With the first drop of the puck just seven weeks away, the new hockey season is fast approaching. Along with it, a renewed sense of hope for better things to come for our favorite hockey team.
Upon his arrival on June 1, new president of hockey ops/GM Kyle Dubas wasted little time putting his stamp on our Penguins, culminating in the brilliant Erik Karlsson-for-guys-we-no-longer-wanted swap. Indeed, no fewer than 11 of the 24 players who finished the season with us are gone. In essence, we have a brand-new team.
This is especially true up front. Dubas acquired or signed six new forwards to bolster our bottom six, including Noel Acciari (pictured), Lars Eller, Vinnie Hinostroza, Andreas Johnsson, Matt Nieto and Rem Pitlick. Seven if you count the “Big Z,” Radim Zohorna, a likely Baby Pens mainstay but one who could factor into the mix as well before all is said and done.
Along with holdovers Drew O’Connor, Alex Nylander and, yes, Jeff Carter, competition for jobs should be spirited to say the least. Baby Pens hopefuls Valtteri Puustinen and Sam Poulin could be in the fight as well.
The depth of available options should afford Mike Sullivan and the coaching staff a chance to be more creative when piecing together potential line combinations. Flexibility that for the most part wasn’t there last season due to a lack of organizational forward depth. A shortfall that impelled Sully to stick with set combinations (ex: the Carter-Brock McGinn–Kasperi Kapanen line) that clearly didn’t work.
Indeed, about his only adjustment not dictated by injuries? Flip-flopping top-six wingers Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust every few weeks.
The glaring lack of creativity when piecing together forward combinations contributed heavily to the stale feel of the team. Win, lose or draw…blown leads or not…it was the same old, same old.
Certainly, much of the responsibility rested on the shoulders of former GM Ron Hextall, who cobbled the group together. Although his hands were tied to an extent, Sullivan was culpable, too.
Hopefully, with so many new players to choose from our coach will be reinvigorated. Which, at least from a distance and based on his public comments, seems to be the case.
Too, there should be a hunger among the players vying for jobs that for the most part was missing last season. Especially in the cases of tweeners Hinostroza, Johnsson and Pitlick, who’ve tasted some success at the big-league level but have yet to establish themselves as bona fide full-timers. Same for the kids.
The scramble for jobs could trickle down to the defense as well. Our top four appears to be set in stone with Karlsson, Kris Letang, Ryan Graves and Marcus Pettersson locking down jobs. But there could be stiff competition for the third-pairing posts, with front-runners Pierre-Olivier Joseph and Chad Ruhwedel being pushed by Ty Smith, Mark Friedman and free-agent pickup Will Butcher.
Once a hot-commodity, Butcher…winner of the 2017 Hobey Baker Award…could be a particularly intriguing presence.
Speaking of scrambles, things could get interesting between the pipes, too, especially if starter Tristan Jarry falters or is hurt. Alex Nedeljkovic, the front-runner for the backup spot so long occupied by Casey DeSmith, has a lot to prove following a miserable season with the Red Wings.
If he trips up as well? It isn’t inconceivable any or all of journeymen Magnus Hellberg, Garret Sparks and kids Joel Blomqvist and Taylor Gauthier could wind up guarding the black-and-gold net.
Fun with WAR?
I just wanted to point out another intriguing article by Hooks Orpik over on Pensburgh titled “Fun with WAR% historical timelines.”
Hooks delves into the historical ratings for a number of prominent Pens current and former, including Karlsson, Letang, Rust, Jake Guentzel, Reilly Smith, Jason Zucker, Eller, Carter, Sidney Crosby and last but certainly not least, Evgeni Malkin. Data courtesy of JFresh and Top Down Hockey.
Great stuff!
Of course, we had our own fun with WAR earlier this summer.
