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Penguins Report Cards: The Trade Guys, Girard & Chinakhov
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- Penguins Report Cards: The Trade Guys, Girard & Chinakhov
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Through the course of the NHL regular season, the Pittsburgh Penguins made a few noteworthy trades, the most successful of which was acquiring Egor Chinakhov for much less than he provided, and the most debated if not head-scratching was dealing away Brett Kulak for Sam Girard , which might become the only blemish on general manager Kyle Dubas's perfect year.
The polarity between Chinakhov and Girard not only begins with their positions but extends through their regular season performance, and ends with their playoff analysis. Chinakhov thrilled fans and lit the lamp until the playoffs, and Girard was at best a wild ride until the playoffs, at which point he submitted some superlative play.
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Go figure.
Girard's grade, perhaps unfortunately for him, is also tied to defenseman Kris Letang , whose play also wildly varied from stellar to …. woof.
Penguins Grades
Egor Chinakhov : A+
Following the Dec. 29 trade between the Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets , it took a few games to acclimate, and a few more games to find his place in the lineup, but Chinakhov's offensive production began right away. He scored a goal in his first game with the Penguins, a sharp tally against the Detroit Red Wings , and had three points in his first four games.
In 41 games after being stolen, er, acquired from Columbus for a second and third-round pick, Chinakhov used his 90 mph wrister to score 18 goals and his complete game to add 18 assists.
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Teammates marveled at him on and especially off the record. The Penguins have found a winger with skills they haven't had since Alexei Kovalev or James Neal , but Chinakhov is better than both defensively, combined.
Late in the season, coach Dan Muse paired Chinakhov with Sidney Crosby on the Penguins' top line. The hopes of a super line collapsed as they developed almost zero chemistry. Nay, it was a negative chemistry, and the line was mercifully disbanded after the Penguins fell behind 3-0 in their Round One series against the Philadelphia Flyers .
Dishing a good grade to Chinakhov is the easy part. The stats paint a glowing picture of a winger who arrived and thrived, yet the reasons for his rapid ascension have much less to do with simple opportunity and much more to do with the lessons and molding of his diminished Columbus role.
In dealing with being excised and dumped on the fourth line, Chinakhov developed a solid defensive game that often blended so seamlessly with the swirling defensemen pinching, it was hard to notice that it was Chinakhov and not the defenseman gliding backward with his stick in proper position to defend a counter attack.
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Not only does Chinakhov possess one of the most wicked wristshots in the game, but his skating is elite, including as it pertains to crossing the blue line in his own zone.
Sam Girard : C?
Based on the segments of Girard's campaign with the Penguins, he could have four different grades. After first arriving following the Feb. 25 trade, he struggled badly to adapt to the Penguins' system. While he struggled to get his feet beneath him, the D pairing with Letang was abysmal. At times, it was tough to watch.
Then, Muse shuffled his pairings by putting Ryan Shea back with Letang and Girard with Connor Clifton . Girard immediately improved and began to find his game. However, Letang and Shea are a match, too, and late in the season, Muse reunited Girard and Letang.
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But this time, it worked. They were quite good for the final few weeks of the season, as they generated offense for the Penguins and denied it for opponents. They became a strength of the team, but then the pendulum swung back, and did so harshly as they were at the forefront of the Penguins' struggles in Round One. Their first few games were filled with mistakes, ghastly turnovers, and letting the Flyers get behind them for high-danger scoring chances.
But then, Girard snapped to attention to help lead the Penguins' attempted comeback. In Games 3, 4, 5, and 6, he was strong. Girard was tough on the walls, nullified rushes, transitioned and led more than his share of rushes. Girard also held the puck in the offensive zone, creating more offensive chances.
Struggling, very good, brutal, and brilliant. That probably balances out to a C grade, but it also raises questions about what the Penguins received for Kulak and what they can expect next season.
The post Penguins Report Cards: The Trade Guys, Girard & Chinakhov appeared first on Pittsburgh Hockey Now .
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