Pittsburgh Penguins: Grading the Penguins Through Seven Games

Through the first seven game of this season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have seen their fair share of intrigue, but have managed to avoid a disastrous start like their Metropolitan Division rivals the New York Rangers.

Picking up 9 points in 7 games with a 4-2-1 record has allowed the Pittsburgh Penguins to start their season on the right foot, although it still puts them behind the New Jersey Devils and the Columbus Blue Jackets in the division, but with 75 games to still be played, almost anything can happen.

Every so often, we’ll grade the Penguins on their performance, giving forwards, defense, and goalies (and other areas) a letter grade of either (A, B, C, D, or F).  Even though not every player on the roster will be graded, feel free to comment with your own grades on anyone left out.

Forwards:

Sidney Crosby: (B+) It’s often hard to pick apart anything glaring missing from Sidney Crosby’s game, particularly because there is nothing glaring missing from his game. Through the first seven games, Crosby has already provided some highlight reel goals that are going to be shown throughout the entire year.  At the same time, he’s racked up 9 points (4g, 5a) through those games with four of those points coming via the man advantage.  At the same time, Crosby has seen his wingers shift often already this season, leading to some growing pains, including defensive miscues and missed opportunities.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Evgeni Malkin: (C+) When it comes to Malkin, so far this season has shown both sides to his game, although one of those sides is more frustrating to fans.  Through seven, Malkin has put up 8 points (2g, 6a) with no goals on the powerplay and only 18 total shots in those games. Although Malkin has at times looked like the “Geno” of old, other times he’s appeared frustrated and struggling to find chemistry with his wingers, including Phil Kessel.

Bryan Rust: (B-) Also with 8 points (1g, 7a) through seven games, Rust has shown something that Malkin has been lacking this season, which is adaptability. Rust, starting the season on the 3^rd line, has started some games on the 1^st and some on the 2^nd and still has found a way to be tied for second on the team in scoring. He’s driving with the puck to net and finding room to make plays. Hopefully once things settle down and he finds a more permanent home on a line, the rest will come.

Patric Hornqvist: (A-) One of the only two players on this list to get an ‘A’ Hornqvist has shown his value throughout the four games this season he’s appeared in. After missing the first two games with an injury, Hornqvist returned to the lineup and has put up 5 points, with 3 of those coming on the powerplay.

Conor Sheary: (C-) After starting the season on the top line alongside Sidney Crosby, Sheary has seen himself bounce up and down the lineup looking for a home. Following a disappointing playoff run, which challenged his spot in the lineup, it appeared that Sheary had come to camp with his head in the right space and ready to go, but the reality hasn’t quite lived up to the expectation. With 4 points in seven games, Sheary isn’t doing horrible, but with a minus-3 he isn’t exactly playing great either.

Greg McKegg: (C) Perfectly average. While McKegg had a pretty solid start to the year for a 3^rd-line center, picking up 3 points in 7 games, the problem is that the Penguins model means whomever is centering the third line, should in theory have a greater opportunity to take advantage of matchups, which McKegg has done so, but not exactly at a pace that helps the Penguins succeed. While McKegg’s play has by no means hurt the team, it’s clear, even at this early point in the season, that the Penguins should consider looking elsewhere for a long-term center for their third line.

Ryan Reaves: (D-) Yeesh. I’m not sure why I decided to grade Reaves, but here it goes. In 7 games, he has 1 goal, no assists, 38 penalty minutes, and averages 05:50 minutes of ice time per game. For comparison his 4^th line counterpart, Tom Kuhnhackl averages 10:29 minutes of ice time per game. In other words, he plays 5 less minutes, on average, than his own line. Ouch.  I think it’s time we end this experiment, cut our losses, and play Scott Wilson over Reaves.

Defense:

Olli Maatta: (A) The highest grade on this list goes to Olli Maatta and he’s definitely earned it. The highest scoring defenseman on the team so far, Maatta has started the year with 7 points in 7 games, averaging a little more than 17 minutes of ice time per game. More importantly, it appears that through the first stretch of this season, Maatta has regained his confidence, often pinching to keep the puck in and throwing it on net more than it seems like he’s down in the past.

Kris Letang: (B-) Second to only Maatta with points by a defenseman for the Penguins this season, Kris Letang has shown flashes of the smooth-skating, skilled offensive defenseman that Penguins fans have come to know. At the same time, there is still some rust that Letang will have to shake off as the season continues.

Matt Hunwick: (F) Playing almost 20 minutes on average over six games, Hunwick has one point and is a minus-2. Hunwick has the worst CF% for defenseman on the team and frankly that still doesn’t accurately encapsulate just how not good Hunwick has been to start the season. The whole defense hasn’t been cohesive and has had trouble getting the puck out of their end smoothly, but Hunwick has by all means stood out as the most incapable so far.

Goaltending:

Matt Murray: (B) With a record of 4-0-1 in 5 starts, one might think there’s not much to complain about with Murray when the buzzer sounds and the team leaves with a ‘W’ but Murray has had a sub-.900 save percentage and a goals against average of almost 3.50.  While a lot of this can’t be blamed on Murray as much as the terrible team defense in front of him, it hasn’t been a sterling performance so far from the young goalie.

Antti Niemi: (Incomplete) In two starts, Niemi has a save percentage of .809 and a goals against average of 7.94 with a record of 0-2-0. If I had to grade Niemi, it wouldn’t be pretty, but as it’s only been two starts and the defense has been atrocious in front of either goalie, I’ll give him an incomplete for now.