I was exchanging texts with PP colleague Caleb DiNatale, which served to set off me off regarding one of my biggest Penguins peeves.
Before I begin to ramble, please understand this by no means is intended to denigrate or demean the players I’m about to mention. Anyone who makes it to the NHL (or even the AHL or ECHL) are incredible athletes who are very good at what they do.
Rather my rant is pointed at the Pens’ organization as a whole and Kyle Dubas and Mike Sullivan in particular.
My particular bone of contention involves forward Matt Nieto, or more to the point his deployment. After coming back from multiple knee surgeries (kudos to him for doing so) he’s been a fixture on the fourth line.
My question is why?
Yes, I know he’s regarded as a good defensive forward and penalty killer. In his two seasons with the Pens he’s been on the ice for 13 5v5 goals for and only 10 against. All the more impressive given his ridiculously low offensive zone starts percentage of less than 15 percent. Which in and of itself may be an indictment of the way he’s being used.
However, Nieto’s a 32-year-old pending UFA who almost certainly won’t be re-signed. Does he really need to be a fixture in the lineup?
It was the same with Jansen Harkins last season. The journeyman forward contributed next-to-nothing offensively, yet was penciled into the lineup on a nightly basis, presumably because Sully liked his speed and grit. Jansen’s since moved on to other pastures.
My point is this. Wouldn’t the Pens be better served to go with younger players? Ones who may actually have a chance of contributing down the road?
Feisty Jonathan Gruden comes to mind as a player who might be able to fill Nieto’s role while adding a dash of combativeness to boot. Vasily Ponomarev, who has more of an upside, is another. Or maybe even eternal prospect Sam Poulin.
Ah, but that might require some teaching and development on the part of Sullivan, along with some patience. Qualities that seem to be in short supply, especially with kids.
I get that Sully’s competitive and wants to win, admirable traits. He no doubt feels he has a better chance of accomplishing that goal going with a worry-free veteran over a kid who might make mistakes. But let’s face it. The very best this team will do is squeak into the playoffs, and that’s a long shot.
Shouldn’t player development take priority at this stage of the post-championship curve? It isn’t 2018 for goodness sake, or even 2020 or 2022.
Caleb specifically addressed our goalies. Frankly, I’m against rushing kids Joel Blomqvist and especially Sergei Murashov up to the big time. However, given that Tristan Jarry’s virtually immoveable due to his contract, would it hurt to deal Alex Nedeljkovic (love his spunk) and call up Blomqvist? Or perhaps 26-year-old Filip Larsson, who’s performed extremely well (.931 save percentage) with the Baby Pens?
The answer is no, it wouldn’t hurt us. Heck, it might even help.
Now there’s a refreshing thought.
Hey Rick,
I do agree that it is not fair to put down too many players on this roster and there are many reasons why. The roster construct is horrible, it is overly laden with only one type of player so it is easy to come up with a game plan to defeat it. It is also liberally laced with veterans when healthy, veterans who tend not to want to go to the dirty areas and get hurt. Not only are most of these players too light but too old to really win puck battles or command either crease. Furthermore, the coach’s strategies do not put the players in a position to succeed. Sullivan has shown that his teams can only win games when he has generational talents, future Hall of Famers, and All Stars at his disposal. In other words Teflon Mike’s teams can only consistently win when the players win despite their glorified door man of a coach.
And yes, Dubas is just as much at fault for this teams mediocre performance to date (only 12 regulation wins in 44 outings – absolutely pathetic).
As for Goaltending, Jarry is the biggest problem on this roster and Sullivan went to bat for him to get that ridiculous contract (as did a particular self proclaimed hockey expert from another Penguin’s Blog). If the Sullivan and Dubas would have shelved their hubris from the get go of this season and waived Jarry at the beginning of the season we would not be talking about if this team could sneak into the playoffs, but rather can our Penguins get a good match up so that they could get to the second round.
Your thought process that Murashov may benefit from some more time in the Minors may have some merit, but you are way off when it comes to Blomqvist. There are no more positives for him with this ridiculous extended stay in the minors. All he can do no is back slide with and against inferior talent. The old saying goes iron sharpens iron. For Blomqvist to continue to progress as an NHL Goalie he needs to be challenged not given a vacation to learn laziness or worse unlearn how to read real NHL talent by facing down players who may never make the NHL.
I have said it many times, part of the problem with our Penguins in ability to develop talent within the organization is not their reticence to play their kids at the NHL level, but their absolute refusal to do so. The evidence is plain to any with eyes as the team calls DOC a kid and prospect. DOC is 26. The prime time of an NHL forward is 22 – 27. DOC is almost out of his prime. This is the best we will ever get from him now. Any real potential that forward ever had has already been wasted.
This is no mere opinion but fact. Players like Crosby or Malkin may still be playing at high or above average levels at their age but they certainly are not performing like they did at 25, 26, or 27. Since none of these non veterans (not all are kids) are generational talents, the end of their utility comes swiftly.