Sometime during the Penguins dismal/disgraceful/humiliating (pick your adjective) 6-1 loss to the Utah Hockey Club last night, on home ice no less, it occurred to me that this black-and-gold bunch very much resembles an expansion team.
I’m not talking about the Golden Knights, mind you, who were successful right out of the chute, but rather the woebegone, old-time expansion clubs like the 1974-75 Capitals, who went a blisteringly bad 8-67-5.
While I don’t think we’ll match that Caps squad for sheer ineptitude (we already have seven wins), I do think we have a chance to be epically awful.
Like those expansion teams of yore, we’re a clunky conglomeration of ill-fitting parts. A jig-saw puzzle whose pieces don’t sync up.
Hall-of-Famer Phil Esposito, general manager of the fledgling Lightning back in the ‘90s, once noted if you have a bunch of 30-somethings on your fourth line, you’re in trouble. Well, last night our fourth line consisted of Noel Acciari (33), Kevin Hayes (32) and Matt Nieto (32).
In particular, I don’t understand the press to get Nieto back into the lineup. Nothing against him personally, and I do realize he has value as a penalty-killer and defensive specialist, but I can’t help but think a younger player could be occupying that spot. Recently demoted Vasily Ponomarev, for one.
Speaking of a clump of jumbled, junk-pile parts, our defensive corps is atrocious. Even when we have numbers back as we did for the most part against Utah, we instinctually make the wrong read or play with unerring accuracy. Case in point, both Ryan Graves (he’s baaaack) and Matt Grzelcyk chased puck carrier Dylan Guenther behind the net on the UTC’s first goal, leaving nary a d-man to cover goal scorer Jack McBain.
Exactly what Graves and Grzelcyk were doing masquerading as a defensive tandem in the first place is a matter of conjecture. The latter, who has enough difficulty defending on his natural (left) side, was shunted to the right side in place of surprise healthy scratch Ryan Shea.
Although I wasn’t particularly enamored of Shea at the start of the season, he’s shown marked improvement of late. And he isn’t just passing the eye test. On the contrary, Shea has a Corsi of 55.46 and an expected Goals for Percentage (xGF%) of 55.14 in 5v5 play, both tops among the team’s defensemen. He’s consistently drawn praise from coach Mike Sullivan.
So why the head-scratching switch? It was suggested on the postgame radio show that “someone” (Kyle Dubas, perhaps?) wanted to see Graves return to the lineup after three consecutive healthy scratches. After all, Dubas is shelling out $4.5 million per for the wayward defender. That’s a lot of coin for a guy consigned to dining on press-box nachos.
I’ve been critical of Sullivan and have called for his dismissal. However, in Sully’s defense, he doesn’t have much to work with. An equal share of culpability, if not more, should be affixed to Dubas. Well-intentioned as many of his moves were at the time he made them (Exhibit No. 1 the Erik Karlsson trade), most of ‘em have backfired in spectacular fashion. Congealing into our current on-ice dumpster fire.
Purposely or otherwise, Dubas has hung back in the shadows and allowed Sullivan to face the glare of the media spotlights while absorbing the heat for the team’s poor performance.
We see you, Kyle.
A final observation, one I alluded to in a previous article. Namely, this team reminds me a lot of our ’82-83 club.
Fresh off a rousing playoff performance against the Cup champion Islanders the previous spring and boasting 30-goal men Mike Bullard, Paul Gardner and Rick Kehoe, not to mention Norris Trophy winner Randy Carlyle, the “Peskies” appeared to be on the cusp of respectability.
Instead, the team collapsed, winning only 18 games. The following season the bottom completely fell out and we won 16, a putrid performance that put us in a position to draft franchise savior Mario Lemieux.
If we trace the same downward arc, as I believe/hope/pray we will, that would put us in a position to draft Mario-esque phenom Gavin McKenna the summer after next.
Wouldn’t that be incredible?
Speaking of, amid the rubble of last night’s defeat, Sidney Crosby provided a lone bright spot with his 600th career goal.
Ponder that achievement for a moment, folks. Let’s say you average 30 goals a season, no easy task in and of itself. It would take 20 years to amass that many goals, just as it has for Sid. The consistency and sheer stick-to-it-ness to accomplish that momentous feat, to say nothing of the skill required, is (way) off the charts.
Just wish for Sid’s sake we had a better bunch to support him.
Puckpourri
It was an old home night of sorts as former Pens Nick Bjugstad, Robert Bortuzzo, Ian Cole and Olli Määttä skated against their old club. “Nicky Bjugs” notched one of the six UTC goals. A fifth ex-Pen, blueliner John Marino, is on IR.
Don’t know about you, but I’d gladly swap defensive corps with the UTC.
Recently fired by the Bruins, Jim Montgomery was unemployed for all of five days. He signed a five-year deal today to coach the Blues, who dismissed Drew Bannister.
