Yesterday Jim Rutherford made some comments about Daniel Sprong to The Athletic’s Josh Yohe. It was the general manager version of throwing his hands up and saying well what do you want us to do?

Daniel Sprong is in a rough spot with the Penguins. Here's what GMJR had to say about that, Sidney Crosby's slump and much more: https://t.co/HHs2iGn2D7

— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_PGH) October 22, 2018

“It’s not easy for him right now, and I realize that,” Rutherford said. “For a player with his kind of scoring ability, he’s just not going to get that many opportunities to score. This is the place that we’ve put him in.”

“We’re hopeful the limited ice time he’s getting now is going to aid in his development,” Rutherford said. “But we realize that it’s not very conducive to him putting up a lot of goals. It’s just the way it is. He’s a guy who’s going to be capable of scoring a lot of goals in this league, but it’s going to be a lot to ask of him right now.”

I doesn’t look like Sprong is going to get that quality of teammate bump anytime soon. If he isn’t going to play with playmakers you aren’t going to see that amazing shot as much as you should. If you place him with chip and chasers you deserve to get what you get from him. This doesn’t let him off the hook if his own play is poor. It is a lot tougher to get a real read on where he is as an NHL player when he’s never able to use his best asset (shot).

Those right wingers that Rutherford is talking about are Phil Kessel, Patric Hornqvist, and Bryan Rust. On paper that makes a lot of sense. The problem is that Patric Hornqvist has one assist in all situations and that came in the first game. Bryan Rust picked up his first point of the season against Toronto on Thursday. Daniel Sprong has played in six games (majority with the fourth line and Matt Cullen) and has three assists. At what point do you stop throwing your hands up and pretending like Patric Hornqvist or Bryan Rust can’t get a short term demotion because they haven’t produced?

I have a feeling that if the Penguins don’t figure out their back end you are going to see what Jim Rutherford likes to do the most and that is move a first round pick out in a trade. At this rate it will likely be attached to Daniel Sprong. Either Sprong gets a bigger role or he gets moved. I think the status quo isn’t likely. And let’s be honest the Penguins don’t have a ton of assets at their disposal after being all-in for a number of years (rightfully so).

Thanks for reading!

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