PITTSBURGH - The 2022-23 season has not gone as planned for Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin. Coming off major knee surgery, Dumoulin was looking to return to the form he showed earlier in his career as the Penguins top shutdown defenseman. That hasn't happened.
The Penguins moved Dumoulin down in the lineup less than one month into the season, even deploying him on the bottom pairing for a handful of games. The demotion sparked an uptick in performance for the 31-year-old defenseman, but injuries forced his ice time to climb toward the 20-minute mark.
Dumoulin has been, by far, the worst defenseman on the Penguins over the past ten games and ranks 175th among 182 NHL defensemen to play at least 100 minutes in expected goals percentage during that span.
His play has more than warranted a stretch of healthy scratches. We've already seen the Penguins do the same thing to Kasperi Kapanen and Danton Heinen. A reset forces the player to look long and hard at their game and figure out how to get back on the right track.
Unfortunately, the Penguins missed their chance to do so due to injuries piling up on the right side of the defense. With the status of three defensemen up in the air, it's not the time to sit an NHL caliber player like Dumoulin.
The Penguins hope to get healthy shortly after the New Year. Once they get healthy, Brian Dumoulin should take at least a few games off.
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