Jeff Carter is cooked and can't keep coasting in the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup.
Respect is earned, not given. Such is true in any walk of life and that’s double when you’re as accomplished an NHL player as Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jeff Carter.
However, there comes a time in every athlete’s career where it’s time to look at themselves in the mirror and ask if they are still capable of getting the job done. In Carter’s case, I’m not quite sure he’s an 82-game full timer anymore.
His skating has diminished. His hands have turned to stone. He struggled to even receive passes from teammates anymore. It’s getting hard to watch.
Carter has seven goals and 19 points in 46 games as a third liner for the Penguins this season. Two of those goals came when shooting at a yawning cage. In Carter’s last 13 games, he’s got a goal and an assist with a minus-4 rating including being held pointless in his last 10 contests.
He’s already been removed from the role of third line center as it’s become evident that he is unequipped to do that at this juncture of his career. But if he’s going to play on the wing, he’s got to score.
Sure, he’s the best face off man on the team. The Penguins have used him to try and win opening faceoffs in overtimes before skating directly off the ice. He’s become a gimmick.
With youthful infusion and more production needed, there’s a handful of guys in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton that could play the wing. Drew O’Connor is playing some of the better hockey of his young career. A look on the third line could be in his future.
Both Alex Nylander and Valtteri Puustinen lead WBS with 34 points a piece. They’ve been big parts of the Baby Penguins’ power play with 15 combined power play goals. Carter is a part of the Pens’ second power play. There could be a different face there too.
You feel for Carter. But the Penguins have him for this season and next. He may not need to be jettisoned completely from the team but making him the 13th forward and limiting him to 50-60 games a season may not be the worst move.
His veteran presence in the playoffs would certainly be welcomed so he would be a lot fresher if the Penguins gave him a blow every once and a while.
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