Brief and to the Point ...
• This time, it really isn't on Derrick Pouliot.
He's an easy target, of course. Every time the Penguins bring him back from Wilkes-Barre, he's as easy a target for NHL forwards as he is for those of us in the media, as he is for the fan base. For the simple reason that he's not very good at what he does.
And then, he gets sent right back.
Sorry, I'm no longer inclined to pile on. Not until I better understand why Jim Rutherford and Mike Sullivan keep doing this.
There does come a point when all concerned realize that a prospect is no longer a prospect, and it's incredible that his hasn't yet come crashing down on these two exemplary hockey men. They have to grasp by now that, anytime Pouliot performs well in the AHL, it's nothing more than Lucy grinning with her fingertip on the football. They have to grasp that his skating masks the lack of drive, the lack of defensive awareness, because players at that level can't keep up. They have to grasp by now that all the scolding and/or pep talks won't alter his attitude or his awareness.
They know this. They see it. They have to.
So why is this 23-year-old non-prospect being given a solitary shift?
Because the team is depleted and desperate?
OK, that's obviously valid, but Cameron Gaunce, modest though he is, has outperformed Pouliot by light-years, and he's watched the past couple games from the press box.
Because someone somewhere might want to trade for him?
Please. Other GMs aren't without resources. Meaning their own two eyes.
Because maybe Pouliot will someday, magically, break through?
Wow, no. That train left the station long ago. And it wrecks all the time, in case you weren't watching over the weekend. And it's well past time Rutherford and Sullivan discontinue that service, as well.
• Typically when a high draft pick is given chance after chance, it's because management made the mistake. Well, this was Ray Shero's mistake. Pouliot was taken eighth overall in 2012 and, though this type of discussion can be had with any draft order in history, Jacob Trouba went ninth to Winnipeg, Filip Forsberg 11th to Washington. For that matter, Olli Maatta, Pouliot's superior in every way right from the outset, was taken 22nd by Shero.
So, Shero made a mistake. Big whoop. Move on already.
• Loving Tom Kuhnhackl's play of late. He won't win any wind-sprints, but when he's feeling sharp, he's doing stuff like this to the Panthers' poor Keith Yandle a couple days ago to draw a tripping minor:
There's zero doubt he'll be in the playoff lineup. Not just because of his five-on-five play but also for his steady and smartly aggressive penalty-killing.
• For all the worthy raves over the play of Sid and The Kids, it just might be that the biggest benefit to the cementing of Conor Sheary and especially Jake Guentzel as top-six wingers is what it'll do for the Penguins' forward depth once healthy.
For example and only for fun ...
Sheary-Crosby-Guentzel
Kessel-Malkin-Hornqvist
Hagelin-Bonino-Rust
Kunitz-Cullen-Kuhnhackl
