The Pittsburgh Penguins made a couple moves in free
agency so the lines and the pairings could be tweaked a bit going into next
season.
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ lines going into next season will
mostly be the same, but there will also be some tweaks to them thanks to free
agency.
Matt Cullen and Jack Johnson were added through free agency
and will be in the lineup when October rolls around.
Daniel Sprong, Pittsburgh’s top forward prospect, will
also be in the lineup as he’s ready to play full-time. Here’s a look at what
the Penguins lines could look like this October.
FIRST LINE:
GUENTZEL-CROSBY-HORNQVIST
This was the first line for most of last season, including
the playoffs, and it produced great results.
In the playoffs, this line was deadly. Jake Guentzel and
Sidney Crosby were the two best players in the playoffs for Pittsburgh as they
combined for 42 points in 12 playoff games. Each player had 21 points before
they lost to the Washington Capitals. They work very well together, and
Guentzel is the best left winger on the team, so this is a no-brainer for the
Penguins.
Patric Hornqvist had his best season in a Penguin uniform
goal-scoring wise as he had 29 goals. He’s locked up for five more years and
he’s also always worked with Crosby. Even if they put him with Evgeni Malkin on
the second line (which they have), they have good underlying numbers together
too. There will, of course, be lineup changes throughout the season because of
injuries but when this team is healthy, this should be the first line.
SECOND LINE:
HAGELIN-MALKIN-SPRONG
That’s right — Daniel Sprong needs to play in the top six to
start the season. It also wouldn’t be a big deal if he was on the third line
with Derick Brassard, but he may do better playing next to Malkin. General
Manager Jim Rutherford said after the season that Sprong will be in the lineup
next season and will be slotted in the top nine somewhere. Putting a pure goal
scorer with a world-class playmaker like Malkin is a match made in heaven. He
had 32 goals in 65 games last year with Wilkes-Barre and it should translate
well to the NHL level considering the shot he has. It also allows Phil Kessel
to play on the third line, which is Coach Mike Sullivan’s preference.
Pittsburgh isn’t very deep at left wing beyond Guentzel, but
Carl Hagelin has spent a lot of time with Malkin while he’s here so that seems
like a safe bet. Hagelin hasn’t scored as much but he’s very fast and can be
ferocious on the forecheck. Having a better start to the season is crucial for
Hagelin, as he always starts to play even better after Christmas.
THIRD LINE:
RUST-BRASSARD-KESSEL
This line was used at times during the end of the season,
but it wasn’t as effective as some thought it was going to be. Despite that,
this should be the third line to open the season. It took Derick Brassard a
little more time to fit in than anticipated and he will also have an entire
season with this line assuming it holds up. He was playing well after he got
settled in and then his groin injury happened, which slowed everything down.
Combine that with Kessel also being hurt, and it just didn’t get a chance to
jumpstart.
Having Rust on that line will be a huge help, as he’s one of
Pittsburgh’s most versatile forwards. He also makes each line he plays on
better. He has a knack for scoring big-time goals and his speed is also a huge
difference maker. He creates chances each game for the Penguins and he’s a
player they can’t afford to lose for any extended period of time.
Kessel will get to be on his own line, which is Sullivan’s
preference as stated above. I’m sure he will also get time with Malkin as they
work great together. This line has the chance to be one of the best third lines
in hockey when they’re all doing their thing. Giving this line more
opportunities next season should pay huge dividends since all three will be
healthy.
FOURTH LINE:
CULLEN-SHEAHAN-ASTON-REESE
The fourth line will look different and much better for the
Penguins going into next season. There’s no more Tom Kuhnhackl, who had just
two goals last year, and there’s no more Carter Rowney on it either after he
left via free agency. Matt Cullen came back and even though he’s usually a
center, he can also play wing. Having him on the wing seems like the
preliminary plan as Sheahan played very well in the fourth line center spot
last year. He had 11 goals and 32 points which is good production on the fourth
line. Having him back with competent linemates will be a huge boost for
Pittsburgh’s forward depth.
