Forward Jeff Carter isn't worried about the Penguins' struggles

A mere 19 years into his existence as an NHL player, Jeff Carter has seen plenty of good and bad in his career.

Be it his promising start with the Philadelphia Flyers in the mid-2000s, which came to a dysfunctional conclusion, or his brief and awkward fit with the Columbus Blue Jackets during the 2011-12 season that led to the first of two Stanley Cup titles with the Los Angeles Kings, Carter has run the full spectrum of highs and lows.

Add the occasional lockout or global pandemic, and the Pittsburgh Penguins forward has an educated perspective on most matters as a professional hockey player.

To wit: A 3-6-0 start to a season — such as the one his current team has orchestrated — isn’t an insurmountable impediment.

“You look at our record, it looks probably worse than it actually is,” Carter said after a practice session Tuesday in Cranberry. “We’ve played some pretty good hockey. A couple of games there, we weren’t at our best, obviously. But for large portions of games, we’ve been carrying play and playing pretty good hockey. It’s just a matter of sticking with it. When we’re creating opportunities and have a lot of possession time and don’t have anything out of it, it’s easy to get away from your game.

“If you stick with it, good things eventually come.”

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Carter’s claim isn’t invalid given that the Penguins have some of the better possession metrics in the NHL.

Per Natural Stat Trick, they have 508 shot attempts and are allowing 418 shot attempts against in five-on-five sequences, equating to a shot-attempt percentage of 54.86%, seventh best in the NHL through Tuesday’s games.

They also lead the NHL with 100 high-danger scoring chances, per Natural Stat Trick.

So why hasn’t that advantage in possession led to better finishing?

“I haven’t had many opportunities, so I couldn’t tell you,” Carter said. “You look around the room, the guys we have here, the puck is going to go in. Hockey is a weird game sometimes. We’ve been hitting sticks and pads and whatnot. Eventually, it clicks, and it goes in. The looks that we’re getting, I’m not worried one bit that it’ll drag on.”

As Carter noted, his contributions to the offense have been limited.

To zero.

Through nine games, Carter — who carries a salary cap hit of $3.125 million — has no points and six shots while averaging 10 minutes, 35 seconds of ice time.

That’s clearly an insufficient level of production for a player with such a salary cap hit. And it’s well below par for a two-time All-Star who has an Olympic gold medal and 431 career goals on his impressive resume.

Then again, the 38-year-old is in a role he hasn’t seen all that much throughout the bulk of his career as a right winger on the fourth line along with Noel Acciari at center and Matt Nieto on the left wing.

That trio has been just below inert in terms of offense, having failed to score any goals in five-on-five situations while being on the ice for only one score by the opposition.

“I think we’ve played pretty good defensively,” Carter said. “We haven’t given up a whole lot. The role we’re in is to play good defense. If we can chip in (offensively), that’s a huge bonus for our team. It’s something we’re looking to do.”

Carter is looking for his first goal since a 4-1 home win against the Minnesota Wild on April 6 last season. His best chance this season came during a 6-3 road loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Oct. 18, but his backhander was denied by goaltender Ville Husso.

“I think I’ve been solid defensively,” Carter said.” I haven’t created a whole lot. Haven’t done a whole lot offensively. I’ve had probably three good looks there. If they go in, you’re probably not asking me.”

Given Carter’s price tag and his ample accomplishments, it’s fair to question what he still can provide in his current role.

“(Carter) has adapted fine to the wing,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s played a lot of it. We’re not asking him to do anything he’s not comfortable doing. He played the last couple of years in (Los Angeles) before he came to us (via trade in April of 2021). He was playing the wing, (and) we’re the team that moved him back to the center ice position. He’s comfortable playing both.

“As far as overall performance is concerned, I think it’s been probably a microcosm of the whole group overall. We’ve had moments when that line and (Carter) has been strong, and others where we would hope for more.”

Carter and company are hoping for more than what he’s seen so far in 2023-24.

“I want to win,” Carter said. “I want to win another (Stanley Cup championship). That’s why I’m still here. You look around the room, we’ve got guys that can do it. We’re nine games into the (season), going on 10. Still a lot of hockey here. There’s a lot of talk about our start and our record, but we’ve still got 73 games left here.”

Note: Forwards Vinnie Hinostroza and Radim Zohorna were assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League in paper transactions designed to benefit the team’s daily management of the salary cap. They are expected to be recalled by Thursday. … The Penguins had a scheduled day off Wednesday.