Beating a Dead Horse

 "Pride comes before the fall"- Proverbs 16:18 

In the summer of 2018, coming off of a humbling defeat to their rival and eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Washington Capitals, the Pittsburgh Penguins were still looking to be in damn good shape. They had won back-to-back Stanley Cups the previous two seasons, and won their consecutive playoff series, only to finally run out of gas as the Capitals finally overcame the hump and dethroned them as champs. It happens, most people, including myself, weren't all that mad that the Pens did not win three consecutive cups. Let's be realistic here. 

Moving forward, you have a team that has a great core, that has experience winning cups, that did so with good goal-tending, skill, speed, and youth. That was the recipe, that was the golden ticket. Jim Rutherford was considered a wizard/god, and Mike Sullivan was the best damn coach in the league. Hail Penguina. 

Sitting here in the summer of 2020, during a pandemic, after the Penguins lost a play-in-round series to the Montreal Canadians, who wouldn't have been in a standard NHL playoffs, which was embarrassing to say the least. Shit happens though, right? It does, but the problem we are facing is that Jim Rutherford and Mike Sullivan are the reason this shit is happening. In that off-season of 2018, Rutherford signed Jack Johnson to a 5-year deal, worth $3.25 million per season. 

From the get-go, this signing was objectively deemed bad by 99% of bloggers, fans, and the analytical crowd. Johnson had previously been benched in the playoffs the previous season by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Johnson's metrics were objectively bad, providing no offense, and often getting pinned in his own zone. 

However, Rutherford was arrogant stating that "He knows why Johnson was benched in Columbus" basically suggesting that it was a personal matter, rather than a hockey move. Coming back to 2020, the fresh off back-to-back first round exits, the Blue Jackets have won 2 playoff series since moving on from Johnson and are still playing as I type this blog post. The Penguins on the other hand are 1-6 in the playoffs with Johnson in the lineup. Johnson's stats in those games, 0 points, -8. Good stuff. 

Johnson isn't just a negative player, he adds nothing of value. Old school hockey pundits will argue he brings things like "size" "grit" "toughness" to the lineup, but those things don't translate to production. Johnson is deemed tough because they see him fighting for his life in his own zone all-game every game, playing defense, blocking shots, because he doesn't have the talent to handle or move the puck. Good defensmen retrieve the puck, and get it out of the zone, and Johnson doesn't do that well nor has he ever. Johnson's lack of talent has hurt the Penguins in almost every way possible, including, hurting the Penguins' stars when they're on the ice with him as pointed out by @JFreshockey on Twitter . 

It was obvious last season that Johnson wasn't good. However, Rutherford, Sullivan, and company thought they could "fix" him because of how well other cast-off defensemen performed here in 2016 and 2017. Trevor Daley and Justin Schultz were left for dead by the NHL, then went on to play significant minutes for a back-to-back Stanley Cup team. The difference is, they had talent and fit the scheme. They could skate and move the puck, which is exactly what Sullivan's system is dependent upon. The Penguins thought they could bring in just about anyone and turn chicken shit into chicken salad. 

Now, two-years into the Johnson contract, the Penguins are regressing as a team and as a franchise. Apparently, the players aren't all that happy either, questioning both Rutherford and Sullivan. Can you blame them? Now, according to the Athletic, the Penguins will be operating at a lower cap next season, which will make things even tougher when it comes to player management. You know what helps that? Not signing aging defensmen to five-year deals. They're likely stuck with this black hole of a player, unless they give up a great asset in return to get rid of him. For some reason, both Sullivan and Rutherford don't want to admit their mistake. Sullivan continues to play Johnson every game, despite the fact the Penguins mathematically would have won the series against Montreal had Johnson just not played. Instead, the coach and the team made Jared McCann and Matt Murray be the scapegoats, while continuing to trot out Johnson next year. It makes them look idiotic. 

Every single team got better when Johnson left vs when he was there. The Los Angeles Kings won two Stanley Cups in four seasons, and the Blue Jackets have won their franchise's first two playoff series since he left town. The Penguins are arrogant, and honestly, I'm not quite sure what is going on. The Penguins let Olli Maatta, Ian Cole, and Jamie Olesksiak all leave town instead of the inferior Johnson. With a limited salary cap, the Penguins will likely have to move players that provide actual production. I have even seen calls to trade Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang. Honestly go for it, trade Letang, one of the only two guys on the blueline that can consistently move the puck and play Johnson 25 minutes a night. 

The Penguins have a lot of internal questions. However, there is no more important question they need ask other than "Do we want to be right or do we want to win?"