Much of the attention from Kyle Dubas’ press conference earlier this week went towards his comments backing the status of Mike Sullivan. Lost in the shuffle of that bigger story was when Dubas touched on was the bottom of the lineup. The Penguins are still eagerly and awaiting that players step up and truly win spots with the opportunities that have been opened up by injuries.
So far this season through 28 games, the Penguins have already played 19 different forwards for at least one NHL game and have dressed eight different defensemen. While most of their top players have been healthy, there’s been several important and often overlapping injuries- from Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust, Noel Acciari and Matt Nieto up front, to the time where Chad Ruhwedel and P.