Penguins Weekly Stock Report: Lars Eller’s big start

Lars Eller has been one of the few consistent bright spots for the Pittsburgh Penguins so far this season.

It is Friday and that means it is time to check in with our Pittsburgh Penguins stock report to see who is struggling and who is playing well.

The disappointments are in a lot of the areas that were expected in the preseason, but there is also one very big surprise in the stock down category that we are not used to seeing there.

The early positives so far this season mostly rest with some of the depth forwards, which is a pleasant surprise given how unproductive their bottom-six has been in recent years. It is encouraging to see some of them playing well. It is discouraging that they might be some of the most productive players through the first eight games.

Let’s dig into it.

Stock Up

Lars Eller. If the Penguins end up slipping out of playoff contention and become sellers again they should at least have one really attractive rental for teams to bid on. Eller has been outstanding so far in the third-line center role, not only providing some surprising offense that has resulted in a team-high four goals, but every line combination the Penguins have thrown around him has worked. They have also been one of the few bright spots defensively. All three of his line combinations that he has played at least 10 minutes with have an expected goal share of more than 50 percent, while all of them allowing 1.66 expected goals or less. The actual goals against have not been as great, but goaltending is playing a big part in that. All they can do is limit the chances and hope the goaltending helps them out. They are mostly limiting the chances. Now they just need to get a save every once in a while behind them. Eller has definitely been one of their best overall players so far this season.

Kevin Hayes. I had relatively low expectations for Hayes when he was acquired and accepted that his acquisition was probably more about buying a future draft pick than doing anything to noticeably improve the current roster. Which I guess is fine given where this team is right now. But what if it does both? And what if Hayes performs so well that he creates a potential trade market for himself and allows the Penguins to get even more out of him as a player and potential trade chip? Through the first two-plus weeks of the season, he has at least created that possibility. Like Eller, he has provided some unexpected offense (three goals in eight games) and has been mostly strong defensively. He has been on the ice for only 2.07 expected goals per 60 minutes, despite getting some of the heaviest defensive zone starts on the team. Given how cheap his current contract is for the Penguins — with St. Louis paying off a percentage of it — if he keeps playing like he has the Penguins might be able to add an additional second-round pick or prospect into their pool at the deadline for him. I have not always been a fan of what Kyle Dubas has done since arriving in Pittsburgh, but this could turn out to be a shrewd piece of asset management. It is an encouraging start at least.

Rickard Rakell. Rakell was one easily one of the Penguins’ biggest disappointments a year ago, and given how many years and how much money he has left on his contract that was a pretty big concern. But through the first eight games he has at least looked to be a little closer to the player he was in his first year-and-a-half with the Penguins. At the very least, the puck is going in the net for him. He already has four goals in eight games and should probably get more of a look on the team’s top line. It took him 26 games to score his fourth goal of the season a year ago.

Stock Down

Tristan Jarry. Not to pile on too much here, but holy smokes this is a mess of a situation. After getting benched and losing his starting job at the end of the 2023-24 season in the biggest games down the stretch, Jarry has come back this season and played so poorly that he is not even dressing for games at this point. Nobody is going to deny that the Penguins have been awful defensively in front of their goalies, but Jarry’s play has simply been unacceptable for an NHL goalie. Something has to change here because we have reached a point now where we are talking about a 30-game stretch dating back to the end of the 2023-24 season where he has only been trusted to start a small handful of games. He has been awful in those starts.

Sidney Crosby line. The Penguins need this line to dominate if they are going to have a chance to compete. It is not only not dominating, it is not even playing particularly well. Especially defensively. Whether it is Bryan Rust, Anthony Beauvillier or Drew O’Connor getting looks on the wings, the end result has been the same — too many goals against, too many chances against and not anywhere near enough offense to make up for it. Crosby needs to be better, and I am confident that he will be. He is too good not to be, and I am not prepared to say that his game has declined THAT much. There is still only so much he can do on his own, and not only is he not playing at his best, he is not getting any support from his wings.

The entire defense. This is not just limited to the actual defensemen, but pretty much everybody on the team. The Penguins have never really been known for their defense, and even when things have been going well in the past there has been a tendency for things to get a little hectic in front of their own net. What we have seen through the first eight games of the season, however, might be some of the worst defensive hockey we have seen from Penguins in the Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang era. The top two defense pairings have been among the worst in the league in terms of suppressing chances, Marcus Pettersson, usually one of the most reliable guys on the back end, is off to a brutal start, and outside of a couple of the depth forwards there has not been much positive coming from the forwards in terms of helping out. The end result is a team that is 28th in the NHL in expected goals against per 60 minutes during 5-on-5 play and 28th in all situations. That is not going to work for this team, especially given the goaltending situation.