How I Wish the Penguins Could Break out of Mike Sullivan’s Mold

I’m going to start this post with a well-deserved shout-out to Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now for his outstanding article, “How the Penguins Can Change the Story, Be Competitive.”

To his credit, Dan scored a direct hit on some of our most egregious issues.

“The Penguins need to build a little hate, slather it with some anger, then top it off with a generous portion of coarse resistance,” he wrote.

Amen, Dan.

I confess, his article set my blood a boilin.’

For years I’ve been taking the team to task for its abject lack of fire and hunger, along with an almost pathological avoidance of physical play (and players). The latter due in no small part to coach Mike Sullivan’s restrictive personnel preferences.

Scrappy is okay.

Genuine toughness is not.

A “heavy” player in Sully’s book? Former black-and-golder Zach Aston-Reese. In stark NHL reality, a mere middleweight.

Ex-GM Jim Rutherford tried to introduce some real toughness and swagger to the lineup following our back-to-back Cups by adding heavyweight supreme Ryan Reaves and “The Big Rig,” 6’7” rearguard Jamie Oleksiak.

Boasting an optimal blend of skill and physicality, the Pens promptly went on a 15-3-1 tear shortly after acquiring Oleksiak and looked every bit a solid choice to three-peat. Then GMJR pulled the trigger on the ill-fated Derick Brassard trade…sacrificing Reaves in the process…and the team never regained its momentum.

We sure could’ve used Reavo during Game 3 of the second round when Capitals baddie Tom Wilson made road-kill of the aforementioned Aston-Reese. A brutal demo job that audibly shifted the tide of the series and signaled the beginning of the end of our glorious championship run.

Rutherford eventually tired of going against Sully’s grain and gave him the small ‘n’ speedy team he so craves. The very definition of a perimeter bunch, the lightweight Pens were easily muscled out of the preliminary round of the 2020 playoffs in four games by the 24^th seeded but infinitely heavier Canadiens.

Ron Hextall, too, tried to go against Sully’s mold, albeit without totally violating his comfort zone. GMRH added functional size and a degree of physicality with the likes of Jeff Carter, Brian Boyle, Jeff Petry and Jan Rutta, not to mention solidly built top-sixer Rickard Rakell. While we can debate the relative merits of Petry and Rutta, it could be argued that Hextall didn’t go far enough in deference to Sullivan.

To that end, it was reported the Pens had all-but-acquired heavyweight hit man Nicolas Deslauriers from Anaheim at the 2021 trade deadline, only for the deal to mysteriously go pfft at the 11^th hour. Although no explanation was ever given, I’m guessing Sullivan chimed in with a discouraging word or two.

While Deslauriers’ effectiveness is debatable…he’s pretty much a one-dimensional sluggo…it continues a trend where physical players are anything but welcome in the ‘Burgh.

Now Kyle Dubas seems to be falling into the trap of stocking the lineup with Sully types. None of his prominent off-season additions are noted for their muscle. In the case of defensemen Matt Grzelcyk and Sebastian Aho, their combined pint-sized presence makes our blue-line corps even smaller and more benign, as if that were even possible.

Indeed, with the notable exception of Michael Bunting, who’s more sled-dog tenacious than tough, the Pens are almost totally bereft of scrappiness, let alone true physicality. Maybe newcomer Blake Lizotte and holdover Noel Acciari will provide an edge. However, it’s important to note that both are well under 6’0” tall.

This at a time when the league, and our Metro brethren in particular, are trending back toward a heavier style, following the lead of recent Cup winners Florida, Vegas, Tampa Bay, St. Louis and Wilson’s Caps. Even skill-oriented teams like New Jersey and Buffalo have muscled up.

I cast a look back at the black-and-gold teams of the Ray Shero era with envious eyes. Matt Cooke, Tyler Kennedy, Chris Kunitz, Ryan Malone, Brooks Orpik, Mad Max Talbot and last but certainly not least, “Scary” Gary Roberts, made us hard to play against. What I wouldn’t give to have a few of those guys, or players of their ilk, skating for us now.

I fear there will be plenty of nights this season when hungry, aggressive young teams like the Devils, Senators and Sabres will hand our aging, Milquetoastish bunch our lunch. To say nothing of traditionally rugged clubs like the Panthers, Rangers and Bruins.

The day will come when Sullivan’s no longer our coach and we can once-and-for-all do away with the outmoded personnel restrictions imposed during his tenure.

Nothing against Sully personally or his coaching abilities, but I very much look forward to that day.