Grading the Penguins: The forwards

The Penguins passed the midway point of the season on Sunday when they played their 42nd game of 2019-20, a 4-1 home loss to the Florida Panthers. Through Monday, they are in second place of the Metropolitan Division with a 25-12-5 record and 55 points.

How have the Penguins done on an individual basis?

The following is an unscientific assessment of how the Penguins currently on the roster have looked through the first half and change of the season.

First the forwards. Tomorrow, the defensemen and the goaltenders.

Andrew Agozzino – Incomplete: Considering Agozzino has logged less ice time this season (1:44) than it takes to microwave a can of SpaghettiOs, it’s not fair to grade the AHL All-Star who is still trying to earn coach Mike Sullivan’s trust.

Zach Aston-Reese – B-plus: Entering the season, Aston-Reese’s role wasn’t clear. Would he mature into a power forward in the mold of Patric Hornqvist or become a regular candidate for a healthy scratch? Well, neither has happened. Instead, he’s morphed into a vital component of the team’s top defensive line with Teddy Blueger and Brandon Tanev as well as one of its leading penalty killers.

Nick Bjugstad – F-minus: It might seem harsh to grade Bjugstad so poorly given how much he has been injured, but for the purposes of this exercise, attendance is considered in the tabulations. If this were a school, he might get held back a year considering he has missed 32 of a possible 42 games. In the 10 games he has played, he’s been hard to notice. He showed some signs of his ample talent last season with nine goals in 32 games with the Penguins. Once he returns, he needs to make an impact quickly.

Joseph Blandisi – C-plus: Blandisi is a 13th forward on a team that has had to go 15 forwards-deep this season. An energy guy who will always be fighting to stay in the NHL, he’s done about as well as he can with his limited talent.

Teddy Blueger – B-plus: Becoming the team’s shutdown center this season, Blueger has quickly earned management’s trust. Sullivan and staff aren’t hesitant to stick Blueger on the ice against the opposition’s top center. Blueger’s production has tailed off a bit from the pace he established as a rookie last season, but he’s proven he can be an everyday NHL player with his defense.

Sidney Crosby – B-minus: Again, attendance matters with this exercise. Crosby has been limited to 17 games and 17 points due to a core muscle injury. When he has been able-bodied, Crosby has been — to borrow a phrase from Sullivan — the best 200-foot player in the game.

Alex Galchenyuk – D-minus: Were it not all the extra time Galchenyuk spends on the rink after practice to fix his malfunctioning game, he would get a failing grade. Galchenyuk cares a lot about his limited production this season. He is genuinely bothered by it and has gone to great lengths to address it. That effort counts for something. Unfortunately, particularly for him, results count more.

Jake Guentzel – A-plus: Forget letter grades. Perhaps the true letters which most accurately explained Guentzel’s play before his season-ending shoulder injury were MVP. While the team’s other vital players missed time due to various ailments, Guentzel kept chugging along producing offense at a pace that would have established new career highs. No player has meant more to the Penguins’ success this season than Guentzel.

Patric Hornqvist – B-minus: Before injuries hobbled him throughout November and December, Hornqvist appeared to be past the ailments which bedeviled him throughout a frustrating 2018-19 season and was enjoying a scoring pace which would return him to the 20-goal plateau. He remains one of the league’s best net-front terrors as well as this team’s most vocal leader in the room.

Dominik Kahun – B-minus: Management didn’t seem to know what to do with Kahun throughout training camp and the first month of the season and moved him around the lineup. Once injuries created a more defined role for Kahun, he began to produce. He won’t make or break the Penguins, but he is particularly useful, especially given the team’s injuries.

Sam Lafferty – C: The Hollidaysburg native has proven he’s much more than a nice story as a local native playing for his hometown team. His production has tailed off quite a bit as he endures the grind of the NHL season for the first time, but he has firmly established himself as a legit bottom-six winger at this level.

Evgeni Malkin – A-minus: At 33, Malkin adjusted his offseason regimen to keep up with the younger, faster NHL and, minus an early season injury that sidelined him for 13 games, he has been the Penguins’ most complete player during Crosby’s ongoing absence. Until recently, he had even managed to avoid crucial penalties.

Jared McCann – B-plus: During the preseason, the Penguins hoped to use McCann on the left wing of a third line with Bjugstad at center and Hornqvist on the right. But injuries, particularly those to Crosby and Malkin, have forced McCann to primarily serve as a center. While his faceoff numbers aren’t strong (48.6%), he has otherwise been sufficient as the No. 2 center most of the season while also finding some offensive pop with 11 goals, third-most on the team.

Bryan Rust – A: Were it not for the 14 games he has missed due to injuries, Rust would get an A-plus. Despite various ailments, he has emerged as a true offensive force with 34 points (17 goals, 17 assists) in only 28 games. Furthermore, he hasn’t sacrificed his sturdy defense in the name of offense. His play has been All-Star caliber this season.

Dominik Simon – C: Simon can be aggravating, especially when he gets grade-A scoring chances and rips clunky wristers that scuff up the logo on a goaltender’s chest. But when he ties up a defender in the crease while a more skilled teammate picks the corner, relatively few notice it. Simon is a useful player who doesn’t always take full advantage of the plum assignments he’s afforded on this team.

Brandon Tanev – A-minus: Tanev has been as advertised — fast, abrasive, physical, energetic. The Penguins probably overdid it with regards to the term of the six-year contract they gave him this past offseason, but he has offered everything they were seeking when they signed him.