When the Penguins signed Steve Downie this offseason, many wondered if it was a risk worth taking.
There was plenty of productive hockey in Downie’s past, to be sure. In 2009-10, he had 22 goals and 46 points with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Even more appealingly, he did it under the tutelage of coach Rick Tocchet, who joined him in Pittsburgh this offseason.
Since then, Downie has showed only tantalizing stretches of effective play. He missed all but two games of the 2012-13 season with a knee injury. In 2013-14, he scored only four goals while splitting time between the Colorado Avalanche and the Philadelphia Flyers.
It was clear then, that Downie would be a risk. His production has wildly fluctuated throughout his career. What’s been a constant has been penalties: lots of them.
He’s had at least 100 penalty minutes in every full season that he’s played. In 2008-09, he topped 200. That sounds like a lot of time in the box for an inconsistent producer.
Through 24 games this season with the Penguins, Downie leads the NHL with 79 penalty minutes. He’s also scored three goals and recorded seven assists. He is on pace to score 34 points and spend nearly 270 minutes in the penalty box.
He’s been especially unproductive recently. In his last five games, he hasn’t recorded a point. He also hasn’t taken a penalty in that stretch. In fact, that seems to be the key to Downie’s game this season.
In the 14 games in which he has taken a penalty, he’s scored two goals and recorded five assists, which is 0.5 points per game.In the other ten games, he has just one goal and two assists, for 0.3 points per game.
It’s easy to say that the price of the penalties taken isn’t worth the production. But just how much have Downie’s 79 penalty minutes hurt the team?
For starters, 45 of his penalty minutes are for fighting and misconducts. Another 14 have been minor penalties that have resulted in an even strength situation. Of the remaining 20 penalty minutes, Downie has been in the box for just three power play goals against all year.
Downie has also drawn seven power plays for the Penguins. With the team killing 85.6% of their penalties and scoring on 30.8% of their power plays, that’s a figure that works in the team’s favor.
Clearly, the key going forward is finding a balance between points and penalties, but if it’s going to take a few penalty minutes to allow Downie to play his physical, irritating game, and still be an offensive threat, that’s a trade the Penguins should be willing to make.
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