The Penguins’ bottom 6 forwards are different. Are they better?
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Mike Sullivan didn’t have much to say.
The Pittsburgh Penguins coach wasn’t all that eager to get into the details of why his third line was thoroughly ineffective — again — after a humbling 5-2 thumping at home by the New Jersey Devils.
A fairly innocuous query over the play of that line infuriated Sullivan.
“You guys (media) ask me that question every day,” Sullivan said, fuming. “My answer is the same. They have moments when they’ve been good. They have some when they haven’t been.”
Those good moments were far too scarce throughout the 2022-23 season for each of the Penguins’ bottom two lines, no matter the composition.
Kasperi Kapanen and Brock McGinn, respectively frustrating and inert, were dumped off on other teams as the trade deadline approached in March.
So was Teddy Blueger, who never seemed to regain his steady and reliable game after an undisclosed injury in training camp.
Jeff Carter, a two-time All-Star, had his play devolve so badly he was demoted from the third to the fourth line by the end of the season.
Josh Archibald and Ryan Poehling offered some contributions, but various injuries denied them the ability to stay in the lineup consistently.
Mikael Granlund was former general manager Ron Hextall’s solution to the woes among the bottom-six forwards when he was acquired from the Nashville Predators in March. But the versatile, talented forward seemed overwhelmed by the task and was a resounding disappointment.
Danton Heinen, who surprised with an 18-goal season in 2021-22 while playing everywhere in the lineup, regressed to the point that he was a healthy scratch for 17 games on a team desperate for bottom-six contributions.
Drew O’Connor was really the only “success” of the group in that he broke through as a full-time NHL-er and seems poised to open the 2023-24 season on the roster.
He’ll be joined by at least three new faces in Noel Acciari, Lars Eller and Matt Nieto.
All three veteran forwards were among the group of players Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas signed July 1 when the free agency signing window opened.
Their arrivals coincided with the departures of Archibald (Tampa Bay Lightning), Poehling (Philadelphia Flyers) and Heinen (still unsigned) as unrestricted free agents.
They might have been joined by Carter, but the parameters of his contract — including a no-movement clause — don’t make something simple such as a trade or a buyout feasible. And Granlund’s contract — two years remaining at a $5 million cap hit — makes it difficult to convince another team to take him.
The Penguins’ “new” bottom six is still a work in progress. There are still three months left before the 2023-24 season opens. So there is plenty of time for further transactions to augment it.
(For perspective, former general manager Jim Rutherford traded for Nick Bonino and signed Eric Fehr on July 28, 2015. Both bottom-six forwards wound up being key components to the Stanley Cup championship the following season.)
But for the time being, at least half of the Penguins’ bottom six is expected be different when they line up for their season opener at home against the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 10.
Acciari, 31, got the longest contract of the three new arrivals, agreeing to a three-year deal with a salary cap hit of $2 million. And it wasn’t the first time he was acquired by Dubas this calendar year.
In his previous station as general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Dubas traded for Acciari in mid-February to shore up that team’s bottom two lines.
A right-handed center, Acciari figures to slot in as the Penguins’ new fourth-line center. Compactly built at 5-foot-10 and 209 pounds, Acciari isn’t afraid to throw the body as he was 10th in the NHL with 244 hits last season. And he is routinely in the black with faceoffs, winning 53.8% of his draws (337 wins, 289 losses) in 2022-23.
A regular penalty killer (he averaged 1 minutes, 41 seconds of short-handed ice time last season), Acciari can contribute some offense. In 77 games during the 2022-23 campaign, he scored 23 points (14 goals, nine assists).
“I’ve had Noel Acciari in the past,” Dubas said. “I know what he brings. He’s going to be extremely physical every night, able to kill penalties, able to chip in and score as well. But in terms of the toughness that he brings, I think it’s undisputed in the way that he plays in that he’ll put any part of his body on the line to block shots. He’ll be very welcomed here at even strength and on the penalty kill.”
Eller, who can make history by becoming the first Dane to play a game for the Penguins, is the most accomplished of the newcomers.
A first-round pick (No. 13 overall) in the 2007 NHL Draft by the St. Louis Blues, Eller has carved out a 14-year career and is on the verge of reaching the 1,000-game plateau, having played 954 contests through last season.
Eller, who agreed to a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $2.45 million, split last season between the Washington Capitals and Colorado Avalanche, scoring 23 points (10 goals, 13 assists) in 84 games.
(Note: Eller was able to play two more contests than a standard 82 games as a result of how the schedules of the Capitals and Avalanche lined up after he was traded March 1.)
He is all but penned in to be the Penguins’ new third-line center behind luminaries Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin when the season opens. And he has experience being the third pivot behind two All-Star centers, having done that as a member of the Capitals with the likes of Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov ahead of him on the depth chart. That trio helped the Capitals win the franchise’s lone Stanley Cup title in 2018, with Eller scoring the championship-winning goal.
A left-handed shot, the 34-year-old Eller (6-foot-2, 204 pounds) is a regular penalty killer, averaging 1:39 of short-handed ice time last season, and is above water in the faceoff dot, winning 53.7% (549 wins, 474 losses) of his draws.
“Eller, he’ll take that spot here (as third-line center),” Dubas said. “It’s hugely important. … He’s got a great relationship with (associate coach Todd Reirden), who coached him in Washington. … He’s somebody that we had keyed in early on free agency and then Mike Sullivan, myself and Todd spoke with him … on the phone and kind of were able to share with him what our plan would be and where we were going to go with him and what we would expect from him.
“We’re happy that was a great fit for us because that’s a really hard position to fill (with) someone that can come in and you know can play that role but also wants to play that role. Especially on a team like ours in the way that it’s constructed, … the Eller signing was really, really key for us.”
Before Saturday, Nieto, 30, never had been a member of an NHL team beyond the Avalanche and San Jose Sharks, having enjoyed two separate stints with each franchise.
The Penguins brought him in on a two-year contract that carries a thrifty salary cap hit of $900,000. Capable of playing either wing, the left-handed Nieto (5-11, 187) has lasted 10 seasons in the NHL as a fleet-skating hustler. While not overly physical, Nieto uses his speed and tenacity to be an effective forechecker.
Another penalty-killing presence who logged 1:46 of short-handed ice time per contest last season, Nieto also can offer some offense. He collected 24 points (12 goals, 12 assists) in 81 games last season while splitting time between the Sharks and Avalanche.
“Nieto is a player, in my previous position (with the Maple Leafs), we always looked at, tried to acquire and just couldn’t get it across the line,” Dubas said. “He brings great speed, defensively responsible, able to kill penalties, able to chip in (offensively) as well. It’s trying to find the right fits for the coaching staff and what they want and what we all believe in.”
There’s no guarantee the Penguins’ bottom six is going to be substantially better in 2023-24. After all, Carter and Granlund are still in the mix for now.
But it’s different. And there’s definitely something to say for that after the frustration the group provided in 2022-23.
“They’re competitive. They’ve got good speed. They’re defensively reliable and have defensive utility,” Dubas said. “And they’re able to chip in and think the game offensively and give us a little bit of offensive push in the bottom six.”