The Pens Fourth Line
There is no hiding it however you want to say it. The Penguins fourth line is poor. Underwhelming. Dismal. It just doesn't cut the mustard and the biggest problem isn't the system for breakouts or puck plays up the ice but the personnel. Now, I know that the PK is third in the league but more than the bottom line are able to play on that even if they're the most regular. But their even strength play is a real problem both in terms of being a pest line that disrupts the other team and also in its production.
The Penguins have used a number of players on the fourth line season with the most common being Craig Adams, Zach Sill and Andrew Ebbett. Adams was Mr.Iron man before he was scratched in December and Sill and Ebbett are really just career AHL'ers. Adams was at least good a few years ago but age has caught up with him. The fourth line was a problem in the Dan Bylsma era as well with the utilisation of the likes of Tanner Glass, Arron Asham and Richard Park.
It is worrying that two coaches in a row seem to be favourable to the fourth line and unable to fix it. Rutherford, the GM, has tried at least by trading Goc for Lapierre and giving some Wilkes-Barre Scranton players goes during the injury crisis period but the core issues still remain. It is especially galling when players with talent and potential such as Beau Bennett are benched in 5 of 6 games for perceived "poor play" yet Adams and others are able to play poorly continuously. Not to mention Sill being given 50 games before scoring a point.
The first thing I am going to look at it is the usage of the line and I'm going to compare it against some other teams fourth lines along with the HERO charts provided by Mimico Hockey on twitter to get an idea of whether they're being used right. I think we should look at three other teams who are listed as contenders lately. Chicago, Los Angeles and Montreal. Chicago's most common fourth liners this season have been Brandon Bollig, Marcus Kruger and Ben Smith. Los Angeles's has been Nolan, Clifford and Shore and lastly Montreal's is Michael Bournival, Manny Malhotra and Brandon Prust. Below is a chart showing each players CF% and P/60.
What can we take from the above? Well, Manny Malhotra is quite terrible and has the worst Corsi out of all of them and possibly the worst Corsi I have ever seen, he also doesn't produce that much. In terms of the Penguins we can see that Zach Sill is really dragging the team down but Lapierre's Corsi of 48.3% is slightly better although the Pens did send Ebbett down. The best out of the above is Los Angeles I would say, closely followed by Chicago. Los Angeles have Nicholas Shore who is yet to score a point but Clifford leads the way with Shore besting a lot of the others on that list. It might not be as bad as some other teams but the Penguins fourth line could do better based on the above, losing Sill would be a start.
I'm now going to look at their performance on the team.
The first player I am going to look at is Craig Adams who has really regressed in the last two years, likely due to age. He is the epitome of what is wrong with the fourth line. He is an accomplished PK'er and that is his biggest strength but often he is still out of place or not fast enough to keep in check with the opposition. One thing that is frequently visual with Adams on the PK is his inability to get a good clear, he often struggles to clear the zone which on the PK is not a good thing.
Zach Sill is a different type of player. He takes the body a lot more and is often working along the boards. As an undrafted player it is good to see him defy the prediction given out by scouts and assessors in his junior career but I don't see him as a fit in the NHL. He is more suited in the AHL where he seems to perform much better. Right now Zach Sill feels like he is moulding himself into Craig Adams and that he is currently a younger version of him. We can barely get by with one on the team, having two is fatal.
The last player I'm going to look at is Andrew Ebbett. Ebbett was demoted but is the most frequent player on the fourth line outside the above two and I think it would be worth evaluating his performances before he was sent back to the AHL. Ebbett however performed better than Sill and Adams in terms of production at least, evidenced by his 6 points in 21 games to Adams and Sill's 7 points in 90 games combined. That doesn't mean that I'd want him on my ideal fourth line, I wouldn't as their are better options as mentioned below.
The first player I am going to look at is Craig Adams who has really regressed in the last two years, likely due to age. He is the epitome of what is wrong with the fourth line. He is an accomplished PK'er and that is his biggest strength but often he is still out of place or not fast enough to keep in check with the opposition. One thing that is frequently visual with Adams on the PK is his inability to get a good clear, he often struggles to clear the zone which on the PK is not a good thing.
Zach Sill is a different type of player. He takes the body a lot more and is often working along the boards. As an undrafted player it is good to see him defy the prediction given out by scouts and assessors in his junior career but I don't see him as a fit in the NHL. He is more suited in the AHL where he seems to perform much better. Right now Zach Sill feels like he is moulding himself into Craig Adams and that he is currently a younger version of him. We can barely get by with one on the team, having two is fatal.
The last player I'm going to look at is Andrew Ebbett. Ebbett was demoted but is the most frequent player on the fourth line outside the above two and I think it would be worth evaluating his performances before he was sent back to the AHL. Ebbett however performed better than Sill and Adams in terms of production at least, evidenced by his 6 points in 21 games to Adams and Sill's 7 points in 90 games combined. That doesn't mean that I'd want him on my ideal fourth line, I wouldn't as their are better options as mentioned below.
Lastly, I'm going to suggest some recommendations and improvements. The first of which is scratching Zach Sill. He would need to go through waivers and if anyone claims him then they are welcome to him but I don't see him getting waived so he'll go back to Wilkes-Barre Scranton. In his place I would call up Bobby Farnham. Johnston said he loved him when he was in Pittsburgh and he is also a fans favourite from his brief spell. I'd also use Bryan Rust on the fourth line instead. He didn't produce that great with Crosby and Malkin with just 2 points in 14 games but he is still a developing prospects and he performed well when in the bottom six. Rust is a strong player - maybe stronger than Sill, Adams and Ebbett so he would be able to handle himself more than well. With the above I would look for a line of Rust-Lapierre-Farnham. That is something I want to see.
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