Pittsburgh Penguins’ Rookie Daniel Sprong Assigned To Charlottetown
Pittsburgh Penguins General Manager Jim Rutherford announced today that Daniel Sprong will be assigned to the Charlottetown Islanders of the QMJHL.
This morning the Pittsburgh Penguins announced that rookie Daniel Sprong would be assigned to his junior hockey club in Charlottetown after spending 18 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins this season.
The Penguins released the news in a press release:
Sprong, 18, skated in 18 NHL games with Pittsburgh, scoring a pair of goals. He tallied his first NHL goal against Craig Anderson and the Ottawa Senators on Oct. 15 at CONSOL Energy Center.The 6-foot, 180-pound Sprong was Pittsburgh’s top draft pick in 2015, chosen in the second round with the 46th overall selection.Sprong was one of just five players from the ‘15 Draft to play NHL games this year, joining the top-two overall picks, Conor McDavid and Jack Eichel, and first-round picks Noah Hanifin of Carolina (5th overall) and Colorado’s Mikko Rantanen (10th overall).Sprong skated in five exhibition contests for Pittsburgh, scoring twice and registering three points. His strong preseason performance came after Sprong led Pittsburgh’s rookies with two goals and three points at the club’s annual rookie tournament in London, Ontario in September.Originally from Amsterdam, Netherlands, Sprong moved to the Montreal area when he was seven. He’s played the last two years with Charlottetown of the QMJHL, leading the club in scoring both years.Last season, Sprong tallied 39 goals and 88 points in 68 games. The year prior as a rookie, he was a point-per-game player with 68 points (30G-38A) in 67 appearances, earning him a spot on the QMJHL’s All-Rookie Team in ’13-14.
To fill Daniel Sprong’s roster spot, the Pittsburgh Penguins recalled forward Scott Wilson from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Wilson has 15 goals in 23 games on the season and 24 points overall, good for third on the roster behind Dominik Simon and recent call-up Conor Sheary.
“Spending this time in the NHL has been a good development experience for Daniel,” Rutherford said. “But it’s important for him to have more playing time.”
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While I agree with the general manager’s sentiment entirely, the timing is questionable at best. The rookie deserves to be able to play good minutes each night.
That said, the move to send Sprong to his junior hockey club comes less than two weeks after Jim Rutherford openly questioned former Head Coach Mike Johnston regarding Sprong’s lack of playing time. It was seen as a death knell for Johnston, who was fired shortly afterward.
Now Rutherford’s new Head Coach Mike Sullivan decides he doesn’t want Sprong in the lineup either?
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Regardless of your thoughts on the NHL readiness of Sprong, this kind of behavior is a direct example of the flawed decision making process the Pens organization has seen in recent years.
The Pittsburgh Penguins and Jim Rutherford wasted a year on the entry level contract of a kid whom neither Johnston nor Sullivan wanted in the lineup beyond his 9th NHL game.
This was a logical move made dubious by pure stubbornness.
And if Sprong ever develops into what the organization thinks he’ll be, they’ll pay the price a year sooner than was necessary.