Despite Cullen’s awful underlying numbers (his CF% was
40.5!); he still had 11 goals and 22 points in Minnesota. That’s a big upgrade
over players like Kuhnhackl, Rowney and Reaves, who were playing for large
chunks of the season on the fourth line last year. He’s also only going to
count $650K against the cap so there’s little risk with him playing. There are
also no excuses for him if he has another bad year analytically since he knows
this system very well.
This will be Zach Aston-Reese’s first full year with the
team, as he was called up last year during the season. He has a knack for going
hard to the front of the net like Hornqvist and scoring dirty goals. He had
four goals and six points in 19 games last year but he also played in the top six
during that time. He played with Riley Sheahan on the fourth line in the
playoffs but wasn’t a factor at all. Playing more games will definitely help
him though as he has a lot of upside and should fit very nicely in a full
season on the fourth line.
FIRST DEFENSIVE
PAIRING: DUMOULIN-LETANG
This was a no-brainer. When both players are doing their
thing, this is one of the best top pairings in the league. It wasn’t very well
last year because Kris Letang struggled mightily in his return from neck
surgery. He did have nine goals and 51 points, but he was a mess a lot in the
defensive zone and was just prone to a lot more mistakes than he’s accustomed
too. With a full offseason to train and get better, there’s no reason to think
he can’t return to his old self of being one of the top defensemen in the
league.
As for Dumoulin, he was arguably Pittsburgh’s best
defenseman last season. He was very sound in the defensive zone and he also
added some more offense. He had five goals and 18 points last season which is a
career high. He also has the ability to take matters into his own hands and not
only skate the puck out of danger, but start a breakout that needs to scoring
chances. This pairing also will likely see its minutes reduced due to
management not wanting Letang out there all the time.
SECOND DEFENSIVE
PAIRING: MAATTA-OLEKSIAK
This is where it’s going to be tough. Pittsburgh could
easily put Johnson up here and keep Oleksiak on the third pairing but Oleksiak
would work better up here than Johnson would. Oleksiak was acquired last season
from the Dallas Stars and Pittsburgh did an excellent job fine-tuning his game.
He moves the puck very well for someone who’s 6-foot-7 and he also showed more
offense than ever. He has a booming shot and he’s not afraid to unleash it.
Here’s one look at it:
Oleksiak also cleaned up a lot of his defensive miscues as
that plagued him in Dallas a lot. He wasn’t caught in the defensive zone as
often as he was in Dallas. His possession also went up as it was 51.2 percent.
He should be a good fit with Maatta, who was also one of Pittsburgh’s best
defenseman.
Maatta matched his career high in points with 29 last year
and he also had seven goals. He finally had a fully healthy season as he
appeared in all 82 games. His skating improved a ton and he was also much
better defensively which had been a problem the last couple of seasons. He was
also at 51.7 percent for possession which ties a career high. If both play like
how they did last season, this will be a very underrated pairing for Pittsburgh.
As always though, expect a lot of shuffling with this pairing throughout the
season.
THIRD DEFENSIVE
PAIRING: SCHULTZ-JOHNSON
These last two pairs will likely get close to the same
amount of minutes each game so don’t be alarmed seeing Justin Schultz here.
He’d be a big help to Jack Johnson, who signed a five-year deal in free agency
to come to the Penguins. At this point in Johnson’s career, this is the pairing
he should be on. He’s not a top-pairing or top four-defenseman anymore as his
production has gone down and defensively, he’s prone to making more mistakes.
He’s also on the opposite side of 30 which is never good.
He’s definitely going to get a lot of work with Sergei
Gonchar, who has helped out numerous Penguins defenseman including Oleksiak and
Schultz. Pittsburgh loves Johnson’s transition games as they lauded him for his
instinct of making a great first pass. The key with him will be to not have him
out there for extended shifts and having him getting caught in his own zone. It
was a pattern last year in Columbus and it can’t carry over here.
Schultz has been outstanding since coming over from Edmonton
and it’s going to continue into next season. He was hurt last season at times
hence why he only had 27 points in 63 games but the season before that; he had
51 points in 78 games. He’s a legitimate top-four defenseman on this team and
will likely be adjusted on the pairings if something isn’t working or if
injuries come up.
This is the pairing that I think will change the most but
going into the season, it makes the most sense to start it with this and give
Johnson some minutes against teams third and fourth lines.
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