The Penguins Are a Different Team Today. Are They Better?

Wow. It’s sure been a whirlwind couple of days for our Penguins, hasn’t it?

I’ll say this for Kyle Dubas. He definitely seems to have a plan and he sure ain’t afraid to roll the dice and make a move. Quite refreshing, and in stark contrast to former GM Ron Hextall. To put it in hockey parlance, Hextall tended to play on his heels. Dubas plays on his toes.

We’ve added six new players over the past few days who are likely to nab roster spots, forwards Reilly Smith, Noel Acciari, Lars Eller and Matt Nieto, high-profile defenseman Ryan Graves (pictured) and goalie Alex Nedeljkovic. Re-upping incumbent UFA netminder Tristan Jarry makes seven.

A third of the team.

In addition, Dubas added several depth pieces in forwards Radim Zohorna (welcome back ‘Big Z’!), Marc Johnstone, Joona Koppanen, defenseman Ryan Shea and goalie Magnus Hellberg. Although a journeyman, the latter made an impression on me last December 28 in a game against the Red Wings. The giant Swede (6’6” 220) came on in relief of Ville Husso and stopped all 19 shots he faced to key a wild 5-4 comeback win for the Wings. But I digress.

Back to my original question.

Are we better?

Let’s address each area of need and see how we did.

BOTTOM SIX FORWARDS

Few would debate our most pressing need involved overhauling our bottom-six forwards. To Dubas’ credit, he made sweeping changes. Continuing a teardown and reconstruct that started under Hextall last spring, Josh Archibald (Lightning), Nick Bonino (Rangers) and Ryan Poehling (Flyers) were allowed to depart through free agency.

New additions Acciari, Eller and Nieto should definitely provide an upgrade, especially to our penalty-killing unit…one of the league’s worst during the second half of the season. Although we lost some speed (Archibald, Poehling), the newcomers are all good skaters. Acciari and Eller excel in the faceoff circle, especially the former (a robust 53.8 percent last season).

The 209-pound Acciari adds an extra dimension…a willingness to bang, hard and often (244 hits in ’22-23). Although he doesn’t drop the gloves as frequently as he used to, the fast-swinging lefty can throw ‘em pretty fair.

If there’s a concern, none of the newcomers is known for lighting the lamp. A consistent 15-goal man throughout his career, Eller’s slowing down. Acciari and Nieto have topped out at 20 and 15 goals respectively, but have plenty of sub-10-goal campaigns between them. A bit of a red flag.

While they aren’t exactly ready for the old folks’ home, none of the trio are on the sunny side of 30. And we still lack a big, aggressive (and young) power forward who can contribute (example: Kostin, Klim).

Still, combined with incumbents Drew O’Connor, Mikael Granlund (ulp) and Jeff Carter (double ulp), our bottom-six should be better, especially defensively.

Although the buyout window has closed and despite rhetoric to the contrary, Granlund could still be on the move, perhaps opening a spot for comparative kids Alex Nylander, Sam Poulin or Valtteri Puustinen.

DEFENSE

Dubas scored a huge coup by signing Ryan Graves, arguably the top left-shot defenseman on the market, to a six-year deal with an AAV of $4.5 million. He’ll replace long-time stalwart Brian Dumoulin, who inked a two-year pact with Pittsburgh West (Seattle), where he’ll join former black-and-gold defenders Jamie Oleksiak and Justin Schultz.

Back to Graves. Just an uber solid, steady-as-she-goes, shot-blocking defenseman who can also provide some offense (eight goals, 26 points with the Devils last season).

While not overly physical, Graves is huge (6’5” 220) and figures to provide the type of time-and-space-eating presence we haven’t had since Hal Gill.

In terms of where he slots, the Nova Scotia native’s definitely a top-four. Depending on how things shake out, he could skate next to Kris Letang on the No. 1 pairing or join Jeff Petry (provided Jeff isn’t dealt), with Marcus Pettersson manning the other top-four spot. Leaving Pierre-Olivier Joseph or Ty Smith to partner with Jan Rutta on the third pairing.

Should Dubas pull off a stunner and land the biggest fish on the market, Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson? The makeup of our defense would change…dramatically and dynamically. Not sure if I’m for it, but the mere thought of it makes me tingle.

For now, Graves makes our ‘d’ better, and not by just a little.

GOALTENDING

I confess, I was disappointed to learn we’d re-upped Tristan Jarry, and for an AAV of $5.375 for five years to boot. He’s been a little too inconsistent and injury-prone for my taste. And despite two All-Star Game selections, he’s yet to prove he can get ‘er done come crunch time.

What I’m fumbling to say is, at age 28, he’s still an enigma.

We just have to trust that Dubas and his staff know something we don’t (hardly a stretch).

I do like Dubas’ other additions between the pipes. Or, at the very least, am intrigued. Alex Nedeljkovic followed up a superb rookie season with Carolina in ’20-21 with two “iffy” ones in Detroit (a nice way of saying he stunk). But…and at this stage it’s a BIG but…if he can regain his form and confidence, he could provide us with a solid 1A option to Jarry, which I personally think is needed.

I also like the Hellberg signing. I like the idea of having a monster between the pipes who basically takes up the whole net. I think that type of goalie would fare better behind the fire-drill that often masquerades as our team defense, as opposed to a small, athletic type.

Which leads me to incumbent backup, Casey DeSmith. Nothing against Casey. When he’s on he’s on, often in spectacular fashion. But when he’s not… Although not for a lack of try or pluck, he isn’t cut out for the 1A role.

I just feel like it’s time for a different look.

Anyway, I like what Dubas has done thus far. The loss of fiery free-agent winger Jason Zucker not withstanding (HATED losing Zucks), I do think we’re a better team than we were a week ago.

How much better remains to be seen.