Transitioning away from Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis was always something Sidney Crosby was going to have to do as his favorite wingers aged out. Dupuis retired in 2015-16 due to blood clotting and Chris Kunitz’s play finally took a nose dive and saw himself removed from the top line for the first time since joining the Penguins nearly a decade before. Fortunately, for the Penguins they had two unproven players from WB/S who filled the void nicely and helped Sidney Crosby earn a second consecutive Conn Smythe Trophy and the team another Stanley Cup. The two wingers were Jake Guentzel and Conor Sheary and they combined to form the Sid and the kids line.
The rumor on the street is that it is actually hard to play with Sidney Crosby. I have never really subscribed to this idea. The with or without you numbers just don’t bear that out. However, this was a huge concern with Kunitz and Dupuis not playing with Crosby anymore after years of great success. How could the picky captain move forward? Would his comfort level be met? The answer of course was, yes. Crosby went on to earn his second Rocket Richard Trophy and was a runner up for the Hart Trophy for the second consecutive year and third time overall to that point (he has four runner ups now after this past season).
Jake Guentzel started the 2016-17 season with the Baby Penguins and his offensive results could not be ignored. In 33 games he had 21 goals and 42 points. The AHL wasn’t the place for him anymore. He was ready for prime time. He isn’t the biggest and strongest player so how would he hold up in the NHL? Well, he would pull a Mario Lemieux by scoring on his first ever shot on goal in his first shift of course.
He shot 19.8% this season. The worry was that would plumet over time, but after 299 NHL games he is still a 16.2% shooter. Guentzel went on to play the second half of the 2016-17 season and put up 16 goals and 33 points in 40 games. He was the absolute perfect player the Penguins needed. While the regular season was incredibly successful for the recently promoted Guentzel he saved his best work for the playoffs where he went on to lead the entire league in playoff goal scoring with 13.
It was none other than Conor Sheary who led the NHL in 5v5 points per 60 in 2016-17 at 3.02. Guentzel was second in the league at 2.88 with some guy named Connor McDavid third overall at 2.87. Sheary finished the year with 23 goals and 53 points in only 61 games. Impressive totals considering he is not someone who earns time on the first power play. Despite his small stature Sheary was no stranger to the dirty areas on the ice and led to a lot of success for himself and the Penguins when he joined forces with Crosby and Guentzel
It is tough to argue with the results of the Guentzel-Crosby-Sheary line. Crosby scored the most goals in the regular season and won playoff MVP, Guentzel led all playoffs in goal scoring, and Sheary led the entire NHL in 5v5 points per 60 during the regular season. This was one of the better lines of the Crosby/Malkin era.
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