Anytime you can use a Star Wars quote, you should, and it fits perfectly with what I am talking about today. There has been an awakening in Pittsburgh that has been a long time coming. Youth, is finally getting its chance.
The Penguins have suffered injuries to several members of the forward corps over the last 6 weeks. Third line center Nick Bonino broke his hand in mid-January. Eric Fehr suffered a significant leg injury just two weeks ago and could be done for the foreseeable future. Evgeni Malkin has missed two weeks with a lower-body ailment and Beau Bennett has lived up to his reputation of being injured more often than not.
In their place, head coach Mike Sullivan and general manager Jim Rutherford have done what Mike Johnston and Dan Byslma failed to really do, give young players a chance and trust them to do their jobs. Under both Johnston and Bylsma, young players never got a chance. It was always over-the-hill, or one-trick pony players that should have been in the AHL, let alone playing 10-15 minutes a night in the NHL. Sullivan has been different. He is the first Penguins coach since Bylsma to coach the Baby Penguins before getting called up himself. And he has shown thus far, he is far more willing to not only use the Wilkes-Barre players, but trust them in big spots.
In this piece, I plan to look at the forwards and defenseman that have gotten the call under Mike Sullivan and why their inclusion in the lineup has been such an asset to this Penguins team. I hope you enjoy...
Rust, Kuhnhackl and Sundqvist
Let's begin with the newest of the group. I am a huge fan of Oskar Sundqvist. The 3rd round choice in 2012 has been on my radar for much of the last two seasons. He came into camp in 2014 and really impressed. He was close to making the team, before Mike Johnston decided to go with a group of veterans such as Craig Adams and Marcel Goc instead. Sundqvist was shipped back to Sweden and had another stellar year in the SEL before joining the Baby Penguins for the playoff run. Sundqvist's hopes of making the team out of camp were squashed by the signings of Eric Fehr and Matt Cullen, relegating the young Swede back to Wilkes-Barre.
For Wilkes-Barre this year, he has played the role of shutdown center perfectly. He was the key to the Baby Penguins checking line and their penalty kill unit. He often faced off against opposing teams' best lines and shut them down. Sundqvist was a mere minus-1 in that role in WBS and added 16 points of his own. In Pittsburgh so far, he has been just as good. Though he hasn't produced any points, he has been flawless defensively, especially in the corners and on the forecheck. I believe he could stick here full time if given the opportunity.
Tom Kuhnhackl is the next guy on this line. The 4th rounder in 2010 finally made his NHL debut earlier this year after playing in the Penguins system for several seasons. Injuries have been a road block for him, but he has been healthy and productive this season and last in Wilkes-Barre before being called up. This year, through 23 games in the AHL, Kuhnhackl had 7 goals and 15 points with a plus-10 rating.
Kuhnhackl is a big-bodied forward and has been quite good in front of the net for his linemates. He is not at Patric Hornqvist's level there yet, but he is getting better and better each game. He only has an assist, but has had several quality scoring chances as well. Defensively, he has been outstanding, especially killing penalties alongside Kevin Porter on the second unit. He has just one assist and a minus-2 rating through 15 games in Pittsburgh but he has the ability to be a full time guy in the future. I'd like to see him score more, but his defensive and net-front play is definitely NHL ready.
Finally, there is Bryan Rust.
Rust has been the most productive and impressive Wilkes-Barre player to this point in my opinion. Even after breaking his wrist earlier in the year, Rust has proven that he is an NHL ready third-line winger. Though he has just two goals in 20 games, Rust has repeatedly created chances for himself and his line both at even strength and on the penalty kill. It seems that nearly every game he has had a few quality scoring chances, in fact, he was incredible against Florida on Monday.
Rust needs to start scoring more of these chances, but his intangibles are greatly helping the team. Firstly, his speed is second only to Carl Hagelin and Kris Letang. It is the main reason I feel he will stick the remainder of the season at this level. Then there is his defensive play. For a player with his offensive talents, he is a quality two-way player. He can kill penalties and serve as a solid checking line winger. He has looked great alongside Kuhnhackl and Sundqvist.
The trio looks really good. It is a fourth line I would be completely ok with sending out there nightly next season. I hope we will at least see Sundqvist and Rust full time in 2016-17, if not all three. They have all greatly impressed me thus far.
Wilson, Porter and Sheary
Let's start with Scott Wilson. Wilson has been a productive player for the Baby Penguins over the previous few seasons. The former UMass product has produced 41 goals in 89 career AHL games. He led the AHL in goals when he was recalled following the NHL All-Star break.
