Team: 2017-18 Pittsburgh Penguins

Initial Creation Date: Feb. 7, 2018

Published: Feb. 7, 2018

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Today I will be talking about my analysis of the Penguins pre-deadline, but first I want to share something: I will be more active about in depth analysis. My schedule will be:
Tuesday: Q&A; I will answer any questions/concerns you may have about the Penguins, a certain player, or potential trade targets.
Wednesday: Full team analysis and Prospect Update; I will be talking about what has been helping the Penguins win and what they need to do better. Also I will do a separate thread talking about Penguins prospects.
Saturday: 21 Thoughts; I will be sharing 21 random thoughts about the team/Hockey.
Sunday: Rumor roundup; I will be sharing what rumors surround the team based on my source and the NHL insiders.
Gamedays: Post-game analysis PLUS what scouts were attending; Self explanatory.


Of course I won’t be able to do it EVERY week/game because I do have stuff to do, but I’ll try.

Now that that’s out of the way, here’s my analysis of Penguins pre-deadline.

Current Cap Space/Roster Talk

Currently, the Penguins have $1,334,150 in cap space(via CapFriendly). That number becomes around $1,800,000 once Zach Aston-Reese is returned to WBS. Conor Sheary and Patric Hornqvist are both out with injuries. The Penguins should be calling up two forwards at any moment, after Rowney and Kuhnhackl both went down with injuries last night. Currently, the Penguins have ten healthy forwards. Who should the Penguins call up? Most likely JS Dea and Daniel Sprong.

Forwards We Go

What would the forwards look like after these callups? My opinion: I think Simon-Rust worked REALLY well with Crosby when put together. I would keep them together a little longer. Now, Malkin and Hagelin have been AMAZING the last couple of games. Hagelin allows Malkin to play towards his strengths because Malkin doesn’t need to worry about giving up oddman rushes. Now, something I REALLY want to see: Malkin-Sprong. The twoway game is down with Hagelin with them, so why not try Sprong with Malkin? I’ve always wanted to see Hagelin-Malkin-Sprong . . . maybe I will be able to. Guentzel-Sheahan-Kessel has been clicking a little, so let’s just keep them together. Now, onto the elimination game: ZAR-Dea-Reaves. That line is utter garbage. No speed/skill whatsoever(unless you think Dea is actually a good hockey player). It’s fine as we can roll three fast, scoring lines out there.

Simon-Crosby-Rust
Hagelin-Malkin-Sprong
Guentzel-Sheahan-Kessel
ZAR-Dea-Reaves

Defensively

Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin have been great recently. Haven’t noticed anything particularly bad, but Letang just needs to work on his decision making. Justin Schultz and Olli Maatta have struggled together. Just by the looks, it seems as if both of them are just not confident with each other. They both have hesitated with the puck recently when playing with each other. I think it’s because they don’t trust each other defensively. Neither of them are shutdown defensemen. But we do have two shutdown defensemen playing together: Jamie Oleksiak and Ian Cole. Schultz needs a shutdown partner who can be physical, but doesn’t need to have great wheels. Maatta needs a shutdown partner who can be physical, but needs good wheels. Cole fits better with Schultz’s needs and Oleksiak fits better with Maatta’s needs. Thank the Lord that Hunwick has been healthy scratched.

Dumoulin-Letang
Maatta-Oleksiak
Cole-Schultz

Goalie time!

Matt Murray did make very timely saves in the win against Vegas, but he needs to limit the bad goals. In my opinion, he could have stopped William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault goals, but hey you can’t make every save. I love Murray.

I was a little bit confused that Tristan Jarry was recalled and Casey DeSmith reassigned, but you do you, management! It’s not the biggest deal in the world.

Power to the Play

The Penguins did not score on the powerplay against the Knights, going 0 for 3. Very bad powerplays overall. I won’t let one game like that dictate what I believe the units should look like(right now).

Unit 1: Crosby, Malkin, Kessel, Guentzel, Schultz
Unit 2: Simon, Rust, Sprong, Maatta, Letang

(1)Don’t Take Penalties, (2) Kill Them Off If You Do

The PK units have looked solid recently. I really like Hagelin on the PK. He is a top PKer in the league. One thing that frustrates me: The lack of aggressiveness of everyone, excluding Hagelin. No one pressues the puck holder, but we should. Running the box PK, you should have the strong side forward and defensemen pinch the puck holder into making a pass that you have to squeeze the puck into a small area. The weak side forward pushes to the point man, but keeps his stick in the cross-ice passing lane. The weak side defenseman should step up into the slot and he should position his stick into where he feels the biggest threat is. The point of this is to get sticks on pucks or make the puck holder make a bad decision. If we make the puck holder squeeze the puck into a small area AND he completes that pass, then we have one crap PK or that player is a stud. The unit designs are okay and I would leave them the same.

Forwards 1: Sheahan-Hagelin
Forwards 2: Dea-Rust
Defenseman 1: Dumoulin-Letang
Defenseman 2: Maatta-Cole

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed!