Take a moment and think about the last few months in sports for Pittsburgh. The Pirates have their first winning season in 21 years, a feat that quite honestly, I wasn’t sure I’d ever live to see. The normally mighty Pittsburgh Steelers are headed for an abysmal season, in which I’ll be stunned – completely stunned – if they win more than 5 games. The Pittsburgh Penguins didn’t win another Stanley Cup, and if you’ve been watching since they skated away from the post-game handshake with the victor Boston Bruins, they’re made a few moves that will leave you scratching your head.
Sure, they’ve played two pre-season games and they’ve not looked particularly good in either of them, but I’m far less concerned about the Penguins than I am say the Steelers. But I’d like to take a look at three issues I believe the Penguins will be forced to face before the puck drops next year. Yes, I’m looking at things a year from now…
The removal of Dan Bylsma as coach
If you follow me at all, you know I wasn’t in favor of bringing back Dan Bylsma after last season’s epic collapse against the Bruins. But Ray Shero convinced owners Ron Burkle and Mario Lemieux that Bylsma should be retained. The only way it made sense to me at the time was if the guy Shero wanted wasn’t available.
After a few months of thinking about it, a few things have become clear to me. One, he may have been given an extension, and even a public endorsement from Shero and company, but the one thing he wasn’t given was the all clear sign. If you want further proof, on August 9, the Penguins hired former NHL head coach Jacques Martin, who’s a known disciplinarian and defensive minded coach, to be an assistant to Bylsma.
On the surface, Shero and Bylsma also have the side gig of leading Team USA into the Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Bylsma has no experience leading a team against international competition, and can glean advice off Martin in a number of areas to help him there. Martin can also be a voice that will command respect in a dressing room, so if Bylsma gets overwhelmed at some point, chaos shouldn’t ensue into an all-out meltdown.
But more telling is that for the first time since Ray Shero installed Michel Therrien at Wilkes-Barre Scranton in 2005 as his bail out button for the inevitable Ed Olczyk firing, Shero has an option in house should Bylsma cave under all of this pressure and need to be removed as the head coach of this team. I know Tony Granato is also there and has experience leading a team, but Martin plays the style that I think Shero feels this team should play, that Bylsma has moved away from.
I strongly believe that Shero wanted Bylsma as head coach for Team USA, and after Brian Burke was fired in Toronto, wanted to ensure Bylsma got that opportunity. Shero likes Bylsma, but I think Shero also knows that the shelf life for Bylsma can be counted in days, and not years. Bylsma knows that this is it for him. Sochi and Team USA aside, if the Penguins make the playoffs 5 straight years and get bounced before reaching the Cup Finals, especially if they lose to a lesser team in another complete meltdown, Bylsma can’t be retained and I think he knows it.
As far as the contract extension, I certainly didn’t agree with it at the time, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Before Shero made the official announcement that Bylsma would be back, a number of places were reporting that should Bylsma be let go, that he would go to the top of list for teams looking for a head coach. When Bylsma is removed as coach, teams are going to want him. I believe the Penguins can leverage his contract as a means to extract an asset. Some team might be willing to give up a 3rd Round Pick or some other asset to talk to a former Stanley Cup winning coach with the intention of hiring him. Otherwise, unless he is fired outright which seems unlikely, Bylsma would simply be forced to sit around (or work in a different capacity) until his contract runs out, which seems unlikely.
The failure to acquire the right kind of talent
This failure falls directly on Shero. And while I think this year he is operating within the confines of what Dan Bylsma wants his team to look like, Shero is in direct contradiction to what he says every year about his team needing to be bigger and stronger. Douglas Murray, who some might argue could be timed in a speed skate with a sundial, will be missed from a physical standpoint. Matt Cooke wasn’t very big, but his heart made him seem like he was 6’2” 210lbs. at times. Tyler Kennedy, who also wasn’t very big but could be fast and physical if motivated properly will also be missed, at least the version of him when he was properly motivated.
