CRANBERRY, Pa. -- After waiting several months to hear from Ron Hextall on hockey matters, then watching the Penguins skate through their first practice after the NHL's All-Star break, then spending more time with all concerned, I can safely stack five predominant impressions from this Sunday afternoon at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex:
1. This GM (rightly) loves Mike Sullivan.
2. This GM (rightly) sees a disappointing team.
3. This GM (rightly) is open to changing players.
4. This GM (rightly) is open to doing so via trade.
5. No one's acting on any of this anytime soon.
To first emphasize, I couldn't agree more with Hextall's assessment of Sullivan, of whom the GM bit back when asked if players have tuned out the head coach: "I would put him up against any coach in the league. And if there's any players who aren't responding to him, I would more look to move those players." I also couldn't agree more with this from Hextall: "When I look at our team on paper, I like our team. When I look at some of the games and the results, I don't like it as much." And especially this: "Sometimes, you get better when you make a move with a certain player that fits better, whether it's internal or external. So we'll continue to look at upgrades."
And yet, it's that last item on the list up there where, at least as I view it, all of those rights could swing to awfully wrong.
Because nothing, nothing, nothing's going to change about what's been ailing this team since before Christmas without an immediate infusion of energy, grit, more energy, defensive awareness and still more energy. Which, if it comes from the inside, as Hextall and Sullivan are hoping, would be almost wholly without precedent.
So, one can either press play below to pick through every syllable of what Hextall spoke ...
... or one could simply see for themselves, in the ensuing practice, that the third forward line consisted of Brock McGinn, Jeff Carter and Kasperi Kapanen. Yes, with Carter back at center. Because there's a Hollywood blockbuster that's demanding a sequel.
And where was Drew O'Connor?
Right back out of the mix, relegated to the extra defensemen -- not a misprint -- and sure to be a healthy scratch when the season resumes Tuesday night against the Avalanche at PPG Paints Arena. Even after the kid whipped up three goals and four assists over his past 13 games, just four of which saw him (barely) hit double-digit minutes in ice time. Even after regularly punishing opponents with an authoritative one-man forecheck. Even after heeding his coaches' admonition to be more physical, in general.
I mean, what's the point?
No, really, what's the point of attempting, for seemingly the millionth time, to sample yet again a soured product?
Because Carter's about to bust out of the break with a bit less of an old-man stride?
Who in this hierarchy of veteran hockey minds could conceivably have observed Carter over this sustained a stretch -- or the equally-comatose-in-his-own-way McGinn, or the endlessly-skating-in-circles Kapanen -- and concluded that this is where that long-missing energy will now emanate?
Come on.
On one hand, I get this. Over the past offseason, Hextall pushed the payroll within pennies of the NHL's salary cap. That's real. As a result, no trade now could be routine, especially not with a dozen-plus other teams in similar straits. It'd have to involve multiple carrots from the Penguins to any potential suitor with cap space, and Hextall himself ruled out on this day that he'd use, for instance, a first-round draft pick to entice someone swallow a salary.
On the other hand, last I checked, it was Hextall who made this mess. And contrary to the explanation on this front that he offered here, that he made an exception to his longstanding personal rule of preserving $2 million in free space so that he could keep Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust from leaving via free agency, no one forced him to hand Kapanen any significant term or cash, let alone two years at a mindblowing $3.2 million each.
Think about it: Replace Kapanen with a minimum-wage mucker, and a massive percentage of this depth chart's problems are put to rest. Chiefly the flexibility to be able to try out players from the AHL, but also to make trades and, in the moment, to achieve better balance with the forward lines.
That balance was my focus on this day, if only because, heck, it's been my focus since Santa emerged from his chimney all covered in soot.
I asked Hextall about adding energy and grit to the third and fourth lines: "When Josh Archibald goes out of the lineup, that hurt us. Archie's a gritty guy, a high-energy guy. When he's played with Ryan Poehling and Teddy Blueger, they go out there and they create a lot of energy for us. They might not score, but they have O-zone time, they create energy for us. Sid's line follows up and the building's rocking, and all of a sudden, we score a goal."
Archibald's been out since Dec. 18 with a lower-body injury. He resumed practicing in this session.
"We're hoping Archie's back soon here," Hextall continued. "But I think grit and energy, that's fair to say. Whether it's from within or outside, we would look in that direction."
OK.
I mean, I liked Archibald's contribution through 30 games, as well. I'd hardly see him as the killer Jenga piece.
Look, this has never been about the Penguins being old. Nor about the figurative getting the band back together. Those narratives are as lazy as they are false. The fact is, the overwhelming share of the offense still comes from veterans, and it's Sidney Crosby and Malkin, more than anyone, who've kept the team's collective head above water. If they weren't around, this'd already be a calamity.
Nope. It's about that balance.
The Sullivan system's as demanding as this brisk 50-minute workout was:
Or, as he reiterated afterward, "It's hard." But it also works, and we've all witnessed it. Early this season, with that wonderful win in Winnipeg back on Nov. 19, the visitors were so suffocating at all points on the rink that the Jets' Adam Lowry marveled to Manitoba reporters, "It's frustrating to play when a team's content to do that, but they have to defend well to do that."
I brought that up after practice with Poehling:
"If we can just get back to that," he'd reply in part, "we'd be happy."
There've been other examples, as well, but far too few. So when I asked Sullivan if he's got the right players to bring that energy, and he replied, "I believe we have a capable group. There's plenty of evidence to suggest we do. We went through a long stretch of the season where we won an awful lot of hockey games. And it's the same guys." ... it's a fair response, given that month in which they were the NHL's best team. But it also bypasses plenty of other precedent to the contrary.
This is too bad. All of it.
This break could've resulted in the very "reset button" that Sullivan wistfully cited after this practice. There could've been a fresh feel to go with a couple fresh faces to go with some fresh admonitions of the singular urgency in this scenario, all aimed at a passionate push to get Sid, Geno and Kris Letang back into Stanley Cup contention.
There'll be nothing of the kind. Not like this. And not with this challenge ahead:
NHL
But hey, don't take my word for it. Anyone who's in the building Tuesday night, isolate on No. 77's first shift. Every slow-step, soft-touch and globe-circumference turn of it. Then do it again with his next. And the next.
That, evidently, remains the priority.
