The Pittsburgh Penguins offense fell flat in the 2015–16 season opener against the Dallas Stars on Thursday night.
Rookie left-winger Sergei Plotnikov, imported to the NHL after six seasons in the Russian-based KHL, looked particularly flat. Plotnikov made headlines by paying around $500,000 to negate the final year of a KHL contract with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and join the Penguins as the team allegedly sought a Russian winger to play on a line with Evgeni Malkin.
Based on some simple comparisons and projections, whether or not Plotnikov belongs on one of the top two lines remains open to debate.
Plotnikov by no means tore up the KHL last season, finishing second on Lokomotiv Yaroslavl with 36 points in 53 games and outside of the top 50 in KHL scoring overall.
Comparing Plotnikov to Leo Komarov, Jori Lehtera, and Jiri Sekac, three recent imports with KHL point totals on par with Plotnikov’s, gives some idea of what to expect from Plotnikov in 2015–16.
Using their KHL numbers compared to the results Lehtera, Komarov and Sekac put up in the NHL last season, some simple math predicts Plotnikov to finish with about 30 points in the NHL in 2015–16.
Eight Penguins finished with 30 points or better last season, including David Perron with 41.
Realistically, Plotnikov projects more like a third liner. Hornqvist already fills the role of a power forward on a line with Malkin, going to the dirty areas and crashing the net, while producing at a consistent rate. Meanwhile, the third line used last night — Beau Bennett, Nick Bonino and Perron, lacked a physical presence and looked out of sync.
Despite the Russian connection between Malkin and Plotnikov, bumping Perron up to the second line balances the lines and lessens the expectations on Plotnikov. Expect Plotnikov to improve as the season goes on, but ultimately make only a minor impact this season.
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