Kyle Dubas took some time today to speak to the media heading into his debut season running the Pittsburgh Penguins. He talked about what a great leader Sidney Crosby is, how impressed he’s been with Erik Karlsson’s preparation, and spoke about the bottom of the lineup competition.
He also spoke about the type of team the Penguins are and how he wants to build them
Kyle Dubas gave a thoughtful and detailed response to a question about the Penguins brand being scoring and skill; if that’s a counterpunch to the way the league is going; and why he felt strongly about building the team that way â¬‡ï¸ pic.twitter.com/CaHz1MBtXy
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) October 9, 2023
It’s a quality answer and one I agree with. The Erik Karlsson deal was the exclamation point on committing to an offensive strategy. It was the best player at the best price point they were going to have a chance to be actionable one. A great piece of business.
It does make the bottom six choices interesting given the mantra set forth. Make no mistake, the bottom six Dubas has put together is better than whatever Ron Hextall was trying to do. A third line of O’Connor-Eller-Harskins is a lot more palatable than McGinn-Carter-Kapanen. The team is better. I just would have like to have seen the bottom six choices lean more into the offensive side of things (ie Tatar).
Having someone like Drew O’Connor carry over their preseason offense into the regular season would be quite the development and get the Penguins closer to this offensive minded approach. Having Jansen Harkins translate his 25 goals and 50 points in 44 AHL games last year would also be quite a positive development, even if it was in an age 25 season.
While not a perfect transformation there are at least some dart throws to potentially yield some positive output instead of hoping Kasperi Kapanen’s shooting percentage on rush shots is high enough to sustain everything else about him as a player. Jeff Carter’s ceiling on the roster is now that of a 4th line player instead of being thrown headfirst into a brick wall in a role he can’t play to anymore.
And while we are on the topic of offense over the weekend there was some good news regarding Jake Guentzel. Those five games he was supposed to miss to start the year? He might not miss any. There is a greater than zero chance he is on the top line tomorrow night beside Sidney Crosby.
Kyle Dubas: "As Sully’s outlined, it'll be a kind of a day-by-day decision. We have to do what's right for him in the long run."
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) October 9, 2023
Read more on Guentzel's status here ⬇ï¸https://t.co/8fpUVrEKn6
“He’ll more than likely be a game-time decision,… Sullivan said. “We’ll see how he gets through the next couple of days. But obviously, he’s practicing in full capacity. He was heavily involved in the power plays today. He’s an important player for us. We’re real encouraged with his progress.…
At today’s practice here are how things looked
Jake is skating in his normal spot during line rushes...
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) October 9, 2023
Guentzel-Crosby-Rust
Smith-Malkin-Rakell
O’Connor-Eller-Harkins (Zohorna rotated in)
Nieto-Acciari-Carter
Graves-Letang
Pettersson-Karlsson
Joseph-Ruhwedel
Injured 2022 first-round pick Owen Pickering is with Ryan Shea.
This is a lineup that *should* yield a playoff spot. I don’t have a ton of expectations these days past making the postseason. This version of the Penguins needs a lot of things to go right to be proper competitive. Can Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin stay healthy and productive again? Can Erik Karlsson be in the neighborhood of what he was able to do with the Sharks last year? Can Tristan Jarry give them NHL caliber goaltending while also being available at the important time of the year? These things kinda have to happen, but are no sure thing given the ages and the injury potential. If I placed an over/under on the Penguins season it would be winning one playoff round. Plenty of valid arguments to think they either will or they won’t.
One thing I am sure of is that they have a front office executive who is committed to trying and making sure they have the best chance possible to maximize the time we have left with the Penguins core group. There is reason to be invested in the team. Something that was lacking during the Hextall tenure. The team should be very watchable and the the leadership group is heavily invested. If things go sour it won’t be for a lack of trying.
***
There were eybrows raised, including mine, when the Penguins sent Radim Zohorna through waivers yesterday. I felt like he had earned a spot on the roster and he still might. The real reason for the move was to give them some extra roster space if they wanted to make a claim on a player. Something that did indeed happen today
Pittsburgh claims John Ludvig
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) October 9, 2023
Ludvig is a 23 year old defenseman who has spent time in the AHL since 2020. He’s a Florida Panthers third round pick from 2019. Ludvig has had issues with his hip and pretty much missed the entire 2021-22 season. His last year of juniors (his overage year) he was above a point per game as a defenseman. This is another dart throw by Dubas with low stakes and a low buy in. With Zohorna clearing waivers there is no downside to this acquisition.
Thanks for reading!