The Penguins concluded their nearly week long rookie orientation camp a few days ago and, by all accounts, had another successful week tutoring their organization's best young players and prospects.
This was the third year the Penguins have had the camp and, aside from the on and off-ice instruction given to these players, the camp continues to give all of the kids a great opportunity to bond with each other.
For the prospects who have been to the camp before -- and there are at least 8 to 10 or so of those players -- it's another opportunity to be together, and that's not an effect that should be underestimated. After all, a lot of the Penguins' core roster has grown up playing together, whether it be Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in the NHL or Marc-Andre Fleury and Brooks Orpik in the AHL.
Growing those relationships early puts the focus on the entire organization and drives home playing for the logo on the front of the sweater and not the name on the back.
I think holding these camps are a great thing for the Penguins for that reason alone, without regard to the consistent and regular close-up look on the best players it provides the team brass.
By the time camp completed this year, it was clear who the better and more professional-ready prospects are for Pittsburgh.
Nick Johnson, the Penguins' 3rd round pick in 2004, was probably the best player in the entire camp, after being the most improved player last year. If he doesn't squeeze out a roster spot while Stanley Cup hero Max Talbot is still recovering from shoulder surgery to begin the year, he'll be knocking on the door in Wilkes-Barre most of this year.
On Defense, Carl Sneep may have been the best blueliner in camp. Sneep, a 2nd round pick in 2006, showed good poise and played well at both ends. He'll return to Boston College for his senior year this season, but look for him to join the Baby Penguins' at the end of the season when his Division I playoffs conclude.
The other obvious top-end performer throughout camp was LW Eric Tangradi, the 6' 4" USA-born power forward acquired from the Anaheim Ducks with Chris Kunitz in the deal that sent defenseman Ryan Whitney to the west coast. And that was with some limited range and strength in his left wrist, which is still recovering from off season surgery to reattach a tendon after a collision with an opposing goaltender in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs cut the wrist and hand severely and ended his season.
In fact, Tangradi will undergo a second, much more minor, surgical procedure this week in which scar tissue is removed from the base of his thumb, providing him a return to near full range of motion.
Despite his limiations, Tangradi was a beast around the goal, along the wall and in the corners throughout camp. He has strong puck skills and good hands for a big man, and both of those traits complement is great shot. The comparison is made regularly, but there's no denying it. He looks like Kevin Stevens on the ice.
Tangradi will proably begin the season in Wilkes Barre, but there's no denying that he won't be there long. If he doesn't come up to the big club this year, there's no reason not to think he won't be able to make the squad and perhaps even immediately step into a top 6 role in the 2010-2011 season when the Penguins open their new arena -- the Consol Energy Center.
He's that good.
Other notable performers in camp were Kevin Vellieux, a 2nd round pick in 2007, and Dustin Jeffrey, a 5th rounder in the same year who spent 12 games with the big club last year.
Other players were inconsistent, including Casey Pierro Zabotel, the Pens' 3rd round pick in 2007, and even Luca Caputi, who is generally regarded as one of the more NHL-ready forwards in the Penguins' system.
Caputi showed flashes of why he can succeed in the NHL, but also had an off-day at camp when he really wasn't his best. Like most young players, he needs to work on his consistency.
Disappointments at camp were defenseman Brian Strait, who the Penguins' recently signed to a 3-year entry level contract and who will start the season this year in Wilkes-Barre, and fellow blueliner Alex Grant, the Penguins' 4th round pick in 2007.
Strait should have performed better than he did and still may be a few professional seasons in the AHL away from being able to be someone who the Penguins can count on.
Grant, meanwhile, was supposed to be one of the Penguins' better offensive blueline prospects, but he struggled a little bit in this -- his 2nd -- camp.
Pittsburgh's first round pick from this past year -- defenseman Simon Despres -- by all accounts acquitted himself fairly well. He had his youthful moments, but there were several others where he showed why he was picked in the first round. He still needs more seasoning, and will begin getting that back in junior hockey this year.
That's a good camp summary, so I'll end with that.
In the next week or so, I'll start kindling a debate about which Stanley Cup win of the 3 the franchise now has ranks as the greatest.
Approximately 6 weeks until training camp ....
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Penguins Sign G Brent Johnson; Prospect Camp Begins
It's good to have some news to write about in Penguin world.
Yesterday, the Penguins signed goaltender Brent Johnson to a one-year contract. Terms were not released, but Johnson will come into camp competing with John Curry for the backup position behind starter Marc-Andre Fleury.
Johnson, 32, was pretty effective last season for the Washington Capitals before suffering a hip injury in the early spring that fairly derailed the remainder of his year. He was 12-6-2 with a 2.81 GAA and .909 SV%. He has a 2.61 career GAA spanning 9 years with the Caps', St. Louis Blues and Phoenix Coyotes, and is almost 20 games over .500 in that span. He also has on several occasions posted more than 3 consecutive games of shutout hockey. He even did it in the post-season once.
In short, Johnson is a very capable backup. He's a big guy (6' 3") that covers a lot of the net and moves well. He's a veteran but not over the hill. Personally, I'd rather see him in the relief role than Curry. And that's not to say that I dislike Curry. But Fleury has a little bit of a history of being hurt and I feel better having a veteran behind him. Johnson appears healthy and ready to go for the coming season. He's not a guy that many people connected to the Penguins' backup goaltender opening, but was, in my opinion, always a solid option. I'm glad the Penguins' looked his way.
Meanwhile, the Penguins began their 2009 Prospect and Conditioning camp yesterday at Southpointe. These camps are great for the kids coming up in the Pittsburgh system and I continue to be very pleased that the Penguins' are an oranization who does something like this. I remember when they first announced that they were going to start doing it several years ago. When they did, I only wondered why they weren't doing it before. By continuing these camps, the Penguins remain an organization on the cutting edge of development.
Of course, these sessions are also a great chance to get a look at almost all of the Penguins' better prospects, including Eric Tangradi, Luca Caputi, Dustin Jeffrey, Kevin Vellieux, Nathan Moon, Nick Johnson, Casey Pierro-Zabotel, Alex Grant, Brian Strait, Carl Sneep, and new draft picks Ben Hanowski and Simon Despres, among others.
After doing strength and conditioning testing, the 26 rookies took to the ice for a one-hour session yesterday afternoon, led by Wilkes Barre Coach Todd Rierden and now Special Assistant to the GM Tom Fitzgerald.
Apparently, the emphasis was on skating and puck movement, not atypical for a team led by HCDB.
By all accounts, top propsect Eric Tangradi looked pretty good, showing skill and size around the net and with the puck. It seems that he's going to have a quick, second surgery on his left hand -- which he injured in the playoffs this past season -- in several weeks to release some scar tissue that is causing a little bit of tightening in the thumb, but he says he should be ready to go for training camp without any issues.
Nick Johnson and Kevin Vellieux also looked good yesterday, I'm told. Vellieux, in particular, was one of the better forwards on the ice. He appears to be eyeing up the roster vacancy that will be available for the first month or two thanks to Max Talbot's shoulder injury.
Someone who apparently got mixed reviews yesterday was defenseman Brian Strait. Strait, it seems, showed what he can do with his size defensively, but also had trouble with his lateral mobility and was beaten wide several times in one-on-one drills.
We'll see how things go during the remainder of the camp. I'll try to get another report out within a few days addressing how the prospects have been doing on the ice.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Penguins' 2009/2010 Schedule Released; Wallace, Lovejoy Sign Contracts
Yesterday, the NHL revealed it's 2009/2010 schedule and all the highlights that go along with it.
For the Pittsburgh Penguins' defense of the Stanley Cup, those highlights include:
- opening up the season at home against the arch-rival New York Rangers on 10-2-09, when the Penguins will raise their Stanley Cup and related banners to the rafers of Mellon Arena in its final season.
- visiting the New York Islanders the following night in the home debut of 2009 #1 overall Islanders draft pick John Tavares.
- 2 games against three Western Conference foes: the Minnesota Wild, Anaheim Ducks and yes, the Detroit Red Wings.
