The Pittsburgh Penguins have an identity crisis

As the 2019 NHL trade deadline approaches, the Pittsburgh Penguins are looking for something they can’t trade for – an identity.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are on the outside of the Eastern Conference playoff picture with the NHL trade deadline coming up tomorrow. Star defensemen Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin both sustained injuries in Saturday night’s loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. Wingers Patric Hornqvist, Phil Kessel, Tanner Pearson, and Dominik Simon have struggled mightily over the last month and a half.

If I were a betting man, I would suspect the Penguins will do something semi-significant prior to the 3:00 p.m. deadline on February 25th.

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One of the Penguins biggest mistakes this season was failing to acquire defenseman Jake Muzzin. The Toronto Maple Leafs young and forward-thinking general manager Kyle Dubas landed Muzzin, who was the best defenseman available this trade deadline.

Muzzin would have been a substantial upgrade over Olli Maatta. A defense core of Letang, Dumoulin, Justin Schultz, and Muzzin would have been the best top four of the Crosby and Malkin era. This is not rocket science here. Instead, the Penguins have human anchor Jack Johnson dragging down Schultz on the second pair.

Per Natural Stat Trick, with Johnson and Schultz on the ice, the Penguins generate 42% of both shot attempts and scoring chances, while controlling 38% of the even-strength shot share. If this becomes the Penguins top defense pair for an extended period of time, they will miss the playoffs. Letang and Dumoulin are vital to the Penguins controlling territory. Muzzin and Schultz would likely be capable of treading water in the absence of Letang and Dumoulin.

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Anyways, the fact that Johnson has bounced around from defense pair to defense pair, to defense pair this season means that the signing has not worked out. Regardless of where Mike Sullivan puts him, nothing has worked. He stinks. Somehow, the Penguins disagree. They are wrong.

Opposing teams like the Capitals and Blue Jackets are running laps around the Penguins, as Pittsburgh continues to make lateral or below-average transactions. The departure of former Penguins Assistant General Manager Jason Botterill has had a negative impact on the front office.

Perhaps Jim Rutherford should start listening to Director of Hockey Research Sam Ventura. Ventura is a very smart man. I suspect that if Rutherford would do that and begin to value analytics, he would not spend so much time chasing his own tail and attempting to make up for his self-inflicted mistakes. Derick Brassard, Matt Hunwick, and Antti Niemi are just a few.

Mike Sullivan is not above criticism either. Per Quant Hockey, Matt Cullen and Teddy Blueger each have 3 even-strength goals. Cullen has played in 50 games this season. Blueger has played in 9. Cullen has become the modern-day Craig Adams. Blueger has matched Cullen’s even-strength production in 41 fewer games. That is ridiculous. Cullen is washed up and needs to sit.

The margin for error in the NHL is too small. If you have Stanley Cup aspirations, you can not continue to make preventable mistakes. Since Botterill’s departure, the Penguins have gone from a speed team, to adding size in Ryan Reaves. They have stopped pursuing defenseman with mobility and puck skills like Trevor Daley and Justin Schultz. They now prefer to sign the old and over-priced ones such as Matt Hunwick and Johnson.

This season, they are now a “puck pursuit team.” They have added size again this season by acquiring Tanner Pearson (6-0”), Nick Bjugstad (6-6”), and Marcus Pettersson (6-3”). While these are all NHL caliber players, their style does not align with how the Penguins won their most recent championships. Pittsburgh has appeared to forget that they won Stanley Cups based on speed, skill, puck possession, and elite shooting talent.

It is anybody’s guess as to what General Manager Jim Rutherford will do in the next 36 hours. Perhaps these Penguins lack an identity because they have a mixed bag of depth players sprinkled throughout the lineup.

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I’m curious as to what style of team the Penguins will transition into this off-season. Jim Rutherford can continue to talk down to Penguins fans. They have valid reasons to be concerned. Pittsburgh’s roster transactions since Botterill’s departure in June of 2017 speak for themselves.

One thing is for sure: the Penguins have an identity crisis.

Thanks for reading!

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