PITTSBURGH - The puck is ready to drop on the 2022-23 season for the Pittsburgh Penguins and they will be doing so with an injured forward.
Teddy Blueger has been listed as day-to-day which opens the door for a newcomer to the Penguins locker room to become a roster regular.
When Josh Archibald was signed on the opening of free agency, the fan base thought it was a peculiar pick up.
General manager Ron Hextall, however, immediately backed up his signing and if you look at the contract, the front office has faith in their decision.
It’s a miniscule point, but Archibald isn’t back with Pittsburgh on a league minimum contract; he’s making $900,000 against the cap and has been given opportunities all through camp.
Fans still thought the signing wasn’t the smartest since Archibald isn’t known for scoring a lot of goals or picking up a high volume of assists.
Archibald does, however, bring something to the table that the Penguins have been lacking recently.
The 5’10” forward may have a small frame, but he utilizes every inch he can and throws his body all over the ice.
In 243 career games in the NHL, Archibald has accumulated 660 hits; just shy of three per game and is usually near the top of hit leaders for his teams.
The Penguins hit leader in 2021-22 was Zach Aston-Reese with 187, and he didn’t even play the full season in Pittsburgh.
Someone has to fill that gritty void left by Aston-Reese and Archibald is the perfect candidate to do that.
One of the Penguins biggest downfalls last season was the lack of tenacity from their forwards.
Archibald believes he can bring that back saying he can “bring some speed, bring some tenacity… a little bit of energy when we need it.”
The term “newcomer” should be used loosely in Archibald’s case; he was a part of the Stanley Cup winning team in 2016-17 and the proof can be found in the engravings.
While Archibald isn’t the lynchpin to another Cup winning team, he can be an important and useful cog in the machine.
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