Third time’s a charm. Or the squeaky wheel gets the oil.
Whatever time-honored aphorism you prefer, I’m pulling out all stops with a single-minded purpose.
I want the Penguins to sign power forward Jagger Joshua, the kid brother of Vancouver banger Dakota Joshua, who for the record has 15 goals and counting for the Canucks.
For the unfamiliar, the 6’3” 210-pound native of Dearborn, Michigan, currently plays for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The Baby Pens signed Jagger following his collegiate career at Michigan State to a two-year deal that runs through next season.
The reason I’m so enamored of the 25-year-old should be obvious. The Pens simply don’t have a glove-dropping, body-banging forward under contract, and haven’t since Ryan Reaves rode shotgun back in 2017-18.
When interviewed about his playing style, Joshua likened himself to Capitals marauder Tom Wilson and ex-Flyers toughie Wayne Simmonds, recently retired.
“I love hitting people,” he explained. “There’s definitely something about contact that I definitely enjoy. I take pride in it. I don’t think about it, I just go out and do it.”
When’s the last time you heard a Pens forward say something like that?
But there’s more to Jagger’s game than physical play.
“Jags really brings a lot to that (top) line,” collegiate coach Adam Nightingale commented during Joshua’s sophomore season at MSU. “His ability to extend plays in the offensive zone and his strength on the puck and obviously he’s great around that net.”
Fast forward to this season. Those attributes have been on full display of late. In his past dozen games Joshua’s emerged as one of the Baby Pens’ top players, tallying six goals and 12 points during that span to go with a sterling plus-8. He’s been a driving force behind the team’s push to a playoff berth.
The last time I was this adamant about the Pens pursuing a player? Back during the Covid era, I implored then-GM Jim Rutherford to acquire power forward “Playoff” Sam Bennett from Calgary. Despite an impressive track record of dialing it up a notch during the postseason as his nickname suggests, the former fourth overall pick had struggled during the regular season and fallen out of favor with the Flames.
Although GMJR was rumored to have interest, Florida beat us to the punch and acquired the rugged 195-pounder for a second-round pick at the 2021 deadline. In 208 games and counting with the Cats, Sam’s scored 69 goals, an average of 27 per 82-game slate. Brings plenty of jam and a touch of nasty to the table as well.
One of the few times I’ve ever been right about a player.
Perhaps Joshua is already on Kyle Dubas’ radar. Given his aggressive style and recent production, it’d be hard to imagine he’s not. Maybe our GM/POHO is waiting until the summer to purchase his contract.
For Joshua’s sake…and the Pens…I hope so.
Rick
Like you I’m keeping my fingers crossed on Joshua. He could give us a huge
boost in the physical department and potentially the net front presence we’ve
been looking for. Hopefully Dubas plans on locking him up.