With the preseason wrapped up and the puck drop on the 2023-24 season this week, there is a feeling of optimism around the Pittsburgh Penguins, and with good reason. After the disappointing end to last season and the eventful 2023 offseason, Penguins’ pickups like Reilly Smith and Erik Karlsson look to re-energize the club in its quest to return to the playoffs.
With that said, there are several members of the organization who have something to prove, from captain Sidney Crosby and longtime defenseman Kris Letang to backup goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic and veteran forward Jeff Carter. But here’s a look at three other Penguins with something to prove this season.
Bryan Rust
A year ago, things were going great for Bryan Rust. He had established himself as a fixture on the top line with Crosby and Jake Guentzel, scoring almost a point-per-game, 58 points in 60 in 2021-22, and he was looking to keep the momentum going in 2022-23.
Instead, Rust had a wicked case of bad puck luck. Sure, he finished with 20 goals, one of six Penguins to hit that mark last season, and added 26 assists in 81 games, but he suffered several droughts when he was held off the scoresheet entirely.
Over the course of the season, Rust was held scoreless in streaks of seven games, six, five (twice), four, and three (twice), for a total of 33 games with doughnuts in goals, assists, and points. He amassed a minus-22 plus/minus and fired 80 shots over that time. Without those streaks, Rust looked much more impressive, with his 20 goals and 46 points coming in 48 games, or .958 points per game, nearly identical to his pace in 2021-22. He also posted a plus-18 and 131 shots for a solid 15.3 shooting percentage (S%).
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Rust did have a game on Dec. 3, 2022, with a goal and three assists, and another on April 1, 2023, with two goals and an assist. He sorely needs some luck, more games like those, and to get back to levels at least approaching his earlier production if he wants to keep his spot on Crosby’s wing, not to mention if the Penguins want to return to the playoffs.
Tristan Jarry
When Tristan Jarry wrestled the starting role away from Matt Murry during the COVID-19-shortened 2019-20 season with his .921 save percentage (SV%) and .613 quality start percentage (QS%), it looked like he would provide the stability in goal the Penguins once thought they had with Murray. Once Jarry settled into the role, he too saw his performance go down, up, and down again in successive seasons.
Last season saw his play adversely affected by a lower-body injury that sidelined him through most of the month of January. When he returned to the lineup for the stretch run to make the 2023 Playoffs, he was wildly inconsistent. Before his injury, Jarry posted a 15-5-4 record with a 2.75 goals-against average (GAA) and a .918 SV%. After his return, he was 9-8-3 with a 3.08 GAA and a .898 SV%. He was chased four times in February and March, replaced by Casey DeSmith each time.
In spite of Jarry’s inconsistency and the Penguins’ absence from the playoffs, new general manager (GM) Kyle Dubas, more on him in a moment, opted to re-sign the young goaltender instead of shopping around for his replacement in the summer’s free agency market. In order to justify his new five-year deal worth $5.375 million average annual value (AAV), Jarry is going to need to find consistency again. The pressure is on.
Kyle Dubas
As an executive, specifically as the GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Kyle Dubas does bring a record of success to the Penguins. In the regular season, that is.
With Dubas as GM, the Maple Leafs were not just a consistent playoff threat, but they were among the more competitive regular season teams in their conference. As a franchise, the Maple Leafs posted their first two 50-win regular seasons, including their best-ever finish with 115 points and a .701 winning percentage, and three of their four best regular season finishes in 2021, 2022, and 2023 with him at the helm. The other season in the top four was 1951, when the Maple Leafs finished the regular season with a .679 winning percentage but then went on to win the Stanley Cup.
The greatest challenge facing Dubas has not been whether he can assemble a team that can win in the regular season, but rather one that can seriously contend for the Cup. In five seasons with Dubas as GM, the Maple Leafs managed to win only one playoff round, this past season in 2023. He brings that prior record to a team that missed last season’s playoffs and hasn’t won a round since 2018.
However, Dubas made a splash upon seizing the reins from former GM Ron Hextall, trading for Smith fresh off his own Stanley Cup win with the Vegas Golden Knights, and of course, acquiring Karlsson in a blockbuster trade. Now with the pieces in place, but no salary cap space to play with, Dubas is tasked with making sure head coach Mike Sullivan has the right personnel to compete in a tough Eastern Conference.
Final Word
There is an air of urgency amongst the Penguins. Missing the playoffs by one point after a successful streak of 16 years, including three Stanley Cup victories, surely raises the rancor of veterans like Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. But the drive of an executive like Dubas and a player like Karlsson, both without a Cup on their resume, could push this team to great heights. We will know the outcome, disastrous or victorious, in about eight months’ time.
