Confused about my title?
Imagine how I felt trying to write the article!
To digress, I’ve been discussing the plight of our Penguins quite a bit lately with my PP colleagues, Caleb DiNatale and Other Rick, as you can well imagine. More often than not the topic of our conversation centers around head coach Mike Sullivan.
I’ll be honest. I would have dismissed Sullivan at the end of the 2022-23 season as part of the Ron Hextall/Brian Burke purge. With the Pens in full control of their playoff destiny, he was unable to guide to us to a needed victory over the lowly (and I mean lowly) Blackhawks, effectively ending our 16-year run of postseason appearances.
This on the heels of four-straight opening round postseason exits and five-consecutive series losses. Frankly, I thought he’d reached the end of his shelf life here.
Nothing that’s transpired over the past season and change has altered my opinion, not even our 8-2-2 finish last spring. A fevered run that’s looking more and more like the last dying gasp of respectability from our great championship teams.
As recently as October 30, following yet another embarrassing come-from-in-front loss to the Wild, I once again called for Sully’s dismissal.
But now?
I’m not so sure.
Do I still think Sullivan is the wrong coach for the team? Absolutely. He won’t adjust his hard-on-the puck forechecking system to match the aging talent on hand. Nor will he commit to a more structured style of play that might take the heat off his struggling defense and beleaguered, overtaxed goalies.
As often as not, I think his choices and in-game decisions contribute to the team’s woes.
Which is precisely why he’s the right coach for this team. Let’s face it, there aren’t any miracle turnarounds in store for this bunch. And you don’t get rewarded for being mediocre and finishing, say, 20th.
It truly is to our benefit to be as bad as possible in order to have a shot at one of the top young talents in the draft. There happen to be several standouts turning draft eligible, including hulking 6’3″ Brampton power forward Porter Matrone and slick ‘n’ skilled Boston College forward James Hagens. To say nothing of the Next, Next One, Gavin McKenna in 2026.
If Sully continues to stubbornly employ a system that doesn’t fit his troops, we’re pretty much a lock to be that bad, whereas another coach might actually make some meaningful adjustments and squeeze out a few more wins. Perhaps even pushing us into bubble-team range.
That’s not the best thing for the team and the organization as a whole.
It’s time to think long-term.
However, there’s another mitigating factor concerning Sully, one that could work against us. He’s ultra-competitive and tries to win every game. Normally, a most admirable trait. However, we aren’t good enough to be in “win-now” mode any longer. Player development should take priority and trump on-ice results, especially with kids like Sam Poulin and Vasily Ponomarev coming on board.
Frankly, that’s never been a Sully strong suit. I do worry that his penchant for playing veterans over youth, again in an effort to secure every point, will undermine the development of our kids, both individually and collectively.
Which makes him the wrong coach for our team.
Still confused?
Don’t worry, so am I!
Hey Rick,
The most telling point about this team’s pathos is demonstrated by their choices in who to call up.
Isaac Belliveau 6 GP, 1 G, 2 A, +7 in WBS so far this season
Owen Pickering 12 GP, 1 G, 0 A, +5 in WBS
Pickering may eventually be an NHL level player but he certainly isn’t the best Defensive Prospect in the organization, nor was he worth a 1st round pick, nor was he ever an offensive Defenseman. Looking back at his 205 GP in the WHL he managed a whopping 27 G and 106 A in a very offensive league and was a -19. Therefore his 1 G in 20 AHL GP (he played a couple games last season after he aged out of Jrs with a very lackluster final season playing against true, younger prospects) doesn’t surprise me any. Pickering’s “offensive prowess” is some of the best PR hype ever. His agents found multiple, multiple angles of the only good highlight pass he ever made, turned it into a highlight clip of epic proportions to that lazy scouts, rather than watching him play touted him a offensive defensemen and shouted down the industrious scouts that actually did their job and watched him play through his many flaws.
You know, since we talk enough times, that I now want Pickering to succeed (solely on the fact that he reminds me of a Vulture on skates when I watch him move about the ice and I want to use that nickname in my posts in the future – what a cool nickname, the Vulture) but I am not deluding myself into thinking he is anything other than what he is a long term project.
Rick
Why would they bring up Pickering and not play him?? Typical Sullivan move – instead he continues to
play Shea, who in my opinion is an AHL player. Tonight he was a -3 vs Columbus.
For the next season or two, losing lots of games is probably the best thing that can happen for the Pens. But once they’ve drafted young talent that actually has NHL potential, Sully needs to be gone. They will need a coach that is good at developing young players, and Sully ain’t it. Until then, being a Pens fan is going to be brutal. For those of us old enough to remember, we’re now in X Generation 2.0.
Hey Nick,
I’m with you 100 percent.
Give Sully a team where the pieces are more or less already in place, like when we first hired him, and I think he’d probably have a lot of success. A team like New Jersey or even Ottawa or Buffalo. However, he’s not the coach I want to have overseeing our rebuild or being tasked with developing young talent. I’m sure he has the smarts, communication skills and aptitude to teach. I just don’t know if he has the patience or desire for it.
Then there are the restrictions he places on roster construction. No one with a genuine physical bent allowed. Under Sully, I’m not sure a player like, say, the Flames’ Sam Bennett would be welcome on our team.
Rick