When you are playing a team going for their 15th loss in a row you want the headline to be _______ lost their 15th game in a row the next day. The Sabres did lose their 15th in a row and it was. The Penguins did what they had to do in a pretty thorough defeat of the league's worst team. The Sabres have six wins on the year and last night was the fifth time they have lost 5-2. They are in striking distance of a Penguins/league record now. The 2003-04 Penguins lost 18 games in a row. Only three more to go, Buffalo!
The biggest thing I took from the game was how Frederick Gaudreau has done more positive things in his role the past few games than some of the other Penguins bottom six options have all year, namely Mark Jankowski. In Calgary Jankowski should never play before a Gaudreau and it remains true in Pittsburgh. When the lineup is healthy Gaudreau better not find a back seat to #14 at any point in time. Gaudreau has been in the AHL for some time and isn't a diamond in the rough, but he plays hard and has some speed. More than I can say for Jankowski. Gaudreau made a marvelous play on the penalty kill last night where he tipped a pass out of the air and then dusted Rasmus Dahlin before dishing to a wide open Zach Aston-Reese
People are going to dog Dahlin for getting beat like that, but for me Taylor Hall is the biggest culprit. No idea what he was doing on the half wall. Skate the puck lower, dude.
I want to give Sidney Crosby a shout out before I move on to the bigger picture. He had a goal and an assist in the game as is tradition against the Sabres. He has six goals and 16 points in his last 12 games. He has two goals and five points in his last three games. He's doing his thing and the Penguins are holding on to their playoff spot. The Captain is leading the way.
As for the big picture Brian Burke gave an interview to Josh Yohe of The Athletic and there were some notable things he said
The first is an example of how he treats the players. He has historically been very respectful of the players who play for him.
“I want to clarify one thing,” Burke said. “I’ve read that people have said that we’ve played great since Hexy and I showed up here. If I was a player, and I heard Brian Burke was taking credit for one point, I’d be sick to my stomach. They aren’t playing better because we are here. It’s just a good hockey team. They’ve been terrific.”
I may not always agree with his assessment of the players' on-ice abilities, but I respect how he publicly treats his players for the most part. This is a departure from the last regime who would let their star players twist in the wind over the summer.
As for the roster. Burke said a few things about the team's plans moving forward for the trade deadline. Will they be active?
“I like to leave that to Hexy,” Burke said. “But I will tell you this: We are looking to do something, very much. Hexy is working the phones hard right now.”
OK, so that is good news. This means they think they'll have a relatively healthy roster and they want to make a run at things.
“We like our group,” Burke said. “We’d like to make it better. Here’s the thing. We don’t have any picks left. We aren’t putting our top kids (Samuel Poulin, Nathan Legare) in play. So, we don’t necessarily have certain things to offer that other teams do. The things we can offer are a little different than other teams, maybe. But if we can add, we’re going to add. Put it that way.”
OK, so this is where things get tougher. First, I don't agree that Sam Poulin and Nate Legare are untouchable. You can quote their offensive numbers all you want this year, but they are overage players in the Q. They better be putting up huge numbers. While they are both slightly above a point per game it should probably be more considering the league and their age. A little over a point per game when you're 20 in the Q doesn't scream untouchable prospect. For comparison sake Max Talbot had 98 points in 51 games in his overage year. I'm not advocating to use these players in a throw-in for a rental player. I would only use these players via trade for somebody with term who can impact the current roster because let's face it, by the time Poulin and Legare are ready the window is probably kaput.
So if they aren't using picks or prospects that means they have to use players from the current roster. We all know how difficult this is. The Penguins don't have many players of value they can shop to make the current roster better. We are talking lateral moves at best. Marcus Pettersson remains the player who sticks out like sore thumb as far as players off the active roster they could trade and probably be fine considering the depth on the left side of defense (Joseph). But what do you get for him? What is his value? I can't imagine it is really high. I would however take the "forward version" of Pettersson whatever that is and roll the dice with Joseph.
What type of player are they looking for?
Stylistically speaking, when one thinks of Burke’s brand of hockey, the Penguins couldn’t be further away. The Penguins have always been about skill and talent. Burke prefers teams that physically overwhelm the opposition.
“I don’t mind you saying that,” Burke said with a laugh. “It’s true. Historically, the Penguins don’t try to win an arms race on the beef up front. They want to beat you with their skill. And we are content enough with that for now. But when you bring Ron Hextall and Brian Burke into your organization, you’re looking for a different kind of composition.”
“I want to get bigger,” Burke said. “Hexy wants to get bigger. Our teams (historically) play a certain way. There will be changes. But at the same time, we like the team that we have right now. We are built to beat you with our skill and our power play. Our power play isn’t real good right now. But we have a lot of good players. If we can get better, though, we will. My teams are usually hostile teams. Good players over the years, and you need those. But I like toughness and hostile players.”
So this has the potential to be problematic. Not because there aren't players who are physical and good. Having those players is a good thing. The problem is they are few and far between. Or at least their availability is few and far between. They cost a lot to acquire and the Penguins don't have that kind of capital. If you were to come up with the prototype of a player where NHL GM's do NOT have a blind spot it would be a big physical player who is also good at hockey. All NHL GM's love that type of player. I just don't see an opportunity with the Penguins pool of assets to acquire somebody who is big and physical and also actually good. This leaves us with just big and physical. Big and physical doesn't really do much without the talent and it would be a mistake to invest in those types of players. Crosby and Malkin need more help via depth scoring. This should be the only focus.
Regardless of the type of player the Penguins go after it will be difficult to bring in impact players given what the cupboard looks like and their reluctance to use Poulin or Legare in a trade. They are between a rock and a hard place because of Rutherford.
Thanks for reading!
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