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If you're going to play all the stars, learn something new

September 27, 2022, 1:48 PM ET [89 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
If you were looking for a watchable Penguins preseason game you may get your wish. The Penguins aren’t being shy about loading up their lineup against the Red Wings. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang will all be in the lineup among others.




Seeing as though this is a time to learn with no penalty for losing games I would get a few different looks than what I normally would do with this lineup. For me the top line would be

Zucker-Crosby-Rakell

Learn something. We don’t need to see Guentzel-Crosby-Rust. We know what that looks like. It is one of the best lines in the league. If Zucker and Rakell can turn into a thing with Crosby then you have quite the top six.

We also know Guentzel-Malkin-Rust is a great line so let’s put that on the side burner for now as well. The theme continues to be about learning. Place Malkin with some of the players you want to find out more about

Poehling-Malkin-Caggiula

Let’s see what the new wingers can do with one of the big centers. Can they keep up? Even if they might not be top six fixtures can they make plays when given opportunities? I’d like to know more.

If you didn’t want to go with the Malkin line listed above then I think you could use Guentzel and Rust to find out more about Poehling. Give Poehling your two best wingers and see what happens. Poehling is one of the players I want to see the most of because he is an unknown and still on the younger side of things.

On defense I would let Pettersson-Petry continue to play with one another. Petry is new to the team and slated to play with Pettersson. Let them get their reps.

I’m putting Ty Smith with Kris Letang. We have over ten thousand minutes of Dumoulin-Letang. We know what it looks like when it is working well, it is one of the better pairings in the league. If Dumoulin is washed, it will be pretty evident to most observers. There isn’t anything to gain by playing them together right now. Ty Smith has natural talent. See how he functions with one of the best in the league. By playing with Letang by default he will be playing with Sidney Crosby and/or Evgeni Malkin. No better way to learn about an offensive defenseman than to put them with your best.

I’m not a huge fan of playing all your stars in a preseason game. Especially when those stars are all in their mid-thirties. If you’re going to do it, don’t run out the same old same old. Learn something new.

Edit: Here is what they are actually going with





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