Pittsburgh Penguins Offseason Grades: Chris Kunitz Hits a 2015 Downward Spiral
Chris Kunitz, a previous Pittsburgh Penguins fan favorite and Sidney Crosby‘s BFF on the top line fell out of grace among Pens’ fans at a rapid pace this past season.
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Coming off a career-year in which he potted 68 points (35g, 33a), expectations were high for Kunitz in 2014-15. While it’s rare that fans are happy about a contract extended with the type of term that Kunitz received at his age, he actually seemed to be getting better as he entered his mid-30’s. That was until this past season.
Kunitz began this past season like many other Pittsburgh Penguins and was simply on fire. He tallied 20 points (9g, 11a) through October and November in 25 games-played. At that point in the season he was on pace for a 65 points and another stellar year. However, he followed up that performance with a total of 20 points over the final four months of the season. When you’re playing alongside talented centers like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, that just isn’t going to cut it.
The toughest part of analyzing Kunitz’ 2014-15 campaign is that his underlying numbers were very good and even outstanding in some cases. He was a solid possession player whether he was with Sid or Geno, and even boosted Brandon Sutter‘s metrics in the short time that the two played together.
There was news of an iron deficiency that impacted his energy levels, which will obviously take a toll on any player in a long NHL season. The issue though, is that after they found the illness and had him on proper medication, there was no change in production.
To Kunitz’ credit, he did contribute in the playoffs with 3 points in 5 games-played vs. the New York Rangers. The team was obviously in shambles at that point, but put together a pretty good performance considering the circumstances and seeing Kunitz on the scoresheet again was nice. But, was it enough to consider his season a success?
In 2014-15 Kunitz recorded 40 points (17g, 23a) in 74 games-played for an average of .54 points-per-game. Also, 16 of those 40 points came on the power play. Simply put, his drop off in production from one year prior is extremely terrifying considering the Pittsburgh Penguins have him under contract for two more seasons.
Chris Kunitz having a very good October and November isn’t enough for me to grade him any higher than a D for 2014-15.
Yes, I take his solid possession numbers into account. However, he’s expected to produce on the scoreboard and he didn’t. Kunitz may find himself in a third line role next season, or the Pittsburgh Penguins may have to play him with Crosby in order to maximize their production across the top three lines. Either way, if Kunitz doesn’t find his scoring touch he’ll be nothing more than a $3.8 million anchor for the Pens.
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