Already Half-Way through eh? This season has already flown by. We’ve seen some highlight-reel goals, amazing saves, and of course, a boatload of injuries. With an 18–9–1 record, the Penguins currently sit at 3rd place in the East Division. Remember, 14 of their 28 games remaining are against the bottom two teams in their division. That being the Buffalo Sabres and the New Jersey Devils. It’s time to grade how I think the players on this team have individually played. Only people that have played in the last 7 games for the Penguins are going to be on this list. Also, these grades are adjusted for my expectations for these players. For example, if someone on the 1st line has an A+ and someone on the 4th line also has an A+, I don’t think that they’re playing at the same level of hockey.
Anthony Angello — RW
9 Games, 1 Goal
Grade: B-
It isn't a coincidence that the 4th line has finally started to pick things up since Angello has been put there. He has brought a lot of physicality to that bottom line. He’s pretty solid defensively, and like I said he’s a very physical player. The way he plays allows that 4th line to have the most offensive zone pressure that they’ve had all season. I’d still like that line to put up more points, but I’m sure that will come with time now that they’ve started rolling.
Evan Rodrigues — RW/LW
12 Games, 2 Goals and 2 Assists
Grade: C
Evan Rodrigues is a great 4th liner for this team. When everybody is healthy he certainly deserves a spot there. But, when 2 of your 3 best Left-Wingers go down with an injury, someone has to play in the top 6. On the 1st line earlier in the season, and on the 2nd line now, Rodrigues has looked awful to me. I like his role as a bottom 6 guy, but I’m sure there’s someone else that can eat up those top 6 minutes until the team gets healthy. It just shows that this team needs more skill depth on the wings.
Sam Lafferty — LW/RW
17 Games, 1 Assist
Grade: F
Once again, all I can say about Sam Lafferty is that he’s been disappointing. I expected a lot more out of him this season than 1 Assist through his first 17 games. I still think he has the potential in him, but I don’t understand why he’s struggling. You see the flashes of what’s expected of him at times, but that’s all they are. I think Wilkes-Barre is the best option for him right now. He hasn’t played for the Penguin's last 5 games, and sitting him isn’t going to do him any good.
Zach Aston-Reese — LW
17 Games, 5 Goals and 1 Assist
Grade: A-
Ever since ZAR has come back from injury, the 3rd line has been spectacular. At times they’ve struggled to score, but for all but 1 game together they’ve been fantastic defensively. His 5 goals are very surprising to see, as his career-high was 8 in 43 games. I don’t expect him to keep up this goal-scoring production, but I do expect him to get more assists. He’s been great so far, and I’m sure he's going to keep it up.
Jared McCann — LW/C
17 Games, 5 Goals and 5 Assists
Grade: B+
Man, the Pens really can’t get a break when it comes to their Left-Wingers. Right when Zucker starts to look good, he gets injured long term. McCann comes back from injury and only plays 6 games before he’s injured again. He has gotten 4 points in his last 4 games and is looking like he can certainly fit into the top 6 when he needs to. McCann brings a lot of speed to the lineup, no matter where he plays. I’m not sure about the idea of letting him go in the Expansion Draft anymore.
Colton Sceviour — RW/LW
20 Games, 2 Goals and 1 Assist
Grade: D
He’s improved. He hasn’t been as good defensively as I thought, and he probably won’t be. The 4th line has started to improve with him on it as of late, so that’s a good sign at least. I thought he was going to be more physical, but he only has one more hit than Kapanen so far. He doesn’t bring much to the 4th line, but he isn’t awful of the penalty kill. However, he could still be doing a lot better. When this team is healthy I expect Sceviour to be more of a depth guy, and he isn’t a bad one.
Mark Jankowski — C
25 Games, 2 Goals and 2 Assists
Grade: D+
After getting 3 points in his first 2 games, Jankowski didn’t get another one for 22 games. It wasn’t very long before he was relegated to the 4th line, where he’s been ever since. Jankowski was a defensive monster in Calgary, and I expected to see him be that good in his own zone in Pittsburgh. Through his first few games, he looked like it. He then continued to drive off of a cliff in that regard. He hasn’t been great on the penalty kill or 5-on-5. His play has picked up recently, however. He has looked better defensively. The 4th line went a full game without having a shot against them recently.
