The Penguins wrapped up prospects camp and moved on to training camp proper.
Despite a paucity of young talent in the organization, there’s no truth to the rumor that the ice was empty at prospects camp. Had it been limited to legit prospects, however, the Penguins probably could have employed just half of a rink.
If ever a team needed an injection of youthful legs and adrenaline, it’s the current version of the Penguins. That’s especially going to be true at season’s start when Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are sidelined.
Mike Sullivan was into trusting youth in 2015 when he got hired to coach. But that was because Sullivan had worked with then-youngsters like Bryan Rust and Conor Sheary when he guided the Penguins’ farm club at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
These days, Sullivan prefers veterans. He has little young talent, so that works out well.
The Penguins have four young players who could make the team: 20-year-old wingers Samuel Poulin and Nathan Legare, their first- and third-round draft picks, respectively, in 2019; forward Fillip Hallander, 21, a second-round choice in 2018; and defenseman P.O Joseph, 22, Arizona’s first-round selection (23rd overall) in 2017.
The Penguins acquired Joseph in 2019 in a trade that sent Phil Kessel to the Coyotes.
Joseph intrigues, and worries. If he’s not ready to play a regular shift in the NHL by now, something has gone awry.
At 6-foot-2, 185 pounds, Joseph is a bit thin — although he didn’t get noticeably or frequently muscled off the puck during his 16 NHL games last season. Joseph has a good first pass, but he’s not been a big point-getter at any level. He’s an agile, swift skater with decent reach.
It’s hard to define what’s keeping Joseph out of the NHL. But whatever it is he’s never had, Joseph still hasn’t got.
It’s also tough to wedge Joseph into the current lineup.
Joseph shoots left. The Penguins already have three established veterans on that side of the ice: Brian Dumoulin, Mike Matheson and Marcus Pettersson. So Joseph is blocked on that side. GM Ron Hextall would like to trade Pettersson and his $4.025 million cap hit, but that’s not likely.
Joseph might be able to play the right side, but Sullivan has been committed to using lefty-righty pairs dating back a few seasons. Kris Letang and John Marino are locked in on the right side. Chad Ruhwedel and Mark Friedman provide OK possibilities. (Friedman seems in favor.)
If Joseph is good enough, would Sullivan play him ahead of, say, Pettersson and his cap hit? That seems doubtful.
So Joseph might be blocked. If relatively marginal talents like Matheson and Pettersson can do that to a first-round draft pick when he’s 22, Joseph’s career would seem to have stalled.
Management changes dictate shifts in player evaluation. The word is that Hextall isn’t as high on Joseph as was Jim Rutherford, Hextall’s predecessor as GM.
But these Penguins seem stagnant.
When Hextall and president of hockey operations Brian Burke took over this past February, big changes were expected. Few have materialized, mostly due to cap limitations and ownership’s desire to keep the core three (Crosby, Letang and Malkin) intact.
Youth can equal energy. It can shake things up. But that sort of change also seems unlikely.
The Penguins seem like they’re going to keep doing what they’ve been doing, and to keep organically disintegrating. But youth can’t be served when there’s so precious little in stock.
"need" - Google News
September 24, 2021 at 08:07PM
https://ift.tt/3CHM04L
Mark Madden: Penguins need to get younger, but prospects are limited - TribLIVE
"need" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3c23wne
https://ift.tt/2YsHiXz
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Mark Madden: Penguins need to get younger, but prospects are limited - TribLIVE"
Post a Comment