The last time Daniel Winnik played exclusively on defense was when he was 14. He thinks.
Now, he is 30 and has been tabbed as the unofficial emergency defenseman for the Penguins. It’s a role he said he would be happy to tackle, if needed.
“Gotta do what I gotta do to help the team win,” said Winnik. “If that’s what they need, I’m more than happy to go back there.”
Winnik said he suspects he is the top pick for the role because of his experience killing penalties and filling in as a faux defenseman in special-teams drills.
“Probably just being a penalty-killer and having to skate backwards a lot of the time ... it’s probably why I’m an emergency guy,” said Winnik.
That’s the only time he’s done it since his youth hockey days.
“Just because the way the power play and penalty kill would work out is I’d have to play D sometimes when we go both ends for 5-on-4,” said Winnik. “Other than playing full D, I haven’t done that in, probably since I was 14 or something.”
Winnik said he hasn’t yet gotten a crash course on the position, but suspects assistant coach Gary Agnew will fill him in if the situation arises. The club also will consider using Craig Adams and Nick Spaling in an emergency situation.
“I haven’t had it yet, but I’m sure [Agnew] would give me a little brief summary of what to do if I have to go out there,” said Winnik.
The Penguins have been playing with just five defensemen since Kris Letang was injured midway through the game Saturday against the Arizona Coyotes.
Coach Mike Johnston said the key for Agnew, who runs the defense, is juggling the balancing act.
“I ran the defense in Vancouver and Los Angeles, so I am very familiar with what Gary’s going through,” said Johnston. “It is a challenge because there are certain nights you have a matchup and with five defensemen it’s tough to get a set matchup. It’s managing minutes, trying to get your matchups, but you aren’t as strict on your matchups as you would’ve been before. It’s all about freshness, minutes and key situations.”
Injury update
Johnston offered an update on two of his injured defensemen before the game against Philadelphia.
Christian Ehrhoff skated Wednesday morning on his own, and the club will monitor how he recovers by today. “We’ll see how he recovers over the next 24 hours and if he’s ready to practice either [today] or Friday,” said Johnston.
Letang has not exercised or skated yet since being diagnosed with a concussion, and his status has not changed.
Game is still the same
Johnston said all the personnel changes hasn’t changed the core identity of how he wants his team to play.
“Our identity is we want to play with pace and tempo,” said Johnston. “We want to play with speed on the back check. We want to play with speed in transition. We want to be responsible in the defensive zone. We want to have an active defense, and that still hasn’t changed from the beginning of the year.”
Jenn Menendez: jmenendez@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JennMenendez,
First Published: April 2, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
