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Mike Sullivan watches the Penguins work the power play Tuesday, April 10, 2018, at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry Pa.
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Mike Sullivan talks Jack Johnson, Derick Brassard playing the wing and more

Peter Diana/Post-Gazette

Mike Sullivan talks Jack Johnson, Derick Brassard playing the wing and more

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Mike Sullivan knows he’d like to try Derick Brassard at wing.

Beyond that, plenty of things are up in the air for the Penguins coach.

Sullivan touched on several aspects of his team during a one-on-one interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Friday afternoon during the team’s annual rookie tournament at Harborcenter, including what Jack Johnson will bring, his potential usage of Brassard and Daniel Sprong and how much he’ll play Kris Letang.

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So, without any further delay …

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• The Johnson deal is important because the defenseman adds something the Penguins didn’t have before, Sullivan said.

“He’ll help us in front of our net, for example,” Sullivan said. “He’ll help us down low underneath the hashmarks and below the goal line. He still has the mobility to get back for pucks, and he makes a pretty good outlet pass.”

In what was an understandable theme of the interview, Sullivan said it’s too early to start thinking about possible defense partners for Johnson.

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The one thing Sullivan did say is that it’s helpful Johnson is willing to play either side – something he told assembled media last week – and the coaching staff does have some ideas.

“Nothing is etched in stone,” Sullivan said. “We’ll see how it goes. I think we have the opportunity to create some balance on our back end that will give us puck-movers on every defense pair.”

• Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford said earlier this summer that Sullivan would likely tinker with Brassard on the wing.

Sullivan confirmed that, and said that it basically started in exit interviews. There, Brassard said he struggled to adjust to third-line minutes and being buried behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

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“He comes to our team, and he’s playing behind two generational talents in [Sidney] Crosby and [Evgeni] Malkin,” Sullivan said. “It was an adjustment for him. He admitted that to me at our end-of-the-year meetings.”

If the Penguins do use Brassard at wing, it would more than likely be in a top-six capacity, Sullivan said, either with Crosby or Malkin.

“It is an option that we have,” Sullivan said. “I would think we’re definitely going to explore it.”

• Sullivan also had some interesting things to say on Daniel Sprong, who figures to have the inside track on winning a top-nine job out of camp.

While many Penguins fans wanted to see Sprong last season, especially in the playoffs, Sullivan said it wasn’t the worst thing for Sprong to continue his development.

“I think sometimes patience with certain players, in my experience, is never a bad thing to help a player grow and develop,” Sullivan said.

There’s a reason Sullivan wanted to exercise patience, and it involves Sprong’s play away from the puck. Only this time it isn’t his defense. Sullivan wanted Sprong to focus on spacing and how he makes himself available to his linemates, something Sullivan thinks is particularly important if Sprong winds up playing with Crosby.

“If you’re going to play with a guy like Crosby, that’s a critically important skill to have – the spacing to him, to offer that support but also know when to move away and give Sid the opportunity to do what he does best,” Sullivan said. “That’s something that we talked to Daniel a lot about last year. We think he’s made strides there.”

Enough to play regularly? That much remains to be seen. But Sullivan does feel Sprong can play pretty much anywhere, and he’s eager to start tinkering with some combinations.

“Daniel can be a guy that we utilize up and down our lineup, depending on how the combinations shake out,” Sullivan said. “A lot of it, quite honestly, is going to depend on performance from both him and others.

“It’s hard for me to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to play him right here.’ Daniel will get a great opportunity. He’s going to play with good players. We think very highly of him. Our expectation is that he’s going to be a good player for us.”

• Another thing Sullivan will tinker with during the preseason is the amount of time he plays Kris Letang.

Maybe it’s more some nights, less others. The challenge will be finding what Sullivan called “a sweet spot.”

“It’s finding that balance,” Sullivan said. “He is a guy who wants to be on the ice all the time. From a fitness standpoint, he’s in great shape. He’s a great skater. He can handle minutes. What we’re trying to do, based on our experience coaching him, is finding that sweet spot where he can be at his very best.”

Letang, of course, has finished among the top eight skaters in the NHL when it comes to average ice time each of the past four seasons. He topped out at 26:57 in 2015-16, which ranked fourth in the NHL.

But serious neck surgery and the fact that Letang is now 31 leaves Sullivan with a simple question: How much is too much?

“Over the course of an 82-game season, managing minutes for guys like him is important to allow him to maintain his peak performance throughout the course of the season,” Sullivan said. “It’s a discussion that we have almost daily after every game with our coaching staff. We’re going to try and do our best to put him in the best possible position to be successful.”

Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.

 

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First Published: September 7, 2018, 10:45 p.m.

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