Who Are Penguins Counting on to Have ‘Bounce-back’ Seasons?

They would, at first blush, seem to have little more in common than the Pittsburgh Penguins sweater both wear on work nights.

Part 2 of 2

One has been the Penguins’ most reliable defenseman for most of his career, a paragon of efficiency and sound decision-making.

Until last season, anyway.

The other is a forward who has shown only occasional flashes of his enormous potential, whose promise rarely has translated into the production expected when he was a first-round draft choice.

Which almost never happened in 2021-22.

So it turns out that there is at least one more thing that bonds Brian Dumoulin and Kasperi Kapanen: Both will be counted to elevate their games considerably during the season ahead.

“We think (Dumoulin) is ready to have a much better season than he had last year,” president of hockey operations Brian Burke said. “Last year, for (Dumoulin) was an off-year. That’s not being critical, because he’s a really important player for us.

“But his season last year wasn’t as good as the year before, or the year before that. We need him as a bounce-back guy. (Kapanen) has to come through, has to have a bounce-back year. Those would be two guys to watch.”

They aren’t the only ones, of course. Jason Zucker, for example, has some strong elements in his game, but has not generated the points expected of a top-six winger who has a $5.5 million salary-cap hit. His output likely will get a lot of attention during training camp and the early weeks of the regular season.

Still, it’s easy to understand why Burke focused on Dumoulin, who turns 31 today, and Kapanen.

Dumoulin long ago settled in opposite Kris Letang on the Penguins’ No. 1 defense pairing, and his defense-oriented, responsible style gives Letang the latitude to take offensive risks when opportunities arise.

Although there are nine NHL-caliber defensemen on the Pittsburgh Penguins’ roster at the moment, they do not have an obvious successor for Dumoulin in that role, so the importance of him taking his game back to its customary level is obvious.

They made a six-year contractual commitment to Letang this summer, and giving him a partner who makes it possible for Letang to fully exploit his offensive abilities enhances the chances of getting a good return on that investment.

Kapanen had a miserable showing last season, putting up 11 goals and 21 assists in 79 games. That almost mirrored his output during the lockout-shortened 2020-21 season, when he had 11 goals and 19 assists in 40 games.

The Pittsburgh Penguins had a chance to sever ties with Kapanen during the offseason, when he was a restricted free agent, but opted to give him a qualifying offer, then sign him to a two-year contract with the same cap hit ($3.2 million) as the one that expired in July.

Kapanen had an exasperating habit of curling toward the boards rather than driving to the net after carrying the puck across the blue line and, after failing to effectively settle into a niche on any line, relinquished his place in the lineup March 11 against Vegas.

Nonetheless, management believes his excellent skating and dangerous shot make him a viable candidate to perform at a top-six level. If Kapanen can do that, it will give Mike Sullivan even more possibilities for how to configure his first and second lines.

“What I like about our forward group is, the coaches have some flexibility, as far as moving players up and down and around (the lineup),” Burke said. “(Rickard) Rakell, what he provides, and what (Kapanen) can do, if he slides in, it just gives the coach some really good options.

“We are counting on (Kapanen) to have a bounce-back year. He’s a critical guy to us.”

Part 1: Why Burke believes Penguins are better than last season.