A couple of weeks ago I wrote that the one quality I really like about our Penguins is their ability to hang tough when the chips are down.
In the wake of last night’s 6-0 drubbing at the hands of the Capitals, a defeat as humbling and it was humiliating, I may need to scratch that accolade. We looked very much like a team that’s succumbed to discouragement and thrown in the towel.
Defenseman and senior spokesman Kris Letang didn’t mince words.
“No energy, no passion, no nothing,” Tanger lamented. “As a group, we didn’t show up.”
The Pens were quite obviously affected by the trade rumors swirling around Jake Guentzel, as exceedingly popular with his teammates as he was effective on the ice. It’s all-too-easy to forget the players are human, and that the bonds they form are real and deep and special.
Indeed, the Pens played like a team that had its heart ripped out.
The Caps, who recently parted ways with Anthony Mantha and Joel Edmundson, had no such issues. Tom Wilson scored a shorty just 1:51 into the contest to send the boys from DC off and running. Alex Ovechkin made it 2-zip with a power-play goal at the outset of the second period.
After light-scoring Nick Jensen and Hendrix Lapierre victimized Tristan Jarry a short time later, Mike Sullivan pulled the plug and turned to Alex Nedeljkovic. However, by that time the horse had escaped the corral and bolted to greener pastures.
Carbery for the Adams
It should be noted that the Caps embarked on a controlled teardown last spring when they, too, missed the playoffs. Their roster is an odd smorgasbord of aging stars such as Alex Ovechkin, Max Pacioretty and TJ Oshie, supported by middling talents and green youngsters. Glancing at their numbers, they look a team that should be trolling the depths with NHL bottom feeders San Jose and Chicago.
Instead, rookie coach Spencer Carbery has them executing and skating with determination and purpose, not to mention competing for a playoff spot despite a lineup that’s even more rag-tag than ours.
To my eyes, he’s deserving of the Jack Adams.
Farewell Jake
The big news, of course, is the Guentzel trade. Initially rumored to be heading to Vancouver (and into the loving embrace of Jim Rutherford), the plucky scoring winger was instead dealt to Metro rival Carolina.
In addition to Jake, the ‘Canes received puck-moving defenseman Ty Smith, who never gained any traction here after being acquired from the Devils in the summer of 2022.
In return, the Pens received feisty 28-year-old left wing Michael Bunting and three young forward prospects, Vasily Ponomarev, Ville Koivunen and Cruz Lucius (great name), along with conditional first- and fifth-round picks in the upcoming Entry Draft.
Bunting, I’m familiar with. He’s an abrasive, tenacious and spirited player who excels at getting under the opposition’s skin. In terms of makeup, not so unlike revered former Pen net-front nuisance Patric Hornqvist. Like another former Pens thorn, Mark Friedman, he excels at squirting gasoline on incipient fires and goading foes into penalties.
With recent back-to-back 23-goal seasons on his resume (ironically while skating for Kyle Dubas’ Maple Leafs), the 5’11” 197-pounder also possesses a scoring touch and a nose for the net. Bunting’s tallied as many as 63 points in a season (in ’21-22) and has experience skating alongside mega-talents such as Auston Matthews, which may make him a fit with Sidney Crosby.
In short, he’s no Jake. But he’s no slouch, either.
Bunting’s under contact at a very reasonable AAV of $4.5 million for the next two seasons.
On the flip side, I profess to knowing little-to-nothing about the kids, other than the potentially disturbing fact that none were rated among the ‘Canes top five prospects. Shades of the Jaromir Jagr deal back in ’01 when we received second-tier hopefuls Kris Beech, Ross Lupaschuk and Michal Sivek in exchange for the five-time scoring champ?
Let’s pray not.
The good news? All have been productive during their young careers. Ponomarev, soon to be 22, is a left shot center and former second-round pick of the ‘Canes. The 5’10” 180-pounder has eight goals and 29 points in 39 games this season with Chicago of the AHL (24 goals with the Wolves last season). He’s also notched a goal and an assist in a two-game cameo with the ‘Canes.
After reading his scouting report, it would appear Ponomarev possesses many of the same attributes as…dare I say…Guentzel. Small, not especially fast, but competitive for his size, skilled and crafty. Reputed to own a heavy shot as well.
Also listed as a center, the 20-year-old Koivunen is likewise a former second-round pick who’s producing at a point-per-game clip for Karpat of the SM-liiga. Unsigned at the present, Lucius is a 19-year-old right wing and former fourth-round pick who’s leading the University of Wisconsin in scoring.
In going for quantity rather than top-end quality, Dubas appears to be intent on restocking our largely barren prospect cupboard. It’s an approach once used by the late and legendary Pirates GM Branch Rickey back in the ’50s to replenish a bankrupt Bucco farm system. Over time, Rickey assembled the nucleus of what eventually became the 1960 World Series champs.
Let’s hope the approach works as well for our Pens.
Ruhwedel to the Rangers
Just in. The Pens have traded defenseman Chad Ruhwedel to the Rangers for a fourth-round pick in the ’27 Entry Draft.
