CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Whether the Pittsburgh Penguins defensemen will exceed expectations or struggle remains unknown, but something is intriguing about the group merely because of the uncertainty.
There are more questions than answers about the Penguins blue line.
• Will Erik Karlsson be ready for the start of the regular season? He’s skated two days in a row and there is optimism he has a legitimate chance to be ready Oct. 9. If he’s healthy, he’ll play. Players like Karlsson, as coach Mike Sullivan noted recently, don’t require as many reps as most.
• Will Kris Letang’s form replicate his excellence in the first half of last season or his struggles in the second half? So far, he looks fine. His skating looks as excellent as always. You know the drill: The Penguins go as Letang goes. After all these years, I still believe that to be the truth.
• Is Ryan Graves even going to be on the ice come opening night? I’m not so sure. I am sure that currently, he’s not one of the Penguins’ top six defensemen. He’s not had a good camp coming off of last season’s disastrous performance.
• Can Ryan Shea be the steady, reliable defender he was late last season? He’s been OK in camp. Shea isn’t the type to wow you, but he’s fairly safe.
• Is Jack St. Ivany going to play at the same high level as in April when the rookie became an impact player? I’ll go one better: He’s going to excel even more than that. This is a good player.
• Then there is Harrison Brunicke. We’ll see what happens, but I can tell you the Penguins are legitimately considering keeping him around despite his barely being 18. Sullivan said it numerous times this week and I’ll take him at his word.
I had a private conversation with Sullivan concerning other Penguins-related topics Wednesday but couldn’t help myself from mentioning Brunicke. Sullivan just shook his head and said, “Just terrific.”
In a chat with Drew O’Connor, the forward said, “I hadn’t seen much of him in camp because we were in different groups. But all of the guys have been talking about him every day. Then I saw him in a game, and I understood why they were talking about him.”
This kid has made some kind of a mark and there is every reason to believe he is going to be a very good NHL defenseman. He was selected in the second round of the NHL Draft in June and quite frankly, he looks to me like he should have been taken a round earlier. He looks the part. I don’t see any noticeable weaknesses. This appears to be a slam dunk of a draft pick for Kyle Dubas.
Size matters
The Penguins’ bottom six has been a problem for years, to put it kindly.
I don’t know that this group is going to blow anyone away, but the Penguins have far more depth than in recent seasons and more versatility in terms of available players. More than anything, the Penguins could be fairly big on the third and fourth lines, which hasn’t been the case for quite some time.
Consider some of the candidates for bottom-six duty:
• Lars Eller is a lock to begin the season on the third line, and he’s a sturdy 6-2, 208 pounds.
• Though O’Connor could begin the campaign on Sidney Crosby’s left wing, he’s spent most of training camp in a third-line role. He’s 6-3, 200 pounds.
• Kevin Hayes is likely to be in the lineup on opening night, and he stands 6-5 and weighs 216 pounds.
• Cody Glass has had a good camp and is listed at 6-3, 201 pounds.
• Jesse Puljujarvi, who has been very good in training camp, checks in at 6-4, 216 pounds.
That’s a potentially big bottom six, something we haven’t seen in quite some time. O’Connor is the only player on that list who is a gifted skater, but still, there is something to be said for having people of that size on your third and fourth lines.
Odds and ends
• If there is an X-factor on the Penguins’ roster, it’s Tristan Jarry. Will the Penguins be getting the two-time All-Star or the guy who got benched during the final month of last season? Gauging goaltenders in training camp is tricky business, but Jarry has looked pretty sharp and the coaching staff is delighted with his conditioning. The pressure is very much on.
• Anthony Beauvillier has played most of training camp on Crosby’s left wing. He’s been pretty good, his speed particularly noticeable. He moves better than I recall from his time as a thorn in the Penguins’ side with the New York Islanders.
I’m still not sold on his spending the season on that line. Yes, Crosby likes playing with speedy wingers and yes, Beauvillier and Bryan Rust flanking him would do the trick. We know Rust will begin the season on Crosby’s right wing. I don’t know whether Beauvillier will score enough to remain there, but he’s been quite good in camp.
• If you’re worried about any regression in Crosby’s game, don’t lose any sleep over it. Given he’s now 37, it’s fair to keep an eye on Crosby because even though he’s the most steady performer in hockey history and appears to be ageless, he is not. At some point, we will see the physical skills begin their inevitable erosion. I just don’t see it yet. Crosby has very much looked himself during camp and seems especially excited about this season.
There’s a general theme in the dressing room that the Penguins think they’re a bit better than many forecasts, and that all starts with the captain, whose competitiveness has not slowed in the least.
• Thursday night, with their stars sitting this one out, the Penguins earned a 3-1 victory at Nationwide Arena against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Jarry stopped 33 of 34 shots for the victory, and Valtteri Puustinen, Jonathan Gruden and Hayes scored for the Penguins. The Penguins will finish the preseason with a home tilt against the Blue Jackets at 7 p.m. Friday.
(Top photo of Ryan Shea: Jason Mowry / Getty Images)
