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Yesterday I used
Progressive Hockey’s line stat generator to look at Kris Letang and his past performance with his various partners. Today I am going to look at the Penguins third line and their transition from having the “Big 3 Centers” to what they have now and where they can go. I understand it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Jordan Staal leaving was kind of a big deal. However, the transition hasn’t been clean.
Can the Penguins turn the corner this year in that department?
Let’s take a look at the Cooke-Staal-Kennedy line from the Cup winning year to their last year as a line in 2011-12:
They were pretty remarkable. They ate the tough minutes for the Penguins and thrived in it. It allowed Crosby and Malkin to run wild when they were healthy. The Penguins were spoiled while this was their third line.
Now I want to take a look at the evolution over the years of the Penguins third line, as well as the two third line center candidates the Penguins have for 2013-14 (Sutter/Goc).
2008-09
Awesome year for the Staal line. This is when they became known as the best third line in hockey.
Goc was on the Sharks and made the most of his zone starts. He wasn’t in a classic shutdown role but he did drive possession with his linemates,
This is Sutter’s first year in the league. He was sheltered but did OK.
2009-10
Staal line still killing it.
Goc finds himself in a more offensive role this season and you might recognize both of his linemates, especially his right winger. They did a great job as a trio. While the line that Goc played on most received favorable zone starts, his personal percentage on the year was a lowly 37.5%. Trotz used him situationally as a defensive specialist away from this line as well.
Sutter had some decent linemates in his second full year and he put up his career high in offensive numbers with 21 goals and 40 points. Surprisingly, possession wise this line was a dumpster fire.
2010-11
This was the year from hell for the Penguins. Crosby and Malkin were both out of the lineup and the third line duo saw their time together reduced. If I recall correctly the first line in the playoffs was James Neal, Mark Letestu and the forgettable AK72. Because of the injuries the Staal line was no longer a classic third line and were relied upon to be something more. No surprise the numbers don’t look as favorable anymore.
Goc continues to put up solid numbers in Nashville
Sutter continues to have below average possession.
2011-12
This was the swan song for the “3 Center Approach”. It was impressive and the Penguins led the NHL in Fenclose percentage.
Goc moved on to Florida absolutely crushed it in a shutdown role. Great possession numbers given those zone starts. This year is good evidence that Goc can handle a shutdown role.
Sutter also shows some nice improvement. His line has some decent numbers while playing in a shutdown role as well.
2012-13
There has been some skepticism over the years about how good Jordan Staal actually is. People have pointed to the fact that he played behind Crosby and Malkin and his job wasn’t that hard.
Well in 2012-13 Brandon Sutter literally slips right into the Staal role with the same linemates and the results aren’t the same. They were big shoes to fill. You could see just how dependent the Penguins were on Jordan Staal and the three center approach.
On a very bad possession team Goc’s line was able to tread water with his line.
2013-14
This isn’t fair to Sutter. Nobody should be subjected to this. Ray Shero failed the Pittsburgh Penguins by doing nothing to address his bottom six needs. Brandon Sutter wasn’t able to do the things that Jordan Staal could (not his fault) so Ray Shero rewarded him by giving him even worse linemates. Yes injuries played a huge role in 2013-14, but a responsible team should never have Adams and Glass as a third line option regardless of the injury status of the team. I’d argue they shouldn’t even be a fourth line option.
Shero’s negligence caused his best player (Crosby) to work hard all year in a shutdown role because there was literally no other options to take on that assignment.
Goc continues to quietly go about his business in a successful manner.
And that leads us to today. The Penguins now have two potential candidates to use as their third line center. Brandon Sutter will get the first crack at it this year, but as the sample size has shown Marcel Goc has been rather under appreciated throughout his career.
The Penguins were spoiled and now without Jordan Staal to anchor down a third line it is important to surround the third line center with some competent help. Jim Rutherford has taken steps to clean up a lot of Ray Shero’s negligence from the previous two seasons. Whether it is Goc or Sutter at third line center they should get better help than they had last year.
The days of the big three center approach may be long gone, but that doesn't mean the third line should hinder Crosby and Malkin from runing wild again. The Penguins just need to be a little bit more creative about it than they had to be in the past.
One of the best ways Rutherford can go about having another quality third line will be for him to trade for a top six winger while he is in a position of strength. The Penguins have two capable third line centers, a plethora of quality young defense prospects, Paul Martin, and an available first round pick.
Beau Bennett plays a huge role in this. He is top six material, but not if he is hurt. If Bennett can play and Rutherford can get another top six winger via trade it allows a player like Dupuis to be bumped down in a more appropriate role. One that vastly improves the bottom six forward depth.
My candidates in the Penguins organization to be traded for a top six winger include: Paul Martin, Brandon Sutter (Rutherford has traded him once already), Brian Dumoulin, Scott Harrington, Simon Despres, as well as that first round pick. In extreme circumstances Pouliot could be in play as well. There should be a combination from those options which would be attractive enough at some point during the season to find that missing top six piece.
If Rutherford can find a way then the transition from the Jordan Staal era third line to the present will be complete.
No team wins a championship without a quality third line.
It will be interesting to see how Rutherford plays his hand.
Thanks for reading!
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