The guy who might be the Penguins' most likely candidate to win a league award this season hasn't scored a goal in quite a while.
Not since the 2001-02 season, actually.
Hasn't set one up since then, either. Or blocked a shot. Or won a faceoff.
But no one -- no one -- might be more responsible for the success they've had this season, despite a relentless run of injuries to key personnel.
Although a number of guys -- Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust and Jake Guentzel, among others -- have had productive seasons, no one has had a better one than Mike Sullivan.
Although having a couple of Stanley Cups on his resume might work against him in voting for the Jack Adams Award, which goes to the NHL's top coach and often seems to recognize a guy whose team is having breakthrough season, Sullivan's work this season probably has been his best since he replaced Mike Johnston in December, 2015.
Precisely where the Penguins will finish in the East Division, let alone the overall standings, is hard to say, but the fact that Sullivan has gotten them near the top of both despite the staggering adversity his team has faced is a credit to not only his tactics and game-management, but the buy-in he has gotten from his players.
A coach's message often goes stale when he has been with a team for as long as Sullivan has. That clearly isn't the case with him in 2020-21.
Will that be enough to earn Sullivan the Adams?
That's impossible to predict, and much could change during the final week-plus of the regular season, but Sullivan's work to this point should have him squarely in the discussion, along with the likes of Joel Quenneville (Florida), Dean Evason (Minnesota) and Rod Brind'Amour (Carolina), among others.
Although most NHL trophies and awards are voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, broadcasters pick the top coach and general managers choose the winner of the Vezina Trophy, which honors the league's top goalie.
All three groups will face an unprecedented challenge when making their selections because of the NHL's scheduling format this season, under which all games are played against divisional opponents. That likely will translate to a stronger-than-usual divisional bias in the balloting, since most voters will not get a first-hand look at many worthy candidates.
Presumably, that will all balance out, just as regional differences tend to in a normal season, but there's no guarantee that will be the case.
Here are other Penguins who figure to get significant support in the trophy voting:
Hart (most valuable to his team) -- Crosby already has a couple of these on his bookshelf (OK, more like the addition he had to put onto his house to hold all of the awards and honors he's earned), but he's unlikely to add to his collection this season. It's not because of any shortcomings on his part, since Crosby's 200-foot game might be the best it's ever been, but Edmonton's Connor McDavid is piling up points at a pace voters simply will not be able to ignore and Auston Matthews of Toronto has been a prolific goal-scorer. (How much their stats are influenced by the caliber of defense that predominates in the North Division is open to discussion.)
Norris (top defenseman) -- When Kris Letang is at his best -- and he's been there a lot of the time during the past couple of months -- there are few better defensemen in the world. Letang, though, also is capable of stunning lapses in decision-making, and the up-and-down nature of his season likely will relegate him toward the bottom of the ballots on which he appears.
Selke (best defensive forward) -- Crosby is a dark-horse contender for this, perhaps because many voters still think of him first as a point-producer. Nonetheless, his name does seem to be turning up in some Selke conversations of late -- as it should be, based on his defensive performance in 2020-21 -- and if he continues to generate that kind of attention before the voting takes place, he actually might be able to make a run at winning this.