- 4 games against Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, all from late January 2010 through the remainder of the season.
-5 road trips of four (4) or more games, including three 4-game trips and two 5-game trips. One of the 4-game trips is nearly paired with one of the 5-game trips to give Pittsburgh 9 of 11 on the road in one stretch. The other 5-game trip is a part of a stretch of 7 of 8 away from Mellona Arena later in the season.
- A 6 game home stand late in the season, before ending with two games on the road, against the Atlanta Thrashers and New York Islanders. In fact, 7 of the Penguins' last 8 games are against non-playoff teams from last year.
- And, of course, the Olympic break, from 2-14 to 3-1.
Meanwhile, in other Penguin news, the team signed free agent forward Tim Wallace and free agent defenseman Ben Lovejoy, both of which were in the organization last season.
Wallace signed a two-year, 2-way deal, while Lovejoy inked for one season. Financial terms of the contracts have not been released yet (at least not that I could find).
Wallace played in 16 games for Pittsburgh last season, putting up 2 helpers. He had 19 points in 58 games with the Baby Penguins last season.
Lovejoy, meanwhile -- the organ-I-zation's #7 defenseman -- had 7 goals and 24 assists for 31 points in 76 games at Wilkes-Barre. He did play 2 games with the big club last year, but didn't put up a point.
Inking Lovejoy and Wallace were two important depth signings for Pittsburgh, so it's good to see those guys back in the fold.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Evaluating A Champion: 2008/2009 Player Grades
After much delay, and maybe as much waiting, I can now -- after the whirlwind celebration, parade, draft and free agency, sit down and dish out my much-anticipated 2008/2009 player grades for your Stanley Cup Champions.
Like last year, these grades are given based on the player's contribution when compared to what was reasonably expected during the course of the year from the player, and includes consideration of playoff performance.
There will be grades for every main roster player on the Cup-winning squad, including grades for the Penguins' few recently departed free agents, but not for those who may have been traded along the way.
So, without prolonging this any further ..
EVGENI MALKIN: Malkin, 22, was probably the Penguins' best player this season. He captured his first Art Ross Trophy as the league's leading scorer in the regular season, then followed that up with the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff most valuable player int he post-season, demonstrably erasing what was starting to be an unfortunate trend of disappearing or running out of gas in the playoffs when things meant the most. Malkin is a dangerous goal scorer who is almost as good at setting up his teammates as he is scoring goals, and he also is becoming a pretty good defensive player in this league. He led the league in takeaways this past season -- getting more than the reigning Selke Trophy winner Pavel Datsyuk. If you said that Malkin was the best overall player in the game right now, I think a lot of hockey pundits would agree. A+
SIDNEY CROSBY: The Penguins' Captain and #1 center is already on everyone's short list of the world's best players, but that didn't stop him from continued development this year. Crosby, still only 21, has really matured for Pittsburgh on the ice, and remains the NHL's ambassador off it. While being the focus of most opponents' game plans, Crosby scored 33 goals and added 70 assists to finish 3rd in the scoring race behind teammate Malkin and Washington Capitals' LW Alexander Ovechkin -- and he did that in 5 less games than a full slate. Meanwhile, Crosby became one of the Penguins' go-to faceoff men and, despite being continually criticized for not being a true goal-scorer, went goal-for-goal with Ovechkin in the Penguins' 2nd round 7-game playoff win over the Washington Capitals when Pittsburgh needed it the most. He was the youngest Captain to ever lead his team to the Stanley Cup this year. There's not much more the Penguins' can ask of Crosby and he continually delivers for them. A+
MARC-ANDRE FLEURY: Fleury's goals against average and save percentage were not off the charts this year, but there's no denying that this kid wins games. He's won 35 or more contests for three seasons in a row now on his way to 2 consecutive Cup Final appearances and 1 championship. Like Grant Fuhr, the Edmonton Oilers' 4-time Stanley Cup Champion and Hall-of-Famer, Fleury makes the saves when they matter the most. At least 3 or 4 signature stops defined his post-season this past year -- including a huge one with one second left and the Stanley Cup in the balance late in game 7. Without him, the Penguins don't win the championship this year. A-
BILL GUERIN: Guerin, acquired by the Penguins in early March on the trade deadline for what ended up being a 3rd round draft pick, was huge for Pittsburgh after being acquired. He seamlessly meshed with Crosby as a RW on the Pens' #1 line and, even at 38, provided them scoring and a huge dose of leadership both down the stretch when the Penguins were fighting to obtain and keep a playoff berth. Then he did the same thing all the way through the playoffs. While it's fair to wonder how much Guerin has left in the tank at this point, he was a key, key contributor to the Penguins' Stanley Cup Championship. B+
JORDAN STAAL: Staal, still only 20 years old, rebounded relatively well from what most people thought was a step-back in his sophmore year in the 2007/2008 season. At just about the 50 point level in 2008/2009, Staal anchored one of the best 3rd lines in hockey this year, and did a pretty darn good job doing it. It can't be easy for #11 because he has 2nd line talent and probably will never break though to play with other top scorers on the first two lines for the Penguins as long as Crosby and Malkin are around, but Staal serves an extremely key role for Pittsburgh, and for the 2nd year in a row, that showed itself more than any other time in the post-season. Staal elevates his game when the stakes are the greatest and he again was one of the Penguins best players in their 2nd consecutive Stanley Cup Final. Because of him, the Penguins have the best triumverate of centers in the National Hockey League and are a nightmare to match up against down the middle. B+
SERGEI GONCHAR: It would be easy to give Gonchar an incomplete, since he missed most of the season after suffering a shoulder injury in the Penguins' first pre-season game last September, but the truth is that his absence was maybe the biggest reason the Penguins struggled for a fair part of last year before he returned in mid-February. When he did come back, he scored 19 points in 25 games and the Penguins only lost 3 more times during the remainder of the regular season. While he is 35, Gonchar remains a top defenseman in the NHL and is one of the top 10 two-way rearguards in the entire league. And playing through a torn MCL for the last 2 rounds of the post-season after Ovechkin's cheap knee-on-knee hit also showed how tough and committed he truly is. B+
ROB SCUDERI: You can't say enough about how good of a defensive defenseman Scuderi was for the Penguins' this past year. He had his best season and finally showed a lot of people league-wide how valuable and intelligent of a player he truly is. Matched up against the opponents' best forwards in every single round of the palyoffs, his shut down work for those 2 months was some of the best I've seen in quite a while. Scuderi is one of the best 5-on-3 penalty killers in the game because of his positioning and stick-defense. And, of course, who can forget the several game-preserving saves he made in the crease late in game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals. As a testament to what he deserved, Pens' GM Ray Shero said he didn't ever remember being happier for a player and his family when "The Piece" accepted a nearly 4-million dollar per season free agent contract with the LA Kings that the Penguins simply weren't able to match because of salary cap constraints. The Penguins will miss his presence on their blueline for sure. B+
MATT COOKE: Cooke probably flied under the radar of most Penguin fans this past year, but not this observer. He was one of the Penguins' most consistent performers all season long. Before the year started, many looked at him as the replacement agitator for former Pen Jarkko Ruutu. I knew Cooke would do that and be so much more, and that's exactly what he was. Cooke was one of the top hitters in the league all season long, put up 33 points in a 3rd line role, and even filled in capably when needed throughout the season on the top 2 lines. There's not much more the Penguins could have asked from him. B+
MAX TALBOT: Talbot's importance to the Penguins simply cannot be understated. He is the team's glue in the locker room, and a valuable contributor on the ice. This past season, he played in a variety of roles and, for the 2nd year in a row, raised his game about 3 notches in the playoffs. The "Superstar" was the Penguins' 3rd leading goal scorer in the playoffs, posting 8 tallies after only 12 regular season goals, including both of Pittsburgh's markers in game 7 of the Cup Final when everything was on the line. When you ask for the short list of names who you know you're going to be able to count on in clutch situations, he's on it. B+
BROOKS ORPIK: Orpik isn't spectacular, and he didn't have another shift for the ages this year like he did in last season's Stanley Cup Finals where he decked 4 Red Wings in a 15-second span on one shift in game 3, but that doesn't mean that Orpik isn't one of the most valuable Penguins. He paces the team physically from the backend and was 2nd in the league in hits this past year. He's eats up big minutes, is smart defensively and skates well enough to keep up with the opposition's top forwards. While he may not be worth quite as much as his 3.75 million dollar per year contract, he's pretty close to it because there's nobody else on the Pittsburgh blueline who does what he does. B+
CHRIS KUNITZ: Acquired about a week before the trade deadline this season in the deal that saw blueliner Ryan Whitney get sent to Anaheim, Kunitz immediately stepped into the flank on Crosby's line and fit in well. He contributed offensively and added a space-clearing physical net presence to the ice next to #87. His ability to score dried up in the playoffs, which is somewhat surprising since the post-season game is more tailored to the way he plays, but Kunitz has generally shown himself to be a consistent 25 goal scorer in this league, so that's what you should expect from him. The sandpaper and character he brings to the lineup is a bonus. B
