The Pittsburgh Penguins dropped their second straight contest to a Southern California team. This time it was a 2-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks. Pittsburgh played well in the second period but were again outplayed for a majority of the game action.
However, the more interesting bit of news happened after the game when General Manager Jim Rutherford spoke to Josh Yohe of DK on Pittsburgh Sports
The fans want more Daniel Sprong. So does Jim Rutherford. He made that very clear to me tonight. Read more: https://t.co/oqb3waedbS
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_PGH) December 7, 2015
Basically the guy in charge of buying all the ingredients is none too happy with the guy responsible for cooking with those ingredients:
I asked Rutherford if he’d like to see Sprong in the lineup on a regular basis.“Yes,… Rutherford replied. “Yes. I do want to see that. That’s why we kept him, to play him. That’s what we need to see.…
Rutherford long has expressed a belief in letting his coach pick the lineup. Still, he’s been letting Johnston know that he would prefer to see Sprong. And for whatever reason, the coach won’t make the move, despite’s Rutherford’s repeated requests.
“I have been urging the coach to get him in there,… Rutherford said. “We need him in there so we can get a better look at him.…
While you may agree with Jim Rutherford trying to get Daniel Sprong into the lineup more often this is definitely not the ideal way to have it happen. Whatever short term gains can be made from this move are minor when compared to the overall big picture. This just gives off the perception that the franchise isn't a well run operation right now.
Nothing about the GM and coaching hires from July 2014 for the Penguins were smooth and now the working relationship between both parties is anything but that as well.
Before the Penguins decided to keep up Daniel Sprong there should have been a very detailed conversation between Rutherford and Mike Johnston about the expectations and what needed to happen with his playing time. Instead we have general manager talking to reporters about his playing time as opposed to going directly to the coach.
The big contract variable with Daniel Sprong wasn't him playing in nine games and starting his ELC contract. It will be when Sprong is on the Penguins active roster for the 40th game of the season. This triggers another contract clause which allows Sprong to hit unrestricted free agency at 25 years old and not 27. At first I thought the team was slow playing Sprong's playing time in order to not hit that 40 game, but apparently it is not based on the actual games Sprong plays it is based on the team's number of games. This makes it even more ludicrous they haven't been playing him.
The Penguins lost a year of Sprong’s entry-level contract when he played his ninth game. However, they have until their 40th game, Jan. 6 in Chicago, to decide if they will keep Sprong for the rest of the season or send him back to his Quebec junior team in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. If they keep him past that 40th game, they could conceivably lose him a year earlier to free agency.
By not playing Daniel Sprong on a regular basis (really at all) they still don't really know what they have in him. Pittsburgh has played 26 games so even if Sprong becomes a regular in the lineup that still isn't a very large sample size to draw from before their 40th game on January 6th.
Say what you will about the Ray Shero/Dan Bylsma era but this kind of stuff would have never happened. Both of those men were on the same page and decisions came off as very streamlined. If you recall their working relationship was highlighted in the HBO documentary series 24/7. They weren't always the right decisions, but both parties were working in tune with one another. Ray Shero would never have publicly thrown the coach under the bus like this.
The Penguins are currently in a unique and horrible spot as far as running a hockey team. They have an interim general manager who won't be around for the fallout of his decisions which directly impacts the remainder of Crosby and Malkin's window. They have a head coach that is trying to prove that he belongs in the NHL and as a result he is trying to play as many low scoring one goal games as possible. And they have a politician with no hockey background overseeing hockey operations. This is all happening while they are trying to sell the team. It is no wonder things don't appear to be going smoothly. Nobody is on the same page.
The way I see it is that things really won't really be fixed until the team is sold. Until then this team is going to be run in a way that minimizes damaging the value of the team instead of maximizing the short and long term on-ice product. The double-edged sword of selling the team is that there is no guarantee that the new ownership group will have their you know what together either.
It is looking more and more like the Crosby/Malkin era in Pittsburgh will be remembered for their individual on-ice brilliance coupled with the incredible follies of off-ice management. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin deserve(d) better.
Thanks for reading!