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Penguins Insider: Malkin Future; Letang Candid
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- Penguins Insider: Malkin Future; Letang Candid
James Guillory-Imagn Images James Guillory-Imagn Images
Evgeni Malkin was to meet with Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas early this week. Pittsburgh Hockey Now broke the news Sunday after Malkin vented his frustration Sunday at the lack of a contract or discussions toward such for next season.
Shortly after Malkin's comments caused an immediate fury via social media and the initial published stories, sources told PHN about the planned meeting.
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However, our analysis after the initial comments remained the same, and it doesn't seem like there has been any change. Malkin's situation remains a collision of plan and reality.
The reality is the Penguins are a better team with him, and he is playing well enough to earn a short-term contract. The situation is pushing against general manager Kyle Dubas's desire to turn over the roster in building a team that is a contender for many years.
The guess here is that a decision has been made but not finalized. The gut feeling is that Dubas wants to go in another direction, away from Malkin. Still, the preponderance of external forces is going in the other direction, toward bringing Malkin back.
Monday on the Pomp and Joe show, when this writer was a guest, Bob Pompeani made the astute comparison between Malkin and Pittsburgh Pirates' stalwart Andrew McCutchen, who is currently without a contract for this season and bitter about it.
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The major difference is that Malkin has been quite good this season, while McCutchen was not very good last season. One was obviously at the end, while another had found enough gas for another year.
The question now is if Dubas will have the backing and–choose your adjective, stubbornness or courage–follow through on his plan to move on. Or, will he give Malkin what he's earned?
Given the delay, the expectation for those who want Malkin to return (including Malkin) should be bad news.
Kris Letang & Sam Girard
There is a major problem when comparing the advanced analytics of Kris Letang's pairing with Brett Kulak to his pairing with newly acquired Sam Girard .
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The biggest problem for direct comparison is the Penguins' absence of Sidney Crosby . They're not nearly as dynamic without their top-line center and have been a sketchy team in three of the four games, despite winning two (2-1-1), without Crosby.
However, the pairing's difficulty is most noted in the shot-attempt ratio. With Brett Kulak, the Letang pairing had a 51.5% Corsi and an expected goals-for rate of 54%. The Girard-Letang pair has a 45% Corsi and a 50% expected goals-for rate (All stats courtesy of NaturalStatTrick.com) .
For further comparison, the Parker Wotherspoon-Erik Karlsson pairing has a similar 51% Corsi but a 46% expected-goals for ratio. Yet they've been on the ice for four goals-for and just one against.
Giard-Letang has not yet been on the ice for a goal-for.
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The eye test shows struggles. They're not nearly as good and not nearly as quickly as Letang-Kulak. Letang spoke with PHN on Tuesday and did not sugarcoat their struggles.
"I think we're trying to show some chemistry, especially in the offensive game, like we're trying to move together," said Letang. Defensively, we're still talking a lot in the first four games."
In other words, they are not in sync and not reading each other well in the D-zone. The disconnect is also part of the Penguins' lack of breakout, thus lack of offensive production, when they're on the ice.
For the Penguins to be successful, the pairing has to work. It just has to because the only other option is Ryan Shea -Kris Letang, which was also less optimal for Letang (though not less optimal for Shea, who still leads the team at plus-24).
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Letang rejected the idea that he and Girard are similar, which is leading to the early struggles and perhaps long-term trouble, but also seemed to flash just a hint of frustration with the situation, too.
"You know, I think overall the assets that you bring to the team don't really matter. (Girard) has to fit into the system," Letang said. "The quicker we adjust to each other and within our systems, the better."
With the trade deadline less than 48 hours from publishing, perhaps Dubas will also notice the struggle.
The post Penguins Insider: Malkin Future; Letang Candid appeared first on Pittsburgh Hockey Now .
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