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So what’s the deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins?
They lost again and that brings their record to 6-6-2 since the Olympic break. There are many more questions than answers heading into the playoffs.
This particular loss to the Coyotes sparked a closed door player’s only meeting led by Brooks Orpik. Unless this player’s only meeting has some unknown magical healing powers it really isn’t going to amount to anything. It’s nice that the players care, but the Penguins problems are out of their control. Injuries and roster building isn’t something players can fix.
Until the roster is completely healthy, and I mean completely healthy, they have no chance to make a significant run at a title. Furthermore it will take a change of heart from the coaching staff as it pertains to their younger forwards and the trust they put in them. Rolling out Glass, Adams, and Pyatt isn’t good enough. Bennett, Megna, and Gibbons may not be the answer, but those other 3 veterans certainly aren’t the answer. I’ll take my chances with the youth.
The combination of a 64M salary cap and significant injuries makes this one of the toughest playoff pushes in years for the Penguins. Shero’s job of filling the team’s depth was near impossible at 64M. The only chance the Penguins had was being healthy and here they are leading the NHL in man games lost by a ton.
Don’t want to buy into the injury excuse? Here is a piece by Adam Gretz that highlights the injury dynamic and what it means to Stanley Cup contender
Am I throwing in the towel on this year? Kinda. The cards are stacked against Pittsburgh and it will take everything coming together to overcome that. That has an extremely low probability in my estimation.
I think it is important to have realistic expectations. Expectations should be tempered. A Penguins playoff failure this year does not automatically call for drastic and seismic changes to the organization.
So what can be done?
Planning for the future appropriately becomes paramount.
This includes what Shero does with potential free agents as well as what their organizational philosophy is regarding potential Penguin players.
The time has come where “stay at home defensemen… and “penalty kill specialists… need to be exonerated from NHL rosters, at least ones that are serious about winning it all.
The stay at home defensemen moniker means that a player has limited puck skill and no offensive attributes to speak of, but they are willing to block shots or hit people. This doesn’t help drive play, it just delays the inevitable, a goal in your own net.
Calling somebody a penalty killing specialist is just a polite way of telling them that they suck at even strength, but are still willing to dive head first into a shooting lane. Once again, this does nothing to drive play and the standard should be higher than that.
This means that the Penguins need to start looking at guys like Brooks Orpik, Robert Bortuzzo, Deryk Engelland, Craig Adams, Tanner Glass, Taylor Pyatt etc… and steer clear. That style doesn’t work, the proof is with the 2013-2014 Penguins.
A guy like Rob Scuderi also fits that mold but he is not going anywhere and that is OK. There is a big difference when a guy like Scuderi is the exception to the rule as opposed to being the rule. This season the Penguins are rolling out Orpik, Scuderi, and Bortuzzo/Engelland all at the same time. That is too much of the same thing (no puck skills).
The easy part is avoiding the kind of player you don’t want; the hard part is acquiring the kind of player that you do want. How does Shero do this? Where does Matt Niskanen fit into all this?
I have wrestled back and forth with the idea of Matt Niskanen being a 4.5-5.0M player for the Penguins and I think I would pass on his services moving forward.
I believe Niskanen is a costly luxury for the Penguins. I believe his ceiling as a player is a very solid #4 guy with potential to fill in a higher role in smaller sample sizes. The Penguins don’t have the cap room to allocate to such a luxury item. Niskanen is having a career year and that means you pay the premium on that success. There is no denying the kind of year he has had in 2013-2014, but it’s a big risk to expect that kind of return every single year.
I believe Shero’s number one area to address is the incredible lack of forward depth and by signing Niskanen to big money he neuters his ability to take care of that big glaring weakness.
Shero’s big thing has been to invest in young puck moving defensemen. It is time that he looks to get paid on that investment. The time is now for the Penguins to lean on those players and their entry level contracts.
The Penguins have a solid enough top 4 defense unit coming back; it includes Kris Letang, Paul Martin, Olli Maatta, and Rob Scuderi.
The Penguins need to fill out the defense corp by finding answers from the following pool of players: Simon Despres, Brian Dumoulin, Scott Harrington, or Derrick Pouliot.
Shero invested heavily in this organizational philosophy, it’s time for that philosophy to start paying dividends so that the Penguins can fill other needs.
For the Penguins to go this route they are going to have to understanding of mistakes from young puck moving d men. Something they haven’t been keen on in recent memory. The Penguins have allowed their stay at home defensemen to make many mistakes the last few years, its time they allow the younger more talented defensemen that opportunity.
So, how can the Penguins improve at the forward position? By using some of the money they save on Niskanen and Orpik and reinvesting into the forward ranks.
Shero needs to seriously look at retaining the services of Jussi Jokinen, Marcel Goc, and Lee Stempniak.
By not investing in young forwards via the draft the Penguins have to pay a premium to fill that area. Bucking up for those 3 players might be a necessary evil.
What would something like this look like?
One thing you might notice is the absence of Brandon Sutter. Given the way salary arbitration works it is likely that Sutter could command upwards of 4M per season, thanks but no thanks. Sutter is an average 3rd line player (maybe); the Penguins can’t pay above average 3rd line prices for that kind of player.
This potential roster is full of players who can make plays with the puck. Joe Vitale and Rob Scuderi are the exceptions.
Gone are the PK specialists and the stay at home defensemen. Replacing them are players who actually have puck skill and skating ability.
Another thing worth noticing is the cap space. The Penguins actually have some. This means that the Penguins do not have to be content with a guy like Joe Vitale as a 4th line center.
This roster setup also still gives the Penguins options on the trade market. Those options could still include the potential Ryan Kesler trade market.
It’s impossible to predict next year’s roster at this time, but I believe that this is a solid template for the kind of team the Penguins need to be moving forward.
The Penguins need to start trusting youth and embracing puck skilled players. Will they?
Time will tell.
Thanks for reading!
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