In my most recent game summary, I lamented that our Penguins are getting next to nothing from the bottom two forward lines. Brock McGinn’s game-turning hit and fight (not to mention excellent penalty killing) aside, that observation still stands.
With one goal in 30 games, Teddy Blueger (who I like) has morphed into former linemate Zach Aston-Reese. Following a reasonably productive spurt, Jeff Carter is goalless (and pointless) in six games. While still strong in the faceoff circle, his once decent wheels appear to be turning to cement before our very eyes. A man without a country or clearly defined role, Danton Heinen hasn’t scored a goal since Mike Lange’s proverbial eighth-grade picnic, or October 22 to be exact.
Given the typical Mike Sullivan treatment (i.e.…ice time meted out with an eye-dropper), kids Drew O’Connor and Jonathan Gruden are feeling their way along. And Kasperi Kapanen, streaky at best, is on the shelf.
The fourth line should regain some traction with the returns of buzz-saw Josh Archibald and Ryan Poehling. But the third line has pretty much been an unmitigated disaster.
Perhaps it’s time to try something daring. Perhaps it’s time to give some kids a real, honest-to-goodness shot.
Alex Nylander (pictured above) is lighting it up for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The eighth overall pick in the 2016 Entry Draft and kid brother of Toronto star William Nylander, Alex leads the Baby Pens with 16 goals and 32 points in 37 games. Nearly a point-per-game clip.
On the opposite flank, Valtteri Puustinen has 14 goals and 30 points in 38 games. With 34 goals in 111 AHL games, he’s been a steady producer since venturing to this side of the pond. The 23-year-old Finn showed well (an assist and a plus-two) in his Penguins debut last season.
At first blush, Nylander and Puustinen hardly fit the MO of an NHL third-liner. Ideally, you want guys with some sand who play an all-around game. However, harkening back to our Cup champions, Phil Kessel didn’t exactly fit the mold of a classic bottom-sixer, either, and that worked out pretty well.
Perhaps it’s time to call these guys up, graft them onto the third line and see what they can do. If you’re concerned about defense, put Blueger in the middle. Or try something really wild and place O’Connor between them.
A leap of faith, I know. But given their collective skill, Nylander and Puustinen might provide some offense to a line that’s been Death Valley, production-wise. Perhaps create a little bit of a matchup problem for opponents, who presently can concentrate solely on stopping our top two lines.
Of course such a move would require Sullivan to commit to giving the kids some legit ice time, something he’s been loathe to do since our Cup seasons.
True, the Pens aren’t exactly in a position to throw away points while experimenting with novelty combinations. But the potential rewards just might outweigh the risks. Such a move could introduce some fresh blood and legs to a mix that at times appears stale as month old bread. It would also give GM Ron Hextall an opportunity to fully evaluate the talent on hand ahead of the trade deadline.
Just might be worth a try.
Rick & The Other Rick
Same old, Same old with our Pen’s. Even with the additions of some fresh blood from WBS we’ll still find our Pens
with 3rd and 4th line players who play their because they can’t crack the Top 6.
As for Sullivan we’re beating a dead-horse. It would take a total collapse over the next two seasons to have any
chance of a coaching change and even that’s a long shot. IMO Hextall will be gone long before Sullivan.
Couple of quick observations:
1) Jarry – it’s starting to feel like Matt Murray all over again – he can’t stay healthy “Not good”
2) After watching our game with Florida it became clear to me that several Penguin players need to go.
Dumo, Blueger, Rust….etc….etc…. Rust has (1) goal in his last 14 games and at 6.1 mil per year we should be
able to get much better. He’s a grinder but adds zero in terms of physicality and like Dumo appears to of
lost a step. Blueger gives us nothing offensively and IMO humble opinion is overrated on the defensive end.
3). Would another team take on Rust contract?
4). I feel like with Dumo there are teams That would nave an interest at the Deadline.
I look forward to your feedback – GO PENS
Hey Mike,
You are not wrong, it is the SOP, Same Old Penguins taking a top 6 forward not good enough to play top 6 on our big league roaster and try and plug him in as a role player thereby setting him up for failure.
* Rust? I like Rust and wish things were different but he has been absent on both ends of the rink this season. Not only is he not scoring but he isn’t really helping out with defense. He has finally climbed up to nearly even over all and even when considering 5on5 situations. He certainly isn’t earning his $6.1 Million. However, I do think he may generate interest at the trade deadline for some team thinking he can still turn it around with a change of scenery. The down side is that he has a NMC so he would be hard to move.
* Blueger? I don’t know what happened here. Last season he looked like he was ready to breakout and start scoring, but he has been an empty sweater not only in the offensive zone but in the defensive zone. I know that he is touted as a defensive player but the reality is 5 on 5 he is a -7. Granted that Blueger gets a significant number of starts in the defensive zone but he has trouble getting it out as well, hence the -7, 5 on 5. I am now seriously wishing we had exposed him to the expansion draft and kept Tanev.