At the deadline last season, after Shero acquired Iginla, he talked about how it helped address the team’s size and toughness issues. The team as it happens to be comprised this year? It’s missing a lot of grit, and a lot more size. That was noticeably on display when I watched the Penguins get man-handled by Detroit in a pre-season game last night. Crosby was stepping up in the middle of scrums to defend himself. Really? Has this team learned nothing? Or do they just suffer from Alzheimer’s until the trading deadline, when Shero has an epiphany about his team needing to get tougher. Every year, this team is somehow not nearly as strong or big as the team they finished with, and every year, fans worry about Crosby as he sees fit to stand up and defend himself if nobody else will, and yet every season, it’s addressed too little, too late.
Jussi Jokinen and Matt D’Agostini, who are both guys who can score and put up points, but on this team, they’re relegated to the third line, likely with Brandon Sutter as the center. Sutter plays with an edge, but it’s very seldom you’ll see either Jokinen or D’Agostini throw a check. This team isn’t built to be tough. If given the opportunity, they might put up 6 goals a night and bury you in shots, but they’re not going to be able to physically answer many bells.
At the moment, the Penguins are over the salary cap, a line they have to be under prior to the start of the season. Everybody, including myself, figured Matt Niskanen would be the party shipped out, but I’m starting to feel as though Shero might have to do something creative. Unfortunately, one of the most likely sought after guys is going to be Brooks Orpik, who’s a free agent at the end of this season. I feel more strongly now than I did at the end of last season that Orpik, not Niskanen, will be moved prior to the start of the season. And that makes this team even weaker to play against.
The eventual retooling of the Pittsburgh Penguins
The Penguins have been lucky, their defense has held up well the last couple of years with all of the prospects they have. In some cases, those guys are being shipped out for players elsewhere, as was the case with Joe Morrow going for Brenden Morrow last season. But a lot of this team is getting older, and maybe, just maybe, when the eventual removal of Dan Bylsma comes, this team is going to have a bit of a different look to it.
At first glance, the forwards over 30 are Craig Adams at 36, Pascal Dupuis at 34, Chris Kunitz at 33. The other forwards over 30 are Steve MacIntyre at 33, Andrew Ebbett at 30 and Jussi Jokinen at 30. The number of players isn’t bad, considering only four are likely to see substantial NHL time this season, but the quality is alarming. The most valuable to the Penguins are Adams, who is one of the only guys Bylsma trusts on the penalty kill, and although his game has deteriorated over the past few years, the Penguins don’t have anybody to replace him. Kunitz and Dupuis are Sidney Crosby’s linemates. Sure, they’re extremely productive, but do you think that is going to carry over for another 3 years? Kunitz is a wrecking ball at times, but his injuries are getting more frequent as his body starts breaking down. Other than Beau Bennett, and maybe the just signed with the ink on the paper not yet dry Jean-Sebastien Dea, don’t have anybody suited for eventual top six forward duty. That’s awful.
What’s worse is the forward prospects the Penguins do have suited for 3rd or 4th line duty is numerous, except that most of them aren’t ready to play every day in the NHL yet. The closest are Adam Payerl and Harry Zolnierczyk, who was acquired earlier this offseason. Guys like Zack Sill, Tom Kuhnhackl, and Dominik Uher will be in the NHL eventually, and one hopes sooner than later. Player development, outside of top prospects, is and remains suspect for this team.
Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has to feel downright unwanted at this point. He played in parts of just 5 games this past playoff run, and has lost the support of the fans. Even with Shero and Bylsma both giving him a vote of confidence, Fleury knows his time here is coming to a close, and the Penguins have emphatically given him reason to feel that way, signing Eric Hartzell and drafting Tristan Jarry. One of those two will be the future netminder going forward. But Fleury will likely be kept around for the remainder of his contract to buy them time to develop, and then allowed to leave, although I wouldn’t put it past Shero to move him if he feels he can at some point before that, although if he moves him now Fleury’s value is at an all-time low, so not much would be coming back.
