By Mark Madden
November 9, 2017
Kris Russell #4 of the Edmonton Oilers defends against Riley Sheahan #15 of the Pittsburgh Penguins at Rogers Place on November 1, 2017 in Edmonton, Canada (Codie McLachlan/Getty Images North America)
Penguins GM shouldn’t hesitate to trade some future for a better shot at winning now
Riley Sheahan, then with Detroit, didn’t score in his first 79 games last season.
That’s bad for a center getting a regular shift and a bit of power-play time.
Sheahan has not scored in his first 16 games this season, either: Eight games with the Red Wings and eight since being traded to the Penguins Oct. 21.
I see a trend, and it’s an alarming one.
Also disturbing: Sheahan has just one assist this season. He personifies the Penguins’ secondary scoring dilemma.
Sheahan might start scoring. He netted 14 times in 2015-16.
He might start dishing out apples. If not, linemates Carl Hagelin and Bryan Rust might want to get used to having just one goal each.
Mostly, Sheahan is playing OK. He competes hard all over the rink. He’s averaging 15 minutes of ice time. He’s part of a penalty-killing unit that ranks 14th in the NHL (up from 20th last season). He wins 54 percent of his draws.
Combine that description with Sheahan’s meager numbers, and you’ve got a decent fourth-line center. (But not near as good as Matt Cullen.)
That’s what Sheahan will ultimately be: The Penguins’ fourth-line center.
It didn’t feel like GM Jim Rutherford was done reconstructing his team’s bottom six when he acquired Sheahan, and it still doesn’t.
The Penguins’ roster will look much different after the Feb. 26 trade deadline. Moves will be made, perhaps more major than expected.
The Penguins will get a third-line center of some repute and expense, moving Sheahan to the fourth-line and Greg McKegg to the list of healthy scratches (or to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton).
This likely won’t happen until just before the deadline, though Rutherford would act if the right deal avails itself prior.
The intent will be to acquire a center good enough to skate with Phil Kessel, thus putting Kessel, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on separate lines.
The Penguins have won two straight Stanley Cups, but it’s a safe bet that Rutherford and Coach Mike Sullivan prefer the 2016 incarnation because of scoring balance made possible by the Hagelin-Nick Bonino-Kessel (third) line.
That balance isn’t there now. Forwards currently skating in the Penguins’ bottom six have totaled just five goals in 17 games.
It’s too early to speculate about who Rutherford might want, but Toronto’s Tyler Bozak is an ideal fit.
He’d be a rental. He has a $4.2 million cap hit. Bozak and Kessel were linemates (and roommates) in Toronto. Toronto has depth at center. Getting Bozak would undoubtedly please Kessel.
But Toronto is a playoff-caliber team. To part with Bozak, the Maple Leafs would likely want defense, where the Penguins have quality but lack depth. The Leafs certainly won’t just dump Bozak to save a few paychecks.
The trade deadline is a long way off. But that’s what the Penguins want, balanced scoring with their top three threats distributed among three lines.
Kessel and Sheahan are not a good fit. When a center scores in just one of his last 101 games, wingers won’t be lining up to skate with him.
Besides bottom-six help, the Penguins need a defenseman.
When their best six are healthy, things are fine. But Matt Hunwick has missed the last 11 games with a concussion. Justin Schultz (also concussed) just returned from a six-game spell on the sideline.
The Penguins’ defense wasn’t in shambles when Hunwick and Schultz were absent at the same time.
But less is more with Chad Ruhwedel, and Frank Corrado and Zach Trotman played like the marginal talents they are.
Ruhwedel shooting right-handed fills a need. But the Penguins need a more solid No. 8 defenseman.
Where’s Derrick Pouliot when you need him? Just kidding.
Rutherford shouldn’t hesitate to trade some future for a better shot at winning now. How often do teams get a chance to hoist the Stanley Cup for a third straight time?
Mark Madden hosts a radio show 3-6 p.m. weekdays on WXDX.com (105.9).
No comments:
Post a Comment