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Penguins questions heading into 2022-23 season |
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Here we are, finally. Opening night for the Pittsburgh Penguins 2022-23 season. Bowing out in the first round gives a lot of time in-between games, but no more. Tonight the team will face who will probably be the worst team in the NHL this season, the Arizona Coyotes.
Every new season has its own set of questions that will need answers. The Penguins are not an exception here. They are going to need some things to go right in order to make a legitimate push in the playoffs. So let’s go through some of them
Health
Health is a concern for every team. Injuries to the wrong players will derail any aspirations regardless of depth. Pittsburgh is a top heavy team these days and the majority of players they are top heavy with are in their thirties. The most important three (Crosby, Malkin, Letang) are all in their mid-thirties. Sometimes you have to go all-in on your hand and the Penguins had to do so. You could play a way worse hand than they’ve got. These three are still really good to great. There were no better options than to keep the band together. Injuries to any of the three are going to pose problems. You could say that about a twenty something star player, too. This will be the 17th season with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang on the Penguins together. A record among North American team sports. They both earned this opportunity to stay together and give the Penguins the best chance to win.
Third line
Perhaps Evan Rodrigues overplayed his hand in free agency and didn’t get as much as maybe he could have. The fact remains he is collecting a paycheck from another team. Rodrigues gave the team flexibility in deployment and someone who was very dependable re: xGF%. His offense the first half of the year was a big reason the Penguins stayed afloat in the standings while biding time for Evgeni Malkin’s return. Instead of paying Rodrigues the team decided to go back to Kasperi Kapanen. A player where there is nothing dependable about. You literally cannot fully rely on him doing the things he does well and sometimes you even get some bonus bad things to go along with the inconsistencies. With Kapanen we are talking about a 26 year old player and not a prospect at this point. The Penguins used what little cap space they had on bringing him back so he’s going to need to step it up. Last year was unacceptable.
Jeff Carter fell off a cliff last year. He did have 19 goals and 45 points. Numbers most teams would be fine with from their third line center. The issue is he gets caved in. He isn’t capable of playing hard minutes. Which means other people have to. He was not able to drive play. The Penguins are stuck here because his new extension didn’t start until this season. He’s on a 35+ contract so retirement won’t help. Pittsburgh really needs the Carter they got when he first came over from Los Angeles.
Danton Heinen re-seinen was a nice surprise, but if he is the player you can rely on most on the third line I don’t know if it was well constructed. This isn’t a dig at Heinen. He brings a good value for his skill set. He’s the only one on the line I’m comfortable with heading into the season
Will Teddy Blueger graduate to the third line?
Will this be the year Teddy Blueger gets thrown into a more offensive role? He might have to depending on Jeff Carter. Even if he isn’t a perfect fit for a more offensive role, not being caved in is also a bonus you would get by elevating him. In a perfect world he can stay as a top quality 4th line center. I view him as a potential championship caliber 4th line player. It would be great if he could stay in the role. Team might not have a choice, though.
Blueger is a pending UFA so this might be the last year the Penguins have to have him.
Jason Zucker
He hasn’t had a great run as a Penguin. A lot of injuries and variance working against him. His cap hit is not inconsequential at 5.5M. Fans are frustrated with him and I bet nobody is more frustrated than Zucker himself. One of the strengths for the Penguins is their top six. Zucker needs to be a part of it. I think he can be, barring health. His underlying numbers last year speak to a positive regression in the goals department. He will be playing for future millions as he is a pending free agent as well. Out of the questions the Penguins have coming into the season I think Zucker has better odds than most to do what he needs to do in 2022-23 for the team.
Brian Dumoulin
The Penguins seem very confident Brian Dumoulin is going to continue to be the player he was for most of his Penguins career. There are whispers of, not a trade, but a contract extension. Consider me not as confident. Dumoulin showed real signs of slowing down last year. His ability to move around wasn’t what it was. Injuries played a role, but he’s 31 years old being asked to play top pairing minutes. The aging curve isn’t equal for everyone and Dumoulin is not a generational talent. The wheels can come off here. I’m sure he sees opinions like this and will use it as motivation or what not, but if the Penguins try to force the square peg into the round hole it could undo one of their best assets in Kris Letang.
There were still rumors recently that the Penguins were trying to trade Marcus Pettersson. I’m not so sure he’s the right 4M defenseman to be moving out from the left side.
Ty Smith/Pierre-Olivier Joseph
The Penguins are betting on Ty Smith realizing his offensive ability while minimizing his poor defensive play. He had a very nice training camp and was only sent down to the AHL because he didn’t have to pass through waivers. Pierre-Olivier Joseph has been middling in the AHL since being traded to the Penguins in the Phil Kessel deal. The current front office doesn’t seem to have confidence in the player.
If either of these two can grab a spot and give the Penguins any kind of NHL minutes it would really help out moving forward with the salary cap. My bet is on Ty Smith joining the roster in a few weeks after the team makes room for him, assuming he plays well down in WB/S. If that happens Joseph will probably be wearing new threads in the not so distant future.
Goaltending
Tristan Jarry was really good last year. It was a great bounce back season where people like myself were fine running him out of town. I don’t have any reason to believe Jarry will give the team less than average goaltending, but the reason goaltending is a question mark is because outside of a very select few totally reliable goaltenders goaltending is a big questions mark. You never know what will happen with the middle tier guys. Jarry is playing for a new contract. He will definitely get a raise from the 3.5M he is making this year. Will the Penguins pay it? I think there’s a path where they do not. There’s another goalie playing for a former Penguins Stanley Cup winner who makes 3.5M for next season…
Can Jeff Petry elevate the second line?
The Penguins haven’t had an extra right-handed offensive defenseman in a while, since Justin Schultz. This means if you don’t play with Kris Letang you’re kind of out of luck. That’s been the case for Evgeni Malkin and the other second liners for a few years now. The Penguins made a bet that Jeff Petry can be that guy. The logic is sound. I think Petry possesses the skills to make it happen. The more you free up Malkin from having to do all the hard transition work the more you free him up in space to do the awesome things we’ve seen over the year. Depending on Dumoulin the Pettersson-Petry pairing might be the best one on the team, although if they are that would be a problem as discussed above.
Jan Rutta
What does earning his 2.75M in a bottom pairing role look like? This one is still one of the more puzzling moves of the offseason given the Petry acquisition. Chad Ruhwedel was right there for 2M less.
Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin at 5v5
Yup, I’m never letting this go. Mike Sullivan, can we please get more creative in getting Crosby and Malkin on the ice at even-strength. TV timeouts, coming off of a PK, end of period etc… We’ve been robbed of this for too long.
Here’s the likely lineup for tonight. Enjoy opening night
Thanks for reading!
Penguins, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni malkin, Jason zucker, brian dumoulin, Kris letang, marcus Pettersson, jeff petry, pierre-olivier joseph, ty smith, Jan Rutta, Tristan jarry
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