(1) Is Pittsburgh’s fourth line better than their third line?
Ten days ago, the Penguins front office planted a bizarre story in the media claiming the team was considering the use of unproven rookies like Kasperi Kapanen, Bryan Rust, Oskar Sundqvist, and others instead of Beau Bennett and Craig Adams in the playoffs.
This was all according to an unnamed front office source.
The script was obvious — try to light a fire under the skates of Bennett and Adams — and coach Mike Johnston predictably came out in full support of his struggling players to the same outlet the next day.
A lot of coaches and GMs use the media to manipulate public sentiment and/or motivate players, but I’m not a fan of the tactic. Â Those conversations should be taking place behind closed doors.
If it takes transparent mind-games like this to motivate a player to perform, you’ve got the wrong players…or the wrong coach…or both.
Regardless, the newspaper dress-down definitely sparked the intensity of Craig Adams, even if only for the short term.  (Can you still blame Adams for fighting Steve Ott up 2-0 against St. Louis  — a fight that arguably sparked a Blues comeback — after he was just told his job and potentially his career is in jeopardy?)
Adams (#27) and Max Lapierre (#40) were fantastic last week and it begs the question: is the Penguins fourth line suddenly more effective than their so-called third line?
Lapierre led Pens with 3 shots. Got first good chance of game. 4th line with 13-40-27 > 3rd line with 19-16-23. Everyday of the week.
— Dan Kingerski (@TheDanKingerski) March 28, 2015
Bennett (#19) and Sutter (#16) have shown very brief flashes of intensity this season and I’m still concerned about that pair. Â Having both ‘off’ at the same time in a playoff series would mean trouble for a Penguins team that needs solid contributions from the lower lines.
(2) Why is no one talking about Max Lapierre?
Lapierre has really settled into his role since joining the Penguins from St. Louis in late January.
He’s exactly what Pittsburgh has been missing on their fourth line dating all the way back to the departure of Mike Rupp in 2011.
I wrote in this space two months ago that I thought Lapierre would bring “size, speed, intensity, physicality, playoff experience, and faceoff skills” to the Penguins.
He’s done exactly that and more.
Lapierre was 13-1 on draws tonight (92.8%), best night ever by a Pgh player taking more than 10 draws since NHL began charting draws in '97.
— Bob Grove (@bobgrove91) March 30, 2015
Lapierre was 10-for-10 on defensive zone draws against San Jose. He wasn’t winning them against fellow fourth liners either.
11 of his 14 draws came against Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. Thornton is ranked 4th in the entire NHL in faceoffs this season at 58%. Pavelski is over 55% on the year.
Maybe Sunday’s performance was just a 30th birthday celebration for Lapierre, but he needs to start getting some attention. Â He’s going to be a difference-maker at some point in the playoffs.
(3) Why don’t the Penguins sign any big college free agents?
March means college free agent season for the National Hockey League and it seems like the same teams always end up signing the top talent.
Despite needing forward prospect depth, Pittsburgh never gets the big names. Â Why not?
There’s typically two major factors that determine where a top college free agents ends up:
- Entry-level contract structure
- NHL playing time and opportunity
Money is a smaller factor. Bonuses can vary — and cap-strapped teams like the Penguins can’t offer much in that regard — but base salaries are capped for entry-level contracts under the CBA.
The first reason, contract structure, refers to a teams willingness to plug a college free agent into the NHL lineup right away and effectively ‘burn’ a first year of the standard entry-level contract.
Deep and talented teams usually aren’t willing to do this, so we always hear the likes of Edmonton (and now Toronto) at the top of the list of preferred destinations — not Pittsburgh.
If you paid attention to where any college free agents signed over the last week, you might be wondering how Chicago was able to land “coveted free agent Kyle Baun.”
The Blackhawks have incredible forward depth this year. Â So much depth that Bryan Bickell and his $4 million cap hit was recently a healthy scratch.
But I don’t think Baun’s signing is as much about this year as it is about the future of the Hawks.
The contract extensions for Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane kick in next year and with that comes the ‘loss’ of over $8 million in cap space.
Chicago GM Stan Bowman will have to ship out some big-name forwards and that’ll mean opportunities for youngsters like Baun and Teuvo Teravainen.
If I had to guess, I’d say some combination of Bickell, Patrick Sharp, and Kris Versteeg are dealt this summer and it wouldn’t surprise me if at least one ends up in Pittsburgh.
(4) Why didn’t Casey Bailey sign with Buffalo?
Pittsburgh hockey fans might be familiar with free agent standout Casey Bailey from Penn State.
As expected, Bailey signed with a rebuilding team that was willing to burn his first contract year and give him NHL playing time immediately.  I was very surprised that team was Toronto though.
I thought for sure Bailey would end up in Buffalo, where the Penn State connections run deeper than the ice on Lake Erie.
Former Penguins GM Craig Patrick and former PSU hockey coach Joe Battista courted Terry Pegula for years in an attempt to use his millions to build an ice rink on campus and take the school up to the Division 1 level.
Patrick and Battista were obviously successful. Â So guess where the two are employed now that Pegula also owns the Buffalo Sabres?
Yep. Â Patrick is a Senior Advisor to Pegula and Battista is VP of Hockey Administration for the Sabres.
A quick browse of the team’s front office also reminded me of how many other Pittsburgh connections there are in Buffalo.
Ted Black (President) was former Senior VP of the Penguins and later Fox Sports Pittsburgh. Â Cliff Benson (Chief Development Officer) has long-standing connections to the Penguins and Penn State as well. Â Former Penguins CEO Ken Sawyer isn’t listed on the site anymore but as of last summer was serving as a senior advisor to Pegula. Â Bryan Trottier is an assistant coach. Randy Cunneyworth is a Player Development Coach.
Most of those names are associated with older decades of Penguins hockey, but while we’re on the topic…would it shock you if Dan Bylsma ended up coaching in Buffalo next season?
The Sabres have officially hit rock bottom but they have an incredibly bright future if GM Tim Murray pulls the right strings over the next three months.
Bylsma’s energy and positive attitude would be a perfect fit for a young and understandably frustrated group.
(5) Is Sidney Crosby’s reduced playing time affecting his production?
CBS Sports’ Adam Gretz (@AGretz) was on PenguinsLive with Brian Metzer (@Brian_Metzer) on Monday and wondered aloud whether Crosby’s offensive production is being affected by noticeably lower ice time this season.
Penguins coach Mike Johnston said in training camp that he’d make an effort to reduce Crosby’s ice time during the regular season.  So far, that’s happening.  Crosby is averaging 19:58 per game after averaging 21:58 last year.
It doesn’t seem like much, but at Crosby’s current scoring pace, an extra two minutes per game (over 71 games) would have meant another eight points so far.
That would put Crosby 10 points clear of anyone else in the scoring race. Â As Gretz said, “would we still be talking about how much Crosby is struggling?”
He brings up a good point.