BUFFALO, NY - MARCH 6: Vinnie Hinostroza #29 of the Buffalo Sabres skates against the Los Angeles Kings during an NHL game on March 6, 2022 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images)
I just happened to peek at NHL.com before signing off the computer at work. The headline “Hinostroza signs 1-year deal…” caught my attention. Then I noticed the “…with Penguins” part and burst out laughing.
Of course, another midget forward (Hinostroza, Vinnie goes 5’10” 183). I mean, is Mike Sullivan having a field day or what?! Somehow, he’s got Kyle Dubas eating out of the palm of his hand. Smurf City, here we come!
For good measure, Dubas also signed left wing Andreas Johnsson, an old friend from his tenure in Toronto and a comparative giant at 5’10” 194. At least by black-and-gold standards.
Oh, and both are signed to one-way contracts….Johnsson for $800 K and Hinostroza for $775 K…which puts us some $2.3 million over the cap limit.
Hmmmm. Let’s review. Four of the last five Cup winners…Washington, St. Louis, Tampa Bay and Vegas…ranked among the heaviest teams in the league. Colorado was among the top third in average weight.
So we’re getting smaller. Make that smaller.
Uh…anybody have Ron Hextall’s phone number?
Kidding…sort of.
Okay, my obvious displeasure and sarcasm aside, I think Hinostroza is a nice little (there’s that word again) player. Good skater, hustles like crazy, battles for loose pucks. Good on the PK. On a team with some bigger bodies, it’s perfectly fine to sprinkle in small, speedy types like Vinnie.
Problem is…guys his size are fast becoming the norm rather than the exception on our lightweight Pens.
As for Johnsson, he scored 20 goals as a rookie for the Leafs back in 2018-19…and hasn’t come close to hitting that mark since, although he did manage 13 goals for New Jersey in ’21-22. He spent most of last season skating for the Devils’ AHL affiliate in Utica, where he produced nine goals in 36 games.
He’s reputed to be a good skater and a decent passer.
We do get younger with these signings (tongue in cheek). Hinostroza is 29, Johnsson 28.
Back to Smurf City. I guess if there’s a silver lining to Dubas giving Sullivan the type of team he craves, it’s that he’ll hang himself with it. Or hoist himself on his own petard, whichever you prefer. Which will once and for all bring an end to Sully hockey and finally open the door to a change in philosophy that’s long overdue.
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Hey Rick,
As the off-season wears on, I get more depressed. I understand that finding players that work can become a numbers game, look at as many as can be assessed, then only keep the best 20ish, but outside of the Graves signing, none of the others signify anything but a deeper and deeper log jam for in house players; Drew O'Connor goes to arbitration while Dubas signs more players from other teams.
Rick, you say the team got younger (tongue in cheek), no not really. Yes, the players are 28 and 29 (Johnson and Hozinostra) but they will be stealing spots from O'Connor (25) and either Nylander (25) or Puustenin (24).
The only good news about these signings, these 2 smurfs can be waived and sent to WBS and the team will save all of their salary in Cap space, even if those players don't get waived.
The thing that bothers me most about Sullivan and his hockey and all of the Sullivanites out their is their lack of critical thinking skills. The Pens teams that won back to back Cups were not loaded down with all of these pathetic Smurfs. There were Coles, Boninos, Kuhnhackls,, and Sundqvists, liberally sprinkled in the mix.
Hey Other Rick,
I'll admit, my reaction to these latest signings is a bit of a knee-jerk. I do give Dubas credit for adding to our organizational depth, and doing it cheaply. Teams that had success in the playoffs...I'm thinking specifically of Seattle and Vegas...were able to roll four lines. I kind of think that's what Sully/Dubas are shooting for.
I don't really know a ton about Johnsson other than what his stats tell me. A commenter on another site referred to him as this season's Danton Heinen and I agree.
Hinostroza is definitely a Sully-type player. He hustles and scrambles and provides some grit...a poor man's Bryan Rust...and he does have at least a couple of decent NHL seasons on his resume.
Sullivan and Dubas seem to be communicating and working together and that's a good thing...sort of. It's just that they're working toward a flawed model. It's pretty evident they're trying to recreate the dynamic of the back-to-back Cup winners. If they wind up acquiring Matt Grzelcyk from Boston (think Trevor Daley) it'll really drive that point home.
Again, I think they're working toward a flawed model. We all saw the type of game that succeeded in the playoffs. Speed and aggressive forecheck, yes. But most of the goals resulted from crashing and banging in the dirty areas. The way this team's being constructed, they won't be equipped to play that way.
I'm reminded, too, that Sully and Dubas have won a total of one playoff series out of their last 11 combined, largely using the same blueprint and style of play.
That ain't too encouraging...
Hey Rick,
As I wrote above (even though I miss spelled there originally)
The thing that bothers me most about Sullivan and his hockey and all of the Sullivanites out there is their lack of critical thinking skills. The Pens teams that won back to back Cups were not loaded down with all of these pathetic Smurfs. There were Coles, Boninos, Kuhnhackls,, and Sundqvists, liberally sprinkled in the mix.
Everyone who tries to defend Sullivan's miniature team model conveniently forgets that once Sullivan rid this team of its size, grit and youth and made it HIS team, they stopped winning playoff games and now missed the playoff entirely.
No, no, no, Sullivan and Dubas are not recreating the team that won the Cup. They are creating the team Sullivan WISHED he had when he won the Cup. So long as Sullivan and the FSG (and even many fans) keep lying to themselves over how those Back-to-Back Cup teams won, this team will remain in freefall.
Wow...very astute observation. Re-creating the team Sullivan WISHED he'd had when they won the Cup.
Again, the closest we've come to a team in Sully's image was the 2019-20 squad that collapsed down the home stretch and got muscled out of the qualifying round by the 24th-seed Canadiens.
Reminds me of that old saying, and I'm paraphrasing. Something along the lines of, "Those who don't learn from past mistakes are doomed to repeat them..."
Rick