Remember the fall of 2019, when just about everyone who pays attention to the Penguins was surprised by how easily John Marino adapted to the NHL just months after completing his junior year at Harvard?
(Just about everyone except the scouts who'd prodded Jim Rutherford to acquire his rights from Edmonton, that is.)
Well, imagine how opponents felt as they were watching a guy who hadn't even been an afterthought for most of them going into the season.
Actually, you don't have to imagine.
Todd Reirden, the recently hired Penguins assistant coach who was entering his second season as head coach in Washington then, lays it out pretty clearly.
"Having coached against him, oftentimes the reaction in our coaches room after the game was, 'Where did that guy come from?' " he said. "That was a great pickup for the Penguins organization, to be able to make that trade and realize what they had with that player."
What they had was a guy who, after being a healthy scratch for the first two games of the season, claimed a spot in the lineup and didn't relinquish it until his cheekbone was shattered by a puck Feb. 6 in Tampa.
Marino returned after sitting out 11 games while recovering from surgery to repair his injury, and finished the season with six goals and 20 assists in 56 games. He became a regular on the No. 2 pairing with Marcus Pettersson and logged an average of 20 minutes, 15 seconds of ice time per game, more than any Penguins defensemen except Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin.
"He certainly had an impressive year," Reirden said.
Reirden, of course, will have a different perspective on Marino during the coming season, since he'll be working with him on a daily basis. And while he noted that some young players plateau, or even regress, during their second season in the league, Reirden is optimistic about the trajectory of Marino's career.
"It's always a challenge going into that second year, to see where their game goes," he said. "But I think that will be good to be a part of. Working with him is something I'm looking forward to doing, and continue to improve him and all of the defensemen, individually.
"That's something I've always taken a lot of pride in. I believe that if each of them can improve a little bit, we get a whole lot better as a group."
Marino, though, might have the most upside of anyone on the Penguins' defense. He hasn't shown a penchant for the occasional spectacular burst of talent like, say, Letang, but is reliable and responsible and efficient, capable of contributing in whatever role he is given.
Reirden feels Marino's "ability to defend ... certainly has been effective," but suggested there is potential to get better in that facet of his game, and more than a few others.
"The confidence in his game, you could see grow during the season last year," he said. "Now, there's probably just some more comfort. With that will come some ability to add, at times, a little more offensively. In addition to that, being in a role where he can play against the other team's top players, those are things where he is definitely on that type of a learning curve."
Marino, who was a psychology major at Harvard, proved to be a quick study after turning pro, thanks in part to what appears to be a particularly high hockey IQ. That might not help much in a 400 level college class, but sure does come in handy when assessing how a play on the ice is likely to develop.
"From afar and watching video of him, you can (see) that he's only going to get better," Reirden said. "The hockey sense. The feel for the game."
Reirden is beginning his second stint as a Penguins assistant, and his work with the defense was widely praised the first time around. He expects Marino to be receptive to the guidance he will offer, which could literally pay off for Marino as he enters the final year of his entry-level contract.
"The things I've heard about him from the staff and other players has been nothing but rave reviews about him as a person, and as a player," Reirden said. "I'm looking forward to working with him."
And to no longer being surprised by anything he watches Marino do.