I turned on my phone this morning and was promptly greeted by a text from PP colleague Caleb DiNatale informing me that ex-Penguin Daniel Sprong has been placed on waivers by Seattle.
Mind you, the Kraken are Sprong’s second team this season (and fourth in the last four). He began the campaign skating for the man who drafted him, Jim Rutherford, in Vancouver. It’s safe to say he didn’t make a favorable impression on Canucks coach Rick Tocchet. Or Kraken skipper Dan Bylsma.
I’ll cut to the chase. The 27-year-old right wing and former second-round pick has elite hands and can flat-out snipe. Over the course of 363 games spread over nine NHL seasons (has he been in the league that long?) the Amsterdam native has popped for 87 goals, a tick under 20 per 82-game schedule. And that’s while averaging 11:57 of ice time.
Sprong’s career-best is 21 goals, set two seasons ago in 66 games with the Kraken, followed by 18 last season with the Red Wings. During the Covid shortened ’20-21 campaign he scored 13 goals in 42 games for the Capitals, a 25-goal pace over a full season.
So why has such a skilled player bounced around so much? Unfairly or not, Sprong’s reputed to be a prickly pear who travels to the beat of his own drum. One who doesn’t always pay the strictest attention to the details or his defensive chores. Traits that aren’t likely to endear him to coaches.
However, if I squint my eyes real hard, I see a poor man’s version of Phil Kessel. For a team that lacks firepower and finish, he could be just what the doctor ordered, at least in the short run.
Affordable too, at $975 K.
Will we put in a claim?
The answer?
Probably a big, fat NO. Age-wise, he’s a bit outside of GM Kyle Dubas’s range. Then there’s the not-so-small matter of coach Mike Sullivan, who basically ran Daniel out of town during his inaugural stay in the ‘burgh.
A Hatty for Ville
Forward prospect Ville Koivunen notched his first professional hat trick last night during the Baby Pens’ 6-3 victory over the Toronto Marlies.
His first two goals came on snipes from the left circle, the first near-side and the second far-side against ex-Pen Matt Murray. His final tally was an empty-netter.
The 21-year-old future hopeful upped his season totals to 10 goals and 27 points in 30 games.
News to hang your hat on (har har)!
Hey all,
Just a quickie follow-up. Sprong cleared waivers.
Also, and this is by no means meant to detract from Koivunen’s achievement but rather to provide some perspective. On all three of his goals he was pretty much unfettered and all alone. It’s rare that he’ll be afforded that much time and space in the NHL.
Rick
Hey Rick,
They more people I talk to that have played with or against Sprong, the less value I see. I still say he deserved more chances than Dominik Simon (Because he actually has talent and isn’t just a teachers pet), but for me, no that is a hard pass. Furthermore, even though if I were GM I would covet a true right-handed sniper and are forwards aren’t exactly leading the league – team scoring isn’t the main problem. Our boys-of-winter rank somewhere in the middle of the pack in scoring 5-on-5. That which is destroying this team more than anything else is team defense. Sullivan’s system has this team with in the bottom 5 in just about every defensive category.
Unless the Goal for this team is to intentionally tank like they did in 83-84 then what the team needs to first address is their Goaltending, waive Jarry since he has probably less trade value than Scuderi did back during the 2015-2016 season – meaning I can’t see a Trevor Daley trade in the future even if management stops listening to Sully and tries to dump this millstone.
The second thing the team needs to do is gut the D-Corps and start from scratch.
In short, Sprong is an unnecessary addition.