DENVER -- Serious injuries to key players has been the dominant storyline in the Penguins' season to date, going back to when Bryan Rust got a broken hand blocking a shot during the final exhibition game.
The Penguins have received a lot of praise for how they've dealt with that adversity, and justifiably so, because it could have sabotaged their season long before it reached this point.
Difficult as it might be to see, however, there actually could be an upside to what they have gone through, because having so many players unavailable has given guys like Sam Lafferty, Stefan Noesen, Joseph Blandisi, Andrew Agozzino and Thomas Di Pauli -- players who might not otherwise have turned up on the major-league roster in 2019-20 -- a chance to show what they can do at this level.
There is, Rust noted, the potential -- and precedent -- for a silver lining to come out of an obviously dark situation.
"My first opportunity came when there were so many injuries," he said. "I got my chance in the league then, and I was able to stick. So I think it's a good opportunity for a lot of guys here to make their mark and try to establish themselves."
Rust added that, "I think there were like four forwards," including Beau Bennett and Pascal Dupuis, out with injuries when he and several teammates were summoned from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
"Me, (Conor) Sheary, (Tom) Kuhnhackl and Scott Wilson all came up," he said. "Oskar Sundqvist was after that. There was a whole ton of guys who came flying up and we played the rest of the year."
MORE PENGUINS
• The Penguins have two goaltenders on their major-league roster: One who earned Stanley Cup rings in each of his first two seasons in the NHL, the other who played his way from the No. 3 spot on the depth chart to the NHL All-Star Game in a matter of months. Both are relatively young, and both presumably would have pretty fair value on the trade market. The latter point apparently won't get past the hypothetical stage, however, because when Jim Rutherford was asked if he would consider dealing Matt Murray or Tristan Jarry to help plug some of the holes injuries have created in his lineup, his response was quick and emphatic: "No." Keeping both beyond this season likely would put a major strain on the Penguins' salary-cap situation, since Murray and Jarry will be restricted free agents July 1 and both likely will command pretty big paychecks. Rutherford, though, said that figuring out how to re-sign both is not at the top of his current to-do list. "It's too early to sort all that out yet," he said. "We have lots of time to look at that." -- Molinari
• Rick Tocchet, the former Penguins winger and assistant coach, turns up in a lot of conversations about candidates to receive the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's top coach for his work in Arizona this season. He believes that lessons he learned while working under Mike Sullivan have contributed to his success with the Coyotes, who the Penguins will face Sunday in Glendale, Ariz. "Sully was good at giving you autonomy, letting you coach in your own style," Tocchet said. "He welcomed your opinion, whether he liked it or not, then he would make the decision. I've learned how to delegate and, at the end of the day, make those decisions. Sully made some big, hard decisions when I was there. 'Who do you start, (Marc-Andre) Fleury or (Matt) Murray? Do you break up this line?' These are tough decisions, and we'd give him our opinion and he'd say he'd sleep on it and the next day he'd come with a decision. He wasn't wishy-washy when he said, 'We're going to do this.' I liked the way he went with his convictions and his heart. I think he was right more than he was wrong." -- Molinari
• There was much moaning in some hockey circles earlier this week about "recycling" coaches when John Hynes, coach of the Penguins' American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre from 2009-2015, was named coach in Nashville Tuesday, just weeks after being fired in New Jersey. Apparently, some people feel that coaching in the NHL should be a one-and-done proposition. Seems like a good time to mention that Sullivan lasted precisely 164 regular-season games while running an NHL bench for the first time, in Boston. He eventually got another chance when Rutherford promoted him from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to the Penguins in December, 2015 and has done reasonably well ever since. (Assuming, of course, that one is inclined to measure success by things like, oh, victories and Stanley Cups.) And while the fact that Sullivan replaced Hynes as coach in Wilkes-Barre after Hynes joined the Devils has no real significance, it does add a neat twist to Hynes getting his second head-coaching job in the NHL -- and all of the hand-wringing that accompanied it. -- Molinari
STEELERS
