CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Mike Sullivan frequently likes to remind that one can't read too much into line combinations or defense pairings this early into training camp.
So after the Penguins worked on the power play Monday, a first in this camp, his response was unsurprising when asked what can be read from the way it was structured.
"Nothing."
It's definitely early. Monday was also the first day the coaches even had any meetings to discuss the power play. And with Erik Karlsson still just skating on his own as he remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury, his return will definitely shake up one or both units.
With that all in mind, these were the Day 1 alignments, with there being four units instead of the usual two because of the number of players still in camp:
First unit: Kris Letang, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell
Second unit: Matt Grzelcyk, Lars Eller, Michael Bunting, Anthony Beauvillier, Kevin Hayes
Third unit: Filip Kral, Emil Bemstrom, Valtteri Puustinen, Jesse Puljujarvi, Jimmy Huntington
Fourth unit: Mac Hollowell, Ville Koivunen, Rutger McGroarty, Tristan Broz, Avery Hayes
New assistant coach David Quinn led the power-play portion of the day, with Sullivan observing and occasionally chiming in from the bench.
Again, a lot could change. When Karlsson is back, he could simply knock Grzelcyk off that second unit. They could also go with two defensemen on the top unit, or Karlsson could end up on the top unit and Letang plays with the second. Some of the forwards could change as the days go on -- someone like Bunting could eventually end up on the top unit for what he brings as far as a net-front presence. The units they start with when the puck drops for the regular season also surely won't be the units they stick with all year, since in-season shuffling is pretty normal.
Regardless of the personnel, each of those units -- even the depth ones -- had a lot of movement and were getting a lot of shots off. There wasn't a ton of hanging onto the puck, something that was often an issue last season for the league's 30th-ranked power play.
"There's a huge window of opportunity if we can retrieve pucks and have success and then have a quick-strike mindset," Sullivan said. "If you want my opinion, just my own observation of the group we have is that's when our guys are at their best. Because it's instinctive play. It's not any setup or framework or set play where we're going to try to make this highlight-reel goal, and we're going to pass it in the net. It's hockey. It's just hockey. Those are important elements. I think we need people with a willingness and a buy-in, to have that workman mindset."
The Penguins have players with that "workman mindset" when it comes to hunting pucks, with Sullivan citing Rust and Crosby in particular as players who have that as a strength of their game.
Whoever ends up on those units, Quinn taking over as the power-play coach should result in some different looks. Sullivan said Quinn has already "brought some ideas to the table that are different than what we've had in the past." Rakell said that though they've only had one meeting with the power play so far, he thinks Quinn is bringing some "great ideas."
There's still a long ways to go until the Oc. 9 regular-season opener. There are a lot more meetings to be had, and we'll likely see a few different personnel combinations in the meantime. But at its core, Letang said that the "big emphasis" from Quinn early on has just been execution.
"You want to be able to execute plays and be able to go tape-to-tape, being fast," Letang said. "But also, be able to use the entire ice on the power play, not only utilizing a couple spots on the ice or just one side. You want to use the entire zone. That's been the first few steps that we're working on right now."
MORE FROM CAMP
• Tristan Jarry didn't practice Monday as he attended a previously-scheduled medical appointment. He's expected to be back and available Tuesday. There were no changes to the statuses of Karlsson (day-to-day, upper-body), Taylor Gauthier (day-to-day, lower-body), Beau Jelsma (longer-term, upper body), Jagger Joshua (longer-term, upper-body) and Matt Nieto (month-to-month, MCL surgery). Joshua, Karlsson and Nieto all skated on their own Monday.
• The Penguins were down to two main groups. This is how Team 1 lined up:
Anthony Beauvillier - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Rutger McGroarty - Vasily Ponomarev - Jesse Puljujarvi
Tanner Howe/Drew O'Connor - Blake Lizotte - Noel Acciari
Jonathan Gruden - Tristan Broz - Emil Bemstrom/Boko Imama
Kris Letang - Matt Grzelcyk
Ryan Shea - John Ludvig
Owen Pickering - Scooter Brickey
Harrison Brunicke - Dan Renouf
Sergei Murashov
Joel Blomqvist
• Team 2 used these combinations:
Michael Bunting - Evgeni Malkin - Rickard Rakell
Kevin Hayes - Lars Eller - Cody Glass
Avery Hayes - Joona Koppanen - Valtteri Puustinen
Corey Andonovski/Ville Koivunen - Jimmy Huntington - Sam Poulin
(Marc Johnstone)
Marcus Pettersson - Sebastian Aho
Ryan Graves - Jack St. Ivany
Filip Kral - Mac Hollowell
Isaac Belliveau - Nathan Clurman
Alex Nedeljkovic
Filip Larsson
• Raivis Ansons, Jack Beck, Atley Calvert, Mathieu De St. Phalle, Sam Houde, Gabe Klassen, Bennett MacArthur, Logan Pietila, Finn Harding, Nikolai Knyzhov, Justin Lee, Mats Lindgren and Philip Waugh skated in an earlier separate group with PTO goaltender Luke Richardson, who was signed to help out in these settings because free agent prospect Charlie Schenkel went back to junior.
• Probably not the best sign that PTO defenseman Knyzhov was in that bonus group, but he was always a long shot to earn a real contract. He's a left-handed defenseman and the Penguins have a lot of lefties as it is fighting for a spot on their off side. The Penguins are also at 49 of their 50 contracts, and using that final spot on Knyzhov probably isn't worth it. He could still sign an AHL deal though, and perhaps land an NHL deal in-season if he earns it and they need him.
• I think people forget that Rakell dealt with a shoulder injury nearly all of last season. He was out for a month with it starting in November, and he had to wear a brace the rest of the year as it still bothered him. It forced him to miss the World Championship in the spring, too. He called it a “difficult injury,” but didn’t want to use it as an excuse for having a down year last year. He said that it feels “better than before.”
• Now, onto the important stuff: Rakell called the Taylor Swift Eras Tour show he went to in Sweden over the summer “the best thing I’ve ever seen. It’s impressive, she doesn’t take any breaks.” He said he and his wife Emmei bought “everything” from the merch stand and his favorite song is ‘… Ready For It?’. He wore a Travis Kelce Chiefs jersey to the show, naturally.
• I have a separate story on Malkin, Letang and O'Connor reacting to being on the sideline before the Steelers' home opener on Sunday and Malkin and Letang leading the Terrible Towel Twirl.
• Jeff Carter was around to watch practice. He previously helped out as a coach during the informal summer skates.
• Next preseason game is Tuesday at 7:08 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena against the Sabres. The Sabres dressed their NHL regulars for the preseason opener Saturday, but they're expected to be dressing exclusively depth guys on Tuesday. Their NHL squad is departing for Germany and Czechia for the Global Series on Tuesday.
