Younger players provide needed burst of energy for Penguins
Sam Poulin was shaking.
Not out of a sense of cold or illness.
But excitement.
Approximately 15 minutes after he played his first NHL game of consequence in approximately 16 months, Poulin’s joy in being part of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ lineup for Tuesday’s 4-1 home win against the Carolina Hurricanes was clear to the naked eye.
He also had a bright smile that could have powered a nuclear submarine.
If nothing else, the energy provided by Poulin — along with a handful of other rookies — powered the Penguins to an impressive win in the final weeks of a lost season.
“It’s always much better when you’re enjoying what you do,” Poulin said. “I’m just so happy to be here.”
Also present Tuesday was 23-year-old Jonathan Gruden and 24-year-old Jack St. Ivany.
Gruden and Poulin were recalled to the NHL roster earlier in the day, and St. Ivany appeared in his third career game after a recall March 21.
Their combined presence altered the team’s overall vitality — even if just slightly — in the eyes of the incumbent veterans.
“They just brought some energy, some real good positivity and a little bit of an excitement,” said goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic, a relative graybeard at 28. “I don’t want to say (they’re) naive, but they want to play, they want to do well. When you’re young like that, when you haven’t played a lot of games in this league, you want to succeed and show the guys around you that you can do it.
“They were the guys doing the little things and helping us have success.”
Substantial success has been limited for the Penguins this season. They entered the 2023-24 season with the oldest roster in the league with an average age of 30.8.
On Feb. 21, in advance of the NHL’s trade deadline March 8, president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas called for a youth movement as it became increasingly likely the team would not qualify for the postseason.
“We have to take stock of where we’re at and be realistic about the fact that one of the issues is we need to get younger,” Dubas said. “We have a lot of guys in their 30s signed. Some of them are the best players in the history of the franchise. … We have to have a way to continue to have those solid veteran guys but continue to get younger at the same time.”
Dubas has achieved that in some fashion. With 29-year-old forward Jake Guentzel and 33-year-old defenseman Chad Ruhwedel jettisoned via trades, spots in the lineup for younger players have opened.
Even more opportunity has been created in recent days because of injuries to forwards Jeff Carter (who, at 39 years and 86 days, is the fourth-oldest player in the NHL) and Noel Acciari (32), to say nothing of forward Matt Nieto (31) being sidelined since December with a right knee injury.
Factoring in the incumbent presences of forwards Emil Bemstrom (24), Jesse Puljujarvi (25), Valtteri Puustinen (24) and Drew O’Connor (25) along with defensemen P.O Joseph (24) and John Ludvig (23), the Penguins have experienced an influx of players who probably could share the same can of shaving cream and have a surplus.
It’s certainly too little, too late at this juncture of the season for the Penguins to find a course correction and qualify for the playoffs. But it’s certainly a far different direction than the Penguins opened with in October.
In Tuesday’s games — and Sunday’s ugly 5-4 overtime road loss to the Colorado Avalanche — the Penguins had seven players 25 or younger on the ice.
“They brought us a lot of juice,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said after Tuesday’s win. “Their enthusiasm is contagious. In the third (period) in particular, I thought they had a couple of real strong momentum shifts. They were physical. (Gruden) ends up in a fight. They just brought a ton of energy. Sam played well for his first game this year.”
Poulin’s story is unique as he took a lengthy hiatus during the 2022-23 season to address his mental health.
So appearing in his first NHL contest since Nov. 5, 2022, was highly profound. On Tuesday, he primarily centered the fourth line and logged 9 minutes, 11 seconds of ice time on nine shifts.
Those figures are nothing special. But just being in the NHL clearly is for Poulin.
“I’m really happy for him,” said Gruden, Poulin’s teammate for parts of three seasons with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. “Obviously, what he’s gone through, it’s not easy. He’s shown a ton of perseverance and character.
“We’re really happy for him with how he’s handled things the past year. We just try to be there for him, whatever he’s going through. Whatever he needs, we’ll be there for him. We’re really happy for him. It was really cool seeing him back in the NHL playing.
“He was ear-to-ear smiling.”
Gruden had reason to be grinning Wednesday as well considering he wasn’t in a car passing through Ebensburg on Route 22 while on his way to Wilkes-Barre.
He has been recalled to the NHL roster on seven occasions this season and, for the time being, he has been sent back only six times.
Gruden understands most of those transactions are simply part of the granular rigmarole of managing a roster and the salary cap.
“You just kind of be where your two feet are,” said Gruden, who credited Acciari and Carter with providing guidance. “Take it day by day. Just kind of go out there playing, whether it’s (with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) or here. Playing-wise, just play my game, play hard in all zones. Whatever happens, happens. You can only control what you can control. I thought I did a pretty good job so far in the 13 games that I’ve played. Obviously, a lot (of room) for improvement but that will come with more games.”
In Tuesday’s game, he was credited with providing a boost to the team early in the third period via a big hit on Hurricanes forward Jack Drury and an ensuing fight with former Penguins forward Stefan Noesen.
“Big on (Gruden), he had a nice little fight there,” said 31-year-old forward Bryan Rust. “That gave the team a whole lot of energy, too.”
St. Ivany’s presence was a little less notable, if only because he performed his non-descript job as a bottom-pairing defenseman in a very quiet manner.
Such an approach to that task is greatly appreciated by those directly affected.
“Jack was awesome coming back for pucks, talking to me a lot,” Nedeljkovic said. “That goes a long way for making things easier.”
As might be suspected, St. Ivany is still getting acclimated to being an NHLer all of three games into his career.
“It’s been a whirlwind,” St. Ivany said. “It’s pretty crazy how quickly things can change. I didn’t know I was getting called up and then all of a sudden, I’m playing against (Avalanche stars) Nathan MacKinnon and (Cale) Makar. That was really cool.”
While still eligible mathematically, the Penguins are all but frozen out of playoff contention with three weeks remaining in the season.
It’s debatable if they are better with their roster alterations.
But they have become younger as Dubas implored.
“They did a great job (Tuesday) bringing some physical presence, especially in the third,” said 34-year-old Lars Eller. “That was great to see. … They’re not so experienced yet at this level, but I think they did everything we could have asked them to do.
“There’s some encouraging signs.”
Notes: Penguins forward Reilly Smith was absent from practice Wednesday in Cranberry to attend to his wife as she gave birth.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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