The Penguins head into tonight desperately looking for some kind of traction to get going back in the right direction. They are going to have a few road blocks this evening. The first is that they are playing one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. The Tampa Bay Lightning are predicted by some to have the best chance at winning the Stanley Cup in the East.
Tampa is coming off of a loss to Buffalo where they pushed incrediblyi hard at the end of the game to no avail.
The bigger issue for the Penguins is the status of Sidney Crosby. He has an upper body injury. With Derick Brassard already out of commission this puts even further strain on the Penguins center depth. This center depth was supposed to be one of the Penguins best strengths and is a sober reminder that the NHL is volatile. Strengths can turn into weaknesses in the blink of an eye. This isn’t the case of anybody doing anything wrong. It’s the reality of a contact sport. As of writing this blog there is no indication on what the potential injury is or the severity of it. Derek Grant was recalled from WB/S so that isn’t a good sign for the captain.
The Lightning aren’t without their own injury problems. They will be without Andrei Vasilevskiy this evening.
All signs point to Matt Murray making his return in goal. For a goalie looking to find his way tonight’s matchup isn’t going to do him any favors. Tampa Bay is the 3rd best team in the NHL scoring 3.47 goals per game. They are also the fourth best possession team in the league with a Score-Adjusted Corsi of 54.30%.
Tanner Pearson is at the morning skate and will make his debut tonight. One of the benefits of trading with another American team is that there is not waiting period for visas being sorted out. Pearson is likely to play with Sidney Crosby (when available) or Evgeni Malkin. As mentioned yesterday he did play with the better offensive players in Los Angeles. Jim Rutherford mentioned that he will also be another option killing penalties, something Carl Hagelin did particularly well throughout his time in Pittsburgh.
Josh Yohe of the Athletic talked to Rutherford and
here are some of those quotes
“I’m very surprised right now,” Rutherford said, his voice drenched in disappointment. “When I looked at this team at the beginning of training camp, I absolutely viewed us as a Stanley Cup contender. But it hasn’t played out that way, not one bit. Not at all.”
This was always the problem with thinking Jack Johnson and Matt Cullen were going to provide positive value. He created cap space by trading away from a strength (forward depth) to use the money on a weakness (defense depth). He made the weakness worse with Johnson and further neuterted the former strength by signing Cullen.
The next quote is good
“We don’t overrate the locker room stuff,” Rutherford said. “I think it’s important. I understand and respect what Hags has done for us. He was a big part of winning two Cups. But at the same time, this team is underachieving. It just is. And we got to the point where changes were necessary, as far as I was concerned. He’ll be missed. But we’re bringing a good team guy, a good, young hockey player into that lineup.”
Making decisions about the roster based on what happens on the ice is the way things should be done. It’s a business and while Hagelin was a beloved member of the team with his teammates he was underperforming. The Penguins locker room has quite a number of players with multiple Stanley Cup rings. The people who talk about culture are usually the ones that have a desire to acquire players which fit that description. If this locker room can’t get over a likable player getting traded, whose can?
Hagelin's closest teammate was probably Patric Hornqvist and even he understands the reality of the situation
“Obviously, it’s a tough day for me and my family,” Hornqvist said. “We like each other really a lot, and we hang out a lot. But this is a part of the business. If you don’t play well, there’s going to be changes."
The locker room should probably brace for more change. I doubt the Pearson trade will be the only move.
Thanks for reading!
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