Damien’s Deliberations: Karlsson and Graves Improve the Pens’ Backend

The offseason is both an exciting and frustrating time of the year for fans and observers alike across all sports. When a team misses the playoffs for the first time in 17 years with the league’s oldest core and hires a new GM, there are more questions than ever about the future of the team. It appears that Kyle Dubas knows how to appease the fans in western Pennsylvania. This offseason he has already made several signings that add depth to the bottom six forwards, the defense, and goaltending. Normally I choose one acquisition, but in this article I’m choosing two because of the magnitude of talent and value each player brings to their new team.

The first signing is 28 year old defenseman Ryan Graves to the Pittsburgh Penguins for $4.5M/6 years. He is a consistent and solid defensive defenseman who adds size and physicality to a team that desperately needs it with his 6’5 220 pound frame. Graves’ signing is a response to Brian Dumoulin’s departure from Pittsburgh after 9 seasons. In New Jersey, Graves put up some respectable numbers last season, he was 20th in blocked shots for defensemen with 152, Dumoulin had the most on Pittsburgh with 142. With his tenacious ability to play defense and contribute as a responsible two way defenseman, Graves finished the season with 5.4 defensive point shares(11th in the NHL). According to hockey-reference.com, he had the most DPS on New Jersey, Hamilton was in 2nd with 5.0, and Dumoulin had the most in Pittsburgh with 3.3. This shows Graves was a major asset to New Jersey defensively as well as being an upgrade from Dumoulin. But wait…there’s more! Graves also brings value offensively, according to Evolving Hockey he posted 10.6 Goals Above Replacement and they deem he is worth $12.3M based off of their SPAR model. These analytics support his value as a two way defender in the league and suggest he will have a significant role and impact on the penguins blue line.

The second acquisition is prolific offensive defenseman Erik Karlsson, who still has 4 more years at $11.5M(the Sharks retained $1.5 a year per CapFriendly). Karlsson is coming off a Norris winning season where he led all defensemen in goals(25), assists(76), points(101), and shooting percentage(12%). The impressive thing is Karlsson did that on the San Jose Sharks, who finished 4th last in the league. In 14 seasons, Karlsson has been an offensive juggernaut scoring .82 PPG. The penguins desperately need goal scoring from more than just their top line this season, lack of depth scoring and puck moving defensemen played a substantial role in not making the playoffs. According to DKPittsburghsports and analytics company sportlogiq, Karlsson had the 2nd highest success rate of controlled zone exits 5-on-5 with 76.3 as well as 3rd most takeaways with 81, 71 of them being 5 on 5. Another part of the game that struggled at times were the Penguins powerplay that finished 14th in the league. This past season Karlsson tallied 27 points while quarterbacking the powerplay, his presence should bolster the PP units and manufacture more scoring chances upfront for their top forwards. Thinking of Karlsson, Crosby, Guentzel, Malkin, Letang on their powerplay sounds like an all star team. At the end of the day, Erik Karlsson brings a lot offensive prowess and speed that will help Pittsburgh, including 3 on 3 in overtime.

Last year the Penguins missed the playoffs due to a lack of depth scoring, inconsistent defensive play, and middle of the road special teams. Their goaltending had a save percentage of .902 that ranked 13th in the league per statmuse.com, yet they still finished with 263 Goals Against(19th), and a -2 point differential(18th). The additions of Ryan Graves and Erik Karlsson will add depth, both scoring and defensive, to the Pens’ blue line alongside Kris Letang, Marcus Petterson, POJ, Chad Ruhwedel, and Mark Friedman. The additions will allow Letang to play against more favorable matchups and be more rested. The powerplay, penalty kill, and transition game will receive a significant boost as well.

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