* Dumo?, I don’t let sentimentality get in the way. I appreciate all that he did for many seasons. However, even though he has been playing a hair better of late, that isn’t saying much. He does have a mNTC (10 teams) he could generate some interested at the deadline as well. Since it is his contract year, no team would be committed beyond this season so they would be able to get their cap space back at the end of the year and they will get a player who has Cup experience. Unfortunately, Dumo’s stock has dropped. I am not sure what we could get for him.
* Jarry? I don’t dislike him, but quite frankly contract size aside I still like Murray better.
In his last 3 seasons in Pgh 5 on 5, Matt Murray had a
Sv%: 0.918
HDSv%: 0.845
HDSA/60: 8.29
Rebound Attempts against/60 3.35
Gv/60: 0.33
Over the last 3 Seasons barring serious improvement Tristan Jarry at 5 on 5 has
Sv%: 0.925
HDSv%: 0.823
HDSA/60: 8.12
Rebound Attempts against/60: 3.47
Gv/60: 0.50
Jarry has a slightly better over all Sv% but looking at the Jarry’s lower HDSv% and lower number of HDSA/60 that difference in overall Sv% is more than likely due to the team protecting Jarry better. Controlling for quality of shots, would seem to make them equal but Jarry shoots himself in the foot more. He coughs up more (rebounds/60 and Gv/60). I certainly don’t give Jarry a raise and with his injury I don’t know if I want him. Quite frankly, since he is in his contract year unless I think I have legitimate shot at a Cup run (which I don’t), I try and trade him at the trade dead line too, since he is in his contract year and see what I can get for him.
Also consider this, Jarry is in his contract year and in about 1/3 of his outings he has posted Sv% of under 0.900. Not good.
Great idea, but as you mentioned and most real Penguins fans know…. HC Mike Sullivan doesn’t like or give out extra ice to young players.
Until Mike is gone, status quo… small, fast players, young players get 3- 5 minutes a game. No fighting , just play the game!!
But that has been talked about numerous times here.
Hey Rick,
You are asking a question near and dear to my heart, and you already know my answer – most resoundingly YES!!! It is well past time to retire many of the fossils that occupy seats they have not earned with their play but ceded to them by a bus driving too busy looking in the rear view mirror to see the road ahead. However, I only see one of the two players you mention as a potential player at all but neither of them as bottom 6 players.
I don’t see Nylander as any real answer to the Penguins problems.
As for Puustinen, although I would have started the season with him in WBS, I certainly would have brought him up when Rust went ice cold and inserted him in on Crosby’s line. He is a top 6 Winger. I may not want to see him long term on this midget roster but I would have given him the chance to prove himself with real NHL calibre wingers rather than screw up the 2nd line which was clicking like a well oiled machine at the time or rewarding foundering veterans that were playing exactly where their body of work dictated. (It really irritates me when some limited fan tries to spew the mantra of the kids need to earn their TOI while hypocritically glossing over the pathetic play of veterans not even earning the TOI they are getting let alone increased quality or quantity TOI)
In the end, had Puustinen lit the lamp like I am fairly certain he would have, I could use him as a trade chip if I planned on keeping our pathetic excuse of a archaeologist coach, replete with his allergies to size. Or canned the bum and increase the size of the team so it could justify the smaller but talented Finnish Winger.
I also would have started the season with Lindberg either starting for the team to pressure the inconsistent Jarry to playing better in his contract year or at least bringing him up at every opportunity to spell the veteran, only using DeSmith in emergencies.
I would never have let Zohorna go, he Hallander, O’Connor, Legare, and Poulin I would have given opportunities in that middle 6 range when injuries and poor play bogged down the 3rd line. Zohorna, O’Connor, Poulin and even Hallander all could play Center. Granted, Poulin has struggled with Sullivan and Forrest trying to defang his play, but his problems very well could be coach’s problems rather than his own. I would also have considered Blueger and Poehling for that 3rd line Center as Carter’s struggles mount.
Also, winning Face Offs has no correlation to winning hockey games, so Carter’s FO prowess means nothing to me.
Now to 4th line: with Poehling and Archbald injured, neither Nylander nor Puustinen are fit to fill those roles. Our coaches do not really foster players with the proper skill set to play 4th line. Archibald was never given a chance to develop here. He was ushered out of Pgh as fast as Sully could get him a ticket. Hallander would have been my first choice for call up. He may never have been injured if our coach wasn’t so blind and called him up.
Gruden has always been streaky and didn’t start the season well. However, right now he was playing well down in WBS so with the only other option Andonovski, I won’t complain about his call up. I probably would have gone with Andonovski though.
Defensively, Ouellet has been the only LHD that I though really deserved a call up. Friedman should always have been the option over Ruhwedel.
Just my not so Humble Opinion