With his offensive skill set alone, Derick Brassard might rank among the Penguins' top handful of forwards. While that might not seem all that impressive, consider who is above him: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, and you can probably add Jake Guentzel to that mix, too.
Brassard will miss his fifth straight game with a lower-body injury when the Penguins host the Devils tonight at PPG Paints Arena. Technically, he is day-to-day, but, in reality, he is week-to-week. Brassard went out of the lineup after the Penguins' 9-1 win in Calgary 11 days ago and has yet to resume skating.
"We're taking each day as it comes," Mike Sullivan said in his most extensive remarks on Brassard's condition when I asked after Monday's morning skate. "There's a cautious approach that we're taking with him, obviously. The next step will be when he actually gets on the ice. But he's not there yet."
Since coming over in last February's blockbuster trade-deadline deal from Ottawa, Brassard has underachieved with the Penguins, mainly due to injury. He recorded eight points in 14 games last season before going down with a presumed groin injury that severely limited him in the playoffs, where he had just four points in 12 games.
This season, after scoring a goal in the opener against the Capitals, Brassard went five games without a point and just one shot on goal as he was shuffled between center, his natural position, and left wing.
But as soon as Sullivan was able to kickstart him by placing him on the top line with Crosby, Brassard went out of the lineup again. He recorded four points in his last two games, including a three-assist game against the Flames. Meanwhile, the Penguins have gone 1-2-1 since Brassard went down.
"Whenever you lose a player of his caliber and what's he done in his career, it hurts a little bit," Guentzel told me. "He's a special player. But we've got guys in this room who can step up."
The problem is, the Penguins really haven't had anybody step up. Over the last four games, the Penguins' goals have come from the usual suspects. The only player who has scored not named Crosby, Malkin or Kessel has been Dominik Simon, who took Brassard's place on the top line.
Brassard's absence has been like the missing piece in a Jenga game. With him out of the lineup, Sullivan has had to shuffle things up in the bottom six to little avail.
No matter who is skating on the third or fourth line, Sullivan says they can contribute, even if they're not scoring.
"They need to bring energy, they need to be hard to play against, they have to be sound defensively, they have to help us with momentum. They can bring a physical dimension, they can help us kill penalties and play in certain roles like that," he said.
THE ESSENTIALS
THE INJURIES
• Penguins: Brassard, forward, will miss his fifth straight game with a lower-body injury. He is day-to-day. Justin Schultz, defenseman, is expected to miss four months after fracturing his leg Oct. 13 in Montreal.
• Devils: Jesper Bratt, forward, has been out since Oct. 4 with a fractured jaw suffered during practice. Steven Santini is also out with a broken jaw suffered Oct. 20 at Philadelphia and is on IR. Stefan Noesen, forward, will miss his second game on IR after suffering an upper-body injury.
THE OTHER SIDE
Brian Boyle told me that Jean-Sebastian Dea reminds him a lot of Jonathan Marchessault, his former teammate in Tampa Bay. Not just because of their French Canadian accents, either, the Devils' big forward was joking.
"He's got that grittiness to his game," Boyle said of his linemate. "He's got hands. It takes a little while to stick (in the NHL) maybe, but he's a good offensive player, and he's been helpful and really enjoyed playing with him."
It remains to be seen if Dea will blossom into a 75-point scorer as Marchessault did last year with the expansion Golden Knights, but he's doing a pretty good job of it since the Penguins placed him on waivers in training camp.
Dea spent four years in the Penguins organization, working his way through Wheeling and Wilkes-Barre to reach the NHL for one game in 2016-17 and five more last season. On Jan. 23 last year, he scored his first career goal in a game against Carolina, and the 24-year-old's reaction was priceless.
But since being claimed by the Devils on Sept. 23, scoring has become kind of old hat for him. With an opportunity to play regularly with New Jersey, Dea has made the most of it, scoring three goals in 11 games this season while skating on a fourth line with Boyle.
In fact, Dea has as many goals as Calder Trophy runner-up Nico Hischier, and more than reigning Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall (two).
What’s the secret to his early success?
"I think it's the right fit for me here," he said. "They play with lot of speed and intensity. It's exactly what my game is."
It also doesn't hurt that his new coach is John Hynes and his GM is Ray Shero, who worked with him in the Penguins organization.
Tonight's game is the first of a dozen back-to-back sets New Jersey will play this season. The Devils' game tomorrow night at Ottawa will be the fifth of a seven-game trip. Like the Penguins, the Devils are also on a three-game losing streak, their second of the season.
THE SKATE
• Juuso Riikola was among the first players off the ice, meaning that he'll draw back in the lineup with Chad Ruhwedel likely the odd man out. The 24-year-old Finn, who has been a healthy scratch four of the last five games, says that watching the games from the press box hasn't been easy or beneficial. "I don't know if you can learn a lot watching what's in those games," he told me. "I think it's more like you playing and you watch your own clips. That's how, I think, that's how you learn to get better." He says he has to be quicker and be more creative with his passing and use the boards more, instead of looking for the perfect pass.
• Matt Murray was the first goalie off and will get the start.
• Keith Kinkaid will get the start for the Devils. The Devils held a full skate Monday at PPG Paints Arena.
• After not practicing Sunday, Kessel opted to not take the ice Monday either. It's uncertain if Kessel is nursing an injury, but Sullivan said that the veteran right winger will be available tonight. Kessel has played in 704 consecutive games, the ninth player to do so in league history.
"I'm sure it means a lot to him," Sullivan said of the streak. "I think it's an indication of his toughness, his willingness to play injured, his compete level."
• Among those also exercising their option were Crosby, Riley Sheahan, Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin.
• Jack Johnson, who played in his 800th career game Saturday, has been through many tough practices such as Sunday's in Cranberry. It's nothing new to him. After a 5-0 loss to the Leafs, the defenseman said he "knew it was coming." Johnson previously played for John Tortorella, who was a mentor of Sullivan's. He had nothing but good things to say about each.
"There's very positive similarities," Johnson told me. "I've played for a lot of demanding coaches. I played for Marc Crawford and Darryl Sutter. Had a lot of them, and they all have the same positive attributes in common. They hold guys accountable, no matter who you are or what you've done."
• Three weeks after suffering a gruesome fractured ankle in Montreal, Justin Schultz was seen getting around PPG Paints Arena on crutches and a walking boot.
• On Monday morning, Devils officials were scrambling to acquire stickers to honor the victims of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting to place on the team's helmets.
THE COMBINATIONS
Here's an educated guess on the lines and combinations, based on what the Penguins used Sunday in practice and what was seen and heard Monday:
Guentzel-Crosby-Simon
Hagelin-Malkin-Kessel
Rust-Sheahan-Hornqvist
Cullen-Grant-Sprong
Dumoulin-Letang
Maatta-Oleksiak
Johnson-Riikola
Hall-Hischier-Palmieri
Johansson-Zajac-Wood
Coleman-Seney-Stafford
Boyle-Dea-Anderson
Mueller-Vatanen
Greene-Severson
Butcher-Lovejoy
THE SCHEDULE
Faceoff tonight is at 7:08 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena. The Penguins will practice Tuesday afternoon in Cranberry before leaving for Washington, where they will take on the defending Stanley Cup champions Wednesday night.
THE COVERAGE
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