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The Penguins are feeling the impact of losing Kris Letang and Paul Martin in their lineup. They are not as dangerous without them in the lineup. What the Penguins lose with both of those players cannot be replaced. Since the Olympic break (Martin's injury) the Penguins have gone 8-8-2.
Simon Despres, Deryk Engelland, and Robert Bortuzzo have the impossible task of trying to make up for their absences. But injuries are injuries and you can only play the players who are available.
The good news is that Paul Martin is about to make his return to the lineup, this leaves one spot for 3 defensemen. Which player is most deserving? Which player can best help fill the void left by Kris Letang?
Lets take a look at the numbers.
Today we will be using with or without you charts that focus on goals for percentage at even strength. This will show the positive or negative impact that Simon Despres, Deryk Engelland, and Robert Bortuzzo have on their teammates in regards to goals being scored. For these charts I have used top 6 Penguins forwards because those are the kind of players that Kris Letang usually plays with, that is the role that is presently vacant.
First up Robert Bortuzzo:
As you will notice Bortuzzo does not eclipse the 50% barrier anywhere on the chart. His highest figures come at 50% while playing with Neal and Jokinen. All of Bortuzzo’s numbers away from top 6 forwards are below 50%.
Every single player sees their numbers improve when playing away from Bortuzzo. Bortuzzo is an anchor on the Penguins top 6 forwards.
Next up is Deryk Engelland:
Engelland fares a little better than Bortuzzo on this chart. Crosby Kunitz and Jokinen still see improvement when playing away from Engelland but Malkin and Neal see their numbers decrease away from Engelland, even if it is just a marginal difference.
Engelland has way more numbers above 50% than Bortuzzo.
Engelland is unable to get above the 50% barrier away from his top 6 forward teammates though.
Now onto Simon Despres:
First thing I would like you to draw your attention to is the Y axis. Notice that the chart has no sub 50% measurements. I repeat, the chart does not drop below 50% for Simon Despres.
The other big thing to notice on the chart is that every single player sees a drop in their GF% when they are away from Simon Despres. Despres has a positive influence on each of the top 6 forwards.
Simon Despres is not polished, but he does represent the Penguins best chance at recovering what is lost with Letang. He should be played for that reason and that reason alone. The numbers bear that out.
What Bortuzzo and Engelland bring is what it is. They aren't going to improve on it with more playing time. With Despres you are investing playing time in a safety valve in case a puck moving d man is out of commission in the playoffs.
There is literally no logical reason to not play Despres every game until both Martin AND Letang are back in the lineup.
These charts show tangible proof that Despres meshes better and has a more positive influence on the top 6 forwards when thrust into a Letang/Martin role than either Engelland or Bortuzzo.
Simon Despres’ deployment continues to remain one of the Penguins bigger mysteries.
Despres>Engelland>Bortuzzo.
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Adam Gretz has a great article about Sidney Crosby and how he has carried the Penguins this season. Here is a sample from that article:
For years the Penguins were fortunate enough to have a player like Staal on their roster so Crosby didn't have to do it. Now that he has to, it's a bit of a different look, but it doesn't mean that's the wrong approach. If you have the best player in the world and a lineup without any other line capable of handling another team's top players (and the Penguins do not) you shouldn't be worried about sheltering him or hiding him from matchups.
Especially when he has done it all season and still managed to lap the field when it comes to producing points.
Thanks for reading!
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