Oh, and Dubas was reported to be scouting the Canadiens. He and his Montréal counterpart, Kent Hughes, have hooked up before, mostly notably on the Karlsson swap.
Among those I wouldn’t mind procuring? Heavyweight 238-pound defenseman Arber Xhekaj and his kid (6’4″ 195-pound) brother Florian. Both are nasty as all get-out and would take care of our policing chores.
It’s a pipe-dream, of course. We’ll never pursue that kind of player.
Rick and The Other Rick
I agree that Dubas went out and got Sullivan the type of players he requested. I also think that a lot of players
under perform under Sullivan and it’s a direct result of Sully”s system and his refusal to adjust. Rick, like you
I would swap defenses with Utah in a minute, but remember Sullivan didn’t want them, and except for Maatta
I would have to guess it was due to the physical aspect of there games that Sullivan hates.
Rick, as for Shea I’m in agreement he’s been serviceable, but the problem I have is he’s 27 and soon to turn
28 after the New Year. Shea has played in 8-games, and has 9 giveaway’s and 3 hits and adds nothing
offensively, which I’m okay with if he was a shut down defenseman, which IMO he’s not. Personally I would
much rather see Pickering and St. lvany make up the 3rd pairing. I mentioned this in a previous comment, I
wouldn’t do anything with the players until they have an opportunity to play for a different Head Coach, someone
who embraces physicality and someone that wouldn’t stand by while teams take liberties with our star players.
Congrats to Sid the Kid on his 600th career goal – an amazing accomplishment!!
100% agree Mike, I wouldn’t make any moves until there was another Coach behind the bench. You can’t blame the players for trying to execute a bad system.
Honestly Rick,
I am no fan of Kyle Dubas but all I have seen him do was go out and build a team that Mike Sullivan wants. You complain about the Karlsson trade (and remember I was irate over this stupid deal) but isn’t/wasn’t that lightning rod of current controversy the exact kind of puck moving defenseman that Sullivan wants?
What is the old saying, “be careful what you wish for”?
Also, how often do you hear Sullivan extol the virtues of utility forwards with extended use of players like Simon and Beauvillier on Crosby’s Wing? Add to that how few, true, top 6 forwards Sullivan has tolerated in Pittsburgh (Phil Kessel anyone?). Mix in Sully’s poor use of potential top or middle 6 forwards by setting them up for failure on the 4th line as if they were utility forwards with little to no offensive upside. Once again, we are back to Sullivan getting exactly what he wished for, a team that is near the top in the league in Shots on Goal and the bottom of the league in Goals. Outside of an aging Crosby and Malkin there are no legitimate goal scorers on the NHL roster, it is loaded with Sully’s favorite utility men.
Now let’s talk about Sullivan and kids. Blomqvist, Broz, Koivunen, and McGroarty all earned legitimate ice time in preseason, but Broz an Koivunen were banished to the minors and McGroarty, though given NHL ice time was misused. Only Blomqvist was given a legitimate shot and that was only out of necessity. Had Ned not been injured, he too would have been banished. What is worse is that the young Finn is the only Goalie to have beaten a +500 team for the parent club and owns 3 of the precious few 4 regulation wins.
As for Graves, not sorry, I may not choose him as one of my top 6 Defensemen but he is far better than Grelczyk. Grelczyk is the biggest loser on the team’s defense and should be the one tossed on the scrap heap. Nor am I a fan of Shea, he is only slightly better than the other two. If you want Shea in their turn your sights on Grelczyk not Graves. As for me, I would rather first see what Belliveau could do, he looks like the best of a pile of AHL Defensemen with Pickering being my next man up. Throw all the veterans in WBS.
My only frustration is with fans who want to blame Crosby, Malkin, and Letang for the team’s current woes. They earned far better than trying to drag 4 other mill stones across the ice at their age. Sullivan’s “philosophy” has doomed these storied Penguins to a nightmare of a close to brilliant careers.
Bottom line is everything still comes back to Sullivan. Everything Dubas has done or not done to damage this team may be due to his lack of hockey acumen but still can be attributed to trying to give Sullivan what Teflon Mike wants.
The Other Rick
I don’t believe Crosby, Malkin or Letang are responsible for the teams current fate, but what I do blame
Malkin and Letang for is attaching themselves to Crosby and taking advantage of the situation and
signing long term deals. Each player should of been given 2 year deals with a max of 5 mil per year.
It tells me the teams loyalty to them exceeded their commitment to winning – that I struggle with.
If this organization is guilty of anything it for being loyal to a fault, and this includes Mike Sullivan.
Hey Mike,
My frustration is more with part-time fans that barely pay attention but jump on band wagons.
I would be willing to bet that Malkin and Letang are regretting their contract just as much as some fans, considering of what kind of system they are being asked to execute and with whom the Coach is assigning as their foxhole companions.