In my latest Trib column, I opine that the core three of Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin shouldn’t be blamed much for the Penguins’ troubles.
To read that piece, click HERE.
If you want to point fingers, center Jeff Carter seems a good place to start.
Carter, 38, isn’t slumping. He’s washed up.
Carter can’t skate. He just can’t keep up.
His hands are failing him. He can’t stickhandle, pass or shoot.
He wins a lot of faceoffs but loses big ones, like in Friday’s 5-4 loss at the New York Islanders.
He’s a defensive liability.
Carter has had zero points in 15 of his last 16 games.
Carter should be scratched. Drew O’Connor should be the third-line center. At least he’s got physicality and energy.
But Carter keeps playing decent minutes because of veteran respect.
But veteran respect and lifetime achievement don’t change that almost every time something bad happens to the Penguins lately, you see Carter front and center.
That said, no one player is why the Penguins are stumbling.
But Carter and the goaltending problems are at the top of the list. Hopefully Tristan Jarry’s return solves the latter.
Carter, meantime, has another year left on his contract. FFS.
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