The Penguins have a relatively light stretch of games coming out of the bye week/All-Star break before heading to Western Canada at the end of February. Once they return home on March 4, the schedule starts to ramp up.
“So, we have to make great use of this next stretch, all of which leads us into the trade deadline (on March 8) – which I know is a big topic locally, and throughout the league as well,” Penguins President of Hockey Operations and GM Kyle Dubas told broadcaster Josh Getzoff in the latest episode of the GM Show.
“So, for me now, this next month and how we come out of the break, (it’s about) whether we show that consistency that we've talked about so much throughout the year. Because when we're at our best, we show that we're right there with anybody, we can play with anybody, and really take it to anybody … but there's been too many other times where we don't have that night in and night out. It’s time for us now to show, this is who we are, we're going to impose ourselves every night.”
Dubas, Head Coach Mike Sullivan, Bryan Rust and Jake Guentzel have all referred to the games in hand Pittsburgh has coming out of the break, as they are tied with Ottawa for the fewest in the Eastern Conference. “There's 72 points available to us the rest of the year. To get to where we want to get to, we're going to have to win between 44 and 50 of those points,” Dubas said. The Penguins got off to a good start in that regard last night, shutting out Winnipeg 3-0.
The power play came up big in that game, with both new-look units finding the back of the net. Dubas emphasized the importance of the man-advantage going in the right direction during the GM Show, which was recorded before the win.
Dubas acknowledged how some team stats – particularly goals-against per game, where Pittsburgh ranks fifth in the league – can be referenced for why the Penguins are better than their record shows.
“But the reason why we're at where we're at in the standings is, number one, our power play is near the bottom of the league,” Dubas said. “If we got a few more goals, especially if you look at the number of one-goal games we've been in, our record isn't great in those games. It's a lot of games where we've had a lot of opportunity and we haven’t executed.
“So, you can quote the process, and I could regurgitate a number of analytical measures and data points. But this is where you tread to that line of how much is process and how much is going out executing and getting results. It's a result-oriented business and the standings don't lie, we're at where we're at. Everyone could point to our goal differential or five-on-five differential and say, we're due to become better. We have to execute better in those close games, we have to close out games that we have in hand better, and we have to execute on the power play.”
Dubas praised Sullivan and the coaching staff for making the changes they did to spread out the personnel. Instead of saying ‘the first unit’ and ‘the second unit,’ Dubas prefers to call them the (Erik) Karlsson unit and (Kris) Letang unit.
“I think on the outside and even internally at times, it's easy to say, well, this should just work,” Dubas said. “I think because the players have that pedigree and they've had that success, you have a little bit more patience with them. So, I give the coaching staff credit, even though maybe others would have clamored to do so earlier, they've continually tried to change the system subtly, they've continually tried new things as different guys have been in and out. Now with everybody back, they're trying something else.”
Dubas said he particularly liked what he saw in practice from the Karlsson group, with Jeff Carter getting the first goal during a five-minute power play following a match penalty to Brendan Dillon for an illegal check to the head on Noel Acciari. Bryan Rust followed that up with another.
“(Switching it up) keeps the heat on, and I also think it serves to relieve some of the pressure because I think everybody in the building, home or away, when you're watching the game on TV, you can feel it,” Dubas said. “The results are weighing heavily on the players. Now, it's broken up a little bit where it's not just resting on the guys in the top unit, and they can push each other and attempt to give each other relief if it's not going well, and it gives the coaching staff some options.”
Dubas had taken his family to Wilkes-Barre during the break, spending Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in eastern Pennsylvania. He signed Jesse Pulujarvi to a two-year deal on Sunday, after the forward played 13 games in the AHL as part of a professional tryout following double hip surgery.
“At the beginning, you could see he was very tentative and trying to think his way through it and learn, and try to shake the rust off,” Dubas said. “By the end, we felt he was getting back up to speed and playing much better.”
Dubas said they felt like the timing was right to get Pulujarvi going in Pittsburgh, with two practice days Sunday and Monday, a game on Tuesday, and another couple of days before a back-to-back set on Friday and Saturday in Minnesota and Winnipeg.
“We just thought now's a good time to get Jesse in and rolling and kind of tear the band-aid off, and let him get out there and be at his best,” Dubas said. “He's playing with two veteran, very responsible guys with Rickard Rakell and Lars Eller. So, it's a good fit for him and kind of where we had envisioned him. Again, just like all the others before, it's up to him to run with it. There's nothing guaranteed, and we're not locked into anything.”
Dubas has said numerous times this season that they wanted the younger players who have gotten opportunities to take them and run. He feels like Drew O’Connor has taken some great steps, and Jansen Harkins has run with his a bit inside of a specific role on the fourth line. “But the others who were in that spot, I don't think that they had really cemented themselves” – which is why the Penguins took the opportunity to bring Puljujarvi in.
Regarding what else he took away from the trip to Wilkes-Barre, Dubas singled out the play of 2019 first-round draft pick Sam Poulin, who has seven goals over his last 13 games – saying “he’s been excellent of late.”
“He got a high ankle sprain unfortunately in late October, has come back from that, and especially as of late, has really started to assert himself on that level in his third-year pro, which has been a great development for us and obviously really proud of Sam,” Dubas said.
Dubas also mentioned the play of AHL All-Star goaltender Joel Blomqvist and defenseman Jack St. Ivany, signed as a college free agent out of Boston College in 2022.
“Those guys have taken some good steps, but the mix of veteran guys and supporting staff is really strong for that level,” Dubas said. “So, we expect the group here without a doubt to continue to develop these guys, get more and more out of them, have them continue to progress the younger guys … make sure that the depth players are ready to come up here when needed.”
