Penguins already relying too much on Top Four D Pairings?

Big-time read here from Seth at Empty Netters:

 

If you look at the Penguins' time on ice for their defensemen, the top four blue liners are also their top four options for killing penalties:

Players	Overall Ice Time	Short-handed Ice Time
Kris Letang	26:17	3:24
Paul Martin	24:08	4:36
Brooks Orpik	23:19	5:50
Matt Niskanen	20:40	2:35
Deryk Engelland	10:13	0:35
Simon Despres	9:57	0:17

To really drive the point home, look at Matt Niskanen's last season graph via Dobber Hockey:

 

This season's small sampling:

Those two extra minutes that Seth documented above add up.

The real problem is caused by the now departed Zbynek Michalek. This graph will make you shiver:

As the season goes on, it is going to be interesting to see how the Penguins handle these minutes. Letang is already up 2+ minutes. Last year he was on the ice for 30% of the time the Pens were shorthanded. Michalek was on the ice 65%. The stat is still a small sample, but we'll revist it in 20 games and most likely see Letang's shorthanded time rise to 40%. Yikes.