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Drive to the Net: St. Ivany making case to stay in lineup
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Drive to the Net: St. Ivany making case to stay in lineup

Originally posted on DK Pittsburgh Sports
By Taylor Haase  |  Last updated 3/27/24

CRANBERRY, Pa. -- I spoke with Jack St. Ivany back in September before a group of Penguins prospects headed to Buffalo for the annual Prospects Challenge, and at the end of our conversation I asked him about his goals coming into this season.

"My goal this year is to make the Pittsburgh Penguins," St. Ivany told me. "Whatever happens, happens. But I'm going to put my best foot forward and do what I can."

At the time, it sure seemed like a long shot. St. Ivany was coming off of his first professional season in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, a year in which he was primarily a third-pairing defensemen but occasionally spent some time as a healthy scratch. He seemed like he was still a bit of a longer-term project.

That perception changed as soon as that Prospects Challenge. Being more of a defensive defenseman, St. Ivany isn't ever going to be the flashiest of players. But he still managed to be a standout in that tournament with his physicality and defensive play, being part of a penalty-killing group that had 10 consecutive kills. He caught Kyle Dubas' eye in that tournament, and Dubas gave an unprompted shoutout to St. Ivany in his pre-season press conference, naming him as one of the prospects that had a good showing in Buffalo then had a good training camp on top of that.

St. Ivany's role in Wilkes-Barre was elevated to start the season. He was the top-pairing right defenseman for most of the year and a key part of Wilkes-Barre's penalty-kill that ranks third in the entire AHL. His steady, reliable presence on Wilkes-Barre's back end earned him a recall to the NHL. Now that he's here in Pittsburgh, he's making an impact and showing that he deserves to stay in the lineup.

St. Ivany has played in three games so far, all on the third pairing. He spent the first two games in Dallas and Denver alongside another big, physical defenseman in John Ludvig, then played with Ryan Graves Tuesday against the Hurricanes after Graves re-entered the lineup.

The opposition St. Ivany has faced so far has been strong. Against the Hurricanes on Tuesday St. Ivany was most frequently deployed against the second line of Andrei Svechnikov, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Martin Necas. When St. Ivany was on the ice against that Hurricanes line, the Penguins led in shot attempts 8-6, shots on goal 4-2, and high-danger attempts 3-0. On the road when the Penguins had less control over matchups, his most frequent opponents against the Avalanche were split between their top two lines, and against the Stars he was most often on the ice against their second line.

Despite that opposition, results with St. Ivany on the ice at five-on-five have been pretty good so far. His pairing has been given a bit more of a defensive role, with slightly more than half of his shift starts coming in the defensive zone. In the 35:40 with St. Ivany on the ice at five-on-five, the Penguins have controlled 41.54% of shot attempts (27-38), 47.73% of unblocked shot attempts (21-23), and 46.43% of shots on goal (13-15), and the Penguins have scored twice and allowed one goal.

Though the overall quantity of attempts has been slightly tipped in opponents' favor, the overall quality has been in the Penguins' favor. With St. Ivany on the ice the Penguins have recorded seven high-danger attempts and allowed four, and allowed no high-danger goals from the area right around the net. As a result, the Penguins have led 1.57-1.21 in expected goals in that time, which is pretty close to what the actual goals have been. 

One of the reasons for that is how effective St. Ivany is at clearing the crease, like here in Colorado when he boxed out Mikko Rantanen:

St. Ivany, at 6 foot 3 and 198 pounds, is the second-biggest defenseman on the Penguins' roster after Graves. He's strong, and he's able to use his frame to help force turnovers, like when he tied up Rantanen in the corner so Evgeni Malkin could pick up the puck:

... or Tuesday, when he did the same for Malkin by tying up Kuznetsov:

There was also this moment against the Avalanche, when he negated a misplay between Rickard Rakell and Malkin by knocking Artturi Lehkonen off the puck and getting it back to Ludvig:

St. Ivany has recorded 4:43 of shorthanded ice time over those three games, and the results in that span have been even more impressive. The Penguins have allowed just two shot attempts and registered one, all unblocked. Of those attempts, not a single attempt from an opponent has been an actual shot on goal, but the Penguins' one attempt was a shot on goal

"(Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre) use similar systems, which is nice," St. Ivany said of adjusting to penalty-killing. "It makes the transition pretty easy. Coach has helped me a lot. I'm just trying to have a good stick out there."

That "good stick" was evident on the penalty-kill against the Hurricanes, when he used his long reach to pick off a pass between Kuznetsov and Necas:

In total, St. Ivany has recorded six hits and blocked three shots. He's not known for his offense but he's still shooting the puck, recording five shot attempts and two on goal. All in all, he said he's "felt good" about his three games, though he would have liked to get the two wins on the road.

"It was nice and encouraging to know that I can defend against some of the best players in the league," he said."

The coaching staff has been encouraged, too. Mike Sullivan said Wednesday that the Penguins' coaches have "really liked (St. Ivany's) game."

"He's a mobile guy, defends real well," Sullivan said. "He's got a good stick. He's been helpful on the penalty-kill. He thinks the game pretty well. We think he's defended the rush in particular pretty well with his mobility and his stick. We've liked his game and that's why we've kept him in the lineup. He's a guy that's worked extremely hard to get to this point, and he's helping us right now. We're really pleased with his progress and where he's at. We'll see where it goes moving forward."

Dubas was extremely pleased with the way St. Ivany played in his first few games, all against some pretty difficult opponents.

"You have to give them credit," Dubas said on the Penguins' radio show on Wednesday. "Most guys, even when the opponents aren't that tough are tentative when they come in for their first game. He's come in and stuck doing the exact things that have allowed him to grow this year in Wilkes-Barre. He hasn't sat back and been passive. He's gone at people defensively, he's taken away their time and space, great stick details, physical, not afraid of anybody, not going to back down. He's got great reach, great length."

In other words, exactly what the Penguins need on that third pairing.

Three games is a small sample size, but St. Ivany hasn't looked out of place at all in those games. Maintaining that level of play is going to be a challenge -- it's not entirely uncommon to see a prospect or depth player called up, start hot, then come back down to earth and find his way back out of the lineup. But if St. Ivany can keep this up, he's making a case to finish the year in Pittsburgh then be a regular in the lineup next season on an effective shutdown third defense pairing.

This article first appeared on DK Pittsburgh Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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