RUSLAN FEDOTENKO: Fedotenko was signed to a one-year contract last summer as a free-agent largely because the Penguins knew him to be a fair offensive contributor, but more importantly, a known playoff performer. True to form, that's what the Penguins got from Rusty this year. While he had an average regular season with 16 goals, he was one of the Penguins' better players in the playoffs with 7 goals and 14 points. He continues to be a decent 2nd line option for the Penguins who is all about winning -- as evidenced by the fact that, after his strong year, he took a pay cut just to return to Pittsburgh and do the one-year contract all over again in the upcoming final season in Mellon Arena. B
TYLER KENNEDY: TK still is somewhat of an inconsistent player, but he showed a little more potential to be a scorer this year, chipping in 15 goals and 35 points playing almost exclusively in a 3rd line role. His speed continues to be something that other teams have a hard time accounting for, and he doesn't shy away from the physical play either. Kennedy is a valuable member of the Penguins' 3rd line and, after a solid post-season, only has room to improve in years to come. B
HAL GILL: The Penguins' got a relatively strong season out of Gill this past year -- his last with Pittsburgh after signing a free-agent contract with Montreal Canadiens earlier this month. With Gill, what you see is what you get, and that is a solid defensive defenseman who isn't that mobile but excels by being good positionally most of the time. He also was a great penalty killer for Pittsburgh and there was a reason he was paired with Scuderi and matched against the other team's top forwards all post-season long. B
MARK EATON: For the first time after the prior 2 injury-plagued seasons, Eaton stayed relaitvely healthy for Pittsburgh this last year and was pretty solid most of the season because of it. Eaton is a good positional player and strong shot blocker who helps counter-balance the Penguins other offensive defenseman, and playing a full season under Dan Blysma's attacking system should only help his game because Eaton also is a decent skater with good hockey sense. His 4 goals in the playoffs were a testament to that. B
KRIS LETANG: When Letang first came into the league, he was known as an offensive player, but surprised this author with his physicality and defensive play. I believe former Pens' coach Michel Therrein was the primary reason for that, but it helped round out Letang's game. While Kris still has an awful lot of offensive talent, including great vision, a good shot, and high-end stick skills, he needs to be more consistent. Tanger put up 33 regular season points, but was one of the Penguins' better post-season players with 4 goals and 9 helpers during the Penguins' Cup run. With Ryan Whitney now gone, Pittsburgh will start relying on him an awful lot more this coming year. This coming season will be Letang's third in the league, and he is poised to break out. B
CRAIG ADAMS: Adams, another Stanley-Cup winning veteran pickup for the Penguins near the trading deadline, was a valuable role player down the stretch and through the post-season for Pittsburgh. He brought grit, intelligence and solid defensive play to the Penguins 4th line, and even chipped in with 3 goals in the post-season. While 2 were empty netters, the other goal he scored -- the 2nd goal of game 7 against the Washington Capitals in round 2 -- was a huge one, because it came 8 seconds after Crosby opened the scoring and really helped deflate the Caps. Adams played well enough, and did a good enough job on draws, during his short tenure here that the Penguins re-signed him for another season and, in the process, said goodbye to another valuable role player, Mike Zigomanis. B
MIKE ZIGOMANIS: Zigomanis was acquired for future considerations early in the season from the Phoenix Coyotes, largely because he was one of the better faceoff men in the game. When he arrived in Pittsburgh, he didn't disappoint in that area. He clicked at near 65% in the circle and was so obviously effective doing so that former coach Michel Therrein regularly had him out on the power play just so he could take -- and win -- key faceoffs. Zigomanis' season ended about halfway through the year when he suffered a shoulder injury in a game against the New York Rangers in Madison Square Garden. While he rehabilitated himself well enough to return to game action by the Stanley Cup Finals, the Penguins' didn't use him. Unfortunately, his injury sealed his fate in Pittsburgh, but he was more than effective when in the lineup. B
PETR SYKORA: If there was one guy who had been pretty reliable for the Penguins since being signed a few years ago, it was Sykora. He was a fixture on the power play and could be counted on for 25 goals a year playing on Malkin's RW. That all changed late this season, however -- coincidentally or otherwise right around the time Therrein was fired and Bylsma came on board. Sykora was so bad in the last 40% of the season that the veteran scorer ended up being a healthy scratch for much of the playoffs. That's what just a few goals during that stretch will do for you. Before that, however, Sykora had already popped near 20 -- including 10 game winners -- and was doing what he had consistently done before, which was contribute offensively. Rumors abounded that Sykora was suffering from a shoulder injury late in the year, but nothing official was ever revealed about it -- even after the post-season. Unfortunately, his slump was so long, and the skating system Blysma installed is so untailored to Sykora's game, that the Penguins let him walk as a free agent last month. It might have just been his time to go -- even if it came somewhat unexpectedly. B-
ALEX GOLIGOSKI: GoGo, as he's affectionately known within the organization, spent about 1/2 a season with Pittsburgh this year before the Penguins' depth on the blueline forced him back to Wilkes-Barre, where he didn't have to clear waivers. When he was with the big club, however, his offensive skills didn't disappoint, as the 20 points he put up during that time attest to. He continues to need work in his own zone, though. Goligoski is not a big player, so he has to rely on smarts and positioning to defend well. More consistency would help, too, but that progression is a natural one for a young player like him. With the 3-year contract he signed, he just about ensured himself a place on Pittsburgh's blueline full time for this coming season. B-
PASCAL DUPUIS: Dupuis was miscast late last season as a fill-in on one of the top lines after being acquired at the trade deadline from Atlanta with traitor Marion Hossa. He's strictly a 3rd or 4th line player who will regularly put up just about 10 goals and 25 points, which is nearly how he produced this past season. He skates well, has a good shot and is capable defensively, but has a limited ceiling after that. Because the Penguins should be able to get what they get from him for a bit less than the 1.4 million dollar 3 year contract he signed before this last year, however, rumors persist that Pens' GM Ray Shero is trying to move him. C
PHILIPPE BOUCHER: Boucher was acquired early in the year from the Dallas Stars for Darryl Sydor and, at the time, it was an interesting acquisition. Boucher was 2 seasons removed from being an All-Star while in Dallas, and it was worth it to see if he might recapture that form in exchange for a guy who hadn't been getting a lot of playing time here. Former coach Therrein was high on Boucher, but he got hurt not long after arriving and missed about 4-5 weeks of time. By then, Bylsma was nearly on board and when HCDB did arrive, he didn't quite have the same feel for #43. Regardless, Boucher was unable to regularly crack the lineup most of the rest of the season and, while he became a good mentor for Kris Letang, that alone was far from enough for Shero to keep the unrestricted free agent -- especially at his 2.5 million dollar salary from last year. C
ERIC GODARD: There's no secret to what Godard did this past season. He was a fourth liner who brought a physical presence to the team. While he does his job well when called upon, keeps other teams honest, and doesn't take a lot of stupid penalites, he didn't dress for a single playoff game. With the addition of physical -- and big -- free agent forward Mike Rupp at nearly the same salary, there's speculation that the Penguins are looking to move Godard. C
MIROSLAV SATAN: Satan was the Penguins' most notable free agent signing last summer, after Hossa spurned them on a course to being a back-to-back Stanley Cup Final loser. While he wasn't supposed to solely replace Hossa, the expectations on Satan were probably too high. He did score 17 goals, but with only 36 points in 65 games and a failure to click with Sidney Crosby on the top line, it's not unreasonable to understand how Satan wasn't worth the 3.5 million the Penguins paid him this year. What was a bit surprising was that the Penguins were forced to waive him and send the veteran scorer to Wilkes-Barre. It's true that Satan didn't play up to expectations, but his stint in the minors wasn't really due to this play -- it was mainly to keep his salary from being counted against the cap when the Penguins acquired Bill Guerin. To his credit, however, Satan didn't mope when he was sent to the AHL for the first time in 11 seasons. He worked hard and set a good example. And when the playoffs came around, he returned to the big club as a replacement for the struggling Sykora. While Satan didn't make a huge impact in the post-season, he upped the grit and intensity in his game and did make a little bit of an offensive splash at a few notable times -- the most important of which was his opening breakaway goal against Cam Ward and the Carolina Hurricanes in game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Penguins, not surprisingly, let Satan walk into free agency last month. C-
That's it boys and girls. Your 2008/2009 Stanley Cup Champion grades. It's nice to see mostly A's and B's, isn't it? Well, that's what happpens when you reach the top of the mountain. You usually don't have too many passengers.