Wilson has yet to find the back of the net here, which has been disappointing to me. You don't score 22 goals in 34 AHL games by accident or on pure luck, but so far he has yet to really create the same type of quality scoring chances at this level. Though he is playing on the fourth line and not getting a ton of minutes, he has had ample opportunity in his own zone to create chances. He has created some, but not enough and no goals. I like the way he plays overall, but I want to see goals from him. 22 in the AHL isn't a fluke, or is it? Start scoring here and I'll have a better idea.
Kevin Porter should not be on this roster. Frankly, he should be in Wilkes-Barre playing at the AHL level where he belongs. He is a relative one-trick pony, very similar in style to former Penguins' 4th liner Craig Adams; outstanding defensive skills with absolutely zero scoring acumen. However, without Fehr, Malkin and Bonino in the lineup, we will be stuck with Porter for the foreseeable future.
Porter has been solid on the PK and defensively. I cannot take that away from him. He's done well in those areas. He has looked better the more comfortable he's gotten with Sheary and Wilson as well, but I still want to see him be an odd-man out when guys return from injury.
Finally, there is Conor Sheary. The UMass-Amherst product has impressed me greatly through 22 games, despite being undersized. He leads the Baby Pens scores with three goals, and four points. He has had no problem producing points in WBS either, posting 27 goals and 54 points over the past 88 AHL games.
Sheary isn't as defensively polished as the others, but he and Rust have the best scoring knack of the lot. Despite being a mere 5 foot 9 inces, Sheary finds his way through defenders to get scoring chances. He won't knock you down, and he won't dipsy-dangle you, but he will go north-and-south and do whatever he can to create. I like what he brings, and though I doubt there will be room for him in the lineup once all the injured players are back, I think he's deserved to stick around too.
Derrick Pouliot
What we have seen so far from Pouliot is outstanding. His defensive positioning has taken several steps forward. He is the only Penguins defenseman that never physically engages a player after dumping the puck in, instead, screening him before playing the puck himself. It is a rather clever tactic that the likes of Letang, Lovejoy and others would do well to note. He is still not flawless, but the flaws are far less evident than they were. Pouliot is gettting there.
Offensively, he is still very good. Though he hasn't taken a ton of chances, he is taking more as he gets more comfortable in his role. I think we will see him take more chances as the season goes on.
My Final Thoughts
Bryan Rust has impressed the most. He is a more complete player than the kid who got his cup of coffee in 2014-15. Now, Rust is a legitimate threat on the Penguins third line and can play quality defense as well.
Conor Sheary has proven he may be the best scorer thus far of the WBS guys, but he still has a ways to go. Because of his small size, he needs to be much more shifty than his fellow WBS guys and one must wonder if he can handle the beating of half or a full NHL season. He needs to improve defensively as well, but to this point has earned his spot.
Derrick Pouliot, in just 9 games, has erased some of the worries many had about him after his rough camp. The 21-year-old defenseman may only have 2 assists in those 9 games, but he has proven that he is not a liability defensively anymore. His positioning and coverage is miles better and I expect he will be a top-four defenseman sooner, rather than later.
Tom Kuhnhackl is a big-bodied forward, and solid net front presence. He still doesn't have a goal, but his defensive play and penalty killing acumen has impressed. He will likely be relegated when the injured come back but I can see him being a productive fourth liner down the road.
Oskar Sundqvist is the 3rd, 4th line center of the future. He's big, physical, outstanding defensively and unrelenting ont the forecheck. If he can add some real scoring skills to his game, he could be the reincarnation of Jordan Staal for the Penguins.
Scott Wilson is a good AHL player. He's got 22 goals in 34 AHL games. However, he has yet to add any to the big club and hasn't created a ton of chances for himself. Scoring 22 goals at the AHL level is not easy, but if he continues to fail to pot one at the NHL level, I will really begin to question his scoring touch.
Kevin Porter, well, many of you understand my feeling on him. He is Craig Adams all over again; a penalty-killing specialist with little offensive ability and other intangibles. He seems to be a Sullivan pet-project at this point, but I can only hope when the time comes that he trusts and uses the likes of Rust or Sheary over this one-trick pony.
The Penguins have several quality guys here. You never know what a player will develop into, but without the time and the faith you will never learn. We never saw Bylsma or Johnston do that, even when circumstances necessitated it. Sullivan seems to be the opposite. He seems to trust his guys and lets them do their jobs. It's a quality trait, and one I hope he retains when circumstances change again.