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Penguins ready to lean into Erik Karlsson like they should |
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The Pittsburgh Penguins went out and got Erik Karlsson and they are ready to hit the ground running with him. You don’t hire a butcher to build you a deck and you don’t trade for the best offensive defenseman of his generation to nitpick and try and fix his defense. Mike Sullivan understands this and is ready to lean into his newest acquisition.
“I basically feel like we have two No. 1 defensemen now,” Sullivan said. “Erik is going to add an element to our game (transition offense) where we were already pretty good. He’s going to take it to an entirely different level. To have Erik and Kris Letang on our blue line, to me, it just changes the entire dynamic of our hockey team. These guys are so unique, so special. One of these two guys is going to be on the ice for the majority of the games. They both have that rare ability to log huge minutes of ice time. So, when we were talking about the potential of this trade happening, it’s exciting for me just talking about all the possibilities that we’ll be able to utilize with these guys.”
Having both of these players on the ice for a majority of the game is something we’ve seen work successfully in the cap era. Way back in 2006-07 the Anaheim Ducks threw Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer out there for 27 minutes a night. Pronger was 32 and Niedermayer was 33. The Penguins will want to keep that number closer to 25 as the league is even faster than it was back then. it is a cheat code to have two defensemen of this caliber being able to chew up minutes like they are going to be able to do.
We have a recent example of a coach totally squashing the offensive potential of a highly regarded defenseman. Ralph Krueger did his best to suck the life out of Rasmus Dahlin. He tried to dumb down his game and turn him into something he wasn’t. It worked. Dahlin was just another player under Krueger. The Sabres are back to letting him be who he is and he finished eighth overall in the Norris voting this year. Karlsson has a way larger track record and three Norris Trophies so the coach shouldn’t be committing malpractice by trying to reinvent the wheel. Mike Sullivan will be letting Karlsson be who he is like he should.
“And that’s OK,” Sullivan said. “It’s been my experience that players like this require a great deal of latitude so that they can act on their instincts. As a coaching staff, I think it’s going to be incredibly important to let Erik play the game in that way, to trust his instincts. Because those instincts are part of what makes him special. Now, the challenge will be making sure that there’s at least some structure in his game and that he’s predictable enough so that his teammates can read off him. But I don’t want him to feel like he can’t use his instincts out there.
Not all defending has to look the same because not all players have the ability players like Karlsson and Letang do. Guess what they don’t have to do if they are leading controlled breakouts?
“I’ll say this,” Sullivan said. “If you have the puck most of the time and you have the ability to get out of your own end … guess what? You don’t have to defend as much.
“They both have that special ability to move the puck,” he said. “They drive offense. They will help us break out of our own zone far more efficiently. That ability they have to move the puck, it will help us avoid having to defend on many occasions. I really think this is a very important element of our team game.”
At the very least the Penguins are going to be worth watching again after a dreadfully boring season last year. It really is amazing the impact the change in front office has made. One of the biggest changes is actually having someone in charge who communicates with the head coach and tries to work together on what the team’s needs are and what changes need to be made. Hextall failed miserably at this and his job. Dubas has made it a strength to work with Mike Sullivan.
“This guy is impressive,” he said. “From my standpoint? I think he’s been great. He’s so collaborative. We speak almost daily. I love how he communicates. He’s been so open and transparent with me in terms of asking questions about where the team is, and where our needs might be.”
Fans are going to start to get their first look at Erik Karlsson in the black and gold. He was at the practice facility yesterday and will be speaking to the media today
Thanks for reading!
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