PITTSBURGH — From a business standpoint, these aren’t fun times for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
While the on-ice product has certainly been better in the past couple of weeks — the Penguins have won five of their past six games — it’s not like anyone in the organization is viewing this collection of players with championship aspirations. Also, the empty seats at PPG Paints Arena, while very much in line with other NHL teams dealing with struggles, isn’t something that delights anyone.
What does delight just about everyone in Pittsburgh, however, is when Jaromir Jagr makes one of his returns to Western Pennsylvania. We saw it last winter when Jagr’s number-retirement ceremony had the legend spend two lengthy stints in Pittsburgh, looking noticeably comfortable in his former city.
The idea of bringing Jagr back to the organization in some kind of role, prominent or otherwise, very much remains on the table and is of interest to the Penguins.
Jagr, who turns 53 in February, has stated that the 2024-25 season will be his final one as a player.
Of course, as always with Jagr, his situation is a complicated one. Just because he’s retiring as a player doesn’t mean his hands won’t be tied moving forward, because this is what happens when you’re involved in ownership and team management, which is the class in his hometown of Kladno.
Still, the Penguins would like to see him around more often. He’s developed a strong relationship with Kevin Acklin, Penguins president of business operations. Acklin has visited Jagr in Czechia previously and is planning on doing so again, maintaining what has become an important connection.
The choice to join the Penguins at some point will, of course, be Jagr’s. If he wants to work with young players in some kind of coaching capacity, great. If he wants a front-office role of some kind, great. If he wants to be an ambassador for the organization, helping the Penguins brand in Europe, great. If he wants to show up in Pittsburgh a couple of times during the season, sell some tickets and give the crowd a thrill, great.
The Penguins witnessed up close and personal in February that the Jagr mystique is alive and well in Pittsburgh some 23 years after he was traded by the Penguins. They realized his influence and popularity here will never die. As if they weren’t already aware of this, they also saw firsthand what a brilliant human being Jagr is, and how his insights and intellect could help any hockey team.
Don’t be surprised if you hear Jagr’s name in connection with the Penguins once he hangs up the skates. The organization is eager to bring him back to Pittsburgh on a more permanent basis.
Jaromir Jagr waves to the crowd after skating in warmups following his jersey retirement ceremony in February. (Justin Berl / Getty Images)
• There is much speculation out there linking the Penguins’ organization with Nils Höglander, a 23-year-old Canucks forward whose role in Vancouver has been diminished in recent weeks.
Höglander is absolutely the kind of player the Penguins like. They do specifically like him, I’ve been told, and others have reported this as well. He’s right in the wheelhouse of what the Penguins have been doing in recent months. Höglander is talented, he’s only 23, he was drafted in the second round and thus has a pedigree, and things aren’t really working out with his current place of employment. He might as well be a bull’s-eye for Kyle Dubas.
I will caution you on something, however.
Höglander hasn’t just fallen out of favor with a coach. He’s fallen out of favor with Rick Tocchet.
People in the NHL talk. A lot. Tocchet and Mike Sullivan talk. A lot. I assure you they will discuss players if a trade is being considered, and I assure you they’re both straight shooters, especially with one another. If Höglander has fallen out of favor with Tocchet — and that seems to be the case — I would have to think the Penguins would have serious reservations about acquiring him. Sullivan trusts Tocchet’s opinion as much as anyone’s in hockey and, while Dubas has the ultimate say on his roster, it’s not like Sullivan has no say. Just something to keep in mind.
• There is a cautious optimism within the organization that Tristan Jarry is on the right path.
He has produced a save percentage of better than .900 in each of his past three games, which is something he did only once in his first seven starts. Earlier in Jarry’s career, there were more than a few whispers that he wasn’t the hardest worker in the world and that showing up to camp in optimal shape wasn’t always his forte.
Those days are gone. From what I’ve been told by many people close to the goaltender, work ethic is absolutely not a problem. Jarry, by all accounts, entered camp this season in outstanding condition and apparently his attitude during the dramatic time that saw him join Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for two weeks was very good.
His performance, while still not at the level we’ve seen during his All-Star seasons, is rapidly improving. Everyone in the organization is pretty pleased with him at the moment.
• Speaking of being pleased, many in the organization are blown away by how impressive Owen Pickering has been during his first eight games at the NHL level. It’s not that the coaching staff and front office didn’t think highly of the 20-year-old, because all involved certainly did.
He is a much different player now than he was even in September during training camp. Many in the organization didn’t necessarily think he was ready for full-time NHL action when he was called up to the Penguins last month. He’s starting to change the minds of many.
There is nothing flashy about Pickering’s game. From what he has displayed through eight games, there’s nothing bad about his game, either.
Also, it should be noted that this is a human being the organization absolutely loves. Yes, you hear all the time about how many good people are in hockey, and this is generally true. But Pickering is a different kind of kid. His leadership intangibles are off the charts and his personality is magnetic.
• I find it very odd that Jesse Puljujarvi has been a healthy scratch so often this season. To me, he’s without question one of the Penguins’ best bottom-six wingers.
Keep this in mind, though: Puljujarvi is still less than 18 months removed from double hip surgery. From what I’ve heard, the Penguins never wanted him to play in 82 games this season, believing that giving him a rest from time to time was probably best for maximum performance.
One way or the other, the Penguins are a better team when he’s in the lineup.
• After a slow start to his time in Wilkes-Barre, Rutger McGroarty is starting to heat up.
That said, he only has seven points in 17 games. It was pretty apparent at the beginning of the regular season that McGroarty wasn’t quite ready for prime time at the NHL level.
I don’t have the sense that anyone in the organization is down on McGroarty. Far from it. There is a very strong belief that he’s going to become a very good NHL player. There’s also a pretty universal belief that he needs a full year at the AHL level.
• I heard and confirmed a great story the other day. Eddie Johnston traded for Kevin Stevens, who was recently inducted into the USA Hockey Hall of Fame, only months after the Los Angeles Kings drafted him in 1983.
Why did he trade for him? Because Bobby Orr saw the Boston-born Stevens play, called Johnston, and told him it was a good idea.
Sometimes, you just listen to Bobby Orr.
(Top photo of Nils Höglander shooting the puck as Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea defends: Charles LeClaire / Imagn Images)