More on the Penguins' prospect camp -- which begins Monday -- next week.
Like last year, these grades are given based on the player's contribution when compared to what was reasonably expected during the course of the year from the player, and includes consideration of playoff performance.
There will be grades for every main roster player on the Cup-winning squad, including grades for the Penguins' few recently departed free agents, but not for those who may have been traded along the way.
So, without prolonging this any further ..
EVGENI MALKIN: Malkin, 22, was probably the Penguins' best player this season. He captured his first Art Ross Trophy as the league's leading scorer in the regular season, then followed that up with the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff most valuable player int he post-season, demonstrably erasing what was starting to be an unfortunate trend of disappearing or running out of gas in the playoffs when things meant the most. Malkin is a dangerous goal scorer who is almost as good at setting up his teammates as he is scoring goals, and he also is becoming a pretty good defensive player in this league. He led the league in takeaways this past season -- getting more than the reigning Selke Trophy winner Pavel Datsyuk. If you said that Malkin was the best overall player in the game right now, I think a lot of hockey pundits would agree. A+
SIDNEY CROSBY: The Penguins' Captain and #1 center is already on everyone's short list of the world's best players, but that didn't stop him from continued development this year. Crosby, still only 21, has really matured for Pittsburgh on the ice, and remains the NHL's ambassador off it. While being the focus of most opponents' game plans, Crosby scored 33 goals and added 70 assists to finish 3rd in the scoring race behind teammate Malkin and Washington Capitals' LW Alexander Ovechkin -- and he did that in 5 less games than a full slate. Meanwhile, Crosby became one of the Penguins' go-to faceoff men and, despite being continually criticized for not being a true goal-scorer, went goal-for-goal with Ovechkin in the Penguins' 2nd round 7-game playoff win over the Washington Capitals when Pittsburgh needed it the most. He was the youngest Captain to ever lead his team to the Stanley Cup this year. There's not much more the Penguins' can ask of Crosby and he continually delivers for them. A+
MARC-ANDRE FLEURY: Fleury's goals against average and save percentage were not off the charts this year, but there's no denying that this kid wins games. He's won 35 or more contests for three seasons in a row now on his way to 2 consecutive Cup Final appearances and 1 championship. Like Grant Fuhr, the Edmonton Oilers' 4-time Stanley Cup Champion and Hall-of-Famer, Fleury makes the saves when they matter the most. At least 3 or 4 signature stops defined his post-season this past year -- including a huge one with one second left and the Stanley Cup in the balance late in game 7. Without him, the Penguins don't win the championship this year. A-
BILL GUERIN: Guerin, acquired by the Penguins in early March on the trade deadline for what ended up being a 3rd round draft pick, was huge for Pittsburgh after being acquired. He seamlessly meshed with Crosby as a RW on the Pens' #1 line and, even at 38, provided them scoring and a huge dose of leadership both down the stretch when the Penguins were fighting to obtain and keep a playoff berth. Then he did the same thing all the way through the playoffs. While it's fair to wonder how much Guerin has left in the tank at this point, he was a key, key contributor to the Penguins' Stanley Cup Championship. B+
JORDAN STAAL: Staal, still only 20 years old, rebounded relatively well from what most people thought was a step-back in his sophmore year in the 2007/2008 season. At just about the 50 point level in 2008/2009, Staal anchored one of the best 3rd lines in hockey this year, and did a pretty darn good job doing it. It can't be easy for #11 because he has 2nd line talent and probably will never break though to play with other top scorers on the first two lines for the Penguins as long as Crosby and Malkin are around, but Staal serves an extremely key role for Pittsburgh, and for the 2nd year in a row, that showed itself more than any other time in the post-season. Staal elevates his game when the stakes are the greatest and he again was one of the Penguins best players in their 2nd consecutive Stanley Cup Final. Because of him, the Penguins have the best triumverate of centers in the National Hockey League and are a nightmare to match up against down the middle. B+
SERGEI GONCHAR: It would be easy to give Gonchar an incomplete, since he missed most of the season after suffering a shoulder injury in the Penguins' first pre-season game last September, but the truth is that his absence was maybe the biggest reason the Penguins struggled for a fair part of last year before he returned in mid-February. When he did come back, he scored 19 points in 25 games and the Penguins only lost 3 more times during the remainder of the regular season. While he is 35, Gonchar remains a top defenseman in the NHL and is one of the top 10 two-way rearguards in the entire league. And playing through a torn MCL for the last 2 rounds of the post-season after Ovechkin's cheap knee-on-knee hit also showed how tough and committed he truly is. B+
ROB SCUDERI: You can't say enough about how good of a defensive defenseman Scuderi was for the Penguins' this past year. He had his best season and finally showed a lot of people league-wide how valuable and intelligent of a player he truly is. Matched up against the opponents' best forwards in every single round of the palyoffs, his shut down work for those 2 months was some of the best I've seen in quite a while. Scuderi is one of the best 5-on-3 penalty killers in the game because of his positioning and stick-defense. And, of course, who can forget the several game-preserving saves he made in the crease late in game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals. As a testament to what he deserved, Pens' GM Ray Shero said he didn't ever remember being happier for a player and his family when "The Piece" accepted a nearly 4-million dollar per season free agent contract with the LA Kings that the Penguins simply weren't able to match because of salary cap constraints. The Penguins will miss his presence on their blueline for sure. B+
MATT COOKE: Cooke probably flied under the radar of most Penguin fans this past year, but not this observer. He was one of the Penguins' most consistent performers all season long. Before the year started, many looked at him as the replacement agitator for former Pen Jarkko Ruutu. I knew Cooke would do that and be so much more, and that's exactly what he was. Cooke was one of the top hitters in the league all season long, put up 33 points in a 3rd line role, and even filled in capably when needed throughout the season on the top 2 lines. There's not much more the Penguins could have asked from him. B+
MAX TALBOT: Talbot's importance to the Penguins simply cannot be understated. He is the team's glue in the locker room, and a valuable contributor on the ice. This past season, he played in a variety of roles and, for the 2nd year in a row, raised his game about 3 notches in the playoffs. The "Superstar" was the Penguins' 3rd leading goal scorer in the playoffs, posting 8 tallies after only 12 regular season goals, including both of Pittsburgh's markers in game 7 of the Cup Final when everything was on the line. When you ask for the short list of names who you know you're going to be able to count on in clutch situations, he's on it. B+
BROOKS ORPIK: Orpik isn't spectacular, and he didn't have another shift for the ages this year like he did in last season's Stanley Cup Finals where he decked 4 Red Wings in a 15-second span on one shift in game 3, but that doesn't mean that Orpik isn't one of the most valuable Penguins. He paces the team physically from the backend and was 2nd in the league in hits this past year. He's eats up big minutes, is smart defensively and skates well enough to keep up with the opposition's top forwards. While he may not be worth quite as much as his 3.75 million dollar per year contract, he's pretty close to it because there's nobody else on the Pittsburgh blueline who does what he does. B+
CHRIS KUNITZ: Acquired about a week before the trade deadline this season in the deal that saw blueliner Ryan Whitney get sent to Anaheim, Kunitz immediately stepped into the flank on Crosby's line and fit in well. He contributed offensively and added a space-clearing physical net presence to the ice next to #87. His ability to score dried up in the playoffs, which is somewhat surprising since the post-season game is more tailored to the way he plays, but Kunitz has generally shown himself to be a consistent 25 goal scorer in this league, so that's what you should expect from him. The sandpaper and character he brings to the lineup is a bonus. B
RUSLAN FEDOTENKO: Fedotenko was signed to a one-year contract last summer as a free-agent largely because the Penguins knew him to be a fair offensive contributor, but more importantly, a known playoff performer. True to form, that's what the Penguins got from Rusty this year. While he had an average regular season with 16 goals, he was one of the Penguins' better players in the playoffs with 7 goals and 14 points. He continues to be a decent 2nd line option for the Penguins who is all about winning -- as evidenced by the fact that, after his strong year, he took a pay cut just to return to Pittsburgh and do the one-year contract all over again in the upcoming final season in Mellon Arena. B
