Todd Reirden never coached Patric Hornqvist, but knows all about him.
He understands how important Hornqvist was to the Penguins' power play over the past six seasons, and how finding an effective net-front presence to replace him is a priority.
"When you remove a guy who's been in one certain spot for a few years, obviously, that's going to cause a change," said Reirden, who joined the Penguins' coaching staff as an assistant during the offseason.
But while the Penguins don't have another Hornqvist -- face it, there just aren't that many guys like him -- they do have options for filling the void created when he was traded to Florida in September.
Which means the net-front job won't necessarily go to someone who mimics Hornqvist's in-your-face-and-your-crease approach.
One possibility would be having a guy -- Jake Guentzel, perhaps -- who sets up a bit away from the net and relies more on deflections and rebounds than rugby-style scrums to generate goals.
"You have to be open to a number of different options," said Reirden, who was head coach in Washington for the past two seasons after being an assistant there during the previous four. "We have to replace that player, and you can do it a number of different ways. Through different types of players, whether it's a left shot or a right shot, in that situation, or you can use a different formation that may go away from that at times."
Reirden said the he has been participating in virtual meetings to get input from other members of the staff about power-play personnel and tactics -- "I'm looking for input from everybody," he said -- that will merit consideration when training camps for the 2020-21 season get underway.
"There are lots of players who are in my mind for different spots, but until you get there and actually put them into that given situation or opportunity ... then you get to really see if there's that chemistry that you're looking for, some different formations that will possibly work better," he said
"I've had a number of thoughts and been able to have a lot of time to think about different (personnel) combinations and things we can take a look at. I'm excited to get going here with training cap and see some of those things in action, see if we can develop some chemistry and that confidence level that all power plays need to have."
Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Guentzel seem like virtual locks to claim spots on the No. 1 unit, although Reirden cited Bryan Rust, Kasperi Kapanen, Jason Zucker and Jared McCann as other forwards who should contend for some power-play time.
It's conceivable that Letang will be the lone defenseman on the top power play, because Reirden said he is "flexible" about having two defensemen man the points. He added, though, that John Marino, Mike Matheson and Marcus Pettersson could get a look there, presumably on the second unit.
"There's a number of different looks you can go with, with the players we have," he said.
Being able to move players in and out and to alter tactics will be particularly important, Reirden said, because of the likelihood that the NHL will play a condensed schedule in the coming season, which increases the chances of players missing games because of injuries.
"You have to have people who are interchangeable," he said.
Reirden relinquished oversight of the Capitals' man-advantage unit during his stint as head coach, but said he was "very hands-on" in the previous four seasons.
When he was in charge of the power play, Washington's conversion rate was consistently among the league's best, with an efficiency rate ranging from a low of 21.9 percent to a high of 25.3.
Reirden ran the Penguins' power play from 2010-11 through 2013-14, when they capitalized on 15.8, 19.7, 24.7 and 23.4 percent of their opportunities with the extra man, respectively.
"That 20 percent range is a number that's been good," Reirden said. "Obviously, I've been a part of ones that were a little higher than that in Pittsburgh and Washington, but every year is a little bit different, with the nuances of the league."
He said the Penguins' strong puck-recovery game and ability to turn that into time in the attacking zone "was something those groups did well" during his time here, and thus were a critical component of the power play's success.
That is something he will be looking to replicate, although Reirden noted that a power play can be a positive force even when it doesn't manufacture a goal.
"You're going (with the objective) to create momentum for your team," he said. "It's not always going to end up in a goal, but your team has earned a power play and now you have an opportunity to push the game in your favor.
"Whether you score or you don't, there are ways to properly evaluate whether it was good power play or not. But the important thing is that when that power play is over, you've created momentum for your team."