The battle for spots on the blue line is an overlooked but important subplot as the Penguins skate into Tuesday’s preseason tilt at PPG Paints Arena.
Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson will anchor the defensive corps again, with Marcus Pettersson also munching a lot of minutes. Matt Grzelcyk is assured a spot on the team — and possibly a top-four role to start the year. Ryan Graves, despite his disappointing debut season, can be penciled onto the roster, too.
But the competition for the last lineup spot and one or two reserve roles feels wide open, something Mike Sullivan acknowledged after Monday’s practice.
“For sure, I think there’s spots to be won. There’s spots to be earned,” the coach said. “We are going to reserve judgment, watch the camp evolve and try to give players an opportunity to show what they can do. If they can earn a spot to help us win games, then they will play. And that’s how we look at it.”
Early in training camp, it looks as if seven defensemen are fighting for two or three roster spots. Three of them were here last season. Four are newcomers, including three defenders with whom Sullivan does not have much familiarity.
What does each of them need to distinguish themselves the next couple of weeks? A starting point, Sullivan said, is to come out and play to their strengths.
“They’re all here for a reason,” Sullivan said. “There’s a dimension to their game that they bring that obviously intrigues Kyle [Dubas] and our hockey operations and [makes them] feel as though they could potentially fit into our organization in some capacity — whether it’s Pittsburgh or in Wilkes-Barre.”
Jack St. Ivany is one of a few holdovers fighting to remain here in Pittsburgh.
The 6-foot-3, 198-pound defenseman was called up in late March, when it looked like the season was lost. But he was one of the reasons the Penguins surged back into the playoff race. He played 14 games, stabilizing their third pair.
“It was a testament to the coaches putting me in good situations. I was able to stick to my game and play it simple,” he said. “It also gave me a great opportunity to see how far I need to go to keep myself at that level — how much quicker I need to be to make plays, how much stronger I need to be on my stick.”
St. Ivany has a few things working in his favor. He has size and some sturdiness at the net front, something the Penguins don’t have a whole lot of. He embraces an unglamorous shutdown role. And he swings a right-handed stick. Mac Hollowell is the only other righty among all these blue-line bubble boys.
However, unlike the others, he can be sent to the minors before the season without going on waivers. In theory, the best players make the team. But that is not always the reality. NHL teams don’t like to lose useful pieces for nothing.
The 25-year-old St. Ivany knows he needs a strong camp and preseason to start the year in Pittsburgh. The team told him as much in his exit interview this spring.
“I’m excited. Camp is a competitive environment,” he said. “I’m trying my best to not count numbers or look around at the guys I’m competing against. I’m just trying to stick to my game and continue to improve and really scratch and claw.”
Scratching and clawing has always been a big part of John Ludvig’s game. The issue has been staying healthy. Last season, his first in Pittsburgh, he had multiple stints on injured reserve and needed wrist surgery after the season.
The Penguins told Ludvig in his exit interview that he has to stay healthy.
“It’s a fine line to walk,” Ludvig said, “because I play a hard style and those things are going to happen sometimes. But I think just picking my spots more and being smarter about the way I play is going to help me out big time here.”
Ludvig, 24, intentionally shed weight this summer, looking to get quicker and a little more agile. Part of that process was reducing carbs. The toughest cuts were pasta and sourdough bread, though he occasionally has cheat days.
Sunday was their first off day, so he indulged himself with a big bowl of pasta.
“I needed it after the first few days of training camp,” he said with a big grin.
Ludvig was in Pittsburgh’s lineup for this previous Saturday’s preseason opener, a blowout loss in Buffalo. He was a minus-3, but it was a tough game to evaluate considering the Penguins sent several prospects and the Sabres iced an NHL lineup. Hollowell and 2023-24 holdover Ryan Shea also suited up in that 7-3 game.
Sullivan admitted that he didn’t know a whole lot about Hollowell, Filip Kral or Nikolai Knyzhov before Dubas brought them in. That is understandable considering they have combined to play 91 games at the NHL level.
Hollowell and Kral are puck-movers who were with Dubas in Toronto. Hollowell is listed at 5-foot-9 and just 170 pounds. Kral has some size at 6-foot-2.
While that type of player has in many cases thrived in Sullivan’s system, there may be some redundancy there with the veterans already on the NHL roster.
Knyzhov is here in camp on a tryout contract but shouldn’t be overlooked. He arrives from San Jose, where he played next to Karlsson for a bit and established relationships with new assistant coach David Quinn and executive Doug Wilson. He has skated in 81 career games and is listed at 6-3 and 222 pounds.
Sullivan and his Penguins players are much more familiar with Sebastian Aho, who is last here but definitely not least. He is a good bet to crack this roster.
He, too, is undersized — listed at 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds. But his shiftiness and smarts allowed him to play 190 games for the rival New York Islanders.
“I’ve always been impressed by how he can turn on a dime. He can pivot in a phone booth,” said Marcus Pettersson, his friend and fellow Swede. “I’m not very good on my off side. It’s a tough position to play. But I think he’s a very versatile guy. It doesn’t hinder him [to play his off side]. He can play his game.”
Aho, a lefty, actually played more games on the right side last season. And that will be very attractive to the Penguins, especially if they want to keep a 14th forward. Positional versatility helped keep Mark Friedman here for so long.
On Monday, Aho continued to partner with Pettersson with Karlsson sidelined due to an injury. That’s another sign that Aho has an inside track for a spot.
But, as Sullivan said, there is still a lot to be determined these next two weeks, starting with Tuesday’s preseason rematch with the Sabres in Pittsburgh.
“I think it’s good for our team, because everybody knows that we’re battling for spots right now,” Ludvig said. “Everyone’s going to bring their best here.”
First Published: September 23, 2024, 6:39 p.m.