TYLER KENNEDY: TK still is somewhat of an inconsistent player, but he showed a little more potential to be a scorer this year, chipping in 15 goals and 35 points playing almost exclusively in a 3rd line role. His speed continues to be something that other teams have a hard time accounting for, and he doesn't shy away from the physical play either. Kennedy is a valuable member of the Penguins' 3rd line and, after a solid post-season, only has room to improve in years to come. B
HAL GILL: The Penguins' got a relatively strong season out of Gill this past year -- his last with Pittsburgh after signing a free-agent contract with Montreal Canadiens earlier this month. With Gill, what you see is what you get, and that is a solid defensive defenseman who isn't that mobile but excels by being good positionally most of the time. He also was a great penalty killer for Pittsburgh and there was a reason he was paired with Scuderi and matched against the other team's top forwards all post-season long. B
MARK EATON: For the first time after the prior 2 injury-plagued seasons, Eaton stayed relaitvely healthy for Pittsburgh this last year and was pretty solid most of the season because of it. Eaton is a good positional player and strong shot blocker who helps counter-balance the Penguins other offensive defenseman, and playing a full season under Dan Blysma's attacking system should only help his game because Eaton also is a decent skater with good hockey sense. His 4 goals in the playoffs were a testament to that. B
KRIS LETANG: When Letang first came into the league, he was known as an offensive player, but surprised this author with his physicality and defensive play. I believe former Pens' coach Michel Therrein was the primary reason for that, but it helped round out Letang's game. While Kris still has an awful lot of offensive talent, including great vision, a good shot, and high-end stick skills, he needs to be more consistent. Tanger put up 33 regular season points, but was one of the Penguins' better post-season players with 4 goals and 9 helpers during the Penguins' Cup run. With Ryan Whitney now gone, Pittsburgh will start relying on him an awful lot more this coming year. This coming season will be Letang's third in the league, and he is poised to break out. B
CRAIG ADAMS: Adams, another Stanley-Cup winning veteran pickup for the Penguins near the trading deadline, was a valuable role player down the stretch and through the post-season for Pittsburgh. He brought grit, intelligence and solid defensive play to the Penguins 4th line, and even chipped in with 3 goals in the post-season. While 2 were empty netters, the other goal he scored -- the 2nd goal of game 7 against the Washington Capitals in round 2 -- was a huge one, because it came 8 seconds after Crosby opened the scoring and really helped deflate the Caps. Adams played well enough, and did a good enough job on draws, during his short tenure here that the Penguins re-signed him for another season and, in the process, said goodbye to another valuable role player, Mike Zigomanis. B
MIKE ZIGOMANIS: Zigomanis was acquired for future considerations early in the season from the Phoenix Coyotes, largely because he was one of the better faceoff men in the game. When he arrived in Pittsburgh, he didn't disappoint in that area. He clicked at near 65% in the circle and was so obviously effective doing so that former coach Michel Therrein regularly had him out on the power play just so he could take -- and win -- key faceoffs. Zigomanis' season ended about halfway through the year when he suffered a shoulder injury in a game against the New York Rangers in Madison Square Garden. While he rehabilitated himself well enough to return to game action by the Stanley Cup Finals, the Penguins' didn't use him. Unfortunately, his injury sealed his fate in Pittsburgh, but he was more than effective when in the lineup. B
PETR SYKORA: If there was one guy who had been pretty reliable for the Penguins since being signed a few years ago, it was Sykora. He was a fixture on the power play and could be counted on for 25 goals a year playing on Malkin's RW. That all changed late this season, however -- coincidentally or otherwise right around the time Therrein was fired and Bylsma came on board. Sykora was so bad in the last 40% of the season that the veteran scorer ended up being a healthy scratch for much of the playoffs. That's what just a few goals during that stretch will do for you. Before that, however, Sykora had already popped near 20 -- including 10 game winners -- and was doing what he had consistently done before, which was contribute offensively. Rumors abounded that Sykora was suffering from a shoulder injury late in the year, but nothing official was ever revealed about it -- even after the post-season. Unfortunately, his slump was so long, and the skating system Blysma installed is so untailored to Sykora's game, that the Penguins let him walk as a free agent last month. It might have just been his time to go -- even if it came somewhat unexpectedly. B-
ALEX GOLIGOSKI: GoGo, as he's affectionately known within the organization, spent about 1/2 a season with Pittsburgh this year before the Penguins' depth on the blueline forced him back to Wilkes-Barre, where he didn't have to clear waivers. When he was with the big club, however, his offensive skills didn't disappoint, as the 20 points he put up during that time attest to. He continues to need work in his own zone, though. Goligoski is not a big player, so he has to rely on smarts and positioning to defend well. More consistency would help, too, but that progression is a natural one for a young player like him. With the 3-year contract he signed, he just about ensured himself a place on Pittsburgh's blueline full time for this coming season. B-
PASCAL DUPUIS: Dupuis was miscast late last season as a fill-in on one of the top lines after being acquired at the trade deadline from Atlanta with traitor Marion Hossa. He's strictly a 3rd or 4th line player who will regularly put up just about 10 goals and 25 points, which is nearly how he produced this past season. He skates well, has a good shot and is capable defensively, but has a limited ceiling after that. Because the Penguins should be able to get what they get from him for a bit less than the 1.4 million dollar 3 year contract he signed before this last year, however, rumors persist that Pens' GM Ray Shero is trying to move him. C
PHILIPPE BOUCHER: Boucher was acquired early in the year from the Dallas Stars for Darryl Sydor and, at the time, it was an interesting acquisition. Boucher was 2 seasons removed from being an All-Star while in Dallas, and it was worth it to see if he might recapture that form in exchange for a guy who hadn't been getting a lot of playing time here. Former coach Therrein was high on Boucher, but he got hurt not long after arriving and missed about 4-5 weeks of time. By then, Bylsma was nearly on board and when HCDB did arrive, he didn't quite have the same feel for #43. Regardless, Boucher was unable to regularly crack the lineup most of the rest of the season and, while he became a good mentor for Kris Letang, that alone was far from enough for Shero to keep the unrestricted free agent -- especially at his 2.5 million dollar salary from last year. C
ERIC GODARD: There's no secret to what Godard did this past season. He was a fourth liner who brought a physical presence to the team. While he does his job well when called upon, keeps other teams honest, and doesn't take a lot of stupid penalites, he didn't dress for a single playoff game. With the addition of physical -- and big -- free agent forward Mike Rupp at nearly the same salary, there's speculation that the Penguins are looking to move Godard. C
MIROSLAV SATAN: Satan was the Penguins' most notable free agent signing last summer, after Hossa spurned them on a course to being a back-to-back Stanley Cup Final loser. While he wasn't supposed to solely replace Hossa, the expectations on Satan were probably too high. He did score 17 goals, but with only 36 points in 65 games and a failure to click with Sidney Crosby on the top line, it's not unreasonable to understand how Satan wasn't worth the 3.5 million the Penguins paid him this year. What was a bit surprising was that the Penguins were forced to waive him and send the veteran scorer to Wilkes-Barre. It's true that Satan didn't play up to expectations, but his stint in the minors wasn't really due to this play -- it was mainly to keep his salary from being counted against the cap when the Penguins acquired Bill Guerin. To his credit, however, Satan didn't mope when he was sent to the AHL for the first time in 11 seasons. He worked hard and set a good example. And when the playoffs came around, he returned to the big club as a replacement for the struggling Sykora. While Satan didn't make a huge impact in the post-season, he upped the grit and intensity in his game and did make a little bit of an offensive splash at a few notable times -- the most important of which was his opening breakaway goal against Cam Ward and the Carolina Hurricanes in game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Penguins, not surprisingly, let Satan walk into free agency last month. C-
That's it boys and girls. Your 2008/2009 Stanley Cup Champion grades. It's nice to see mostly A's and B's, isn't it? Well, that's what happpens when you reach the top of the mountain. You usually don't have too many passengers.
