With Sam Girard’s availability up in the air, the Penguins swapped out defensemen ahead of tonight’s game with Utah. Recent acquisition Ryan Johnson was sent to the Baby Pens and Ilya Solovyov was recalled.
The burly 6’3” 229-pound Solovyov tallied an assist during his three games in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to go with a plus-6.
Speaking of the Baby Pens, several players are off to hot starts, including forwards Avery Hayes (5 goals, 9 points), Rutger McGroarty (4 goals, 9 points), Atley Calvert (3 goals, 8 points), Mikhail Ilyin (2 goals, 7 points), Tristan Broz (1 goal, 6 points) and Bill Zonnon (3 goals, 5 points).
Defenseman Jake Livanavage (1 goal, 5 points in 5 games) is producing at a point-per-game clip.
Goalies Joel Blomqvist (2.33 GAA, .905 SV%) and Taylor Gauthier (2.71 GAA, .915 SV%) have been solid as well.
The Baby Pens are 3-2-1 with seven points, good for a third-place tie in the AHL Atlantic Division.
I am excited to see solovyov. He always seemed competent to me, and that’s an upgrade right now. I would not mind an extended look at him while we try to trade someone for help.
I also think we should put rakell with kindel and robertson with Sid and rust. Rakell is struggling, but I have noticed kindel making elite setup passes but no one is thinking the game high enough level to be there to capitalize. I think rakell has that intelligence.
I also think we should swap blomqvist and Murashev. Murashev seems to be losing confidence or shrinking under the horrid defense, so let him recover in AHL and see how blomqvist handles it.
What kind of defenseman is livanage? Curious to see if he’s a good LHD option.
And zonnon is a center right? I want him up with the main club. Dude has great energy and attitude and seems to have some skill. We need that. But we have too many good centers heh.
The left defense needs a shakeup (gee, we only knew this going back…oh 4 months?). I really believe if we fix the defense, the offense will get itself together.
Hello Keeger,
I’m excited to see Solovyov, too. I liked what I saw of him last season. He seems to skate and move the puck well enough for a big guy. Of course, I like his size and the fact that he’ll lay the body on people.
The only caveat…he seemed to make one glaring mistake every time I watched him play. Perhaps a result of him pressing while trying to make an impression.
As for your other suggestions, I certainly can’t argue with any of them. I really liked Rust with Kindel, but I don’t think you can take him off Crosby’s line right now, especially since Sid finally coming to life.
I’m truly mystified by Rakell’s struggles. I know he’s been kind of roller-coasterish throughout his career, production-wise, but he’s been so good for us, particularly the last couple of seasons. I was especially impressed with his work at center last season down the stretch.
Honestly, I thought the wheels would fall off Rust’s wagon first, given his hell-bent style.
I digress.
Funny you mentioned Kindel’s passing. I noted last season that he reminded me of a mini-Sid with his ability to make short passes through traffic. It would be nice to get him a winger who can finish. I’m kind of hoping Robertson works out there.
I think it might be a tad early to pull the plug on Murashov and also to promote Zonnon, even though, like you, I really like the type of player he is. I would, however, keep a close eye on Murashov. If he has another bad outing or two and/or seems to be losing his confidence, then by all means swap him out with Blomqvist as you suggest.
Livanavage can really skate and move the puck, but he’s on the small side. I guess kind of a Sam Girard-lite. Don’t know how well he defends.
Rick
Oh livanage is the midget with the magic wheels! Ok, I can wait till he’s ready to come up
I’m not down on Murashev, I’m just trying to protect his confidence heh.
I think part of the issue with rakell is he is pressing super hard for a goal to fix his mojo. But he’s forcing some shots where he would be better served dishing a pass off.
I dunno, but I had a Guinness tonight to help bring good luck to the team 🙂
I’m sure the Guinness at least made the game more tolerable… 🙂
Rick