Early in the season, Dan Bylsma was under a bit of pressure as many felt the Penguins, loaded with talent, were underperforming. Thirty-seven games into the season, the Penguins are 26-10-1, winners of six straight, lead the Metropolitan division by 14 points and the hold the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
As previously mentioned, for a team of this caliber and talent, shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. However, when you consider the Penguins’ top four defenseman have been plagued with injuries, missing extended periods of time, not only is it surprising, it speaks volumes of the system Byslma is running in Pittsburgh.
Paul Martin has missed 13 games, Rob Scuderi 25 games, Brooks Orpik five games, and Kris Letang has missed 12 games. By process of elimination, that leaves this club with a group of inexperienced defenseman who are also being led by a player who thought his days in Pittsburgh were numbered.
With the Penguins up against the cap and with a plethora of defenseman to start the season, Matt Niskanen looked to be the odd man out. Present day, the Penguins couldn’t be more happy with the steady play of the 27-year-old defenseman.
“He’s getting a lot of attention right now because he’s the veteran back there and played his most minutes ever by a considerable margin against Detroit,” Bylsma said to media members. “But the first 10 games of the season, he was plus-10 and one of the leaders for points among defensemen. So he’s been a big part for our team right from the start of the season.”
The only other regular defenseman on the Penguins this season is 19-year-old Olli Maatta. On the season, Maatta has two goals and nine points with 36 career games under his belt.
“I feel like it tells you a lot about organization, how good of a job they’ve done,” Maatta told reporters. “All the guys that come in from the minors, even me with the juniors, I already know what the system was like. The veterans have done a really good job teaching us.”
Letang, the team’s franchise defenseman and leader in minutes and points the past few seasons, missed the first nine games of the season with a lower-body injury and the past three with an upper-body injury. The Penguins have gone 10-2-0 in his absence.
Scuderi was brought back in the offseason to provide muscle, shot blocking and consistent play which is something he has been known for throughout his career. Scuderi won a cup with the Penguins in 2009 and the Los Angeles Kings in 2012. However, Scuderi has been out since Oct. 26 with a broken ankle and has just begun skating with the team. In his absence, the Penguins are 18-6-1.
Martin, who is out with a broken tibia and Orpik, who suffered a concussion at the hands of Shawn Thornton usually serve as the team’s No. 1 pairing. Both of these players have been out of the lineup for a combined 18 games and counting. The Penguins are 10-3 without Martin and have yet to lose without Orpik.
For Bylsma, there were questions of whether or not he would enter this season behind the Penguins bench and during the team’s weak start in the beginning of November, some even wondered if he would finish this season with that job. Well, despite the speculation and the rumors that swirled around this organization, Bylsma should be applauded by the city and its fans for the job he has done. There is a reason Byslma is coaching the United States Hockey Team in Sochi. His system works.
