Baby Pens Hopeful McGowan Adds Bite

Anyone who’s read PenguinPoop consistently over the years knows I place a premium on physical play and guys who can handle themselves when the goin’ gets tough. It’s an element the Penguins seemed to have little regard for throughout the Mike Sullivan era, as witnessed by the remarkably brief stays of heavyweights Ryan Reaves, Erik Gudbranson and Jamie Oleksiak.

In fact, I’m usually good for a rant or two each season bemoaning the Pens’ lack of muscle. You may also have noticed last season I wrote nary such an article. That’s because, to my eye, we had just the right blend of attributes, including players who’d willingly (and capably) respond when push came to shove.

Unfortunately, most of those guys have departed over the offseason. Free agents Noel Acciari (Flyers) and Connor Clifton (Bruins) signed elsewhere. Hulking Anthony Mantha is likely to follow suit. Another willing scrapper, Parker Wotherspoon, was dealt to Vegas. Yet another, Matt Dumba, was released.

The only true heavyweight in the organization, Boko Imama, caught the Sunshine Express to Florida, as if the Panthers needed any more muscle after annexing the likes of Brady Tkachuk and Radko Gudas to their already burgeoning rogues’ gallery.

Talk about a band of cut-throats!

Having hammer-and-tonged their way to back-to-back Cups and a third Final appearance in true Broad Street Bullies fashion, the Panthers underscore the importance of having a physical element on hand.

Prior champions Vegas and Tampa Bay also possessed a heavy element, as did the Blues and the Caps before them. Even the Hurricanes, who prefer a cleaner, Penguin-esque brand of hockey, employed the likes of granite tough Bill Carrier and respected heavyweight Nic Deslauriers.

That’s why I was most pleased to learn the Baby Pens had signed 21-year-old Maleek McGowan to a one-year deal, a transaction that actually occurred back in April. Okay, so the left-shot defenseman is hardly a heavyweight at 6’0” 192. But, to borrow from the Sci-fi classic The Terminator, this kid’s a hunter/killer.

Thanks in no small part to his excellent wheels, McGowan hits like a proverbial freight train on skates, or Mike Lange’s bulldozer in a construction yard if you prefer. When the gloves come off? He’s an extremely capable fighter, delivering thunderbolts with both hands.

Pens assistant GM Amanda Kessel described the Toronto native thusly. “As far as the player (goes), he’s somebody that has all the physical tools. He’s somebody that’s mean. He wants to hurt guys, and we like that about him.”

Perhaps she meant to say “punish” rather than hurt, but you get the idea. McGowan’s one tough hombre.

He can play a little, too, as his 14 goals and 36 points in 62 games last season for low-scoring Kingston of the OHL will attest.

To sum up, perhaps a poor man’s Kashawn Aitcheson, a player both Other Rick and I would like very much for the Pens to have drafted.

Obviously, the undrafted McGowan’s a long-shot to carve out a spot on the Pens’ blue line, at least any time in the near future. But I feel better, and will sleep a little better at night, knowing there’s a physical force in the organization.

My guess is, his Baby Pens teammates will, too.