An area I generally don’t overlook but neglected to mention in my season preview is physicality. Based on our projected opening night lineup, the current crop of Penguins boast very little. Especially since heavyweight forward Boko Imama was assigned to the Baby Pens.
Veteran Noel Acciari will lay his wide body on people, at times with great impact. However, his glove dropping days are in the distant past. Feisty Connor Dewar sticks his nose in and isn’t shy at all about mixing it up should the need arise. But he’s 5’10” 190.
To a lesser extent, ditto cookie-cutter linemate Blake Lizotte.
Our second line of Evgeni Malkin (6’5” 213), Anthony Mantha (6’5” 240) and Justin Brazeau (6’6” 232) is H-U-G-E. Geno has a temper and certainly doesn’t shy away from the rough stuff. While it’s not his stock in trade, Mantha (pictured above in a 2017 tussle with Travis Hamonic) will fight if the situation calls for it. Brazeau, not so much.
Heck, our toughest forward these days may well be our best. Sidney Crosby seems to have grown more edgy and abrasive as he’s aged. That’s certainly not to suggest Sid should be fighting our battles, though he sometimes does.
On defense, there’s an absolute dearth of physicality and not much bulk, either. Like Malkin, Kris Letang has a temper that he works very hard to control, and can handle himself in a go. Again, not what you want Tanger to be doing at this stage of his career.
The one guy in our projected defense who can handle himself pretty well? Parker Wotherspoon, although he’s obviously no heavy at 6’1” 192. Likewise, Connor Clifton and Matt Dumba, hitters both, can provide some physicality and edge if not size. However, as of now they’re projected to be our spare d-men.
How important is muscle in the grand scheme of things? The two-time defending Cup champ Panthers are on a short list of the most physical teams in the league and boast sluggers such as Jonah Gadjovich and A.J. Greer. Their lineup is infused with toughness and sand. Most of the recent Cup champions have been ready, willing and able to play a rugged game, with our Pens the lone exception.
Perhaps I’m finally mellowing in my old age. I think a willingness to compete and pay a price (aka “hockey” toughness) can compensate to a great degree for a lack of fighting toughness. I’m reminded of how difficult former Pens forwards Patric Hörnqvist and Chris Kunitz were to play against. I sense (hope) our current group may possess a competitive fire that black-and-gold teams of the recent past lacked.
Nor am I necessarily a proponent of employing a one-dimensional heavy. Having expressed that, would I feel a whole lot better if we had a couple of guys who can play and do some policing if the need arises?
Absolutely.
Fortunately, help may be on the way in that regard, albeit down the road. First-round picks Bill Zonnon and Will Horcoff both fit that description, as do late-round selections Jordan Charron and Quinn Beauchesne. Defensemen Chase Pietila and Peyton Kettles as well.
Forwards Tanner Howe and Ryan Miller are noted for their grit.
Shades of the early 2000s, when the Pens employed their share of home-grown battlers like Tyler Kennedy, Ryan Malone and Max Talbot, not not mention blue-line hammer Brooks Orpik.
Silovs to Start
In a surprise move (at least to me), Pens coach Dan Muse has named Arturs Silovs as his starting goalie for tonight’s season opener against Mike Sullivan’s Rangers.
You may recall the Pens were pasted, 6-0, by the Rangers in last season’s opener at PPG Paints Arena with Tristan Jarry between the pipes. An embarrassment that sent the black-and-gold reeling to a 3-7-1 start.
PTOs Make Good
Just thought I’d mention that former Pens Matt Grzelcyk and Conor Sheary both made good on the PTOs they accepted this fall. Grzelcyk recently signed a one-year contract with the Blackhawks, while Sheary inked a similar deal with the Rangers.
The latter, an old favorite of Sullivan’s, will likely be in the lineup when we square off with the Blueshirts in tonight’s season opener at Madison Square Garden.
