New Faces Helping Improve Penguins Depth
Lars Eller and Noel Acciari have given the Pittsburgh Penguins bottom six new life.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have routinely struggled to find consistent depth forwards, but with Kyle Dubas now at the helm in the front office, some new names may have emerged as useful pieces.
During his first summer as president of hockey operations for the Penguins, Dubas brought in a boatload of players who could fight for NHL time; it made for an entertaining training camp, but the dust has since settled.
Now, 20 games into the season, Lars Eller and Noel Acciari have proven to be extremely valuable players in the bottom six.
The Penguins bottom six might still struggle to find offense at times, but these two are slowly taking leaps as complete players who can compete on both sides of the puck.
Lars Eller
When Eller signed with the Penguins, he was immediately labeled as the third line center; that’s where he’s been since the first day of camp and where he still resides.
In 20 games, Eller has recorded three goals and five assists for eight points, which doesn’t sound outstanding, but his defensive game has been through the roof.
Eller is a huge piece of the Penguins penalty kill and is a perfect player for Mike Sullivan’s system.
It took a few games to catch up to speed, but Eller shows every night how tough he can be to play against; battling for pucks and consistently creating turnovers and takeaways.
The offensive numbers still don’t jump out as over-the-top third line center material, but he and his line get their share of looks and chances.
Noel Acciari
Just a line behind Eller, Acciari has become one of the most crucial faces in the Penguins’ bottom six.
Only two goals and an assist on offense, but it’s everything Acciari does on defense that makes him so important.
One of the best one the team at face offs, Acciari has come up big on a number of occasions in making sure opposing power plays don’t start their attack with the puck.
Without a dominating physical presence in the lineup, Acciari has taken over as the Penguins’ hit leader with 44 after 20 games; Kris Letang sits second with just 27.
Sullivan believes that the contest against the Toronto Maple Leafs was Acciari’s best game with the Penguins.
He’s be right with that statement and it’s more than just a game-tying goal; Acciari kept a strong Maple Leafs power play out of the net and was trusted to protect the 3-2 lead in the dying minutes.
The Penguins found perfect pieces for their depth in Eller and Acciari; if the scoring can increase a little between them and their linemates, the bottom six will only become more useful.
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