The Pittsburgh Penguins will host the San Jose Sharks this evening and with that comes the return of the team's most consistent defender the past five years in Paul Martin.
Paul Martin is the kind of player where you don't know how good you had it until that player moves on to another organization.
Do the Penguins miss him?
During the stretch of time when the Penguins were a good possession team they were even better when Paul Martin was on the ice.
I'm always amused that people think Paul Martin struggled when he first came to Pittsburgh
If that is struggling than what is playing well?
Pittsburgh was between a rock and a hard place with Paul Martin's contract expiring. He is getting older and signing another 30+ year old player to a mid to long term contract wasn't ideal. However, there is no question that during the 2015-16 season the Penguins are sorely missing his presence in the lineup.
I think the Sharks are a great fit for his skill set and he should continue to do a nice job for San Jose for the time being.
Pittsburgh will have a tribute video for Paul Martin during the first intermission this evening. He should receive a healthy ovation.
****
Patrick Marleau who may or may not be on the trade block is sitting on career point number 999.
This is the fifth game of San Jose's six game road trip. They are 4-0 so far (Detroit, Buffalo, Boston, Philadelphia).
Sharks coach Pete DeBeor will be sitting out tonight's game for personal reasons. Some former Penguins are going to help fill the void for San Jose tonight
Assistant Coaches Steve Spott, Bob Boughner, and Johan Hedberg will jointly handle the coaching duties tonight. #SJSharks #SJSvsPIT
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) November 21, 2015
****
Here is a snap shot of Pittsburgh's player usage on the forward front so far this year
Daniel Sprong hasn't played all that well but his quality of teammate to this point has been incredibly low.
Beau Bennet has a dark blue bubble which represents high relative possession. His quality of teammate could use a boost.
Dupuis gets lots of ice time and not very good results
Sergei Plotnikov may not be wowing anybody with his play but he has not been a liability.
****
New Hockey Hurts podcast discusses some of the defensemen being talked about on the trade market, the New York Rangers interesting underlying numbers, and Penguins stuff. You can find thathere
Thanks for reading!