Therrien: Penguins’ days of drafting early are done
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Michel Therrien made only one promise after learning Thursday he will return as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ coach next season. The Penguins’ days of drafting early are done.
“We’re happy to get the No. 2 pick, but let me tell you something: This is the last time we’re going to draft No. 1, No. 2, No. 3,” Therrien said after the Penguins landed the No. 2 pick in the June draft. “It is a great thing for the organization but … this is the last year.”
St. Louis, last in the NHL overall standings, won the annual draft lottery and will draft first. The Penguins will have drafted No. 1 (2003, 2005) or No. 2 (2004, 2006) each of the last four years, although they needed to trade up for the first pick in 2003.
Therrien’s optimistic outlook – he expects his team to be in the playoffs as early as next season – is based on how a mostly young team played down the stretch of the Penguins’ worst season (22-46-14) since they were 16-58-6 in 1983-84.
The improvement wasn’t totally reflected in an 8-12-3 record in the final 23 games. But Therrien could see an inexperienced team not only adjusting to a rigid system that was much different from the more wide-open system played under former coach Eddie Olczyk, but embracing it.
“We weren’t relying on skills, we were relying on a team concept,” Therrien said. “If you want to have success in this business, as a team, you have to become a team. And we became a team, and we did it with young players.”
Team president Ken Sawyer saw it, too, and announced Therrien would return even though a new general manager will be hired. Craig Patrick, the Penguins’ GM since 1989, will not be retained after his contract expires July 1.
The Penguins’ personality change began only after they began shedding some of the veterans – Ziggy Palffy, Jocelyn Thibault, Mark Recchi – who were partly responsible for their dreadful 0-5-4 start. Once prospects such as Colby Armstrong, Ryan Whitney and Michel Ouellet arrived, it took time for them to adjust – and for the remaining veterans, including Sergei Gonchar and John LeClair, to adjust to them.
Surprisingly, Gonchar (27 points in final 22 games) and LeClair (12 points in final 12 games) were more productive with the younger cast than with the veterans.
“We became a family, and that is the most important thing for me,” Therrien said. “Those guys came together. They enjoyed coming to the rink. They enjoyed starting to work as a team. They enjoyed playing a system. When they played together, most of the nights, the image of the Pittsburgh Penguins started to change.”
Now, Therrien wants to add some veteran “character players” and, perhaps, another skilled forward and defenseman if the Penguins can afford one. They are expected to draft defenseman Erik Johnson if the Blues don’t chose him June 24.
“We’ve got to sit down and evaluate who’s available and who wants to be part of that challenge,” Therrien said. “It’s not like next year they’re going to give us the red carpet and we’re going to be in the playoffs. It’s going to be tough.”
To get off to the good start he feels is imperative, Therrien is already promising a demanding training camp.
“When they drop the puck the first day, we have to be above those teams in fitness and preparation if we’re going to have a good start,” he said.
Therrien will hire an additional assistant next season to go with Mike Yeo. Therrien chose to wait until the season ended to hire another assistant because, he said, “We wanted to hire the right guy.”
The Penguins did not say if Patrick’s brother, Glenn, will return as the coach at Wheeling (ECHL).