• When the Steelers finished out of the playoffs for the second consecutive season, it opened them up to the possibility of being the team featured on HBO's "Hard Knocks" during training camp. It's not something anyone within the organization to the highest of levels is real keen on doing. But if the league and HBO settle on a team, they really don't have a choice but to do the show. Teams are exempt from being chosen for "Hard Knocks" if they have a new head coach, have been in the playoffs in the past two seasons and have been on the show in the previous 10 years. That leaves just five teams eligible this year: The Steelers, Broncos, Cardinals, Lions and Jaguars. But, and this is where it gets interesting, teams can volunteer to do the show. And that's what the Steelers are hoping for. Some teams might want to do the show to help generate ticket sales -- such as the Chargers as they move into a the new stadium they will share with the Rams. At least that's what the Steelers are banking on. -- Dale Lolley at Rooney Complex
• Looking at the final stats, T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree dropped into coverage less than ever before in 2019, not that it should surprise anyone. Watt dropped into coverage more than any other outside linebacker in his rookie season in 2017, but that number fell to just under 10 percent of the time in 2019. The same went for Dupree, who was dropping into coverage about a quarter of the time in 2016 and 2017. He, too, was under 10 percent in 2019. The reason for that is because the Steelers trust Watt and Dupree to win their one-on-one battles up front and they trust the coverage to hold up on the back end. They no longer feel the need to trick opponents to create a pass rush. That was the biggest difference in the team's league-best 54 sacks in 2019. While the Steelers have now led the NFL in sacks in each of the past three seasons, the rush was generated largely without blitzing in 2019. -- Lolley
• The Steelers work out players all the time. But when they worked out punter Ryan Santoso and long snapper Kyle Vasey earlier this week and it was reported they had done so, some immediately began speculating the team is moving on from punter Jordan Berry and long snapper Kameron Canaday. They might eventually do that. Canaday is an unrestricted free agent and releasing Berry would save $1.8 million against the salary cap for 2020. But the Steelers are simply doing their due diligence and seeing what's out there. Santoso has appeared in three career games -- as a placekicker -- mostly kicking off. Punting is new for him. And Vasey, who was in camp with the Falcons last season, has never snapped in an NFL game. Bottom line, the team is constantly working out players. -- Lolley
PIRATES
• I was reminded all through the Pirates' recent hiring/firing process not to take too seriously every little thing I'd hear. As such, I'd report only what I'd hear from either one reliable source or two independent sources, the latter always being ideal. So keep in context that I've got this only from the one source, albeit a long-reliable one: Tony LaCava, the Blue Jays' VP and a Pittsburgh native, was offered the GM's job before Ben Cherington but rejected it because it would've involved a pay cut from his position in Toronto, and the Pirates told him there was no wiggle room to negotiate. ... Yeah, I know. But again, it's one source, and there's no way the team could meaningfully confirm or deny such a thing after the fact, so there's no avenue there, either. Just sharing. -- Dejan Kovacevic
• If you happened to catch a ball game in Oneonta, N.Y., in 2001, you would have seen a good chunk of the Pirates' 2020 coaching staff. Bench coach Don Kelly and new assistant hitting coach Mike Rabelo were both making their minor-league debut that season, and their manager was Gary Green, who is now the Pirates' minor-league infield coordinator. While Kelly and Rabelo had remained in contact for years, Kelly did not tell him that he was being considered for a staff job. The two have been talking a lot more since the hiring, as Rabelo has asked Kelly, by his estimate, "eight million questions" to get up to speed ahead of their first meeting as a complete coaching staff next week. -- Alex Stumpf
• While much has been made about the Pirates' pitching woes this offseason, Statcast's latest update paints a pretty grim picture of their defense, too. Last year, Pirates infielders combined for -17 Outs Above Average, the fourth worst total in baseball, per Baseball Savant. That includes Adam Frazier, who they rated as the best defensive second baseman in the league last year with +11 OAA. Colin Moran (-7 OAA), Kevin Newman (-8) and Josh Bell (-5) all ranked in the bottom four of their position. While the Pirates have made it a point to improve catcher defense this offseason, non-tendering Elias Diaz and signing Luke Maile, they have not made any moves to address infield defense. It may be up to new major-league coach Glenn Sherlock, who is overseeing the team's defensive shifts, to spark the improvement. -- Stumpf