As the old saying goes, turnabout is fair play.
Three days after a Penguins squad loaded with regulars got dumped by the Red Wings rookies, a team largely comprised of black-and-gold irregulars beat the Blue Jackets A-Team by a 3-1 count in Columbus last night. Lending credence to my colleague Other Rick’s insistence that our Pens might would be better served by icing a combination of kids ‘n’ vets.
Speaking of, our makeshift top line of rookie Rutger McGroarty, Kevin Hayes and Jesse Puljujärvi led the way, unleashing nine shots on goal (including four by McGroarty) and teaming up on a game-cinching, empty-netter.
As much as I like the idea of McGroarty landing a spot, I’m really pulling for Puljujärvi to make the cut. We could sorely use a forward with his size, defensive sensibilities and latent scoring potential.
Fellow Finns Valtteri Puustinen and Ville Koivunen teamed with up Tristan Broz to produce our first goal—a snapper by Puusti—at 4:52 of the second period. The go-ahead marker came nearly 20 minutes later to the second, with Jonathan Gruden doing the honors with helpers from Joonas Koppanen and heavyweight Boko Imama (!!!).
In the muck-and-grind department, forward Corey Andonovski dished out five hits, Imama and ex-Jacket Emil Bemström three apiece.
Between the pipes, Tristan Jarry held down the fort, limiting the Jackets to a lone tally on 34 shots. Welcome news, especially when you consider that Jarry will likely be shouldering the netminding load with Alex Nedeljkovic on the shelf with a lower-body injury.
The Pens wrap up their preseason tonight in the ‘Burgh with a return match with the Jackets. Then they’ll get down to the tricky business of deciding who goes and who stays.
I, for one, wish GM/POHO Kyle Dubas hadn’t loaded up with so many veterans. Best case scenario—a few of the them find new homes via the waiver wire or even eleventh-hour trades—but that’s probably not gonna happen. We’ll likely start the season with a veteran-laden lineup, young defenseman Jack St. Ivany and goalie Joel Blomqvist the exceptions.
While I’m not holding my breath, maybe…just maybe…Dubas will surprise me.
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Hey Rick,
First, beating a CBJ team, particularly this close to their tragedy is like beating the Little Sisters of the Poor. You take it, but don't crow about it. When Jackets scored on their 4th or 5th shot I thought is was over and that would have been a real disgrace, losing to that team.
But thanks for the shout out. I still say this team could be a play off team and maybe even contend for the division title if each line had a prospect on it instead of being laden with fossils. The only way to turn around 7 years of frustration is to give these kids a chance to cut their teeth and play. Players like McGroarty, Koivunen, Broz, Ponomarev, and even Avery Hayes cannot learn anything more than they already know playing in the AHL. The only thing will happen from sending them down to WBS is that they will wilt on the prospect vine like Poulin, Legare, and every other kid that has come thru Pgh while Smellivan has coached here. These kids are already better than the nobodies who have topped out in their growth.
Hey Other Rick,
I'm going to push back a bit on Sullivan. For the first time in quite a while, he seems genuinely enthused about a crop of kids. With good reason.
I'm also going to defend him and say there hasn't been a whole lot in the prospect pipeline these past few years to work with.
I, too, had high hopes for both Poulin and Légaré. As much as I like the type of player he is, Poulin really hasn't done much to warrant a promotion when given an opportunity. Maybe he's the kind of kid who needs to settle into a defined role before he starts to bear fruit. I honestly don't know.
As for Légaré, I don't think you can blame Sullivan for ruining him. From all accounts I've read, the overall game just isn't there. Even if he wasn't given a fair shake here, he surely would've gotten one in the Canadiens' organization (he's from Montreal). Légaré barely lasted a half season there before they gave up on him, too.
While I love his bite and shot, it's easy to forget he was a third-round pick.
I will back you and say I wish we would work some of the kids in, which I think would greatly benefit us. But at least some of the reason for the "veteran-ness" of our team lays at the feet of the guy who assembled it...Dubas.
Rick
Hey Rick,
1) If Smelly was high on the kids why haven’t kids like McGroarty, Koivunen, Broz, or Ponomarev been given TOI in game situations with Crosby or Malkin? Why are they continually given other prospects, ones that may never see ice even WBS but shoved down to Wheeling? I don’t buy the human biological waste coming out of his mouth when he says he likes what he is seeing. His words are just words and what is it that Shakespeare said about words in the voice of Festus in “A Twelfth Night”? “Words are the very rascals whose bonds disgrace themselves.” Smelly’s actions are speaking louder than his words. His lying as he always does. He knows the media in Pgh is either bought off (PHN) or too lazy to press the hard question.
2) I am going to push back at you when you say there hasn’t been a whole lot of prospects in the pipeline. I agree that the volume was down due to dumb@55 trades, but the quality of those prospects can never be fully assessed. Your Coach loved Dominic Simon and thought he had more talent than Daniel Sprong (not talking attitude just talent. In the 2019-2020 preseason Legare – Lafferty – Bjorkqvist was the best line. The only Fwd with a better 5-on-5 GF/60 than any of those 3 players was Sid and Bjorkqvist and Lafferty never ceded a GA 5-on-5. None of those players were given a shot on the opening day roster. Sullivan declared Legare a bottom 6, even with his bomb a shot and the kid was done. Bjorkqvist was never given a shot either and is now out of his prime. Legare was miscast and now no one gives him an opportunity since Sully dumped on him for being physical. All we know about Legare is that he is a shooter not a playmaker, so it is no big surprise he isn’t scoring out on the 4th line in WBS or now in Utica. He was put in a position to fail and he has. You may think Sullivan was right about the kid but I do KNOW Sullivan put him a position to fail, now NL is pigeon holed and everyone is too lazy to think outside the box.
3) I do think that at least 5 of the kids in the Org right now are legit NHL players but my expectation is Sullivan will repeat his willful, prideful folly.
Hey Other Rick,
With all due respect my friend, I strongly disagree with some of your arguments and assertions.
First of all, there's a guy in the GM chair who assembles the hand a coach is dealt. If he loads the roster with veterans, as Dubas has done, a coach doesn't have too much leeway in who he plays. As refreshing as it might be, I don't see the Pens burying Hayes, Beauvillier and Glass among others in the minors.
Dubas has certainly had a big hand in roadblocking some of these kids. At least in the short run. Perhaps it changes at the trade deadline.
While I won't argue that there are tipping points in a player's development, one negative experience or a tough break generally doesn't paralyze a player's development and scar him for life.
As for Legare? I was as hopeful about him as the next guy. However, in the limited game action I witnessed he tended to hang out around the net and do little else. The rap on him is his skating and overall game.
JFresh did a prospect WAR chart on him a couple of years ago, which I've saved to the gym PC desktop. Legare had a 6 percent chance of becoming an NHLer and a 2 percent chance of becoming an NHL star.
Sullivan didn't ruin Legare. The truth is, he's pretty much morphed into the player he was projected to be.
And Kasper Borkqvist? To be kind, he struggles to produce in the SM-liiga. Ten goals in 80 games after returning to Europe. Nice preseason or not, he wasn't a big-league talent.
Rick