As the Pittsburgh Penguins get set to open Training Camp and with the NHL Regular Season only weeks away, the question on my mind today is, should the Penguins have the Best Power Play in the NHL this year?
As you know, the Penguins splurged in Free Agency, bringing in the Top available D-Man, Erik Karlsson. If you add him to, ummm let’s just say, Crosby, Malkin, Letang and Guentzel, would you not think they should be considered to have the Best Power Play Unit in this upcoming NHL season?
Let’s have a look and compare.
Here is a quick peek at the Top 3 Power Play units from 2022-2023.
Rank #1
Edmonton Oilers converting @ 32.4%.
McDavid
Draisaitl
Nugent-Hopkins
Hyman
Barrie
MP Notes:
There are only 2 All-World players here. They might be the best 2 players in the world mind you, however, the rest are nice to haves, not All-Worlds.
Rank #2
Toronto Maple Leafs converting @ 26.0%.
Matthews
Marner
Nylander
Tavaras
Giordano
MP Notes
There are only 3 All-World players here, the others are good but have seen better days.
Rank #3
Tampa Bay Lightning converting @ 25.4%.
Stamkos
Kucherov
Killorn
Point
Hedman
MP Notes
There are only 3 All-World players here, and they have put many miles on their bodies already. Point is an All-World maybe.
Rank #14
Pittsburgh Penguins converting @ 21.7%.
MP Notes
As we know, last years group was just not getting it done. So now the Penguins will roll out…
Crosby
Malkin
Guentzel
Letang
Karlsson
Let’s be honest here, the Penguins are rolling out 5 quality All-World players. Can you see any other NHL teams rolling out 5 All-World players? You compare apples to apples…who do you think is better? How can they not be the #1 Power Play heading into this year!
Penguins Recent Power Play History
2021-22 rank 15th converting @ 21%.
2020-21 rank 13th converting @ 21.6%.
2019-20 rank 13th converting @ 21.2%.
2018-19 rank 10th converting @ 21.9%. >>> Phil Kessel leaves the Penguins.
2017-18 rank 5th converting @ 22.7%. >>>Stanley Cup Year.
2016-17 rank 5th converting @ 22.7%. >>>Stanley Cup Year.
MP Notes:
As you can see, this Power Play unit minus Karlsson has been clippin’ at around 21-22% since 2016. And it also appears slightly weaker since Kessel left in 2018-19.
Kessel was the sniper on the half-wall when the Penguins had Power Play success. So, are you thinking of putting Letang in that slot? Guentzel? Rakell? Well, at least the Penguins have options, depending on who is healthy or who is hot.
One sure fire fact is, these 5 All-World Penguins will be able to pass the puck tape-to-tape with lightning speed precision. The question is who will shoot to score?
I say, just go back to the basic’s boys…place a man in front of the net creating a distraction for the Goalie and forcing a D-Man to cover you. Move the puck quick enough and get it to the open man for a one timer. Beyond that, get pucks to the net, pound, and crash.
Don’t make it more complicated than it needs to be boys.
One would logically think that by adding Karlsson to the Penguins Power Play, it should score a few more goals, therefore gaining some additional Power Play conversion points and maybe, just maybe, getting a few more W’s, which should get them back into the playoffs.
Am I right in thinking like this?
My View from the Cheap Seats
Fun Fact: We know this group of Penguins is not in the same league as the 1987 Team Canada Power Play.
Remember when…Team Canada rolled out…
Gretzky
Super Mario
Messier
Coffey
Bourque
However, with Crosby, Malkin, Karlsson, Letang and Guentzel all moving up on the NHL Overall Points list with each passing game, we should see an uptick in the Power Play compared to the last few years, shouldn’t we?
Quote of the Day:
“Dare to Dream”
Marc Penner – Writer / Author – Site Expert