MORE PENGUINS
• Mario Lemieux gets credit for saving the Penguins' franchise (for the first time) when he joined it in 1984, and the importance of his arrival cannot be overstated. If not for the addition of someone with the skills and star power of Lemieux -- and the list of those who have passed through the NHL could be written on a Post-It note, in large letters -- it's hard to imagine that the team would not have relocated. What doesn't get mentioned nearly as often, probably because it's more of an observation than anything that can be proven with hard data, is the role Mike Lange played in sustaining interest in the years before Lemieux arrived. Lange's compelling play-by-play work -- especially the creative goal calls that are inexorably linked to him -- gave local hockey fans a reason to continue following the team at a time when very little that was happening on the ice did. Lange's return to the broadcast booth Tuesday was a reminder of how indispensable he was in keeping the franchise viable, which ultimately made possible the decades of success the Penguins have enjoyed while developing into nothing less than a civic institution. Although Lange didn't play the game, his assist was one of the most important the Penguins ever will have. -- Molinari
• There's no question that Brian Burke, who joined the Penguins as president of hockey operations in February, has the courage of his convictions -- and is not reluctant to express them -- but he also appreciates the importance of having members of a front-office team operate in harmony. "When the late, great (Flames executive) Ken King hired me in Calgary, he said, 'Here's how it will work with your GM,' and this is what I went through with (general manager) Brad Treveling before I hired him," Burke said. "He said, 'We're going to act like business partners, so imagine you and I were partners in a clothing store. You're not going to walk in one day and I say to you, 'By the way, I'm taking the next four weeks off.' Or, 'by the way, today I'm firing our vice president.' We will talk about these things and reach a conclusion in concert.' That's how it worked with me and Brad Treliving. We never raised voices. We never got to the point where it had to be someone walking out of the room, saying 'I think this is nuts.' " -- Molinari
STEELERS
• To the surprise of no one, the Steelers picked up the fifth-year option on Minkah Fitzpatrick. They have until Monday (May 3) to also do so with Terrell Edmunds. It's no coincidence that deadline both comes after the draft is completed or that the Steelers will wait until the draft is completed to decide whether they will pick up that option on Edmunds. They want to see how things play out in the draft. Who knows? Perhaps the draft will lead them toward a strong safety they believe could be a starter down the road. But in all probability, the team will pick up the option on Edmunds. Just because they're waiting until after the draft means nothing. For example, the Cowboys said they will do the same thing with linebacker Leighton Vander Esch. The cost for Edmunds' fifth-year option is $6.75 million, which is a little pricey, but not outrageous for a starter who rarely misses time. -- Dale Lolley on the South Side
• The Steelers' average draft position in the first round earned since Kevin Colbert became the team's general manager/director of football operations in 2000 has been 23rd. In that span, the Steelers have been to the AFC Championship six times, the Super Bowl three times and won it twice. Colbert has drafted one player already in the Hall of Fame, safety Troy Polamalu, another who will be there for sure someday, Ben Roethlisberger, and six others -- Antonio Brown, Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro, Cam Heyward, T.J. Watt and Le'Veon Bell -- who were, at one point or another, considered among the best players in the league at their positions. Bill Nunn, who taught Colbert a lot, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in a private ceremony Wednesday night for the men going in who are no longer with us. Colbert should some day join his mentor in Canton. -- Lolley
• With 75 players currently on the roster and eight draft picks, the Steelers have room to add seven undrafted rookie free agents following the final round of the draft Saturday. They could potentially bring in more than that, but somebody else would obviously have to go. The NCAA's rule that allowed seniors to return to school this year cut the pool of players available from around what is typically 700 according to Colbert, down to around 400. That's why the Steelers were proactive signing first-year players they saw at pro days this year, adding five such players who either didn't get a chance to go to camp with anyone last year, such as wide receiver Matthew Sexton and linebacker Jarvis Miller. And if the Steelers decide they want to bring in more undrafted rookies, they can still do so. They'll just have to adjust the roster. -- Lolley
PIRATES
• While the Pirates had Adam Frazier play left field in the ninth inning Wednesday, that late-inning shuffling was out of necessity of having just a four-man bench. They don’t have any current plans to use him as an outfielder, even though he does well out there. That said, I’ve heard that around the league, he would probably have more trade value if he was marketed as a utility player, even more so than being a two-time Gold Glove nominee at second base. Several teams view him as a utility player first, with versatility being so valued with many teams operating with four-man benches. The Pirates are playing .500 ball right now, and if they are still then at the trade deadline, they won’t be as motivated to trade him. But the expectation is still that the Pirates won’t be able to keep an early season pace, they’ll look to sell come July and Frazier will be one of their most desired trade targets. -- Alex Stumpf
• Speaking of Frazier’s defense, he has not been graded nearly as well so far this season. Over the last two years, he led all second basemen in Baseball Savant’s Outs Above Average metric (20). This year, his -2 OAA this seasons is the second-worst at his position. Meanwhile, Kevin Newman, who had graded as one of the worst defensive shortstops the last two seasons, has 3 OAA, the third-most among shortstops. With the way Newman has started at the dish, the strong start on defense is sorely needed. -- Stumpf
• Luis Oviedo has not appeared in a game since April 15, and has just thrown bullpens and sides over the past two weeks. It’s one of the few downsides of going on an extended streak of winning games. It makes it difficult to get a Rule 5 pick reps in games, though the Pirates are still working with him behind the scenes. It’s something that will have to be kept in mind later this season once Jose Soriano, their other Rule 5 pick, returns from Tommy John surgery. It’ll be a little easier for Soriano since he is a reliever by trade, while Oviedo is a converted starter who the Pirates want to go multiple innings for his appearances. -- Stumpf