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GM Jim Rutherford earned the right to be called crazy like a fox for plotting trades that brought Phil Kessel to the Pittsburgh Penguins without mortgaging too much of their future, and got consistently inconsistent Brandon Sutter off Pittsburgh’s books for a lateral and cheaper talent in Nick Bonino. But they called him just plain crazy for shipping Simon Despres to the Anaheim Ducks, last season’s Western Conference runner-up, for what he thought would be a much-matured Ben Lovejoy.
They call him the “Reverend.” He was certainly quick to make Penguins fans stand up, look to the heavens and yell the Lord’s name. His minus-4 rating in four exhibition games probably didn’t inspire much confidence in a clean slate either.
Rutherford was quick to concede his own madness this offseason, and he may have been right to do so. Have all the advanced metrics you want. There aren’t any that measure a player’s candor and/or media likability, which so far have been the only redeeming qualities of Lovejoy’s return to Pittsburgh. Accountability is a fine quality, but after so many instances of being caught out of position and watching the opponent celebrate a game-ending goal, it just makes Lovejoy an apologist.
And yet, in the face of mounting opposition, I refuse to believe Lovejoy has proven himself once and for all useless on the Penguins’ blue line. Furthermore, I’m not yet ready to say the Pens gave up on the next Paul Coffey just because a defenseman who seldom played in high-leverage situations in Pittsburgh enjoyed a little beginner’s luck on an already-loaded Anaheim squad.
Sure, we saw more instances this preseason of Lovejoy looking badly overmatched. His equally big problem this past spring, however, is that he was badly overworked. That will not happen with a healthy Kris Letang and Olli Maatta manning the back end for the Pens. With fewer minutes for Mike Johnston‘s defensemen to eat, fewer mistakes are likely.
There’s an adage that the best player can be the one whose name isn’t called at all, and it fits Lovejoy like a pair of Easton gloves. If he does a better job staying on top of his assignments and avoids turning pucks over (or leaving them in less-than-ideal places, for that matter), then the Pens have gotten exactly what they need out of him.
Lovejoy has skated with, among others, Ian Cole, a 2015 trade deadline acquisition that worked out a little better for Rutherford. Pairing him with Rob Scuderi is another viable option that would guarantee chemistry and also give Lovejoy a mentor of sorts.
Furthermore, it would be consistent with Johnston’s strategy of balancing his offensive defensemen with his traditional ones. Lovejoy’s 15 shots on goal quietly put him among the team’s preseason leaders. He’s not someone to whom Johnston should hand the keys to the No. 1 power play unit without flinching, but if Lovejoy is otherwise put in position to pinch a lot and take a lot of shots, it could take the attention off his suspect play on the back end.
Two months just isn’t enough time for us to determine how good, bad or average the Lovejoy-Despres deal was for the Pens, but it’s about time for Lovejoy to start getting out of his own way.
