Penguins Prospectus is an offseason project by Jason Mackey and Sam Werner that each weekday through Sept. 16 will examine 27 parts of the organization. Players and team personnel will appear according to when they played, coached or managed their first game with the Penguins, starting with Justin Schultz and ending with Marc-Andre Fleury.
Carl Hagelin, left wing
Shoots: left
Height/weight: 5-foot-11, 186 pounds
Age: 27
Date of Penguins debut: Jan. 17, 2016 (traded for David Perron and Adam Clendening on Jan. 16)
2015-16 stats: Had 14 goals and 39 points in 77 games between Pittsburgh and Anaheim. Was fifth on the team with 16 points in the postseason.
Contract situation: Will make $4 million per year on a deal that runs through the 2018-19 season.
HAT TRICK (THREE KEY NUMBERS)
57.6: Hagelin’s Corsi For Percentage (CF%) with the Penguins, the best mark of his career.
.73: Points per game for Hagelin in a Penguins sweater, better than everyone except Sidney Crosby (1.06), Evgeni Malkin (1.02) and Kris Letang (.94).
+.31: Percentage increase of Phil Kessel’s points per game with Hagelin in the fold (.58 versus .89).
WHAT WE LEARNED
The acquisition of Hagelin served as a microcosm for these Penguins. Perron was a fine offensive player, but speed was never his thing.
That’s a square-peg-round-hole kind of deal when it came to the style Mike Sullivan wanted to play, and Jim Rutherford identified Hagelin as the speedy winger the Penguins really needed.
Was he ever right.
The Rangers found out what they were missing in Hagelin, and the Penguins were happy to have it, the defensive responsibility, the willingness to kill penalties, the speed on odd-man rushes, the net-front touch.
Hagelin helped the Penguins form their new identity and create the HBK line, the most dangerous of the postseason.
2015-16 HIGHLIGHT
Nick Bonino scored the series-clinching goal to down the Capitals, but Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on May 10 was a referendum on Hagelin’s value. Kessel scored the first goal after Hagelin’s speed pushed the puck through the neutral zone. Hagelin got the Penguins’ third goal on a nifty deflection; though he’s not a big-bodied banger and plays more a speed game, Hagelin’s touch in front of the net is on par with fellow Swede Patric Hornqvist. And Hagelin started the winning sequence with a strong center drive then a quick out of the corner to maintain flow. Bonino finished the rebound of Hagelin’s shot.
WHAT’S NEXT?
It’s hard to imagine anything changing with Hagelin, Bonino and Kessel. Get ready for more odd-man rushes, chemistry plays and production from this team’s closest trio.
The bigger question will be what to do with Bonino, who will be an unrestricted free agent after 2016-17 and due a raise from his $1.9 million cap hit.
Hagelin will be the last to worry about individual numbers, but it’s hard to imagine him not scoring 20-plus goals if he plays a full season. He’s never done it, either, getting to 17 in 2013-14 and 2014-15 with the Rangers.
The beauty of having Hagelin is that he’s under contract for another three years at a relatively affordable rate.
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG
First Published: August 15, 2016, 12:00 p.m.
