The Pittsburgh Penguins made the surprising decision earlier this season to keep rookie Daniel Sprong up with the big club instead of sending him down to the AHL to, presumably, dominate lesser competition while playing more regular minutes. Sprong's usage with the Pens eventually became a point of contention though between GM Jim Rutherford and former head coach Mike Johnston and likely contributed to Johnston's eventual ousting. Now that Mike Sullivan has taken over Johnston's spot behind the Pittsburgh bench and with the news Tuesday that forward Beau Bennett will miss the next four to six weeks, the time for Sprong to shine could be now.
Sullivan: Bennett out 4-6 weeks due to upper body injury. Fleury dealing with potential concussion.
— Seth Rorabaugh (@emptynetters) December 15, 2015
Sullivan gave no indications on who may be recalled from the AHL. — Seth Rorabaugh (@emptynetters) December 15, 2015
As Rorabaugh reports, there's been no word yet as to who the Pens may recall to fill Bennett's fourth-line spot - and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury is dealing with a potential concussion.
UPDATE, 1:50 p.m.: Fleury will miss the next 1-2 weeks, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
But as Frank Seravalli of TSN noted, Sprong played "nearly as many minutes through the first two periods as he did in four of his last five games under Johnston," during Pittsburgh's Monday night game against the Washington Capitals. Sprong took 11 shifts, per Hockey-Reference, and saw a total of 8:58 of ice time.
He didn't perform particularly well, managing just two shots on goal and one hit. But it's clear the Penguins under Rutherford are going to take a different tact with players like Sprong and with Bennett's injury - he left early in the first period against the Caps after a hit from TJ Oshie and did not return - it wouldn't be surprising to see Sprong's ice time increase.
Conventional wisdom says building a player's experience level and confidence away from the NHL is the best way to develop a young talent. But the Pens, even as they won't commit to big minutes for Sprong, made it clear to Seravalli that they don't believe his development is suffering playing a limited role in the NHL.
"A lot of it is off the ice and how you carry yourself and how you control everything in your power to be successful on the ice," Sullivan told Seravalli. "He's a young kid."
Ironically, the Pens will faceoff next against the Boston Bruins, who employ a player - Patrice Bergeron - who also made his way to the NHL as a wet-behind-the-ears youngster and worked with none other than new Pens bench boss Mike Sullivan to find his way and his game at the professional level.
"It's one of those things where sometimes it takes a while [to get another head job], but it's well deserved for him," said Bergeron, per Joe Haggerty of CSN New England. "What I can remember is he's the one who gave me my chance in my first year. He's someone that was, you know, so fair with everyone.
"It didn't matter who you were. It was about, you know, earning your ice time and making guys accountable by the way that you were showing up to the rink every day. I learned a lot from him and I can't say enough about him. So I'm really happy for him."
Unfortunately for the Pens, Fleury won't suit up against the Bruins, according to Jenn Menendez of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
"Marc came to us after the game and said he did not feel right and so, potentially it's a concussion," Sullivan told Menendez. "So he's seeing the doctors today."
Fleury has been far and away the best player on the ice for the Pens this season, so his loss for any length of time would be a significant blow. He has a 2.29 goals against average, a .925 save percentage and two shutouts through 25 games.
