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The trade deadline is over, the frenzy is complete, now we can sit back and somewhat relax while we digest all the moves from around the league.
The Penguins are a better hockey team today than they were when they played the Predators the other night.
The additions of Marcel Goc and Lee Stempniak help out what was an incredibly thin forward group for the Penguins.
Both players provide some versatility in the lineup, specifically Stempniak. Stempniak could step up to the Crosby line in the short term or he could most certainly provide competent 3rd line play. I view Stempniak as a better Tyler Kennedy. He loves to shoot the puck.
Kennedy was a polarizing player amongst Penguins fans, but I was somebody who saw more of the good than the bad with Kennedy. His propensity to shoot the puck did not bother me, many times it ended with the goalie freezing the puck which allowed Bylsma to get Crosby and Malkin more offensive zone starts.
Offensively Stempniak compares favorably to Kennedy.
Lee Stempniak has a goals per game average of .23 for his career while Tyler Kennedy has .19.
Stempniak has a points per game average of .53 while Kennedy is at .43.
Stempniak did not have the benefit of playing with Jordan Staal for many years.
Jesse Marshall of the Faceoff Factor passed along some info about Stempniak and his shooting prowess:
Something I didn't mention yesterday: Stempniak has a great shot. Underrated to be sure. He lead Calgary with 111 attempts on net this year.Stempniak put 111 shots on net this season and has attempted 178 total shots. His individual Corsi/60 is over 13. Lots of rubber at the net
For frame of reference, Crosby (132) and Kunitz (124) lead the Penguins. Add Stempniak, and that's 367 total shots on goal this season.
This is really good news for the Penguins.
The reason is because Stempniak is currently shooting at a career worst 5.6%, his career average is 10.5%. Given the fact that he is joining a Penguins team that has better hockey players than Calgary I certainly believe that he will improve upon his goal scoring for the rest of the season, especially if he sees some time with Crosby.
Here is how Stempniak was used in Calgary:
He wasn’t in a shutdown role but he certainly wasn’t playing protected minutes either. The competition he faced was as good as what any other Calgary forward faced. The difference was that Stempniak received more favorable offensive zone starts when compared to Matt Stajan, David Jones, and Lance Bouma.
Stempniak’s possession compares favorably to his teammates. Things look promising on this front.
Ray Shero described both players as versatile and Marcel Goc has said he is willing to play wherever the coaches put him, but I do believe Goc is a center. I also believe he could be an upgrade over Sutter. I think that Goc should get a look at 3rd line center with Brandon Sutter bumping over to the right wing position.
I would have the following lines for tonight:
Kunitz-Crosby-Stempniak Jokinen-Malkin-Neal Gibbons-Goc-Sutter Glass-Vitale-Adams/Pyatt
It’s just a starting point, while the Penguins start to feel out how their new additions will fit in.
Lastly here is some visual representation of what the two new additions bring to the Penguins
in theory, add Goc/Stempniak both to the 3rd line and their Corsi Relative % goes waaaay up (where the red line is) pic.twitter.com/mRSyCn3iGQ
— Mike Darnay (@MikeDarnay) March 6, 2014Man, just look how freaking terrible the Penguins were before these moves were made. Laughable.
Penguins will take on Tyler Kennedy and the Sharks tonight at 10:30 PM. We should get to see Goc and Stempniak and how Bylsma will use them.
Get your naps in before the game.
Thanks for reading!
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