Kasperi Kapanen — RW
25 Games, 7 Goals and 12 Assists
Grade: A-
He’s pretty fast eh? Kapanen has developed chemistry with Geno, and I think he’s found a home on his Right-Wing. He’s one of the two fastest players on the team, and his style of play seems to fit best with Malkin. He’s been on fire as of late, and I don’t expect him to burn out anytime soon. In a normal season, I’d expect him to get 20 to 30 goals, and he's on pace for 23 in a normal 82 game season. After his struggles earlier on in the year, I’m happy with his production. He knows where he has to be at all times and if a team isn’t careful enough he could get a breakaway and score in the blink of an eye. He hasn’t been as good defensively as I thought he would be, considering he got so much PK time in Toronto.
Sidney Crosby — C
27 Games, 11 Goals and 18 Assists
Grade: A+
Crosby has been great. His production hasn’t been as good as I expected it to be at this point in the season, but he still has more than a point a game so far. He has led his line to be dominant in the other team's zone, barely letting teams get chances when they’re on the ice. He has been an excellent play driver and you can tell that he’s angry with the Penguins' recent playoff performances. In my opinion, he should be in the Selke conversation this season, and if Pittsburgh keeps playing as they have in the past 7 games, bar the blown 3–0 lead, he might enter the Hart conversation as well.
Brandon Tanev — RW/LW
28 Games, 6 Goals and 7 Assists
Grade: A
He’s been consistently fantastic. He’s been good on both sides of the ice, especially recently. He’s had 5 assists in the past 6 games. My only gripe about his play during most of the season was that he was struggling to create plays. He had 1 assist in the 1st game of the season, and he didn’t get another one for 22 Games. But, he’s been much better in the past few games. I don’t expect him to keep it up to this extent, but I’d expect him to get around 15 assists by the end of the season. He hasn't been as good defensively 5-on-5 this season as he was last year, but he’s still been this team's best penalty killer. He’s first in hits on the team and is 78 ahead of anyone else. 78. He also is leading Forwards on the team in blocks, and he’s 10 ahead of any other Forwards. He’s a near-perfect all-around bottom 6 player.
Teddy Blueger — C
28 Games, 4 Goals and 11 Assists
Grade: A+
He’s been the Penguins best defensive forward so far this season, their 2nd best penalty-killer and has led the 3rd line to be fantastic for all but 1 game. He’s so important to this team, and the best 3rd line center this team has had since Nick Bonino. Derrick Brassard? Nick Bjugstad? Riley Sheahan? Who was on the first line for Buffalo the other night by the way. Teddy Blueger has been much better than any of them in a Penguins uniform. He’s having a breakout season and despite a recent slump, has produced a lot for this team.
Bryan Rust — RW
28 Games, 9 Goals and 11 Assists
Grade: A-
Rust has been on a quiet slump recently. He has only had 5 points in his last 13 games. He’s been on the first or second line for all of those games. He’s more of a streaky player, and they need him to play as well as he has shown he can. He’s been extremely good defensively, however. The only problem I have with Rust so far this season is his finishing ability. He has been leading the Penguins in shots so far this season, with 15 more shots than the next player. He could easily be at 15 goals right now but he just hasn’t been able to hit the back of the net. I expect him to catch fire again soon, especially with how that top line has been playing.
Evgeni Malkin — C
28 Games, 8 Goals and 16 Assists
Grade: B+
Malkin has been getting better. Something I have said every week since the start of the season. He’s slowly getting better and better and recently he’s been looking like Geno again. If it wasn’t for his extremely poor start then he would have a higher grade. He obviously came into this season out of shape due to COVID laws in Russia, but now that he has 28 games under his belt you can tell he’s back. He’s on an 8 game point streak, where he has gotten 4 Goals and 11 Points. I’d like him to get more goals, as a 23 Goal pace in an 82 game season isn’t Malkin-esce.
Jake Guentzel — LW
28 Games, 11 Goals and 15 Assists
Grade: A+
Jake Guentzel is one of, if not the most underrated player in the NHL. This has been his best season so far, despite his 40 goal season and his 39 games, 90 point pace season he had last year. He has been fantastic defensively, and he has been the robin to Crosby's batman all year. If it wasn’t for him having Rodrigues on the other wing for 6 of those games he’d probably be at a point a game. Guentzel is also a fantastic play driver. He’s normally a better finisher than he’s been this season, but just like Rust, I’m sure the luck will come in time.
