Even while down one of the team’s highest-profile forwards and without a defenseman who has played 73 games for them over the past two seasons, the Pittsburgh Penguins still find themselves with a surplus of players when compiling an 18-man lineup during practice this week.
For coach Mike Sullivan, it’s the proverbial good problem to have.
“It’s great,” Sullivan said via video conference call after practice Friday in Cranberry. “I think the internal push that our guys provide for one another helps us to be at our best. It helps us to reach our potential. These guys are all proud guys, they all want to be in the lineup, and they are all playing extremely hard to try to improve their own respective situations in that capacity.”
Veteran wing Patric Hornqvist and second-year defenseman Jusso Riikola each have missed the first four practices of Penguins summer camp thus far, presumably because they are part of the group of nine players the Penguins announced are being held out after coming into contact with someone who came into contact with an individual who tested positive for covid-19.
But even without those two, either Evan Rodrigues or Sam Lafferty will end up being a healthy scratch. (The two are rotating at a third-wing spot that presumably will be Hornqvist when/if Hornqvist returns.) Chad Ruhwedel joins Riikola as a proven NHL defenseman also on the outside looking in when the Penguins are at full strength.
“Depth, I think, as an organization can be defined in different ways, and part of it is having it when players are out of the lineup,” Sullivan said. “Whether it’s one of our top 12 or top six (forwards) that get hurt, we have the ability to put guys in the lineup that not only take up a spot but have an impact on the game and have a positive impact on the game.”
Zucker fits in
Jason Zucker was purportedly acquired to play as Sidney Crosby’s left wing. But when the coronavirus pandemic delayed the NHL’s season, Crosby’s regular left wing had enough time to get healthy and come back.
So, with Jake Guentzel back on the top line after his recovery from shoulder surgery, Zucker has slotted onto a unit with Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust.
Rust has some familiarity with Zucker because the two were part of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program as teenagers a decade ago.
“He’s a proven time and time again he’s a great offensive player,” Rust said. “He can score goals, and I think he brings that dimension to our line… He’s a great skater.
“I am kind of familiar with him, but I think I am just trying to get onto the ice and trying to get as many reps as possible with him to just build that chemistry.”
