Penguins mailbag: Fixing the power play, initial Ludvig observations, Kessel reunion?

Erik Karlsson and Sidney Crosby — Photo via GETTY

Wishing each of you a wonderful weekend with another Penguins mailbag for your reading pleasure.

Thanks to those who submitted questions over on Twitter (and even those who submitted mini-rants without actually asking a question).

Off we go …

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Pm0neyyy — What personnel and strategy changes do you want to see on the power play?

There was a point earlier this season at which the Penguins’ power play was legitimately threatening despite not having the goals to show for it. I wasn’t a huge fan of the breakout and entries, but once they were actually in the zone, their attack mindset was powering them to the league’s best shot and expected goal rates by a significant margin.

Now, the process powering that underlying success has crumbled. The power play has looked downright horrific for weeks and the numbers are brutal.

Jesse Marshall posted this on Twitter earlier in the week and it’s too good damning not to share here:

Penguins’ smoothed power-play shots per hour (black line) — via HockeyViz

They’ve got to get the breakout figured out, first and foremost. They’ve toyed around with a number of different looks — including the Sharks’ power-play breakout from last season — to varying levels of mid success. When the entries aren’t clean, more energy is spent retrieving the puck and trying to get set up.

I initially liked the addition of Reilly Smith to the top unit. Figured he would break the pass-first mentality of the bunch. He did for a few games, then adopted the mentality for himself.

Jake Guentzel is a great offensive player. He is not a brilliant net-front presence on the power play. I’d give Smith or Bryan Rust a crack at it. What’s there to lose?

When he’s healthy enough to return, I’d try Rickard Rakell at the net-front. He was utilized in that spot a bit during his time with the Ducks and did a decent job. He’s not a huge guy, but he’s strong on his skates and doesn’t shy away from physicality. Plus, tipping shots and corralling loose change in tight are things he does at an above-average level.

Either way, the power play’s issues won’t magically go away with an effective net-front player. It’s a real problem that three future Hall of Famers in Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson look so lethargic with the man advantage as often as they do.

And where’s Kris Letang? I’m serious.

The coaching staff seemed adamant about having both him and Karlsson on the top unit when this whole experiment began. They abandoned it, which I thought was a good idea. But I’ll ask once more: What’s there to lose? Whether that means running two defensemen on the top unit, or — gasp — banishing dropping Karlsson to the shadow realm second unit.