Mark Friedman feels all right on Penguins' defense

There was really only one reason the Pittsburgh Penguins recalled Mark Friedman from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Dec. 27.

Actually, two.

First, they had injuries among their incumbent defensemen.

And second?

“He’s played extremely well (with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton),” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said Dec. 29. “He’s been their best defenseman down there.”

Friedman likely would not have been there for any portion of the season were it not for the Penguins’ tight salary cap to open the season.

After all, Friedman has something of a “favored nations” status with general manager Ron Hextall dating to their days with the Philadelphia Flyers organization. In fact, Hextall’s first transaction with the Penguins was to claim Friedman off waivers from the Flyers in February 2021.

But with an estimated $83,158 of salary cap space to open the season and a surplus of healthy NHL defensemen who carry larger cap hits than Friedman’s $775,000, Penguins management opted to risk losing Friedman and put him on waivers in early October with the intent of assigning him to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

That happened Oct. 9, and Friedman opened the season in Northeast Pennsylvania.

While he did get two recalls to the NHL roster on Nov. 11 and Dec. 14, he was a healthy scratch for the first five games he was eligible for before making his season debut during a 5-4 home overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Dec. 28.

Hardly an ideal situation for a player with legitimate NHL credentials, even as a reserve.

But not one that would create rancor for Friedman.

Primarily deployed on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s top pairing, he enjoyed the type of deployment he rarely sees at the NHL level. In 19 AHL games this season, he has five points (one goal, four assists).

“The second you think you’re getting screwed, then you’re in your own head,” Friedman said Thursday. “I don’t look at it like that at all. I look at it as a chance to go play and play in every situation. Get some confidence back in my game.

“To get the playing time like I was getting down there (with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) was definitely helping my game mentally and physically. So, I’ve definitely been happy with that.”

Friedman has played in three games so far for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2021-23. And he has mostly been inert: He has recorded no points and no shots while clocking an average of 13:08 of ice time per contest.

Almost all of that has taken place on the right side of the Penguins’ blue line because of injuries to other right-handed defensemen such as Kris Letang, Chad Ruhwedel and Jeff Petry.

For reasons that aren’t clear to anyone, right-handed defensemen such as Friedman are harder to come by than lefties.

Even rarer are defensemen who can play either side of the blue line regardless of which hand they prefer.

Friedman can do that, and he even professes a greater level of familiarity on the port side.

“I’ve played left for the majority of my professional career,” Friedman said. “I feel like (I did that) a lot in college as well. Right now, I’m more comfortable on left side. But I don’t care. Just to get an opportunity to play in the NHL, it doesn’t matter to me. I could play center, I could play forward, I could play goalie. I don’t care. I just want to get a chance to be on the ice with these guys. That’s how I look at it.”

Friedman acknowledges that being ambidextrous increases his chances of being on the NHL roster.

“It’s something that you just practice in the summer,” Friedman said. “You just do countless amount of (repetitions) on both sides. You can never be too good on either side. For me, as good as I am on both sides, it makes it easier for me to get into the lineup with the left side or the right side. It’s just countless hours of working both sides in practice. It’s definitely helped.”

It appears Friedman will remain on the right side for the time being. Letang is dealing with an undisclosed injury and has taken a leave of absence to attend to his family following the death of his father, Claude Fouquet. And Petry is not eligible to be removed from long-term injured reserve because of a suspected left-hand injury until Sunday.

For however long this deployment lasts, Friedman vows to do right by it.

“You’ve got to take advantage of every opportunity you get,” Friedman said. “For me, it’s been something that I’ve been having to work for all my life, just to get NHL playing time. Thrilled to get the opportunity. Got to make the most of it.”

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