More on the Penguins' prospect camp -- which begins Monday -- next week.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Penguins To Sign Defenseman Jay McKee
While it hasn't been announced yet, the Penguins are set to reach an agreement on a one-year contract with former St. Louis Blues' and now current unrestricted free agent defenseman Jay McKee.
Reports are that the deal will be for approximately 800 or 850K.
McKee, 31, is a defensive defenseman and known shot-blocker, and will play a big part in the Penguins trying to replace Rob Scuderi on the backline. He played a huge role on the Buffalo Sabres blueline in the middle of this decade before the NHL lowered the free agency age with the new collective bargaining agreement, which allowed McKee to strike it rich with a 4-year, 16 million dollar deal in St. Louis coming out of the lockout.
After 3 years with the Blues -- and several injury-prone seasons -- McKee's contract was bought out, which frankly is what made him so attractive on the open market this summer.
McKee was being courted by several teams, including the Penguins, Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators. Because of the buyout, St. Louis has to pay McKee about 2.5 million this season. That allowed McKee to accept a much lesser salary and choose a contender to play with for the coming year.
By joining The Boys of Winter, he clearly has done that.
McKee will be a good addition for Pittsburgh. Even though only 31, he does have wear on his tires, and remains injury prone because of his physical, defensive style of play. However, McKee was healthy most of last year and, when he suits up his 6' 4" frame, he definitely can help the Penguins in the corners and in front of the net.
Overall, Mckee will be a good depth signing by Shero. Especially at that price.
Team grades next week. I promise.
Reports are that the deal will be for approximately 800 or 850K.
McKee, 31, is a defensive defenseman and known shot-blocker, and will play a big part in the Penguins trying to replace Rob Scuderi on the backline. He played a huge role on the Buffalo Sabres blueline in the middle of this decade before the NHL lowered the free agency age with the new collective bargaining agreement, which allowed McKee to strike it rich with a 4-year, 16 million dollar deal in St. Louis coming out of the lockout.
After 3 years with the Blues -- and several injury-prone seasons -- McKee's contract was bought out, which frankly is what made him so attractive on the open market this summer.
McKee was being courted by several teams, including the Penguins, Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators. Because of the buyout, St. Louis has to pay McKee about 2.5 million this season. That allowed McKee to accept a much lesser salary and choose a contender to play with for the coming year.
By joining The Boys of Winter, he clearly has done that.
McKee will be a good addition for Pittsburgh. Even though only 31, he does have wear on his tires, and remains injury prone because of his physical, defensive style of play. However, McKee was healthy most of last year and, when he suits up his 6' 4" frame, he definitely can help the Penguins in the corners and in front of the net.
Overall, Mckee will be a good depth signing by Shero. Especially at that price.
Team grades next week. I promise.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Talbot To Miss 4-5 Months After Shoulder Surgery
Penguins' "superstar" Max Talbot, it was revealed yesterday, will be in recovery for 4-5 months after undergoing surgery on Tuesday at UPMC hospital in Pittsburgh to repair a left shoulder injury he sustained after lifting the Stanley Cup over his head too many times.
I'm sorry -- I couldn't resist.
What REALLY happened is that Talbot apparently tore or partially tore the labrum in that shoulder at some point in the post-season or late in the season. The team has not revealed when or how the injury occurred, but Pens' GM Ray Shero simply said that the injury and need for surgery wasn't really a surprise to the team and that Talbot had been playing through that condition "for a while".
With the 4-5 month timetable, the Penguins' stanley cup winning goal scorer is expected to miss all of training camp and the first month or two of the season. He is expected to return in November or, at the latest, early December.
While Pittsburgh is not expected to reach outside of the organization to replace Talbot, it will be interesting to see what they do in filling his roster spot, and to see how his absence affects the lines at the outset of the team's final season in the venerable Mellon Arena this coming year.
For openers, would Talbot have continued to play as a top-6 forward on Evgeni Malkin's right wing, as he did for much of the season? After scoring only 12 regular season goals, Talbot was fabulous in the post-season, notching 8 markers. He had 4 in the first three rounds, then doubled that in the Cup Finals.
Through the first 6 games of the Finals, he scored twice, then doubled that output by scoring the Penguins' all the way to the Cup with both game 7 tallies.
With 4 goals, he had more than any other player in the Final series.
Despite that, I'm not certain he would have started the season on #71's portside. It would have been interesting to see what HCDB (head coach Dan Bylsma) would have done about that slot. Now, with Talbot being out until near winter, Bylsma will have no choice to go with someone else -- at least to start the year.
Disco Dan will have the chance to try several people in that spot during training camp. Will he, for example, move up Tyler Kennedy? Some in the organization feel that TK has top-6 forward potential.
Will one of the Penguins' better wing prospects, like Luca Caputi or Eric Tangradi get a shot there? Both will need a strong training camp overall to see that opportunity.
Or will we end up seeing Petr Sykora return to that spot? While Sykora remains a free agent talking with several teams throughout the league, I know the Penguins haven't completely closed the door on him returning. I think it's unlikley, but you never know.
It would be a strange sequence of events to see Sykora back in that role for sure, after his disappearing act down the stretch last season when the Penguins needed him the most.
That's all for now. 2008/2009 season grades coming soon.
(I know I keep saying that. Just be patient).
I'm sorry -- I couldn't resist.
What REALLY happened is that Talbot apparently tore or partially tore the labrum in that shoulder at some point in the post-season or late in the season. The team has not revealed when or how the injury occurred, but Pens' GM Ray Shero simply said that the injury and need for surgery wasn't really a surprise to the team and that Talbot had been playing through that condition "for a while".
With the 4-5 month timetable, the Penguins' stanley cup winning goal scorer is expected to miss all of training camp and the first month or two of the season. He is expected to return in November or, at the latest, early December.
While Pittsburgh is not expected to reach outside of the organization to replace Talbot, it will be interesting to see what they do in filling his roster spot, and to see how his absence affects the lines at the outset of the team's final season in the venerable Mellon Arena this coming year.
For openers, would Talbot have continued to play as a top-6 forward on Evgeni Malkin's right wing, as he did for much of the season? After scoring only 12 regular season goals, Talbot was fabulous in the post-season, notching 8 markers. He had 4 in the first three rounds, then doubled that in the Cup Finals.
Through the first 6 games of the Finals, he scored twice, then doubled that output by scoring the Penguins' all the way to the Cup with both game 7 tallies.
