CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Well now, that didn't take long, did it?
Barely a week after rookie Pierre-Olivier Joseph secured a place on the Penguins' taxi squad -- and, effectively, the No. 9 spot on their defensive depth chart -- he is expected to make his NHL debut when the New York Rangers visit PPG Paints Arena Friday at 7:08 p.m.
Mike Sullivan confirmed Thursday that he has decided how his defense pairings will be constructed in that game, although he declined to say exactly who will fill in for Marcus Pettersson and Juuso Riikola, both of whom were injured against Washington Tuesday.
While Joseph doesn't have a single NHL shift on his resume, he might well be the most attractive of Sullivan's three options for one of those two openings.
The other candidates are veteran Cody Ceci, a healthy scratch for the past three games after playing 16 1/2 minutes in the Penguins' season-opening loss in Philadelphia Jan. 13, and journeyman Kevin Czuczman, summoned from the Penguins' American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre.
"Anytime our team has faced injuries, it's always an opportunity for someone else to step up and fill the void," Sullivan said. "We believe we have NHL-caliber players here. We believe in the depth that we have."
Perhaps, but Joseph, acquired from Arizona in the Phil Kessel trade in 2019, is the most intriguing of the three possibilities to move into the lineup.
He is 21, and was the Coyotes' first-round draft choice (23rd overall) in 2017. Joseph is long (6 foot 2) and lean (185 pounds) and, while the Penguins surely didn't anticipate needing him just four games into the season, they don't seem to have any qualms about using him. Especially under the circumstances.
"He's got the good range," Jim Rutherford said. "He's got the good reach, he can skate, he moves the puck well, sees the play. Those are all the things you need to get started. Of course, when you get in the game, as we saw (Tuesday), so many different things can happen, and you have to be able to make that adjustment. What you hope for is that it's a game where a guy can just come along at his pace, not have to make a whole lot of adjustments, based on how a game changes or becomes one of those games that is harder to play in."
Joesph was paired with Czuczman during practice Thursday, while Ceci worked with John Marino, but those groupings don't necessarily mean anything because Chad Ruhwedel was excused from the workout after becoming a first-time father.
Sullivan said he fully expects Ruhwedel, who had been partnering with Riikola, to be available Friday, and there's little question that he would claim a berth on one of the bottom two pairings.
Ruhwedel's absence was just another complication in a situation that began to deteriorate when Mike Matheson sustained an unspecified injury in Philadelphia last week, because it prevented the Penguins from giving their bottom two pairings a chance to work together before the Rangers game.
"In a perfect world, we'd like to have all the defensemen in practice so that the guys have an opportunity to practice together," Sullivan said. "But that's just the reality of where we're at. We didn't have Chad today, so we'll just have to figure it out."
With the bottom two pairings being reconfigured on the fly, the top pairing of Brian Dumoulin and Kris Letang might shoulder an even heavier workload than usual. And the onus will be on the Penguins' forwards to do whatever they can to ease the stress on their blue line.
"You're always trying to make life for them easy, as far as the defense corps," Sidney Crosby said. "Just lots of communication. Making sure you give them good 'outs' coming out of the zone, so they don't have to spend a lot of time there. And just being good at the lines, whether it's their own blue line, getting pucks out, or the offensive blue line, making sure we don't have turnovers there."
The key variable in how the defense corps fares will be Joseph. If he can perform at the level of which teammates insist he is capable, it could ease the pressure on the other pairings.
"He's very smooth," Dumoulin said. "He plays really well both ways, offense and defense. He moves the puck really, really well. He's a good skater. He's got a good reach and a great stick. He's a guy who fits our mold."
He added, though, that it would be prudent for Joseph to keep his game simple, to play within his limitations.
"At the beginning, I'm going to tell him to just move the puck," Dumoulin said. "If you see a play, make it. Keep it simple on the breakouts. Try to use your legs as much as you can."
That's something Joseph hasn't had to do in a game setting since last season, since he didn't play in Europe while the 2020-21 NHL season was in suspended animation.
"That's a long time without playing games," Joseph said. "But with everything that happened, I'm going to be happy to be back."
Evan Schall / Penguins
Pierre-Olivier Joseph
MORE FROM PRACTICE
• Sullivan, on the Penguins' power play, which has scored on four of 16 chances: "They're working extremely hard at it. They're taking what the game gives them. There's a lot of movement and they're shooting the puck when the opportunity presents itself."
• Crosby said that having a right-handed shot like Kasperi Kapanen on his line "hopefully allows you to make plays in different parts of the ice. It's a little bit easier, just not having to be on you backhand and being able to see plays that way. (Kapanen) has great speed, a really good shot. He can do a lot of things well."
• Here are the forward combinations Sullivan deployed in practice:
Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Kasperi Kapanen
Jason Zucker-Evgeni Malkin-Bryan Rust
Jared McCann-Mark Jankowski-Brandon Tanev
Drew O'Connor/Colton Sceviour-Teddy Blueger-Evan Rodrigues
