With only a brief interlude by rookie Ben Kindel, the Pittsburgh Penguins second line center was, for the first time in 20 years, in flux, a progression through three players. It began with a legend and ended with an unexpected transformation.
And projecting next season’s Penguins lineup, that same position might become the biggest issue.
Evgeni Malkin began the season in his customary second-line center role. For 20 straight seasons, the Penguins have relied upon Sidney Crosby and Malkin as one of the greatest 1-2 punches in NHL history, making peers of the Wayne Gretzky-Mark Messier duo and Mario Lemieux-Ron Francis, too.
However, Penguins coach Dan Muse, whether by necessity or decision, moved Malkin to the wing in January following the center’s month-long absence from a shoulder injury. In the interim, top-line Rickard Rakell played in the middle with bland results, but Tommy Novak seized his opportunity to resurrect his flagging season both on Crosby’s wing and then for most of the season as the second line center.
In grading the Penguins’ second line center position collectively, it’s an easy grade: a solid A.
The trio posted strong numbers and play for most of the regular season, so it’s not a complicated grade until dissecting the individual performances, Novak’s later season struggles, and the potential transference to next season.
As my youngers would say, then it gets sus.
Overall, the Penguins ranked among the best in the league at scoring goals, just behind powerhouses the Colorado Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes, and their offensive bandwagon extended well beyond Crosby’s line carrying water.
As further proof, wingers Justin Brazeau and Anthony Mantha each posted career years with 18 and 33 goals respectively, and both spent most of the first two-plus months of the season side-saddling Malkin, who was also on a tear. Malkin had 17 points (3-14-17) in 12 October games before travel, the brutal schedule, and injury began to catch up with him following the Global Series games in Stockholm in later November.
Malkin was injured in Tampa Bay on Dec. 4 and didn’t play again until Jan. 8. It was a team, if not franchise, altering injury because when he returned Muse made him a winger, first on the left, then moving him to the right.
In a previous report card, PHN delivered Malkin a sterling A+ grade.
But it was during Malkin’s injury that the team changed, as Muse reconstructed the lineup using Novak and Rakell in the middle. The winner of that head-to-head was obvious as Novak exploded with his best hockey in several seasons while Rakell produced tepid results.
After just nine points in October and November combined, Novak has 11 points in December and eight more in January. Unfortunately for Novak, he buttressed a poor October with a soft end in March and April, and a notably disappointing playoff performance.
Novak’s game is nuanced and difficult to grade efficiently because it is the sum of details and little things away from the puck combined with deft puck distribution, but his singular shortcoming– defaulting to a soft, perimeter game–is ever present, too.
In terms of grading against expectations, Novak achieved 42 points (16-26-42) in 82 games, which is perfectly aligned with his career norms; he had 44 points last season, 45 the year before, and 43 three years ago.
Novak Grade: C+
From a production standpoint, Novak did not supersede his previous outputs despite the increased role and opportunity, and registering in the low 40s is below average for a second-line center or winger. His late season performance and playoff struggles were the deciding factor between a B- and C+.
Rakell’s grade as a center has three parts, for the three stretches in the season in which he played the middle. He did initially when Malkin was injured, then played more when Crosby recovered from his MCL injury suffered during the Olympic Games, and then at the end of the season.
His pivot play until March was entirely forgettable, but under the Ides, Rakell’s game changed. Rakell kick-started the Penguins’ rush game, bringing an added level of speed and offensive pressure. As a result posted 19 points with 10 goals in 17 March games, mostly in the middle, and then five more points(4-1-5) in the first three games of April.
He also significantly improved on faceoffs, though his season total was only 36%. Like everyone else, Rakell’s production was muted in the playoffs before Muse returned Rakell to Crosby’s line.
Rakell Grade (at center): B+
His faceoff percentage and first couple of stints in the middle prevent the grade from being higher, but his surge at the end was not about pure numbers, but about how well he played and changed the Penguins’ game. His season at center ended with a flourish that propelled the Penguins to the playoffs despite missing Crosby for weeks and Malkin for a brief spell, too.
Next season, Malkin will remain a winger, but it is a legitimate query if Muse will have either Novak or Rakell to slot as the 2C, but the questions don’t stop there. Will the 19-year-old version of Kindel will be ready? At 29 years old, can Novak shake the perimeter play that so frustrated his former team, the Nashville Predators?
So, for the first time since Crosby’s rookie year in 2005-06, next season’s second line center position and the degree to which that player can be depended is indeed its own question.
Tags: Evgeni Malkin Penguins report card Rickard Rakell tommy novak
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