing Valtteri Puustinen notched 44 goals over the past two seasons and possesses creativity and offensive flair, but his overall game is questionable. Worse yet, he’s being squeezed out of top-six duty by the passel of veterans imported by Kyle Dubas over the offseason.

Defenseman Ty Smith has similar holes in his game and may (or may not) have NHL pedigree. Center Jonathan Gruden figures to be no more than a fourth-line grinder at the big-league level.

The lone gem? Goalie Joel Blomqvist, who’s posted excellent numbers at Wilkes so far.

Beyond the Baby Pens?

Last summer’s top pick, Brayden Yager, is off to a sizzling start with his junior team (11 goals, 22 points in 14 games). While he appears to be the real deal, the next Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin he’s not. Most experts project Yager to be a second-line center.

Owen Pickering, our first-round pick in ’22, has likewise put up solid offensive numbers in junior. However, the coltish defenseman’s been a minus player throughout his young career, including a ghastly minus-9 during an eight-game cameo with the Baby Pens last spring.

Although some of our recent picks, including third-rounder Emil Pieniniemi and fifth-rounder Mikhail Ilyin, display promise, none are a sure bet at this stage of their development.

What am I driving at?

Take a good, hard look at tonight’s foe, the San Jose Sharks. It wasn’t all that long ago the Sharks were a perennial NHL power. Loaded with stars like “Jumbo” Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Patrick Marleau and Brent Burns, they faced our Pens in the Stanley Cup Final back in ’16. Remember?

Then their stars aged out, were traded or released, in the process exposing a barren farm system. Leading to the 0-9-1 train wreck they are today.

With an abysmal record of 8-67-5, the expansion ’74-75 Capitals are the worst team I can remember. The present-day Sharks, an unfortunate Mulligan stew of not-ready-for-prime-time players and aging castoffs like former Pens Mikael Granlund and Jan Rutta, have a chance to be every bit as bad if not worse.

I peer into my crystal ball and see the bottom falling out on our Pens in similar fashion in the not-too-distant future. The price we’ll pay for making drafting and player development an afterthought (if that).

The silver lining to this admittedly gloomy scenario? It pays to be epically bad. We drafted franchise savior Mario Lemieux on the heels of two horrid seasons in the early ‘80s, Crosby and Malkin following a similarly desolate stretch in the early 2000s.

The Oilers nabbed Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl after a prolonged rough patch. The Hawks…phenom Connor Bedard.

Hope for our very distant future, well beyond the life span of our current core.

In the short run? Even if we turn things around and salvage our season starting with a win over the Sharks tonight, it’s eventually going to get worse before it gets better.

Much worse.