I was watching Steve Dangle’s hearty, thumbs-up evaluation of the Maple Leafs’ recent acquisition of power forward Dakota Joshua on YouTube the other day. As an aside, if you’ve never watched or followed Steve, I urge that you do so. He’s the ultimate fan, albeit of the Leafs. Passionate, loud, irreverent at times, yet intelligent and insightful as well. I particularly love his use of jump cuts, often to hilarious effect. But I digress.
It just so happened to coincide with a comment from faithful PP supporter Mike lamenting the fact that we didn’t snag the 6’3” 206-pounder. For the unfamiliar, Joshua started out as Leafs property, was dealt to the Blues by a fellow named Kyle Dubas for the equivalent of a bag of used pucks under the guise of future considerations, before blossoming with the Canucks, notching 18 goals (in 63 games) two seasons ago.
With a premium on guys who can play, and play physically, a terrific get for the Leafs. And at the low, low, LOW price of a fourth-round pick in 2028.
Back to Dangle. While extolling the virtues of the trade, he repeatedly and gleefully made reference to the fact that the Leafs have added some BEEF. Not just any BEEF, mind you, but the glove-droppin’ kind.
Regarding our own beef situation (note the switch to lower case), while Dubas has added a pair of aggressive defensemen, Connor Clifton and Matt Dumba, both are on the small side. While it’s true our POHO/GM also re-signed popular heavyweight Bokondji Imama to ride shotgun, it’s hard to envision Boko receiving any significant ice time given our depth chart, at least at the present.
In my mind, we still lack BEEF up front, especially in the Dangle sense.
Okay, so BEEF may be a bit of a misnomer. Dubas did sign two of the largest humans to secure gainful employment in the NHL these days, Anthony Mantha (6’5” 234) and Justin Brazeau (6’6” 227). Going strictly by the tale of the tape, it doesn’t get any BEEFIER than those guys.
However, neither is known for employing a slam-bang approach. Despite his hulking dimensions, Mantha’s never registered as many as 100 hits in a season. In fact, most of the time he’s been well south of that total (55 in his last full season).
Brazeau? The big guy (okay, monster) had a modest 123 bumps last season. To put that in perspective, Anthony Beauvillier, all 5’11” 180 pounds of him, had 139.
As for dropping the gloves? Mantha will go on rare occasions. Brazeau has yet to record a fight in 95 career NHL games.
When push comes to shove, I’m concerned our Penguins will continue to serve as the shovee and not the shover.
Is that important? Is it reason to fret?
Perhaps not. Then again, maybe so, especially with the league in general trending toward a most the more aggressive style established by the two-time defending Cup champion Panthers. As our former coach Mike Sullivan once so aptly noted, it’s a copy-cat league.
I, for one, feel it would be beneficial to have a forward (or two) in the lineup who can play and scrap.
Kind of like Joshua.
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Hey Rick,
That is why I was happy about the drafting of Zonnon and really, really wanted the team to draft Aitcheson more so than getting a fairly one dimensional Joshua or Imama. Not only do Zonnon and Aitcheson love to hit, they hit like thunder and are far more capable of finding the back of the net in comparison to Joshua and Imama. Unfortunately, Dubas, trying to prove himself smarter than the rest of the league, drafted moderately skilled, milquetoast Kindel with the 11th pick in the draft - a player that most scouts rated in the mid to the late 20s (and no Central Scouting's rating of 20 was a rating of only North American skaters, not all prospects. Throw in Europeans and Goalies that pushes him back to the mid to late 20s were other scouts put him.)
Even now, in the absence of Papa Smurf, our Penguins still find ways of avoiding actual NHL level players.
Rick
You know I'm with you on all accounts when having this type of player.
In the NHL, having players with size, toughness, and a protective presence is essential to both team success and player safety. The league’s physical nature demands durability, especially over a long season and into the more aggressive, grinding style of playoff hockey. Big, tough players excel in board battles, net-front traffic at both ends of the ice, and momentum-shifting physical play, giving their teams a competitive edge. Most importantly, they protect star and young players—creating space, deterring cheap shots, and allowing top talent to perform without fear. This protection creates confidence, accountability, and team cohesion. While speed and skill dominate today’s game, physicality remains a critical component in building a balanced, resilient, and playoff-ready roster.
IMO, It's one of the major reason's we've either been quickly eliminated from the playoffs or
not made the post-season at all.