Drew O’Connor offered a self-critique about his game earlier this week, specifically regarding a recent change to his nightly duties, having been deployed at center as opposed to the wing.
“There’s definitely some things I can continue to work on — faceoffs being one of them,” O’Connor said. “That’s probably the biggest thing right now, just keep working on my draws and get my percentage a little higher. It’s important to win faceoffs.”
O’Connor, who’s served as the Penguins’ third-line center for three straight games heading into Friday’s home contest vs. the Winnipeg Jets, has indeed struggled in the faceoff circle.
He’s taken 43 draws so far, winning only 15 of them (34.9%).
For comparison, fourth-line center Noel Acciari owns a 49.7% success rate in the faceoff circle, while Evgeni Malkin’s is 45.2%.
Predictably, Sidney Crosby, who has taken the most faceoffs in NHL history (that statistic has been tabulated in the NHL only since 1997-98), leads the Penguins at 56.2%.
Faceoffs notwithstanding, O’Connor has felt fine playing center, which he did collegiately at Dartmouth, as well as with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League and a handful of times with the Penguins over the past two seasons.
“I’ve played it a lot, so I feel like I’m pretty comfortable there,” O’Connor said. “But there’s definitely some things that, just in your approach, that change a little bit. You’re going to be a little bit more responsible defensively to be in the right positions a bit more.”
A mid-game concussion suffered by Blake Lizotte (who also was concussed during the preseason and started the year on injured reserve) on Nov. 13 coupled with the trade of Lars Eller one day earlier created a vacancy at center that O’Connor has filled.
Cody Glass (concussion) and Kevin Hayes (undisclosed ailment) also being on injured reserve further necessitated some lineup shuffling on the part of coach Mike Sullivan, resulting in O’Connor’s switch.
Of late, the 6-foot-4 left-handed shot has been flanked by Jesse Puljujarvi, another 6-4 specimen, and Sam Poulin, who’s 6-2, to form the Penguins’ third line.
“I think his line has been really good,” Sullivan said. “I think they bring a lot of energy and I think they can skate. There’s a lot of size on that line. They’ve helped us with momentum, just spending time in the offensive zone. They’ve scored a couple of goals — Jesse has helped us in that area, as well.”
That said, O’Connor, Puljujarvi and Poulin have not risen above constructive criticism when it comes to better defensive play, something that could be applied broadly to most Penguins players at this juncture of the season.
On the whole, Sullivan is pleased with what O’Connor has provided at center, even if there are some growing pains currently visible.
“I think there’s areas of improvement just with details and our (defensive) zone,” Sullivan said. “(O’Connor’s) adjustment to the center position, there’s more responsibility on the center, in just his reads tracking back into our own zone, his awareness away from the puck — things of that nature that we’ve talked to him about and will continue to try to help him in that area. But I think his line overall has been really good since we put those three together.”
Rust fills in
An unfortunate reality of the Crosby, Malkin and Kris Letang era is that over the years, the Penguins have had to navigate large stretches without each of them — sometimes simultaneously — because of injury.
While no Penguin donned a captain’s patch on their sweater during Crosby’s navigation through concussion issues in 2010-11 and 2011-12, several players have been tapped to fill in as alternate captains when Malkin and/or Letang have been unavailable.
Most recently, Jeff Carter, who retired at the end of 2023-24, and Brian Dumoulin, who left as a free agent after 2022-23, did so.
Now, Bryan Rust has served in that capacity for three games with Letang sidelined by illness.
Aside from the Penguins’ “Big Three,” the 32-year-old winger is the longest tenured player on the team, in Year 11 with Pittsburgh.
A third-round pick (No. 80 overall) by the Penguins in 2010, Rust has played 581 career games with the club, scoring 177 goals with 202 assists.
For Sullivan, turning to Rust as an alternate captain was an easy move.
“He’s a Stanley Cup champion, he’s been here a long time — in a lot of ways he personifies what it means to be a Pittsburgh Penguin,” Sullivan said. “He’s deserving of that leadership role. Even when he doesn’t wear a letter, he’s a leader on this team.”
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Letang practiced fully with the Penguins on Thursday in Cranberry, as did Hayes. Sullivan did not reveal any status changes for either player. Lizotte and Glass continue to go through concussion protocol, skating individually ahead of the Penguins’ team session. … Penguins 2024 second-round draft pick Tanner Howe is on the move in the Western Hockey League. In a major move by the Regina Pats, for whom Howe had served as captain, the 18-year-old winger was shipped to the Calgary Hitmen Thursday. Over the summer, Howe signed a three-year entry-level deal with the Penguins worth $875,000 annually.