Penguins Positional Overview: Defense
A lot happened this offseason, with Penguins President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Kyle Dubas making plenty of moves to put the team in a position to compete for the Stanley Cup.
So, with that, we’re going to take a look at where each position stands heading into Penguins Training Camp presented by UPMC, scheduled to begin next week … starting with the forwards and now, moving onto the defense.
NOTABLE OFFSEASON ADDITIONS: Erik Karlsson, Ryan Graves, Libor Hajek, Mark Pysyk, Will Butcher
NOTABLE OFFSEASON DEPARTURES: Brian Dumoulin, Jeff Petry, Jan Rutta
Over the past few months, Dubas has heard from a lot of people skeptical of Pittsburgh’s ability to contend. But as he put it early into his tenure, “the way I view it is if people want to bet against Mike Sullivan, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and others, they can go ahead and do so. But I'm going to bet on them, and go with them.”
Well, ‘others’ now includes Erik Karlsson, as Dubas pulled off a true blockbuster deal by acquiring the reigning Norris Trophy winner in a three-team trade to give the Penguins the same one-two punch on the blue line that they have up top with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
Karlsson and Letang are both elite talents who are in excellent shape, and the Penguins could legitimately have one of them on the ice for at least 50 minutes a night. They’ll make up the right side of the top four, with Marcus Pettersson and Ryan Graves penciled in to make up the left – with exact combinations to be determined – as those two should be terrific complements for their superstar teammates.
Graves, 28, plays a style similar to Letang’s longtime D partner Brian Dumoulin. Graves, who inked a six-year contract with Pittsburgh, said he tries to be a low-risk, steady force – focusing on shutting down other team’s top lines, playing on the penalty kill, and being reliable defensively. Meanwhile, Pettersson, 27, is one of those players who’s got a strong all-around game. He can help drive offense, is good in his own zone, and is coming off one of his best seasons yet.
