Penguins Retro: The Day Our Dynasty Died

As you can tell by the recent absence of content, following my trip down tough guy memory lane, my brain’s been dryer than unbuttered toast when it comes to fresh ideas for articles.

Once again, Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now helped me get off the schneid with his article, “5 Worst Trades of the Sidney Crosby Era.” It reminded me of an article I’d posted on PP back on October 29, 2020, regarding the granddaddy of all clunkers…the ill-fated Derick Brassard trade.

Without further preamble, here goes.

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February 23, 2018. While not necessarily a day that will live in infamy among black-and-gold faithful, maybe it should. By my unofficial reckoning, it’s the day the Penguins’ would-be dynasty died.

On that eventful day general manager Jim Rutherford grabbed for the “brass ring” (pun intended). Hoping to bolster his team for a shot at a third consecutive Cup, he dealt defenseman Ian Cole and goalie prospect Filip Gustavsson to Ottawa for center Derick Brassard. Our first-round pick in the 2018 Entry Draft also went north of the border along with our third-round pick in 2019.

As part of the deal, slugger Ryan Reaves was shipped to Vegas along with our fourth-round pick in 2018 in exchange for a bag of pucks disguised as Tobias Lindberg and an agreement that called for the Golden Knights to eat 40 percent of Brassard’s $5 million cap hit.

Intended to fill the gap on the third line created by the offseason defection of center Nick Bonino, the move was lauded as a masterpiece stroke. One that would greatly enhance our chances of pulling off a magical three-peat.

Instead, it marked the beginning of the end for our two-time defending champs.

But first, step into the WABAC machine with me if you will. Following our second-straight Cup win in 2017, the Pens bled off a passel of key performers, including veterans Bonino, Matt Cullen, Ron Hainsey and Chris Kunitz. JR also “bribed” Vegas into taking franchise icon Marc-Andre Fleury off our hands in the expansion draft for a second-round pick. Smiling like a Cheshire cat, then-Vegas GM George McPhee revealed he’d planned to pick “Flower” all along.

Indeed, following two mostly brilliant seasons of wheeling and dealing, Rutherford seemed asleep at the switch. Aside from acquiring Reaves, the capo dei capi of NHL heavyweights, most of his moves were uninspired to say the least (Matt Hunwick, Antti Niemi). We opened the campaign with journeyman Greg McKegg as our third-line center.

Needless to say, the Pens slogged out of the starting gate. Following an uninspired 4-1 defeat at the hands of Detroit on New Year’s Eve, our record was an unsightly 19-18-3.

Then someone flipped an invisible switch. Starting with a 5-1 rout of the Flyers on January 2, the Penguins went on a tear befitting back-to-back champions. Over the next six weeks they went a torrid 16-4-1. During the incendiary 21-game stretch they outscored the opposition by the whopping margin of 84-52. Total domination.

Rutherford hadn’t been idle, either. In-season acquisitions Riley Sheahan and Jamie Oleksiak were performing well…the former at third-line center and the latter on the third defense pairing with Cole. As if to sound a warning beacon, Sheahan scored two goals in the game immediately preceding the Brassard trade.

Rescued from coach Mike Sullivan’s doghouse on January 25, a resurgent Cole had registered a goal and six points in 11 games to go with a sparkling plus-12. Oleksiak was nearly as effective over that span (plus-8). Not coincidentally, the Pens won nine of those games.

Then Rutherford rolled the dice on Brassard. While the logic was sound…JR wanted to improve his depth down the middle while creating a strong third line…it was a clear-cut case of fixing what wasn’t broke. Balance and chemistry disrupted, the Pens promptly lost three of four and never really recovered.

Playing through a lower-body injury, Brassard drew scant resemblance to the player who’d tortured the Pens earlier in his career while earning the nickname “Big Game Brass.” Nor did he display much chemistry with new linemates Carl Hagelin and Phil Kessel.

There was another cost as well…one that would come back to haunt us. Prior to the trade, the Pens possessed just the right blend of skill and muscle. Although played sparingly by Sullivan, Reaves had embraced his policing chores with passion and fervor, not to mention a touch of humor, while liquidating the few opponents who tried to take liberties.

Cole, too, had been an underrated cog in the team’s success. At first Sullivan tried to replace him with Hunwick…with disastrous results…before turning to depth defender Chad Ruhwedel.

Oleksiak’s game suffered as well. He was a minus-5 in the four games he was paired with Hunwick. Sans Reaves, Jamie was forced to assume more of an enforcer’s role.

The flashpoint occurred in Game Three of the second-round series with Washington. Having split the first two games, the blood rivals were deadlocked at 2-2 midway through the second period. Then Capitals marauder Tom Wilson destroyed black-and-gold rookie Zach Aston-Reese in front of the Caps’ bench in a violent, high-speed collision. It was like watching a train-wreck unfold before your eyes.

The Pens were clearly rattled. Emboldened by the hit, the Capitals won the game and seized control of the series.

While we’ll never know for sure, I maintain the Pens would’ve reacted differently with Reaves on the bench. I believe his presence would’ve had a steadying effect on our guys, much like a tough older brother walking the halls with you on the first day of school. Cole likewise would’ve come in handy against a physical Washington forecheck.

Would the Pens have won the series with Reaves and Cole in the lineup? It’s impossible to say. Going to the Final two years in a row undoubtedly took a toll. Perhaps we would’ve run out of gas anyway. But I think we would’ve stood a better chance.

As for Brassard? He tallied a lone assist over the six-game set with the Caps while seeing his ice time dwindle. By the end of the series he was centering the fourth line.

The Brassard era came to a close, not with a bang but with a whimper, the following February when he and Sheahan were dealt to Florida for Nick Bjugstad and Jared McCann. His black-and-gold career was singularly uninspiring…12 goals and 23 points in 54 regular-season games, to go with a minus-5. In fairness to Brassard, the Pens were 31-16-7 with him in the lineup and 8-8-1 in games he sat out.

Perhaps expectations were set too high. However, Brassard never had anywhere near the impact that was anticipated. Nor did he embrace the third-line role he was acquired to fill.

Worse, his arrival begat our rather dramatic fade from contender to pretender.