Penguins Update: Has Familiarity Bred Contempt?

I was pondering the plight of our favorite hockey team when an old adage popped into my head. And while familiarity probably doesn’t breed contempt in the case of our Penguins, it likely encourages another c-word that’s just as dangerous.

Complacency.

Have the Pens become too comfortable with each other and the coaching staff in particular?

To digress, I was all for securing our core and top supporting players like Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust when their contracts expired in the summer of 2022. It just seemed to be the way to go. However, have our players become too locked into old ways and patterns?

The power play is a classic example. Given the talent on hand, some of it Hall-of-Fame worthy, it seems inconceivable that we could be in the midst of another extended drought (0-for-18) and lodged in next-to-last place in terms of conversion rate.

Alas, our players all-too-often fall into familiar old patterns and habits. More often than not, leading to overpassing the puck, or worse yet, turnovers at the blue line. Yet Mike Sullivan and his staff keep running the same old gang out there, doing the same old things while expecting different results. The very definition of insanity.

Speaking of our coaches, do they unwittingly contribute to our problems by being overly loyal to our core players? Sullivan has expressed his admiration for Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang countless times, understandably and rightfully so. However, does that admiration sometimes get in the way?

Again, the power play is a prime example. Even though they’ve proven to be a toxic, high-risk combination, Malkin and Erik Karlsson remain on the top unit, often manning the points. A shorthanded breakaway waiting to happen.

With the power play mired in a ghastly, month-long 0-for-37 slump, Sully finally made a significant change last month by inserting rookie Valtteri Puustinen into the top unit. SHAZAM…the power play began to produce. Puustinen also breathed new life into what had become a moribund second line.

Puusti’s reward? He was pulled from the top power-play unit and relegated to spot duty in the bottom-six, where he’s received over 10 minutes of ice time only once in his past nine games. Small wonder he doesn’t have a point during that span after collecting seven in his first 10 games.

Yes, I know. Rakell and Rust returned from injury, more or less forcing Sully’s hand. Or does it? Rakell can play either wing, and the Pens have less depth on the port side, especially with Reilly Smith on the shelf. But that would represent the type of out-of-the-box thinking that rarely seems to occur under Sullivan’s watch these days.

As for his treatment of kids? If they’re found lacking in any way, they’re generally shunted to the margins and afforded little opportunity (or ice time) to prove themselves. Basically, set up for failure.

I remember watching Sam Lafferty as he tried to play his way out of Sully’s doghouse during his final season here. He appeared tense and robotic, knowing full well if he made a mistake or took a penalty he’d be benched…or worse. As if he were shackled with Jacob Marley’s chains from A Christmas Carol.

Mind you, this is a fast, aggressive, versatile young forward who can slot in at wing or center. Yet Sullivan nearly ruined him.

With 10 goals and 20 points, Lafferty is flourishing for Rick Tocchet’s Canucks. Think we couldn’t use that type of player and production in our bottom six?

Speaking of Canucks and reclamation projects, Teddy Blueger (21 points in 33 games) has revived his career in the Pacific Northwest following a miserable final season in the ‘Burgh that saw his production completely evaporate. Zach Aston-Reese experienced a similar plummet in output before bouncing back with a 10-goal season for Kyle Dubas’ Maple Leafs last season.

Is there something endemic in Sully’s system that discourages growth and causes kids and players on the margin to curdle? All the while his veterans keep gobbling up prime ice time, even when it’s not working. Case in point, Sullivan’s insistence on deploying Jeff Carter as third-line center last season well after the big guy had shown he was no longer capable of handling that role.

None of this is meant to suggest that Sullivan’s a terrible coach or that he should be boiled in oil. Quite the contrary. Give him a fast, young team like Ottawa and you’d see the wins pile up.

However…

…With the Season Slipping Away, is it Time for a Change?

Every coach has a shelf life. After eight seasons and change…an eternity in hockey circles…are the players simply too familiar with Sullivan, his system and his message? Has he lost the ability to motivate the troops?

I’ll take it a step further. Is it time for a change behind the bench?

The Oilers were 3-9-1 and in near-revolt under Jay Woodcroft. They’re 24-6 under Kris Knoblauch. The Wild, 5-10-4 under Dean Evason. They’re 16-11-1 under John Hynes.

The Senators replaced D.J. Smith with former Pens assistant Jacques Martin, with middling results to date. The Islanders recently canned Lane Lambert in favor of firebrand Patrick Roy.

I’m not saying a coaching change will turn our season around. This team has a lot of flaws. Nor am I advocating a change simply for the sake of change. If Dubas does replace Sullivan, he’ll need to turn the reigns over to a heavyweight coach who has the stones to impose his will on a veteran bunch that’s been used to doing things their way for a very long time. (Tocchet would’ve fit the bill nicely.)

I have no idea who that coach is. 

Tear it Down You Say?

For those posturing for a full-blown teardown? Be careful what you wish for.

The aforementioned Senators have been in the midst of a teardown and rebuild since we beat them in the ’17 Conference Finals. By all accounts, they’re teeming with talented young players, including Tim Stützle, Brady Tkachuk, Drake Batherson, Jakob Chychrun, Jake Sanderson, Josh Norris and Thomas Chabot. Yet for all their promise, the Sens can’t turn the corner.

It reminds me of the early ‘80s Pens when then-GM Eddie Johnston cleared out anything resembling NHL talent in order to draft Mario Lemieux. Despite a series of highly successful drafts that netted talented youngsters like Doug Bodger, Robbie Brown, Mark Recchi, Craig Simpson and Zarley Zalapski, we missed the playoffs in each of Mario’s first four seasons. We didn’t turn the corner until Johnston took advantage of a fire-sale by the Oilers and fortuitously acquired superstar defenseman Paul Coffey. Even then, it took several more years and a flurry of trades and free-agent signings for the team to win a Cup.

As for the early 2000s, when we executed a fairly swift turnaround? We were extremely fortunate to land generational talents Malkin and Crosby in successive drafts, to say nothing of Letang, Marc-Andre Fleury and a host of other up-and-comers like Ryan Malone, Brooks Orpik and Max Talbot.

I wouldn’t count on that happening again.

Our best hope might be for a rebuild on the fly, similar to the one executed by the Rangers and Kings in recent years. Unthinkable as it seems, starting with a trade-off of selected high-profile players such as UFA-to-be Jake Guentzel. Maybe Tristan Jarry, Rakell, Rust and/or…as PP colleague Caleb Di’Natale suggests…Malkin.

If Dubas elects to go that route? Expect pain and gnashing of the teeth, especially in the short run.