With 4 goals, he had more than any other player in the Final series.
Despite that, I'm not certain he would have started the season on #71's portside. It would have been interesting to see what HCDB (head coach Dan Bylsma) would have done about that slot. Now, with Talbot being out until near winter, Bylsma will have no choice to go with someone else -- at least to start the year.
Disco Dan will have the chance to try several people in that spot during training camp. Will he, for example, move up Tyler Kennedy? Some in the organization feel that TK has top-6 forward potential.
Will one of the Penguins' better wing prospects, like Luca Caputi or Eric Tangradi get a shot there? Both will need a strong training camp overall to see that opportunity.
Or will we end up seeing Petr Sykora return to that spot? While Sykora remains a free agent talking with several teams throughout the league, I know the Penguins haven't completely closed the door on him returning. I think it's unlikley, but you never know.
It would be a strange sequence of events to see Sykora back in that role for sure, after his disappearing act down the stretch last season when the Penguins needed him the most.
That's all for now. 2008/2009 season grades coming soon.
(I know I keep saying that. Just be patient).
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Fedotenko Re-Signs With Penguins
Sorry I didn't get this up sooner boys and girls .... it was a holiday thing.
On Friday, the Pittsburgh Penguins re-signed key Stanley Cup contributing LW Ruslan Fedotenko to help them defend their title in the 2009/2010 season.
Despite receiving offers from several teams with more money and longer terms on the table, Fedotenko -- incredibly -- resigned with the Penguins for one year at 1.8 million dollars, which is even less than the 2.25 million he played for this past Cup winning season.
I was a bit surprised Fedotenko returned, given the other offers he was recieving, but not nearly as surprised as I was about the amount of money and term he did ink for.
Rusty deserves a lot of credit for wanting to come back to a Cup contender, and Pens' GM Ray Shero also deserves big kudos for bringing Feds back into the fold at that extraordinarily reasonable salary.
With #26 coming back to the big club next season, the Penguins will return 11 of 12 forwards who played for them in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, which is really an incredible circumstance given the dictates of free agency in the salary cap world.
Admittedly, they will have a little turnover on defense, but even then, it's hard for the Penguins to complain.
At this point, the Penguins are probably finished with the most significant aspects of free agency. They are just under 3 million beneath the salary cap ceiling and may very well bring in one more player or two (particularly on defense), but that isn't necessarily something that may occur in the next day or two, but perhaps later this summer as other, depth players throughout the league end up filling out remaining roster spots league wide.
Petr Sykora may be one of those players. The Penguins are also known to be talking to representatives of defenseman Nick Boynton and winger Ales Kotalik.
If there's another signing, I'll get word up here as soon as I hear. In the meantime, I hope in the next week or so to begin bridging the off-season by giving out my individual player grades for the 2008/2009 Stanley Cup Champions.
More soon.
On Friday, the Pittsburgh Penguins re-signed key Stanley Cup contributing LW Ruslan Fedotenko to help them defend their title in the 2009/2010 season.
Despite receiving offers from several teams with more money and longer terms on the table, Fedotenko -- incredibly -- resigned with the Penguins for one year at 1.8 million dollars, which is even less than the 2.25 million he played for this past Cup winning season.
I was a bit surprised Fedotenko returned, given the other offers he was recieving, but not nearly as surprised as I was about the amount of money and term he did ink for.
Rusty deserves a lot of credit for wanting to come back to a Cup contender, and Pens' GM Ray Shero also deserves big kudos for bringing Feds back into the fold at that extraordinarily reasonable salary.
With #26 coming back to the big club next season, the Penguins will return 11 of 12 forwards who played for them in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, which is really an incredible circumstance given the dictates of free agency in the salary cap world.
Admittedly, they will have a little turnover on defense, but even then, it's hard for the Penguins to complain.
At this point, the Penguins are probably finished with the most significant aspects of free agency. They are just under 3 million beneath the salary cap ceiling and may very well bring in one more player or two (particularly on defense), but that isn't necessarily something that may occur in the next day or two, but perhaps later this summer as other, depth players throughout the league end up filling out remaining roster spots league wide.
Petr Sykora may be one of those players. The Penguins are also known to be talking to representatives of defenseman Nick Boynton and winger Ales Kotalik.
If there's another signing, I'll get word up here as soon as I hear. In the meantime, I hope in the next week or so to begin bridging the off-season by giving out my individual player grades for the 2008/2009 Stanley Cup Champions.
More soon.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Penguins lose Rob Scuderi to LA Kings
Free agency hit the Penguins in the gut again today when top defensive
defenseman Rob Scuderi signed a 5-year contract with the Los Angeles
Kings.
defenseman Rob Scuderi signed a 5-year contract with the Los Angeles
Kings.
Terms of the deal have not been released yet, but the contract is
believed to be around, or in excess of, 15 million dollars in total.
Pittsburgh's last -- and perhaps best -- offer for Scuderi was said to
be 8.2 million for 4 seasons.
Clearly, that wasn't enough to keep "The Piece", even with him being
willing to take a 'hometown' discount -- something which, by all
accounts, Scuderi was willing to take.
The Penguins will obviously miss their best penalty killer and while it
would have been great if Scuds decided to stay, I believe they have the
depth on defense to sustain losing #4. They have strong prospects in
the pipeline and just signed a guy who is said to have a lot of
similarities in his game to Scuderi -- BU defensive defenseman Brian
Strait. Strait signed a 3-year entry level deal yesterday and while
he's unlikely to play with the big club this year, his game is
patterned after the way Scuds played. The Pens' have a lot of other
good defense prospects in their system, as well.
Now that both Scuderi and Gill have signed elsewhere, will Pittsburgh
look to sign a defenseman from another team now? Will they look to
bring Philippe Boucher back? Time will tell.
Still waiting to see what happens with Ruslan Fedotenko . .
More news as it breaks.
Free Agency Day 2 Morning Update
Beyond the Penguins' signing former New Jersey Devil free agent forward Mike Rupp yesterday, there's no additional news to report in Penguinland.
Rob Scuderi and Ruslan Fedotenko went unsigned through last evening, but I believe both will make decisions on their future today.
It seems that the Penguins' remain on Fedotenko's radar, but from what I'm hearing, Fedotenko has near a half dozen offers from other clubs. One of those offers is said to be for 4 years. I don't believe the Penguins have put more than 2 on the table at this point.
And, while I was optimistic late yesterday afternoon and early yesterday evening that the Penguins still had a good chance of brining Rob Scuderi back in the fold, some of the buzz that I'm hearing now backs me off that optimism just a bit.
I think the Penguins still are in the mix for Scuderi, and I believe he remains their #1 priority, but Pens' GM Ray Shero last night talked of how comfortable he was with his team and even went on to say, when asked about the current state of negotiations with free agents, that "nothing much" was going on.
That could mean he's not chasing Scuds -- or Rusty -- or it could simply mean that he's made his proposals and are letting the two of them think about it.
Elsewhere, the Penguins are said to have made offers yesterday to both Mike Knuble and Steve Sullivan. Neither chose to come to the defending Stanley Cup Champions. Knuble instead moved from one Penguins' rival to another, jumping from the Philadelphia Flyers to the Washington Capitals. Sullivan, meanwhile, re-signed with Nashville, and for a pretty darn high rate, in my opinion -- 7.5 million for 2 years.
Sullivan is a skilled guy, and he played relatively well in the last 30 or so games of last season, but 3.75 million per year is not a small fee to sink into a player who missed most of the last 2 years with a significant back problem. I'm certain the Penguins' offer to Sullivan was nowhere near what he got from Nashville -- and rightly so.
There remain trade rumblings that Shero is working to clear some cap space, but for the most part, Shero would not directly address that subject last night. He did address it somewhat indirectly, however, saying that he had no problem having both Rupp and Godard on the payroll (obviously, since he made the deal), and spoke in positive terms about having guys like Talbot and Dupuis who can play several different positions up and down the lineup.