Defensively, oddly enough is where there’s reason for some concern. Newly returning Rob Scuderi, coined “The Piece” by fans and media after he helped the Penguins win their last Stanley Cup in 2009, signed a 4 year deal to return at the age of 34. That means he’ll be 38 by the end of his contract here. Scuderi is a defensive defenseman, a guy who’s not going to join the rush very often, and is incredibly dependable in his own end. He’ll be part of a shut-down paring with somebody, rumored to be Brooks Orpik provided Orpik isn’t moved prior to the start of the season. Orpik is the team’s only dependable physical defenseman, and he’s in the last year of his contract, with it looking like he won’t be retained.
Paul Martin finally proved last season he was worth 5 million a season, except his contract expires at the end of next season. Kris Letang, defensive short-comings and all, is signed for 8 more seasons. This is the last year of Matt Niskanen’s contract, and while he’s proven to be dependable, he hardly strikes me as a guy who can’t be replaced. Deryk Engelland is a nuclear deterrent, who does his best to play a simple game and not hurt his team with his play, but Engelland doesn’t have the speed or the skill to be a regular part of this defensive corps, no matter what Dan Bylsma believes. He’d be better suited for spot duty in games against more physical teams.
Simon Despres looked like he could be a top four defenseman for this team for years to come last year, when Bylsma didn’t keep him on the shortest of leashes and let him learn from his mistakes. Robert Bortuzzo looks like he’s going to make the top six this year, and will take the minutes Mark Eaton had last season. Bortuzzo is more physical than Eaton, and like Despres, if he’s allowed to make mistakes and grow, should be hands down a better defenseman than Eaton, and maybe a candidate for a shutdown role in the future.
Brian Dumoulin and Scott Harrington are next up in the pipeline, and it can be argued should be good enough to crack the NHL roster this year. Both are solid two way defensemen, with Harrington in particular looking like Scuderi 2.0 at times. Harrison Ruopp, who was acquired last year from Phoenix in the Zbynek Michalek deal, is a big physical defenseman, and maybe the eventual replacement for Brooks Orpik. Philip Samuelsson is also a guy who should get to see some NHL action this season. He’s a two way defenseman, and is starting to embrace his “inner Ulf” with more gritty play.
Derrick Pouliot and Olli Maatta, both drafted in the 1st Round in the 2012 NHL Draft, look to be at least a season or two away, but Pouliot looks a lot like a young Brian Campbell, offensively dominant at times and still needs to work a lot on his defensive game. Maatta plays a non-flashy game built around strong defense, but is a very mobile skater.
The problem therein is by the time Pouliot and Matta, or even Ruopp and Samuelsson make the NHL roster, guys who could have shown them the ropes and helped them develop on the NHL level, Paul Martin and Brooks Orpik, might be long gone. The Pens have a solid defensive corps, but they’re either really young or on the wrong side of 30.
In Closing
The Penguins aren’t quite the superpower they were heading into the playoffs last season. They don’t have the salary cap space to go out and make any more of those big, splashy moves, not for a while at least. They should still make the playoffs, but with the way their division is now set up, I’m not sure they’ll be able to win their division.
It’s going to be a tougher road. Columbus is a much improved team, and playing in the east will only help them. They’re starting to figure it out. Philadelphia should be improved, and the Islanders gave the Pens a handful in the playoffs last year. The Rangers and the Penguins always seem to be in a bit of a dog fight, and now Washington is in the mix as well, and that always seems to bring out the worst in the Penguins. Again, even with the new setup, I feel they should make the playoffs. Don’t discount that Detroit is now in the East as well, even if they’re not in the Penguins division, they’re now conference competition.
I don’t think Dan Bylsma will be the coach at this time next year, but then, I felt he wouldn’t be the coach now, so my opinion obviously is my own and wasn’t shared by senior Penguins management and ownership. At the least, I feel Jacques Martin will be the interim coach upon Bylsma’s dismissal, and if Bylsma is dismissed after the Penguins lose in the playoffs, Martin might be the next coach period.
Time will tell, but I’m glad hockey is back on the horizon. I miss it in the off-season, so I love this time of year, the excitement and the hope it brings. How do you feel hockey fans? Did you miss it too?
BROCK'S 101 PROOF 