Penguins Weekly Stock Report: Lars Eller’s big start

It’s Friday and that means it’s time to check out our Pittsburgh Penguins stock report to see who’s struggling and who’s playing well.

The disappointments are in many areas that were expected in the preseason, but there is also a very big surprise in the stock decline category that we are not used to seeing there.

The early positive results so far this season have largely come from a few strikers, which is a pleasant surprise considering how unproductive their bottom six have been in recent years. It’s encouraging to see some of them playing well. It’s disheartening that they may be among the most productive players through the first eight games.

Let’s delve into this in more detail.

Stock up

Lars Eller. If the Penguins end up slipping out of playoff contention and becoming sellers again, they should at least have a really attractive team lease to bid on. Eller has excelled in the third-line midfielder role so far, not only providing some surprising attacks that resulted in a team-high four goals, but every line combination the Penguins have thrown around him has worked. They were also one of the few bright spots defensively. All three of his line combinations with which he played at least 10 minutes have an expected goals percentage greater than 50 percent, while they all allowed 1.66 expected goals or less. The actual goals conceded weren’t that great, but the goalkeeper plays a big role in that. All they can do is limit the chances and hope the goalkeeper helps them. They usually limit the chances. Now all they have to do is make a save every now and then. Eller has definitely been one of their best overall players so far this season.

Kevin Hayes. I had relatively low expectations for Hayes when he was acquired and accepted that his acquisition was probably more about acquiring a future draft pick than doing anything to noticeably improve the current roster. Which I guess is fine considering where this team is right now. But what if it does both? And what if Hayes performs so well that he opens up a potential trade market and allows the Penguins to get even more out of him as a player and potential trade chip? He at least created that opportunity in the first two weeks of the season. Like Eller, he provided some unexpected attacks (three goals in eight games) and was mostly strong defensively. He has averaged just 2.07 expected goals per 60 minutes of ice time despite making some of the team’s best starts in the defensive zone. Considering how cheap his current contract is for the Penguins – St. Louis is paying off a percentage of it – if he continues to play like he has been, the Penguins could be in a position to add another second-round pick or prospect at the deadline to take up her pool for him. I haven’t always been a fan of what Kyle Dubas has done since arriving in Pittsburgh, but this could turn out to be a smart piece of asset management. It’s at least an encouraging start.

Rickard Rakell. Rakell was easily one of the Penguins’ biggest disappointments a year ago, and considering how many years and how much money he has left on his contract, that was a pretty big deal. But through the first eight games, he seemed at least a little closer to the player he was in his first year and a half with the Penguins. At least the puck goes into the net for him. He has already scored four goals in eight games and should probably establish himself even more in the leadership of the team. A year ago it took him 26 games to score his fourth goal of the season.

Inventory decreased

Tristan Jarry. I don’t want to say too much here, but my goodness, this is a messy situation. After being benched and losing his starting spot in the biggest games of the season at the end of the 2023-24 season, Jarry has come back this season and played so poorly that he isn’t even dressing for games at this point. No one will deny that the Penguins were terrible defensively in front of their goaltenders, but Jarry’s play was simply unacceptable for an NHL goaltender. Something needs to change here because we’re now at a point where we’re talking about a 30-game stretch stretching back to the end of the 2023-24 season where he was only expected to start a small handful of games . He was terrible in those starts.

Sidney Crosby Line. The Penguins need this line to dominate if they want to have a chance to compete. Not only is it not dominant, it also doesn’t play particularly well. Especially defensively. Whether it’s Bryan Rust, Anthony Beauvillier or Drew O’Connor on the wings, the end result is the same – too many goals conceded, too many chances conceded and not nearly enough offense to compensate. Crosby needs to get better and I’m confident he will. He’s too good not to be and I’m not prepared to say his game has declined that much. He still can’t achieve much on his own, and not only is he not playing at his best, he’s also not getting any support from his wingers.

The entire defense. This doesn’t just affect the actual defenders, but pretty much everyone on the team. The Penguins have never really been known for their defense, and even when things have gone well in the past, they have tended to get a little more hectic in front of their net. However, what we’ve seen through the first eight games of the season might be some of the worst defensive hockey we’ve seen from the Penguins in the Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang era. The top two defensive pairings were among the worst in the league when it came to suppressing chances. Marcus Pettersson, usually one of the most reliable players in the backline, got off to a brutal start and was out in depth outside of a few forwards. There wasn’t much positive in terms of help from the forwards. The end result is a team that ranks 28th in the NHL in expected goals per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 and 28th in all situations. That’s not going to work for this team, especially given the goaltending situation.