Team has it both ways at deadline
Typically, when teams are forging their identity, they have to make a choice.
Do they want to play a physical, heavy style of hockey that requires bigger (and often slower) bodies? Or do they want to play a speed game that highlights smaller, shiftier skaters?
With the newest addition to the Penguins roster, the club proved sometimes you can have both.
By bringing in the 6-foot-3, 220pound Jeff Carter, Pittsburgh satisfied new general manager Ron Hextall’s public goal of adding a “big, physical forward.” Just as important, the 36-year-old’s Penguins debut showed an ability to play with mobility.
In this way, the Penguins have added size to the lineup without sacrificing the speed that coach Mike Sullivan believes is his team’s competitive advantage.
“It’s critical,” Sullivan said when asked about Carter’s skating ability. “It helps us play the game we’re trying to play.”
“You can see some of the speed that he created off the rush. He challenged their D with wide speed. He got in alone one time. He had a number of scoring chances and his speed was a big part of it. His speed is a noticeable aspect of his game. I think it enhances our overall team game, our identity and how we’re trying to play.”
Sullivan pointed out that Carter is a versatile player who the Penguins plan to deploy both in offensive situations and defensive-zone starts. He also has the flexibility to play on both special teams units and on the wing. The duality of his game helps make that possible.
“When you have a guy who is as big and as strong as Jeff is — especially playing the center ice position where he’s going to spend a fair amount of time playing down low at our end, just leaning on people with his reach and his strength and his size — it just makes us harder to play against,” Sullivan said.
In the past, it sometimes felt like former general manager Jim Rutherford was trying to put the lightning back in the bottle. After making moves, he’d routinely connect those decisions back to ones he made to help those 2016 and 2017 Stanley Cup teams fly.
Now, instead of trying to rekindle old magic, the new front office is looking ahead. They’ve recognized a trend in the NHL where teams are getting bigger. And they want to be left behind.
Hextall and president of hockey operations Brian Burke both acknowledged in different ways that they imagine the roster will evolve as they continue to bring in their style of players. The way Burke has explained it, you need to build a team that can beat four different teams with four different identities if you’re going to have your name engraved on the Cup. While speed and speed alone can work sometimes, it never hurts to have a little muscle.
With the Carter acquisition, the front office and the coaching staff have found a player that everyone seems eager to integrate into the team. Now, as this roster evolution inevitably continues, can they continue to find players that check both boxes or will they ultimately lean more into one or the other?
Penguins, Sabres team up
The Buffalo Sabres and Penguins will celebrate the LGBTQ+ community as they co-host Saturday the NHL’s first joint Pride Game.
“It just shows as much as we battle on the ice and are against each other in the division, we can come together for a common cause and make sure we’re shedding light on something that needs to be spoken about and needs to be brought up in multiple conversations,” Penguins forward Jason Zucker said. “I know it’s something that’s come up in our locker room and been discussed. It needs to continue to be that way in our room and in dressing rooms throughout the league.”
Players from both teams will tape their sticks for pregame warm-ups with rainbow tape.
They’ll also wear commemorative warm-up jerseys and use special colorful pucks in pregame.
The Penguins and Sabres will also co-host a seven-day online auction featuring pride tape sticks, commemorative warm-up jerseys and pucks, various signed items from both teams and more.
Respect for Sabres
While the Sabres are floundering in the East Division basement, the Penguins know that no points come easy in the NHL. That’s especially true against a team with nothing to lose.
“They’re playing the game with a free spirit, and those are dangerous teams to play against,” Sullivan said. “We’re going to have to bring our very best. We know that. It’s a great opportunity for our team to continue to try to establish itself in the standings. That’s how we have to look at it.”