Sunday Dump ‘n chase: what happens if Crosby doesn’t sign on 8/7?
...And an alternative to the community lines
The chase moves to Sunday this week, where we ask and answer questions on some topics about the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Q: With the skaters complete in the Pensburgh community vote, what differences could be out there for the team this season compared to the lineup that was established here?
First of all, the lines the group choice are completely plausible and certainly carry a lot of logic with them. It was an interesting exercise to do, though one wonders if the voters were going off what they wanted the lines to be (as hopefully they did) and not based off more of predictions for what they expected the actual team to do.
To pick it apart or critique, let’s start at the top. It’s no secret that as an unwritten rule the team’s top left wing (and right wing, for that matter) usually end up playing with Sidney Crosby. The best all-around LW on the team right now is Michael Bunting. Now, obviously from the end of last year, Bunting did little in his first four games in Pittsburgh (on Crosby’s line, 1G+0A) and then heated up playing the rest of the season with Evgeni Malkin (5G+12A in 17 games). That counts for something but ought not a total disqualifier from the possibility of revisiting Bunting’s placement.
Using hindsight and some context it might not be a shock Bunting+Crosby didn’t pay instant dividends being as they were thrown together at the worst moment in the middle of a jarring season. Perhaps the two develop chemistry to get on the same page if they’re given the luxury of a training camp’s worth of time to figure out how to better play together.
The great news is that lines aren’t permanent, surely there will be times to put Bunting back with Malkin to see if that helps the team — much the way Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell have floated back and forth between star centers at various moments depending on who is playing well and which line might need a little lift.
Moving Bunting up to Crosby opens up a prime spot on the Malkin line, which potentially could be an opportunity for a newcomer. Could this be a place for Kevin Hayes? Hayes’ play style is pass first, and Malkin loves to be fed the puck. If the idea is to insulate or jump-start Hayes, a move to the wing in a scoring line role makes sense to see if that could work.
The flipsde is that the team very well could well prefer first using Hayes at center. However, the glut of lower line center options (namely Lars Eller, Blake Lizotte) mean the Pens don’t necessarily need Hayes at center. But if they do keep Hayes in the middle, that spot on 2LW with Malkin could be filled by Anthony Beauvillier, another past 20-goal scorer who is looking to revive his career. Drew O’Connor makes for another candidate as well.
The exciting (is it that exciting?) result of this strategy would mean clearing up a third line of O’Connor, Eller and Valtteri Puustinen. That would feature a steady veteran and two youngsters. The personnel here could function better for the defensive matchups and starts that a Pittsburgh third line traditionally gets when they have Crosby and Malkin’s lines sapping up as many o-zone starts as the team can send their way.
The trickle down effect leaves a grinding fourth line to be configured with Lizotte, Noel Acciari and some other element to choose between whomever of Sam Poulin, Jesse Puljujarvi or Emil Bemstrom fits the bill based on training camp performance. Again, this concept would feature two players in their 20’s and fit the type of cardio energy line that Mike Sullivan seems to favor from his bottom line.
It doesn’t make for the cleanest of fits, and questions on Beauvillier’s placement will have to be answered for where he slots into the mix (possibly at the expense of Puustinen). But the possibilities could be open and appealing depending on where the Penguins see Bunting and Hayes playing at to start the year. Depending on that, the rest of the lines will fill in accordingly for players like O’Connor and Eller who could end up fitting in up or down the lineup in various roles.
Sounds good enough in theory, and in August theories and ideas are about all we have to go on. But that alternative could be appealing if one is shy about the prospects of the potential Beauvillier-Hayes-Puustinen third line that the voters chose.
Q: What will the concern level be if we wake on Thursday and there’s no news of a Sidney Crosby contract extension?
Naturally enough, many are trying to connect some dots in a hopeful way that on Wednesday (August 7th), the Penguins will announce a contract extension for their captain on his birthday. And why not, the numerology is important to Crosby and 8/7 would be as good a day as any since he was eligible to re-sign with Pittsburgh in a window that opened on July 1 to celebrate the news.
There’s not much concrete to go on, besides the facts that Kyle Dubas said signing Crosby was a priority and Crosby said he was anticipating talking to the Pens this summer about his next contract in his last public comments in April. Dubas said talks would be quiet and closed, and that has certainly proven to be the case with little information leaking out about the progress (or lack thereof) in the negotiation.
While it wouldn’t or shouldn’t be time to panic or expect anything has necessarily changed if news doesn’t break on Wednesday, the longer Crosby doesn’t sign the more eyebrow raising the situation becomes. Surely by the start of training camp immediate questions and unwanted attention will be cast on Crosby about his thoughts and plans for the future, should he get that far without a deal in place.
As Crosby told Malkin two summers ago, the Penguins are “Crosby, Malkin and Letang”. There’s also Mike Sullivan in that mix to be as instrumental and important to Crosby’s outlook on the team as anything else.
But Crosby surely realizes that at this point the Penguins are not the team that was a viable Cup contender as late as 2021 when they won their division, or even 2022 when they acquitted themselves well against the Rangers, despite losing due to a goalie-induced doom spiral. Since then, the team has missed the playoffs two years running and is no guarantee to even make the post-season, let alone have a realistic chance to make a run being as they’re rebuilding to as much of an extent as will be admitted at this point.
Accepting that the Pens are in a different world, one that sees them trade away players like Jake Guentzel at the deadline instead of acquiring them is surely a bitter pill to swallow for a competitor like Crosby who has known nothing up to this point since 2008 besides expecting to be in position to compete. Crosby’s lure and attachment to the organization has never outwardly wavered, but there’s now an exit ramp if he wants it.
Then again, any and all talk about the future could be completely overblown and all for naught if the two sides have been sitting on a contract for days or weeks in order to make August 7th an even more special day.
Who’s to say, but at least there will be drama and intrigue to watch out for this Wednesday. It could bring good news — or at least cast some serious questions about when (or even IF) the announcement of Crosby staying in Pittsburgh will come to pass. In true Crosby fashion of playing his cards close, anything else is speculation, beyond what is known to his loyalty and attachment to the organization and teammates in Malkin and Letang that he’s spent nearly his entire adult life playing with.