The Penguins played yet another sloppy brand of situational hockey Tuesday evening against the Chicago Blackhawks. Literally less than thirty seconds into the game, Carlile made a high-risk pass that didn’t connect and ended up leading to a goal against. Turnovers in dangerous areas continued throughout the evening and have been going on for over a week. If the defensemen who are meant to be steady (Carlile, Korczak, Stastney) don’t shape up soon, I really see no reason why Brunicke and Pickering shouldn’t get a shot.
However, that brings me to my ultimate point about Dubas’ plan. Kyle Dubas wants the Penguins to get younger, but he is also forced to compete because of the legends who remain on the roster. Forcing a complete youth movement will destroy the ability to compete for at least an entire season. The more rookies you add to a roster, the more likely you are to see rookie mistakes happening consistently throughout the flow of play.
Sergei Murashov is a great example. Murashov was excellent in his first two starts of the year and even stole a point in his last outing against Columbus. Last night, he was never shaky, but he allowed a soft goal that effectively ended the game. It was a rookie mistake, and one that will ultimately make him better.
If a roster is full of players Murashov’s age, the team would exhibit those mistakes on a shift-by-shift basis. Obviously, the slightly older players, like Carlile, aren’t completely unsusceptible to dumb plays, but the likelihood greatly increases with a roster full of rookies.
Dubas is doing a good job blending the roster with players like Kindel and Murashov, mid-agers like Chinakhov and Robertson, and the old guard. The situation Dubas has put the Penguins in allows for youth to come up and contribute, not come up for the sake of playing in the NHL.
Murashov is going to make his rookie mistakes, and if you begrudge him those mistakes, then stop saying Dubas needs to stop blocking prospects.
