The Penguins are getting healthier, they are coming off of an impressive win over the defending Stanley Cup Champions, and Phil Kessel is returning to Pittsburgh. Quite an eventful few days in Pittsburgh. Phil Kessel and the Penguins parted ways where Phil got to go to the low key desert and the Penguins got… well I’m not sure what they got. Alex Galchenyuk was supposed to be the centerpiece of the trade, but it has back fired so far. It is at the point where the GM has said he doesn’t even know if Galchenyuk has a spot in the lineup when all the forwards are healthy
Rutherford, in an interview with The Athletic, said he no longer is intrigued by the idea of Malkin and Galchenyuk skating on the same line.
“Nah, not necessarily,” Rutherford said. “Not really. I’m not totally convinced that there’s the right chemistry there. You have to have players that have the chemistry, the right fit. I never felt that that was going to be a place for him.”
“The fact of the matter is, when we’re totally healthy, he’s going to have to work very hard just to get in the top 12,” Rutherford said. “That’s just the way it is, because we have a lot of guys playing well. So, that’s the good news and the bad news.”
Not exactly going out of his way to make the player feel better. A hallmark trait for Rutherford when he's not happy with a player.
I never liked Galchenyuk as a target because he was a pending free agent. If he plays good or great and you likely have to overpay to keep him. If he plays like he has so far he isn’t helping the team make up for the 82 points in 82 games the Penguins lost. Pierre-Oliver Joseph was the throw in prospect in the deal and it is looking like he is going to have to save this trade. He’s been hurt this year and has one point in 11 games so far for the Baby Penguins. As the season moves on it will be important for him to register more offense. It’s probably the easiest predictor of future NHL success we have for prospects. If you can’t generate in the lower levels it means you aren’t elevating yourself above the lower competition. We’ll see what happens.
As for Phil he’s not off to a great start in the desert either. His supporting cast is not as good down there and he was never going to put up Pittsburgh offensive numbers for both the quality of teammate factor and aging. I still think the Penguins would be a better team with him on it this year than what they ended up moving him for. It wasn’t to be. The coach and GM had their fill of him.
In Arizona Kessel has been a mixed bag and on the surface he’s having a bad year compared to his previous standard. I have reason to believe it will get better as the year goes on. There’s no denying his offense is down (0.9 points per 60) and his offense is the entire point of him as a player. However, there are some things pointing to some bad luck through the first third of the season. Let’s look at some of his numbers
This areas have never been his strength, but relative to his teammates he’s holding his own. You did read the last number correctly. He is -35.63%(!) compared to his teammates in his GF%. Yikes. In this case save percentage is not the culprit. We know how often a player’s perception is shaped because the goalie isn’t making saves. This isn’t one of those situations. His on-ice save percentage is .915 which is not great, but not responsible for a 31.03 GF%. The culprit is the on-ice shooting percentage which is why I said earlier Phil might be in store for a better second half of the season. He and his teammates are only shooting 4.64%. Kessel himself is at a shocking 2.08%.
I think Kessel is a prime regression candidate. Although, one thing working against him is the Coyotes are a bottom five team at generating high-danger chances at 5v5. It’s no secret if Kessel gets high-danger looks he is going to score. Even with this hurdle he isn’t going to shoot 2.03% the entire year. I would find that incredibly surprising.
The trade hasn’t looked great for either team so far, but I like Arizona’s chances of seeing their player contribute moving forward more than I do Pittsburgh’s.
Thanks for reading!
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