Penguins Excited to Have Erik Karlsson in the Mix on the Power Play

The Penguins have moved into their next phase of training camp, going from three groups to two. One is predominantly NHL players, featuring the core of Pittsburgh’s roster.

“We've obviously got to figure out some combinations here over the next couple of weeks that we're going to open up with when the regular season starts,” Head Coach Mike Sullivan said. “And we got some power-play work with some of the units that potentially, we're thinking about putting together. We’re just trying to get them some reps, introduce some concepts, things of that nature.”

The biggest news of the day is how that first power-play group looked with superstar blueliner Erik Karlsson joining the mix.

“It's always special to have a player of this caliber, obviously,” defenseman Kris Letang said. “We all know the success he had last year, but even in the past. So, it's always a little bit of an adjustment, but you know at the end, it's going to make it better.

“You can just tell he’s so poised with the puck,” added Rickard Rakell. “He sees things that you don't really expect, and he’s going to try to make those plays. As soon as we get together and talk a little bit more about what our strategies are going to be out there and shooting options, I think it's a lot of excitement for us.”

Karlsson is coming into a group of personnel who have all been playing together for quite a while at this point, some of them for nearly two decades. His approach is just to take what he does well out there and implement that in a way that helps the other four guys out.

“It's going to take a little bit of time before we find our identity and what we're trying to accomplish out there, and we’re going to have to talk about it a lot in the beginning and find a way to execute it,” he said. “That's something I don't think I'm too worried about with the clientele that we have here and the hockey IQ. I think we just have to get on the same page as soon as we can.

“There’s going to be some bumps in the road and some learning lessons even though we know we're seasoned veterans. I think that's just part of the duty. It's going to be fun to see what we can accomplish out there and how much it's going to help our hockey club to win hockey games.”

Karlsson practiced at the center point, a position that had typically been occupied by Letang. He moved to the left half wall, saying that the biggest adjustments there are getting used to not having as many puck touches, and being ready to make plays instead of drawing people to him before distributing.

“Well, it's nice having a righty on that side for a one-time threat,” Sullivan said. “I think Erik up top is really good, with his instincts and what he sees. He likes to move himself, so (seeing a lot of motion) wouldn't surprise me moving forward as this power play evolves and we give them repetitions and they get to know one another in their tendencies. Sometimes you might see Kris up top and Erik on the flank. But I think having those two right-handed shots give us a little bit of a different look, maybe a one-time threat. We'll see how it goes. But those are some things that we've thought about.”

Evgeni Malkin lined up on the right half wall, Sidney Crosby roved around as per usual, and Rakell operated as the net-front presence. Karlsson said that throughout his career, he’s played most positions on the power play, except “maybe not so much net front,” he said with a laugh. “So, I think I’m off-duty there.”

He believes that guys have to be ready to handle various situations, and “luckily, most of us have been in a lot of them before, which is going to help out.

“It doesn't really always have to be the way you line it up and draw it up. Sometimes you just have to play hockey, and I think that with the group that we have here, that's a positive thing. The structural thing we’re going to try and dial in as soon as possible so at least we have some guidelines.”

As for the top-six options, after Vinnie Hinostroza and Andreas Johnsson skated in the open spots alongside the tandems of Crosby/Bryan Rust and Malkin/Reilly Smith, the Penguins moved new players into those roles.

“Inevitably, you're more than likely going to see Jake Guentzel on that left side with Sid,” Sullivan said of the injured winger, recovering from offseason ankle surgery. “That's probably a safe assumption. But in the meantime, we've got to find some options in our top six and we'll explore some different options.”

Rakell skated on the left wing with Crosby and Rust, while Sullivan said Alex Nylander earned the right to get a look alongside Malkin and Smith.

“Raks has played the off wing in the past. He's comfortable there. He's a really good player,” Sullivan said. “Alex is a talented kid. He's got real good offensive instincts. He's a guy that potentially could play up our lineup. So, he's a guy that we also think has played pretty well, and was deserving of that today. And that's one of the reasons why we put him there.”

Here is the full Penguins workflow:

Rakell-Crosby-Rust

Nylander-Malkin-Smith

O’Connor-Eller-Nieto

Hinostroza-Acciari-Carter

(Zohorna, Wagner rotating in)

Pettersson-Karlsson

Graves-Letang

Joseph-Ruhwedel

Shea-Friedman