In the past couple seasons, the Pittsburgh Penguins have been nothing short of hard to watch. The team looked to have no passion and no grit as they had in the past. The only thing that was keeping the team afloat was their big three in Malkin, Crosby, and Letang. Despite those hardships, I can confidently say now that the Penguins are contenders once more, and Crosby, Malkin, and Letang have at least one more playoff push left in them.
Pre-season, all the talk about the Penguins was them being in the lottery for Gavin McKenna. In short, every analyst believed the Pens would be tanking this season, in the hopes of a new franchise player coming in the draft. With only a few new players added to the roster, and the letting go of vetted head coach Mike Sullivan, who could blame them? I was honestly convinced that the team would continue on the decline, and the waning days of the big three would be wasted on a rebuild instead of a battle for another shot at the Stanely Cup. Boy, I was incredibly far off.
Currently, the Penguins are second in the Metropolitan with 70 points. While Crosby, Malkin, and Letang are the glue that hold this team together, I think one person in particular deserves a whole lot of credit. That person is General Manager Kyle Dubas. Dubas has acquired all the pieces and simply let Crosby handle the rest of making the team function. The first hiring that was shockingly genius was head coach Dan Muse. Very few people have heard of Muse before his hiring with the Pens, but he has truly put his name on the map now. Many people were skeptical with him, mainly because he was replacing Mike Sullivan, who in the past brought the city multiple cups. Early season was rather unremarkable, with the Pens having a hot start that would cool off quick. That had been the norm for the team in recent seasons. Once that fall off hit, Muse proved himself. He somehow brought life into the team, getting them to get on a winning streak and stay in the race instead of falling too far behind too early.
As for actual players on the ice, Dubas brought in some amazing players. Rookie Ben Kindle is the first great move that comes to mind. In an amazing draft class, Kindle has stood out tremendously for the Penguins, putting the league on notice. He has amazing skill, and being under Crosby now gives me no doubt that he will one day take the reins of the team. At only 18 years old, the sky’s the limit for Kindle, and I am even more excited to see what else he brings to the table this season. My personal favorite move for the Penguins was acquiring Yegor Chinakov from the Columbus Blue Jackets. In Columbus, Chinakov struggled to find playing time despite having one of the fastest wrist shots in the league being able to reach 90 miles per hour. His shot doesn’t just have speed, but also pinpoint accuracy. I believe that Colombus was simply not using him right. So, Dubas scooped him up for some pocket change, and he has been on fire for the Pens. Chinakov’s excellent shooting has been enhanced through his Russian-to-Russian connection with Malkin. I’m honestly not too sure if them being Russian is the main point, but regardless of when these two are on the ice together, a Malkin assist to a Chinakov goal is nearly assured.
With some new offensive weapons, the Pens also had to balance out their defense. Most notably, the Pens have completely changed their goalie room. Arturs Silovs has been outstanding for the Pens despite a rough start to the season. Too many fans surprise Tristan Jarry was traded in a goalie swap for Edmonton’s Stuart Skinner. While a risky trade, the Pens held all the upside, also gaining veteran defender Brett Kulak. Skinner has been amazing for the Pens so far with a .890 save percentage, and multiple wins. Other key defenders have been Parker Wotherspoon with is size, and Erik Karlsson, who has been a defensive weapon as always.
Another key piece to the Penguins’ puzzle has been their players from their affiliate team, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Multiple players from this team have made grand impacts on the main Pens line-up. Two members of the “Kid” line come from this team, being Ville Koivunen, and Rutger McGroarty, who partnered up with Ben Kindle for multiple goals. Most recently, Avery Hayes made his NHL debut with a two-goal performance and a win over a hot Buffalo team. While many of their players have been helpful to the Pens this season, I think the most important thing is that the future for the Pens looks bright. Many of these affiliate players are young, and they are also dominating. For example, goal tender Sergei Murashov has been unreal for the affiliate team and has even had some NHL experience this season.
The purpose of this article has been to highlight what I have been impressed with the Penguins this season, and with that, I wanted to focus on the pieces of the puzzle that might not get as much recognition. Due to that being my goal, I haven’t talked about Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and most of all Sidney Crosby. These three have kept this team together. They are the only three players in NHL, NBA, NFL, and MLB history to play 20 seasons together for the same team at the same time. That long tenure has brought the Penguins much success, and this season they are on pace to build on that. The captain Crosby deserves the most credit. He has developed a hard-working culture around the team that holds players accountable and makes the team almost like a brotherhood. Every line he’s on, whether that be with Rust, Brazeau, or any of the other guys, turns into a well-oiled machine. His leadership goes beyond the lines he’s on. The culture he has developed with this team, I can see most clearly on the Pens’ fourth line with players Connor Dewar, Blake Lizotte, and Noel Acciari. When these three are on the ice, it’s no quit. While all three are great players, their line is hallmarked by their hard work and scrappy goals. I honestly believe, without Crosby being the role model he is, that line would be dysfunctional.
To cap off my highly biased Penguins report, all I can say is: LET’S GO PENS, and I hope this team can make a comeback to the glory days.
