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Team structure won’t work without drastic changes

November 21, 2017, 11:08 AM ET [44 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
I’m sure the title got your attention. So who are the Penguins going to trade to make this drastic changes? There is no one answer to that. The changes might not come via trade. They may come through regression with shooting percentage. One thing is certain. The Penguins are not a good defensive team (they weren’t last year either) and they are not generating enough tangible offense to sustain success. The goalies are also doing a bad job so the problem is magnified.



That’s a huge drop off. Antti Niemi sure didn’t help the cause, but not having Fleury is evident here. Pittsburgh’s backup goalies have provided nothing so far this year. That doesn’t mean the Penguins can’t get quality backup goaltending without Fleury just that they haven’t to this point.

Pittsburgh’s forwards haven’t provided much either. The Penguins are dead last in shooting percentage this year



Let’s take a player by player look at the changes from last season to this season from returning players



Sid will get better. Guentzel was never going to be a 20% shooter forever. For as many high danger shots as Hornqvist gets you’d hope the shooting percentage would be higher. Malkin will get better, but expecting last year’s percentage is unrealistic. Bryan Rust has yet to score a 5v5 goal this year. He only has two goals on the season. Hagelin went from terrible to more terrible. Sheary has been steady as far as his shooting as has Phil. That consistency is what has them leading the team in 5v5 offense, which you’ll see below.

The fact of the matter is that the Penguins are built to outscore other teams and not defend them. It’s tough to do that when nobody is producing at a top line rate among the forwards. Yes, that does include Phil Kessel who has had a great start to the season.



Phil is the only player producing like a top six player although not at a first line level. Nobody on the Penguins is above the 2.0 points per 60 barrier. Sidney Crosby needs to get it in gear. He’s doing a Tanner Glass impression right now. Evgeni Malkin isn’t where he needs to be based on his ability. Patric Hornqvist is doing good things on the power play, but not much at even-strength. Carl Hagelin has been awful. Riley Sheahan is not a third line center. Gregg McKegg is what he is. Ryan Reaves is right around where he should be as a glorified enforcer. These numbers can’t be where they are with the kind of team Pittsburgh is built to be.

The Penguins lost some forwards depth with Chris Kunitz, Nick Bonino, and Matt Cullen moving on, but they should still be able to have more than one player putting up top six caliber even-strength offense. Some of this will improve in my opinion. By how much? That’s the real question. Will it improve enough to overcome their defensive shortcomings? This is assuming the goaltending is better than half the league as well. Right now the Penguins are a team that has the flu. It’s not life threatening, it might get better on its own, but the prudent move is to get help and assistance. I’m not sure Jim Rutherford can afford to sit idle before the calendar changes over. The division standings are too close and the underlying numbers are not encouraging for another championship. Nobody said a three-peat would be easy.



Thanks for reading!
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