It’s been ten days since the Pittsburgh Penguins lost to the Montreal Canadiens. The biggest upset in hockey since 1980. It was ridiculous but it was not shocking. The Penguins limped into the break. The Penguin team that won early in the season was gone. The Penguin team that persevered thru major injuries was gone. Those Penguin teams were carried by a refocused Evgeni Malkin. Bryan Rust became a scorer. Jake Guentzel was proving he didn’t need Sidney Crosby. Tristan Jarry was providing All-Star goaltending. The defense was not taking chances. Most importantly the Penguins relied on young hungry kids to fill out their lineup. Sam Lafferty, Anthony Angello, Stefan Noesen and Joseph Blandisi were not afraid to get their noses dirty.
As spring was arriving you could feel the impending doom.
Jake Guentzel took a nasty fall and was out for the season. Sidney Crosby came back but after the initial burst was not himself. Young forwards were replaced by veterans. Veterans with no will to win. Veterans who were not on the Stanley Cup teams but act like they were. Steady defenseman Chad Ruhwedel was back on the bench. Ruhwedel is not Paul Coffey but he’s not Jack Johnson either. All Star Jarry then split time with Matt Murray. Murray won two Cups but he’s lost his way in the crease.
The trade deadline came and it was a disaster. Patrick Marleau was acquired but Marleau is charity game level old. Dominic Kahun, who was a contributing top six forward, was sent packing for two guys that weren’t helping freakin Buffalo, Connor Sheary and Evan Rodrigues.
The Penguins stopped playing Penguin hockey. Penguin Hockey is Head Coach Mike Sullivan hockey. Sully hockey is an aggressive forecheck. Sully hockey swarms the puck and out mans and out works the opposition. Sully hockey uses speed and aggression. Sully hockey retrieves pucks in the offensive zone. Sully hockey quickly gets the puck out of the zone with precision. This team did not play Sully hockey. Instead there were too many hope passes, and quite frankly it played like a Dan Blysma team. It’s not a compliment.
The Penguins crawled into the Covid break. They fell out of the top four in the East. They had no time to find they’re game in the bubble.
The Penguins lower level guys playing like they don’t give a damn in their series with Montreal was inexcusable. I understand why the multiple Cup winners showed less than one thousand percent. They saw the writing on the wall.
How to fix it?
The Penguins window is open for a few more years. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have a few more good years in them. The Penguins do not need to rebuild. The Penguins need to reload and rethink. The Penguins need to not worry about next year. They need to set up the last few years of the Sid and Geno era.
The only untouchable forwards are Crosby and Malkin. Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust should also be retained. Guentzel is an elite scorer. Rust has become one. Rust led the Penguins in goals. Rust also penalty kills. He rarely if ever takes a shift off. Jason Zucker (acquired mid-season and looked good) also has a place on this team. He was one of the only few players who played well in the bubble. Brandon Tanev needs to play in the middle six. He’s too good and frankly too expensive to be a 4th liner. No other forward has earned or deserves a guaranteed spot on the roster.
Sorry Patric Hornqvist. You will make a contender happy they acquired you next playoff season. Penguins fans will enjoy your tribute video. Moving Horny will ensure Brandon Tanev a bigger role. 4th line center Teddy Blueger works cheap but you can throw a dead cat in Ontario and find a guy who can play 4th line center cheap. Zach Aston Reese is a waste of a sweater. He can’t score and is not physical. He also makes an abundance of lazy, stupid plays for a 4th liner. ZAR is emblematic of the Penguins biggest problem, complacency. Guys who have never won a thing who think they are entitled to play in Pittsburgh. They act and play like Cardinals in Rome. Conor Sheary and Patrick Marleau should be gone. Everyone knows those trades were awful. We don’t need reminders. Dominic Simon can stay. Sid always needs a caddy. Nick Bjugstad is invisible even when he’s not on the IR. Enough with Jared McCann. After six years and three different teams maybe he’s just not that good. McCann’s best year was his first in Vancouver. It was over five years ago. It’s time to play young kids. Sam Lafferty and Anthony Angello looked promising in their callups. Propects Sam Poulin and Nathan Legare had great years in junior. Let them play. Can they be worse the ZAR or McCann?
It’s time to trade Kris Letang. He still plays stupid hockey and doesn’t have the speed anymore to make up for his mistakes. 7.25 million is too much to pay an offensive defense who can’t run a power play. The Penguins always play more responsibly when Letang is not in the lineup. They won the 2017 Stanly Cup without him. The theory was the Penguins could not trade Letang because nobody could replace him. But now the Penguins have John Marino. Marino had an incredible rookie year. Marino always makes the right play. Brian Dumoulin will be Marino’s partner. He’s a leader and ready to wear Letang’s “A”. Marcus Petterson is big and still learning. Not ready to give up on him. Everybody has attacked Justin Schultz and Jack Johnson. Schultz is a free agent. He won’t be back. Jack Johnson needs to either be bought out or riding the bus in Wilkes Barre. He was awful but everything wrong in the world is not Jack Johnson fault as twitter wants you to believe. Chad Ruhwedel is serviceable. Give him a sweater. Jusso Rikola is NHL caliber but Sullivan doesn’ like him. Pierre-Olivier Joseph should also get a sweater. If Ruhwedel , Rikola or Joseph is unacceptable go get some cheap 5th and 6th defensemen. They can’t be worse than Schultz or Johnson.
Tristan Jarry is the Penguins goaltender of the present and the future. I personally wish Matt Murray the best wherever he ends up. Unless it’s Philly. The Penguins need a backup better then Casey DeSmith. He is small and the pucks go over his shoulders.
Mike Sullivan was voted the best coach in the NHL going into the bubble. He didn’t get stupid in three weeks. I still have faith in him. I’m more concerned about Hall of Fame GM Jim Rutherford. He’s lost two of the last three trade deadlines. Derick Brassard anyone? JR does have big cajones. He needs to use them. The window is open but only after a dramatic blood transfusion, Keith Richards style.
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