DALLAS — The Pittsburgh Penguins will soon be a healthy bunch, unless the hockey gods inflict some punishment during the Penguins’ game against the Dallas Stars Sunday. And with the influx of players will necessarily be a departure, or two.
Without Joona Koppanen, whom the team waived Friday, the Penguins will have 12 forwards Sunday, unless there is an activation or two.
Justin Brazeau and Noel Acciari are days away from returning to the Penguins’ lineup, upping the Penguins’ total to 14 forwards, and more importantly, adding a pair of players who were regulars at the start of the season.
Also, the Penguins must recall defenseman Harrison Brunicke from his 14-day conditioning assignment on Monday, giving the team eight defensemen, at least for a few days.
So, one forward will be heading to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton soon.
The subtraction is most likely Boko Imama. The tough winger had himself a game Monday against the Philadelphia Flyers, hitting the post on a great scoring chance late in the game that had the bench and coaches humorously lamenting the missed opportunity.
Boko is quite popular, but Acciari is a top penalty killer, and with Acciari, the fourth line with Connor Dewar and Blake Lizotte was as good as that situation has been in quite some time.
The bigger questions are: What will a healthy Penguins lineup look like, and what will the team do with Tommy Novak? Or Ville Koivunen? Or Kevin Hayes?
One has to come out of the lineup.
Novak, 28, has 12 points (3-9-12) in 26 games, including five points (1-4-5) in his last four games. He has provided primary assists on a pair of recent game-winning goals, including Thursday in the wild 4-3 win over Tampa Bay.
However, it would also be fair to say that Novak is not often the most noticeable or impactful player on the ice, and he’s had a few costly defensive errors, too.
The advanced statistics for the third line with either Novak or Rutger McGroarty on the left, Ben Kindel in the middle, and Ville Koivunen on the right don’t tell much of a story.
They’re within the margins for each option. So, beyond the (publicly available) statistics, we have the eye tests, which showed a much better chemistry and productivity with McGroarty-Kindel-Koivunen than Novak-Kindel-Koivunen.
Coach Dan Muse could opt to put Novak on the line and serve Koivunen some pressbox nachos, but perhaps finally scoring his first NHL goal will ignite the very best from Koivunen.
And the eye test showed the McGroarty-Kindel-Koivunen line was just structurally better and more dangerous than the Novak-Kindel-Koivunen line.
For the moment, we’ll assume Hayes is somewhat safe on the top line. Two wins and two solid games for Hayes keep him there until Rickard Rakell is ready to return sometime just before or after the holiday break.
Between Novak and Koivunen, a platoon of sorts could develop until the situation resolves itself or a decision needs to be made. The view here is that Koivunen is better for the long-term outlook of the team. He has been far too invisible this season, but McGroarty seems to be bringing him out of his funk, quickly. In the current trend, it would be wrong to demote Koivunen merely because he does not require waivers.
But fans and media alike must acknowledge that Novak has this year and next at a salary cap hit of $3.5 million. That’s a chunk of money to swallow to send Novak to WBS, even if he, too, has played with the cloak of invisibility far too often.
Koivunen needs to come out of his shell to settle any doubts. The tough Dallas Stars will be a good measuring stick Sunday.
A healthy December lineup, without Rakell, the Penguins’ lines look like this:
Hayes-Crosby-Rust
Mantha-Malkin-Brazeau
McGroarty-Kindel-Koivunen and Novak-Kindel-McGroarty
Dewar-Lizotte-Acciari
Arturs Silovs
The numbers from the last six starts since the beginning of November are not kind. Since Nov. 1, Silovs has posted a 1-3-2 record with an unhealthy .869 save percentage.
His slip, combined with Tristan Jarry’s increasingly stellar play, led Muse to give Jarry the net in back-to-back starts Monday and Thursday.
Silovs has begun to remind this writer of a goalie some of you may remember: Chris Osgood of the Detroit Red Wings. It seemed every season, the trade rumors would circulate and the public consternation would grow as Osgood submitted entirely pedestrian or below-average numbers through the regular season.
In the big games, the smaller Osgood played like he was 6-foot-6. He had a career .905 regular season save percentage and a .916 rate in the playoffs.
Jordan Binnington and even Stuart Skinner seem to share that feature or flaw. In the big games, such as a Stanley Cup Final, Olympics, or Four Nations, Binnington is one of the best. His pre-All-Star save percentage is .902. After the break, it’s .912.
In fact, Binnington’s career save percentage in December is a paltry .887. In January, it’s only .900. In April, it’s .914.
Silovs seems to have the same need for adrenaline to have his best. His surprising playoff run with the Vancouver Canucks in 2024 and his Calder Trophy dash with MVP honors in 2025 scream adrenaline junkie.
It might appear he got comfortable in November, and the fall began. From .919 to .869 is a slide greased with soft goals.
Muse has been clear that the goaltending platoon is under constant evaluation, but it is far too soon to write off Silovs.
Sooner or later, one of the current NHL goalies will have to make room for Sergei Murashov, but that decision isn’t imminent. Silovs will get another chance, and a few more after that, too.
Categorized: PHN Blog
