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The Pittsburgh Penguins are set to play 4 games this week and it will include to home and home matchups against two of their more heated rivals. The week begins with two games against the Capitals and ends with two games against the Flyers. Definite potential for bad blood.
While the games should be interesting the more important issue at hand is how the Penguins will try and improve for their playoff push. They received some relatively good news yesterday as Beau Bennett has returned to practice with the team. Coach Dan Bylsma has claimed that Bennett will practice for 7 days and then be re-evaluated by the doctor. If all goes well, Bennett could be in the Penguins lineup in about 10 days or so.
This is incredibly important for the Penguins. Beau Bennett possesses the highest ceiling of any player that the Penguins might throw on the top line with Crosby. If Bennett is able to produce even a little bit it allows the bottom 6 grouping to become stronger by keeping Lee Stempniak in a 3rd line right winger role.
The reality is that Bennett is no sure thing. He has been injured in the NHL much like he was during his college days in Denver. The same kind of injury that plagued him in college has also resurfaced in the pros (hand/wrist).
It’s a lot of pressure to place on a player who does not have a wealth of NHL experience, but that is the position the Penguins are in. They need somebody to step up and Bennett is the guy who has the best combination of puck skills and hockey awareness.
Here is a brief reminder of what Beau Bennett could bring to the lineup:
In his extremely small sample size this season Bennett has a CF% of 55.3%. That is best amongst players who have played at least 100 minutes of even strength action for the Penguins this season.
It is fair to point out that Bennett also leads the team in offensive zone starting percentage as well with 66.2%. He was receiving some sheltered minutes, something that will not happen on the top line. My guess is that Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz won’t be anchored down by Bennett’s presence like they have been with Brian Gibbons.
I would also wager a guess that Dan Bylsma will not have to use Sidney Crosby in a shutdown role because of a totally inept 3rd line. He should be able to spread out some more responsibility because of the Goc and Stempniak additions. This should give Crosby more favorable matchups than he has been getting. Bylsma has taken some criticism for not getting Crosby away from tough matchups but I don't believe it is because Bylsma wants to put Crosby in that situation, it is because he has had to. The bottom 6 forwards can't handle elite competition. Its a goal against waiting to happen.
Beau Bennett talks about his injury situation:
The Pens Blog has a pretty great in depth look at Ray Shero’s drafting record , specifically the forwards and it isn’t all that impressive. It is one of the biggest reasons why it is so important for Beau Bennett to have an impact.
Shero needs to do a better job drafting players (specifically forwards), there really isn’t an argument against that, but I do believe the draft is a crap shoot outside of the top 10 and even then it’s a guessing game at times.
Case in point, how does Olli Maatta slip to #22 overall?
With the Penguins drafting in the mid to upper 20’s most years and in other years trading away their 1st round picks at the deadline it makes the likelihood of picking an impact player that much less.
Shero does deserve some credit for his asset management. Even though he might not have drafted Ryan Whitney and Alex Goligoski he did flip those overrated players into impact players who have made significant contributions for the Penguins (Neal, Kunitz, Niskanen).
The big Hossa trade did not see the Penguins give up anything of worth. Angelo Esposito was a bad draft pick, but it wasn’t the Penguins problem, Shero passed that buck onto Atlanta. Colby Armstrong fizzled out. Erik Christensen was good for one thing and one thing only, the shootout.
Even though the Penguins deadline deals last year fell on their face they really didn’t lose out with the Iginla and Morrow trades. Penguins lost a late 1st round pick for Iginla and two inconsequential prospects. Joe Morrow may or may not go on to play as an NHL regular. Brenden Morrow was playing good hockey for the Penguins until he cracked his kneecap. It was the Doug Murray trade that stung the most.
Whatever methods the Penguins are using to draft forwards probably needs to be re-evaluated. They haven’t even had the luxury of getting “lucky… with a forward that they have drafted in recent memory. They will need to improve in this area for sure.
Given that the salary cap was artificially lowered this season it put a magnifying glass on organizational depth for all NHL teams. The Penguins are short on forward prospects. In most years Shero could probably supplant this issue with a free agent, but that wasn’t an option this season.
The undeniable fact is that Ray Shero has targeted defensemen, not forwards with his premium draft selections. Shero’s reputation in the draft is going to rely heavily on players like Olli Maatta, Derrick Pouliot, Simon Despres and Scott Harrington. Olli Maatta is already a star in the making and Derrick Pouliot is thought of highly enough by the Penguins brass that he was not included in a potential Ryan Kesler deal.
Simon Despres has the physical tools to be a quality NHL defenseman; it will be up to him to show some consistency. Scott Harrington is doing a nice job down in WB/S and could potentially be ready for the NHL next season.
The Penguins could have 4 defensemen ready to contribute at the NHL level on entry level contracts. This is a pretty good thing.
The key to the draft is to get players who can contribute when they are on their entry level contracts. Whether that is on defense or at forward, I don’t think it really matters. The quartet of Maatta, Pouliot, Despres, and Harrington have the potential to provide the Penguins NHL service while still on ELC’s.
This frees up money to plug other holes.
Shero doesn’t deserve a free pass on his drafting and I think The Pens Blog did a terrific job outlining Shero's draft history. The Pens Blog piece certainly raises some legit questions about how the Penguins have been spending their draft picks.
All that said I think there are many ways to be successful in the salary cap era and the Penguins have some of the more difficult pieces to acquire already locked into contracts for the forseeable future (Crosby, Malkin, Letang, Neal, Kunitz). This allows some flexibility on how you go about business.
The future is still bright.
Thanks for reading!
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