Mark Friedman — D
2 Games, 1 Goal and 1 Assist
Grade: B
It’s hard to grade someone who’s only played 2 games for the Penguins, but he’s been good. He’s a solid 7th defenceman for this team, but certainly not a mainstay. It was nice to see him score against the team that put him on waivers.
Brian Dumoulin — D
14 Games, 4 Assists
Grade: B+
After coming back from injury, Dumoulin has been absolutely fantastic. It’s not a coincidence that they have gone 6–0 since he has come back. He’s the best defensive defenceman they’ve had in franchise history, and him staying healthy is very important to this team's success. He gives the other players on the ice more confidence just because they trust him. He had a rough start to the season, and that’s the only reason why his grade isn’t an A.
Chad Ruhwedel — D
15 Games, 2 Assists
Grade: B-
He’s been solid. Ruhwedel has never been a defenceman that will blow you away. He’s a stay-at-home defensive guy who you can rely on to be a great depth Right-Handed Defenceman. He’s been exactly that so far this season. The only thing to complain about with Ruhwedel is his complete lack of an offensive game. The problem with that is that it isn’t his role on this team, and it never has been.
Marcus Pettersson — D
19 Games, 1 Goal and 1 Assist
Grade: D
I haven’t been impressed. I have been a big fan of Pettersson’s since the Penguins acquired him from Anaheim, but this season there is something off. He has been worse on both ends of the ice, and I’m not exactly sure why. He’s been dropped down to the third pairing recently, and I think it’s been deserved. Matheson has brought more offence than him so far this season, but why don’t the Penguins try him with Marino in the top 4? I don’t think he’s played good enough to earn it but he needs his confidence back if this team wants to make a deep playoff run. He may still have a lingering injury from earlier this season, but I’m not sure. I’m not trying to overreact to one down season, but I’m not liking the look of his contract right now.
Mike Matheson — D
20 Games, 2 Goals and 2 Assists
Grade: C+
I like what Matheson brings offensively, but man is he ever a nightmare in his own zone. He has had too many situations where he pushes too far in and even somehow runs over the opposing goalie. When was the last time you seen a defenceman get multiple Goalie Interference penalties in one season? Although I gave Pettersson a lower grade I would be a lot more confident with him in the top 4 rather than Matheson. When it comes to the playoffs, who knows how Matheson will play under the pressure. He could score half a point a game or he could be on the ice for 3 Goals against a game.
Cody Ceci — D
25 Games, 2 Goals and 4 Assists
Grade: A-
He has been legitimately good. I have no idea what Sheldon Keefe was doing to him in Toronto but he has been very good for the Penguins. He’s been fine since he has moved into the top 4, but I still think his game is better suited as a bottom pairing guy. He isn’t very productive offensively, but he’s very good at taking away the other teams quality chances. He’s a nice shutdown bottom pairing guy, and he has surprised me and probably every other Penguins fan.
John Marino — D
25 Games, 1 Goal and 3 Assists
Grade: C
Marino is in a sophomore slump. There’s really no other way to put it. He has been alright, but not great. His defensive impact is still there and you can tell that he does all the little things right. But for some reason, his offensive game just up and disappeared. It was starting to pick up some more before he was injured. but he’ll be back very soon so hopefully, he’s still in his groove.
Kris Letang — D
27 Games, 5 Goals and 15 Assists
Grade: A-
He’s been Kris Letang. He’s been even better than I expected. I didn’t really think Letang was going to be putting up this many points. You can tell that he’s still good at playmaking. He’s had fewer turnovers recently as well. He still hasn’t been great defensively, but that’s not Letang. He’s a fantastic offensive defenseman, but Letang’s always been shakey in his own end. I’ve liked his play as of late, and I think he deserves better than most Penguins fans have been treating him.
Casey DeSmith — G
9 Games, 6–2–0, 0.912 Save%, 1 Shutout
Grade: B+
Besides a few games early on in the season, DeSmith has been great for the Penguins. He has been all you can ask for from a backup goalie. I trust him if Jarry goes down to play a lot of games and keep the Penguins afloat.
Tristan Jarry — G
20 games, 12–7–1, 0.906 Save%
Grade: A-
Besides his first few games of the season, I think Jarry has been excellent. He’s been more aggressive in his crease and hasn’t let up nearly as many bad rebounds. Pittsburgh hasn’t lost any games because of his play, and I think that’s a strong sign of his confidence level starting to rise. I trust him as this team's starter moving forward, and I can’t wait for people to realize how good he can be in the near future. He has a lot of potential.