Assessing the 2014-15 Penguins: Part 1 - The Defence
This is the first of a three part series where I will be looking at the 2014-15 Pittsburgh Penguins and assessing their performances. The other two parts will be on the offense, the coaching and the management corps. The defence has previously a big issue with the Penguins going into the playoffs. Looking back at the Columbus, Islanders and Flyers series in the past three years shows that. This year however there was an improvement which was noticeable even in a brief playoff run.
Goaltending
Marc Andre Fleury continued his good performance from the regular season after setting a club record 10 shut-outs, breaking the previous one set by Barrasso in 1997-98. Fleury has been one of the leagues leading goaltenders this season and enjoyed a career best season. This was despite facing an increase in shots faced from last season up to 1831 from 1774. However, the playoffs are where Fleury's demons have traditionally been but this year he pitched a fort.
Statistically, it was Fleury's best playoff season since the 2007-08 season when Pittsburgh lost in the finals to Detroit. Fleury had huge problems against the Flyers in 2012 (4.63 GAA & .834 SV%) and the Islanders in 2013 (3.52 GAA & .883 SV%). However, last year against the Blue Jackets marked a change with Fleury eliminating a lot of the puck control errors that were in his game and he has continued to improve.
Against the Rangers the Penguins were kept alive thanks mostly to Fleury and this has been widely acknowledged in the media. If Fleury can continue as he is now then the Penguins have a strong goaltender who they can have confidence in, which can be key if you want to go deep. Fleury was given relief during the season by Thomas Greiss, who was an off-season signing. Greiss has failed to live up to what the Penguins would have hope from him with his second worst season to date. Thankfully though the Penguins have strong goaltending prospects waiting in the wings. Overall this season, I'd give the goaltending a B-.
Defence
The defence has seen some changes throughout the season this year due to injuries to key players such as Maatta and Letang which have affected the make up of the team. The team also made two trades at the deadline, one of which was excellent. The other was terrible.
The Penguins best performer was without a doubt Kris Letang who earnt his $7.25m cap hit this season. At one point in the season he was in contention for the Norris trophy but that ended after a late Shane Doan hit. Regardless, he was a big player for the Penguins this year and bore the brunt of the offensive pressure from the defence. He still has work to do on the number of turnovers that he generates and I would like to see him removed from the top PP unit in favour of Cole.
Christian Ehrhoff was signed in the summer to, at the time, a bargain deal. Ehrhoff has had problems with injuries this year and is still battling concussion issues to the present day. There is a question to be made that the Penguins brought him back too soon and this had adverse affects. When he did play it was below what was expected. If he was available on a cheap deal, then the Pens could look at it. But if there is no discount then they should look elsewhere. Like Ehrhoff, Martin is also an unattached free agent this summer. Martin has been below par this season and that can't be blamed on injuries. He has looked slow at times and his offensive production has fallen a bit. One final thing that goes against the Penguins re-signing him is his age. He is 34 and will want a 2 or 3 year deal. The Penguins need to get younger.
At the trade deadline the Penguins made two trades to give their defence a shake-up. One trade saw Robert Bortuzzo and a 7th being traded for Ian Cole from the St.Louis Blues. Ian Cole has been excellent since arriving and his powerful shot has been a highlight. Aside from his shot he is also a superb possession player and has been strong at stripping the puck from the opposition. Bortuzzo was a nice, physical 7th D but Ian Cole is a big upgrade.
The other trade was a poor one in my opinion. Simon Despres for Ben Lovejoy. The official line is that the Penguins traded for Lovejoy for experience. That shouldn't mean you give up someone who was having a break-out season like Despres. Lovejoy's performances have been terrible since he returned, the only "benefit" is that he is good for a quote or two. Another player who hasn't really shone this season and should be looking for a new team next season is Rob Scuderi. Scuderi has been a liability on the ice at all times and always brought down his line mate, whoever that was. His cap hit isn't conducive to his play and the Penguins would do well to get rid.
Lastly, due to the injuries the Penguins have had to rely on back-up from the Wilkes-Barre Scranton/Penguins in the AHL. One of the most impressive players to step up was rookie Derrick Pouliot. Pouliot jumped straight from a top pairing role to top four duties with the Penguins and he made the transition look effortless. Much like Maatta he has breathed some new life and his style of hockey is attractive and enjoyable to watch. I'd like to see Pouliot used on the powerplay in the future as he has a good shot and one of his strongest traits is being able to QB a powerplay.
Pouliot was also joined by Taylor Chorney, Brian Dumoulin and Scott Harrington. Out of the three, Chorney looked the more at ease but that is no doubt down to his experience at this level and in general. He improved as the games went on and upped his game when required near the end of the season. In comparison Dumoulin and Harrington showed glimpses of promise and generally looked calm and composed. Dumoulin was the better of the two, scoring his first NHL goal and I think out of the two he would be the most likely to be on the roster next year.
All in all I think the Penguins defence has seen a slight downturn this season. But I think a lot of that is due to the Penguins missing some key players for big periods of the season. There are one or two changes that I think need to be made but whether the Penguins will make them is another question. Overall, I'd give the defence a C+. In a round-up article of the whole team I will post my grades for the whole team.
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