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Now what? Perhaps it is time to go outside the box

March 19, 2021, 10:56 AM ET [130 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
I don’t have much to say about last night’s game that is original or unique. It was a bad performance by an undermanned roster playing their third game in four days. I received a tweet before the game and this should conjure up some memories from yesteryear



That’s certainly a vibe.

The 3-2 final score made it look a lot better than it was. The Penguins were a one line team and will continue to be until they get some healthy bodies back. They will get today off and then go back to back against the same Devils team Saturday and Sunday.

The biggest variable in the Penguins season right now is unknown. Evgeni Malkin’s injury has yet to be publicly disclosed. I think it is safe to say it is his knee. The entire season hinges on how severe the injury is. If he can return the Penguins can move forward and still treat the season as a win now season. If the injury is severe it is time to write the season off and not invest any assets with the sole intention of improving the 2020-21 team. Any moves would have to have an impact on the future and ideally it is how you want to operate anyways. For example, Eric Staal’s name is out there. If Malkin can’t come back it is pointless to get a rental even if the Penguins are scrambling at the moment for center depth with Teddy Blueger out long term as well.

The good news is that I don’t think it will be a season long injury. I think Malkin will come back. I would be very surprised if it goes beyond the three week mark. It looked like a hyper-extention of the knee. This is just one person’s opinion on it




We will have to see what the actual diagnosis is. That information could come as soon as today.

As for the current roster Jared McCann seems really close to coming back. It would really help to have another NHL caliber center behind Crosby. It is likely McCann is a better winger, but he is still a better center than any of the other options available right now.

With the forward depth in a bad place I think I would consider something absurd to help things. I can’t be the only one who thinks Mike Matheson looks like a miscast defenseman a lot of the time. Putting Matheson on the wing seems silly, but I think it would be an interesting experiment for a team desperate for skill up front. You could call up Pierre-Olivier Joseph or insert Chad Ruhwedel back into the lineup and play somebody on their off side. I know I don’t want to run a lot of the same forwards out there on Saturday.





Is it really that absurd to try:

Guentzel-Crosby-Rust
Matheson-McCann-Kapanen
ZAR-Rodrigues-Tanev
Whatever-whatever-whatever

Playing Matheson at wing would at least give us something to watch when the Crosby line isn’t on the ice. Otherwise, it is just a glorified AHL streaming package when the top line isn’t out there.

I do not think it will happen, but I wanted to suggest it anyways. Either way hopefully the Malkin news isn’t terrible.

Thanks for reading!
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