Shea-ved Ice: Staal Returns To Practice
It's the day after Christmas and for some people, that means heading to the mall to return those lovely sweaters and socks from grandma.
For Penguins fans, Dec. 26, 2010, brought the gift of a Jordan Staal sighting at practice.
Staal hasn't joined his teammates for a practice since Nov. 1, when his wrist was broken by a puck.
According to the Penguins' official website, Staal didn't practice with any particular line, but he was able to do one-on-one work with coaches.
While there is no timetable for his return, this surely has to be a good sign. The hockey gods can't be this cruel to one guy in one year can they?
Let's put this into perspective:
- The Penguins are 24-10-2 and are sitting atop the Atlantic Division, Eastern Conference and entire NHL.
- The penalty kill is the best in the league at 88.2 percent.
- The power play has moved up to 16th in the league and is clicking at a 17.2 percent rate.
- Pittsburgh is fifth in the league is goals scored per game (3.19) and third in goals against per game (2.31).
The numbers are rather impressive and Staal hasn't seen a nanosecond of game time.
When he is ready to return, the question then becomes: Who will he replace?
Currently, the Penguins' lines look something like this:
Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - Pascal Dupuis
Matt Cooke – Evgeni Malkin – Max Talbot
Chris Conner – Mark Letestu – Tyler Kennedy
Mike Rupp – Craig Adams – Arron Asham/ Eric Godard
Based on the current lineup, it would appear that Conner is the easy choice with his two-way contract.
In 20 games with the parent club this season, he has three goals and three assists. In 11 games with the Baby Pens, he had three goals and six assists.
However, the Penguins' third line, or "buzz line" as they're known, has been hugely important to the team's recent success.
Letestu is still enduring some growing pains, but that's to be expected. His seven goals and nine assists are just fine with me. For him to get to the 40-point mark isn't entirely out of the question either, though 30-35 seems more likely.
Kennedy has been playing much better hockey this season and has five goals and 10 assists. He's third among Pittsburgh forwards with 92 shots on net. Only Crosby (144) and Malkin (141) have more.
At this point, I'm not sure if you can break up that third line, even when Staal comes back. Given their success at generating zone time and wearing down opponents, it's setting up Staal for an even more seamless transition to center the second line.
Assuming the Penguins are injury free, in this scenario the Pens would have two extra forwards to pick from. (Note: I'm not counting Mike Comrie in this equation.)
Kunitz - Crosby – Dupuis
Cooke – Staal – Malkin
Conner – Letestu – Kennedy
Rupp – Adams – Talbot
Yes, leaving Asham and Godard out of the lineup takes away some toughness. However, by leaving Talbot and Adams in, the Penguins' penalty kill doesn't suffer any. Staal's addition will only bolster the penalty kill and Rupp can provide the toughness that he's continued to show all season.
Talbot isn't a heavyweight by any stretch of the imagination, but he also has no fear. I firmly believe he is an integral part of this team for the intangibles he brings. There's more to the game than just putting the puck in the back of the net.
By having those extra guys itching to get into the lineup, you create a competition among the players. In turn, players won't get comfortable with their roster spots and will work harder to keep their spot.
There are a multitude of line combinations that could come out of the current roster. You could even make the case that Talbot could be on the second line because he works well with both Staal and Malkin.
The potential combinations make this fun to discuss. That being said, what would your lines look like given the current roster?
Do you keep Conner up or send him back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and continue to rotate Godard in as needed?
Leave your answers in the comment section below.
While we may have differing opinions on the lines, we can all agree that seeing Staal back at practice today is a pretty good gift.
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