Personally, I think that's just smoke and mirrors. I don't for one second interpret those comments to mean that Shero isn't working the phones for potential deals -- whether it involves those players or other ones.
We'll see what happens on that front, and with Scuderi and Fedotenko, today. Also, there remain several other players of interest to the Penguins still on the open market, including LW Alex Kotalik.
It should be an interesting day. Maybe not as fast paced as yesterday, but interesting neverthelss.
I'll post updates when I hear them.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Free Agency Day 1 Dinnertime Update
The Penguins have signed unrestricted free agent giant Mike Rupp, formerly of the New Jersey Devils, to a 2-year contract worth about 850K per season.
Rupp gives the Penguins another physical forward, although the talk is that Rupp's arrival may be just the precursor to a deal which would send RW Eric Godard, LW Pascal Dupuis and perhaps even defenseman Mark Eaton out of town in a move designed to try and save some salary cap space.
Meanwhile, Hal Gill signed with the Montreal Canadiens this afternoon for 2 years and 4.5 million.
I'm surprised Gill got an offer quite that high and it certainly wasn't one the Penguins could match. They were going to ask Gill to take a pay cut to stay.
At this point, I'd say it's at least an even money bet that Rob Scuderi will return. Word is that he has received offers from at least 3 teams, including the Minnesota Wild, Dallas Stars and Montreal Canadiens, but his agent said this afternoon that the Penguins were "definitely" still in the mix and that it was "very possible" that he might return. Of course, a lot of that may hinge on whether the Penguins are able to move the salary they seem to be trying to move (see above).
By the way, I'm told Scuderi rejected Montreal's overture, but that the Wild and Stars remain in play. They both supposedly offered deals in the 4 year range for a total of 13/14 million.
A decision might come from Scuderi's camp tonight, although it seems that former Canadiens defenseman Mike Komisarek may have just signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs and that could have a bearing on teams that make a pitch for Scuderi, since Komisarek was really the big chip on defense that so many teams may have been waiting to fall into place.
This could put the New York Rangers in the picture for Scuderi. They were known to be chasing Komisarek.
Meanwhile, what happens with Ruslan Fedotenko is anyone's guess.
Rusty is said to be in talks with several teams, and while the Penguins have apparently not fallen completely off his radar, I'm not getting a strong feel that the Penguins are actively chasing him. I think Pittsburgh is still in the mix to retain him, but only time will tell how that bears out.
Mobile updates tonight, if necessary.
Free Agent Frenzy Begins
First of all, before my head starts spinning, let me correct something I posted here the other day.
Bill Guerin's new deal apparently was worth only 2 million, rather than 2.8, as initial reports suggested. My mistake.
At least I erred by overstating how much the deal was worth, rather than the other way around. Pens' GM Ray Shero needs all the help he can get.
Obviously, since I added nothing here yesterday, Penguin free agent signings were scant (okay ... absent entirely) in the last 24 hours. Among the notable players left, LW Ruslan Fedotenko and defenseman Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill hit the market today.
Shero apparently was still talking with Fedotenko, but nothing has broken yet and it seems more and more like Fedotenko may end up elsewhere.
At this juncture, the Penguins have just under 6 million available beneath the salary cap ceiling, and 4 expected roster spots open.
That is enough to commit to one notable player -- whether forward or defenseman -- in the 2-3 million dollar range, with the remaining salary spread out over the other players. The inital question for Shero is whether that money will go to Fedotenko? If not, will it go to Scuderi?
If both of those guys are lost, here are some of the guys I've heard that the Penguins may end up going after:
1) W Mike Knuble
2) W Steve Sullivan
3) W Alex Kotalik
4) W Todd Bertuzzi
Of all these guys, the first 3 interest me more than the last one. Bertuzzi wasn't a terrible player this last season, but his upside potential as an impact player for the Penguins wouldn't be quite as high as the other palyers listed. Knuble, Sullivan and Kotalik could -- potentially -- be 25/30 goal scorers with Pittsburgh if things fall right. Bertuzzi isn't going to get to that level and, even though he'd add an additional toughness/leadership element to the team, the Penguins have that with Guerin and Adams coming back, so if I were Shero, I'd rather spend my dollars elsewhere
Of course, there are a few guys in this year's unrestricted free agent grop that I'd be very interested to see in a Penguin uniform -- namely Martin Havlat, Mike Camalleri, or even Marion Gaborik, depending on the circumstances -- but it's doubtful any of those guys will be wearing the skating Penguin anytime soon since their salary and/or term demands are likely to take them out of the Penguins' cap range.
If the Penguins look to go beyond the short list above, they may want to take a look at a guy like winger Chad Larose from the Carolina Hurricanes. He had a great playoff for them -- was arguably their best player against us in the Eastern Conference Finals, in fact -- and could be a potential find at a relatively decent price.
Pittsburgh may also want to consider defenseman Greg Zanon from the Nashville Predators or Denis Gauthier from the LA Kings. Both would serve at reasonable rates as decent #5 or #6 defensemen, which is where Pittsburgh is going to have to fill a spot if Scuderi and Gill leave and they aren't able to convince Philippe Boucher to come back at a much cheaper salary.
We'll see what happens today. In all likelihood, news won't start to break until mid-to-late afternoon, when the first signings will start trickling through. I'll post updates as frequently as possible when there's word to share.
Bill Guerin's new deal apparently was worth only 2 million, rather than 2.8, as initial reports suggested. My mistake.
At least I erred by overstating how much the deal was worth, rather than the other way around. Pens' GM Ray Shero needs all the help he can get.
Obviously, since I added nothing here yesterday, Penguin free agent signings were scant (okay ... absent entirely) in the last 24 hours. Among the notable players left, LW Ruslan Fedotenko and defenseman Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill hit the market today.
Shero apparently was still talking with Fedotenko, but nothing has broken yet and it seems more and more like Fedotenko may end up elsewhere.
At this juncture, the Penguins have just under 6 million available beneath the salary cap ceiling, and 4 expected roster spots open.
That is enough to commit to one notable player -- whether forward or defenseman -- in the 2-3 million dollar range, with the remaining salary spread out over the other players. The inital question for Shero is whether that money will go to Fedotenko? If not, will it go to Scuderi?
If both of those guys are lost, here are some of the guys I've heard that the Penguins may end up going after:
1) W Mike Knuble
2) W Steve Sullivan
3) W Alex Kotalik
4) W Todd Bertuzzi
Of all these guys, the first 3 interest me more than the last one. Bertuzzi wasn't a terrible player this last season, but his upside potential as an impact player for the Penguins wouldn't be quite as high as the other palyers listed. Knuble, Sullivan and Kotalik could -- potentially -- be 25/30 goal scorers with Pittsburgh if things fall right. Bertuzzi isn't going to get to that level and, even though he'd add an additional toughness/leadership element to the team, the Penguins have that with Guerin and Adams coming back, so if I were Shero, I'd rather spend my dollars elsewhere
Of course, there are a few guys in this year's unrestricted free agent grop that I'd be very interested to see in a Penguin uniform -- namely Martin Havlat, Mike Camalleri, or even Marion Gaborik, depending on the circumstances -- but it's doubtful any of those guys will be wearing the skating Penguin anytime soon since their salary and/or term demands are likely to take them out of the Penguins' cap range.
If the Penguins look to go beyond the short list above, they may want to take a look at a guy like winger Chad Larose from the Carolina Hurricanes. He had a great playoff for them -- was arguably their best player against us in the Eastern Conference Finals, in fact -- and could be a potential find at a relatively decent price.
Pittsburgh may also want to consider defenseman Greg Zanon from the Nashville Predators or Denis Gauthier from the LA Kings. Both would serve at reasonable rates as decent #5 or #6 defensemen, which is where Pittsburgh is going to have to fill a spot if Scuderi and Gill leave and they aren't able to convince Philippe Boucher to come back at a much cheaper salary.
We'll see what happens today. In all likelihood, news won't start to break until mid-to-late afternoon, when the first signings will start trickling through. I'll post updates as frequently as possible when there's word to share.
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