The Penguins dropped their preseason contest to the Detroit Red Wings last night by a score of 2-1. Losses don’t mean anything at the moment and there were a few positives to be had in this game. One of which seemingly has long term ramifications.
I find myself incredibly impressed with Harrison Brunicke and I’m at the point where I need to see him get the nine-game look when the season begins. He has been a standout so far in the preseason and a much-needed surprise. While it is only preseason, I think he has shown in this short period of time that he is going to be an NHL player sooner than later. His attributes are going to translate well into the modern NHL. His ability to move around the ice has been good and his poise has been even better. The poise being what I would consider one of those things that you can’t really coach into someone. It is usually you have it or you don’t kind of thing.
Last night about halfway through the game I popped into Natural Stat Trick just to see if my strong opinion about his success on the ice was translating to actual results and they definitely were. At the time he had a CF of 11 and a CA of 0, so yeah he was having a great game. He finished 23-9. He also finished the game as the most productive Penguin.
One thing Brunicke has going for him is the trust of Mike Sullivan which is apparent based on how the head coach has talked about him in interviews. It isn’t easy for younger players to climb their way up the trust tree and it appears like Brunicke has. It is another reason why I’m so bullish on him, because if Mike Sullivan is already publicly singing the praises then he has definitely done quite a bit to earn that praise.
“I thought he was terrific. He's making an impact. He's so active in the rush. He's active off the offensive blue line. He got a number of scoring chances. He was part of the goal. He's defending hard. We've really liked his progress throughout the course of camp. I think his confidence is growing. I thought he had another terrific game for us.”
“It's a big jump. It's a big jump. Listen, we're really excited about Harry right now and where he's at, and the progress he's made and his potential moving forward. We're going to watch it throughout the course of camp and see where it goes. But for a young player and where he's at, to go from where he is to the NHL is a major jump. So, that's what makes this league the best league in the world. Playing that position, that's arguably the most difficult position to play. So, like I said, we're really excited about Harry's progress and potentially the impact that he can make here. He’s certainly made an impression on all of us. Let's just say that.”
I hate that he will be subjected to the CHL transfer agreement rules so the preseason could realistically be all we see of him this year until he goes back to junior hockey. He is the ideal candidate to put in the AHL and of course he cannot go there. Mike Sullivan is not wrong in that it is a huge jump, but I think he is also alluding to the fact the only jump possible is a huge one because there’s no middle area to go at the moment.
Hitting on a player like Brunicke in the second round is the kind of fortune one needs to supercharge a retooling effort. We’ll see where things go. I think he’s going to force their hand way sooner than anybody thought.
The power play was 0-5 and it is easy to say here we go again except I don’t think that at all. The guts of a proper functioning power play are there. The players are moving, the puck is moving, and there is a willingness to get pucks to the net that was severely lacking last year. Some of the near misses with a screen went wide and out of the zone, while a negative result in the moment, it was a big picture positive because those are the plays they need to be willing to take. The puck will go in on those.
Lastly, I’m going to dig up one of my biggest pet peeves from the Sullivan era. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin don’t get much 5v5 time together. Last night, after Malkin exited the penalty box he joined Sidney Crosby on the ice and the two then spend a notable amount of time in the offensive zone which ended with the goalie freezing the puck. It was a one off situation, but once again showed the potential for sneaking these two out together based on game scenarios. Neither player is a penalty killer so you could definitely use them following a killing situation. This time it was on “accident” because Malkin just came out of the box. I wish it was more intentional.
No game tonight as Mike Sullivan will be able to sneak a practice in. Games on Thursday and Friday. I imagine we’ll be seeing Brunicke again and perhaps for the last time this season, hopefully not.
Thanks for reading!
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