Tim Benz: Better? Worse? Stagnant? Where are the Penguins as they move into the slow summer lull?
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As the Pittsburgh Steelers report to Saint Vincent College for training camp Tuesday, the Penguins — and other NHL teams — get to enjoy what their NFL counterparts don’t.
An actual offseason.
Oh, sure, players in both sports get their downtime for physical rest and recovery at various points on the calendar. But in hockey, unlike football, these late-summer months allow the franchises and their players to break away from the spotlight and the constant swirl of the 24-hour sports news cycle.
That doesn’t always happen in the NFL.
Between now and the start of the NHL preseason in late September, most hockey news nuggets are likely to be buried under a crush of NFL and college football headlines, along with pennant races and the start of the NBA season.
Well, not in Pittsburgh for those last two things. But in many other places, that’s the case.
So, as the Penguins skate into the shadows after the first flurry of offseason trades and free-agent signings, I’m reminded of what former Pens coach Ivan Hlinka said of his team’s approach to the game in March 2001.
“They like to be everywhere. But … if you like to be everywhere, then you are nowhere.”
That’s sort of where the Penguins are right now as a franchise. In a netherworld of changing things up, while keeping them the same.
From ownership right down to the bottom defensive pair.
On one hand, the Penguins had an opportunity for a full rebuild. They could’ve allowed the likes of Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Casey DeSmith, Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell and Kasperi Kapanen to all leave via free agency. That would’ve been $27.16 million in collective cap relief from last year.
Instead, all those players got new contracts that turned into a collective $27.32 million cap hit for this year.
And, in most cases, those numbers will stay on the books for the next four to six years as well.
Both goaltenders will return. The coaching staff and front office remain intact. The forward group is going to be largely the same. In fact, what amounts to eight of the top nine skaters up front will be unchanged. Throw fourth-line center Teddy Blueger into the mix on the last year of his contract, and you are essentially just looking at just three of four forward spots up for grabs.
However, two defensemen (John Marino and Mike Matheson) have been traded. A third — specifically Brian Dumoulin or Marcus Pettersson — could be on the move before the season starts.
After all, they both cost a little over $4 million, and the Penguins are about $480,000 over the salary cap right now according to CapFriendly. Also, the Pens have eight NHL defensemen — plus P.O Joseph — on the roster.
The team will look very different roster-wise on the back end, and they may play differently, too. The more offensively oriented, less physically pugnacious personas of Matheson and Marino have been swapped out for guys like Jeff Petry and Jan Rutta. Petry certainly has skill, but both bring slightly more size and sandpaper to their game.
Is any of that going to make the Penguins better, though? Have they improved? Regressed? Or just remained stagnant — as they have been since losing in Round 2 of the playoffs in 2018?
Being just good enough … to not be good enough.
As four straight years of first-round playoff exits would indicate.
Good enough to make the postseason every year. Not good enough to win a series.
Everywhere, but nowhere.
Being the same, but older, is likely a recipe to get a little worse. Conversely, that improved jam and defensive responsibility from Petry and Rutta might make next year’s club a little better.
Other teams in the Eastern Conference such as the Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets may have improved. But even if the Penguins aren’t as good as they were a season ago, are they going to slip the 20 points it would’ve taken for them to fall out of the East’s final playoff spot this season?
Unlikely.
Are any of those three teams going to make up the 22- to 30-point deficit between them and the Penguins from a year ago? Even more unlikely.
The Penguins probably make the playoffs in 2023 for a 17th straight season. And they probably fail to advance to Round 2 for a fifth straight season.
Everywhere, but nowhere.
Get used to that obscure concept, if you aren’t already. Just be thankful you aren’t going to have to think about it for a while. We’ve got a Steelers quarterback derby to focus on in Pittsburgh for the next few months.
That will be everywhere, all the time. Let’s just worry about the Steelers’ run of recent playoff futility for the time being instead.
In our last regularly scheduled hockey podcast of 2021-22, Brian Metzer of the Penguins Radio Network joins me to discuss the revamped blueline, remaining offseason questions and some projections for next season.