Steve Downie Set to Thrive With Penguins

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Few teams in the NHL had as much turnover during the offseason as the Pittsburgh Penguins.

They overhauled the entire organization both on the ice and off of it, not only changing general managers and the coaching staff, but also rebuilding the roster in the hopes of putting a deeper team on the ice than the one that was eliminated by the New York Rangers in the second round of the playoffs.

Gone are James Neal, Jussi Jokinen, Brooks Orpik, Matt Niskanen, Tanner Glass, Joe Vitale and Deryk Engelland. In are Patric Hornqvist, Christian Ehrhoff, Nick Spaling, Steve Downie and Blake Comeau. Whether they are better or worse remains to be seen. Perhaps better in some areas, perhaps a little worse, but they are certainly going to be different.

While the draft day trade that sent Neal to the Nashville Predators in exchange for Hornqvist and Spaling, as well as the free agent signing of Ehrhoff, stole most of the headlines during the offseason, one of the more intriguing moves was the one-year, $1 million free agent contract they gave to Downie after he split last season with the Colorado Avalanche and Philadelphia Flyers.

One of the talking points surrounding the Penguins after their postseason loss to the New York Rangers was their need to get “tougher” and bring in somebody that can “protect” their star players.

Steve Downie on protecting Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin: "I can guarantee there won't be any liberties on those players this year." — Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) July 4, 2014

But that’s not what makes Downie such a strong addition for the Penguins. For one, guys like him are not going to prevent opposing players from taking liberties. If somebody wants to do something dumb or throw out a cheap shot, they’re going to do it whether Steve Downie or any other “enforcer” is in the lineup or not. But if the Penguins were going to bring in a player that they hoped could fill that role, they at least did themselves a favor by bringing in a player that can actually play hockey.

The biggest Achilles heel on the Penguins last season wasn’t necessarily a lack of toughness or grit, it was the fact that if Crosby or Malkin were not on the ice, they were getting thoroughly dominated on the scoreboard. Two franchise players can mask a lot of ugly problems for a team, but eventually there has to be somebody else that can not only chip in some occasional offense, but also do something to prevent goals as well. Adding a player like Downie to the third line is a great place to start.

Downie can be a polarizing player around the league because he plays with a physical edge and has not only toed the line between clean and dirty, but has at times jumped over it. To his credit, he’s been on the right side of it for the past several years and his play on the ice hasn’t matched his reputation.

What he is, is an effective third-line forward that helps his team control the pace of the game and provide quality depth. Over the past seven years he’s been a consistently useful player when it comes to helping his team drive possession, and even last season in what was a bit of a down year for him personally he was significantly better than just about any other player the Penguins regularly used on their bottom-two lines, as the table below (using Goals For percentage and Corsi For Percentage) shows.

Even though he managed only four goals in 62 games, there are enough signs that he could be in line for a surprisingly productive season in Pittsburgh. For one, he is still only 27 years old and last season was coming off of a major injury that limited him to only two games during the lockout shortened 2012-13 season. He still posted solid possession numbers and averaged the same number of shots per game that he has throughout his career, but experienced an all-time low shooting percentage of only 4.5 percent, by far the worst of his career. If he maintains the same shots average and sees a positive regression in his shooting percentage closer to his career levels, you’re looking at 15 goals over 82 games.

Beyond that, he might even find himself in a more increased role than just a third-liner depending on the circumstances. While the Penguins worked to improve their bottom lines this offseason, they are entering the season with a couple of question marks in their top-six.

Hornqvist and Chris Kunitz are locks to play on the top two lines and should continue to be productive wingers alongside Crosby and Malkin. But after that things start to get a little thin, especially on the second line where Jussi Jokinen will no longer be after signing a multi-year contract in free agency with the Florida Panthers.

Pascal Dupuis is a year older and coming off a major knee injury, and his production was already starting to dip a bit before his season came to a premature end. Beau Bennett is expected to see an increased role, but remains a question mark at this point. With a shallow prospect pool for wingers and no other real options on the NHL roster, Downie would be the next best option to slide into a top-six role if a player like Dupuis or Bennett is injured or ineffective.

Get him into a situation where he might get to spend some time skating next to Crosby or Malkin, and if his shooting luck changes even a little bit from last season, he could be looking at a 15 or 20 goal season.

And that’s why Downie was a wise addition over the offseason. Not because he’s going to magically prevent an opposing defender from dishing out a cheap shot, but because he’s simply a very good hockey player.[/vc_column_text][dt_fancy_separator separator_style=”dotted” separator_color=”accent”][/vc_column][/vc_row]