Penguins Ready To Make A Deal??

Sorry for the hiatus since Tuesday, boys and girls. I blame the Pittsburgh Penguins' 4-day break for my absence. On the bright side, my wife appreciates it. I told her that I instructed the Penguins to schedule that many days off in a row so I could step back from this for a bit. Not surprisingly, though, you're away for a few days and there's a ton to talk about.

Like trade talk.

I planned on addressing this largely during the league's Olympic hiatus, but things are already in overdrive on the NHL trade front, and rumors have been flying fast and furious the last 4 to 5 days.

One of them that I was going to briefly mention was that the Penguins had been surprisingly connected to Atlanta Thrashers' star forward Ilya Kovalchuk.

Word was that the Penguins were offering center Jordan Staal and defenseman Mark Eaton for him.

Obviously, that's not something Pens' fans have to worry about now, since word came last night that the Thrashers dealt Kovalchuk to the New Jersey Devils for rookie forward Nicklas Bergfors, defenseman Johnny Oduya, prospect Patrick Cormier, a 1st round draft pick, and a swap of 2nd round picks.

While it's certainly good news that Pittsburgh doesn't have to be concerned with losing Staal, the bad news is that they now have their hands more full in contending with the Devils this season.

Kovalchuk -- a guy who's scored 40 goals 5 straight seasons -- will certainly fill a need in New Jersey's lineup, and he'll surely aid their chase of the Atlantic Division crown and Stanley Cup in the Eastern Conference this year, too.

Make no mistake -- if the Penguins have to face NJ in the playoffs, beating them just got tougher.

On the bright side, only time will tell how well Kovalchuk fits into Devils' coach Jacques Lemaire's defensive system. Beyond that, it's hard to see Kovalchuk being a player the Penguins have to deal with in New Jersey for anything more than this year. With his seeming salary cap demands (at least of the Thrashers) -- 20% of the cap, or about 11 million per season -- on a long term contract, I can't see him sticking in New Jersey for the long run.

Which explains why the return for Kovalchuk, in this writer's estimation, was not great.

Oduya is a two-way, reliable, underrated defenseman, but he's a #4 guy on the backline, no more. Bergfors is having a decent rookie season (which Penguin fans know all too well), but is nothing more than a complementary player at this point. And after sending an opposing player into convulsions on the ice after an elbow to the head in a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League game about a month ago, Cormier isn't going to play another game this year. He has potential, but is a troubled prospect, at best.

If the Penguins were putting together a comparable package, think Eaton, Pascal Dupuis, Luca Caputi and a first round pick.

Would Pens' GM Ray Shero toss that to Atlanta for Kovalchuk -- even as a rental?

It's certainly something to think about.

I'm just glad I'm not a Thrashers fan, becuase their GM, Don Waddell, has been running that team into the ground for the last 6 seasons. Trading star players like Dany Heatley, then Marion Hossa, then Kovalchuk says something about the state of your team, don't you think?

But back to reality in Penguin land, the trade talk that has heated up in recent days has seemed to center largely around the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Pens have been scouting them heavily of late, including sending their director of player personnel, Dan McKinnon -- a guy who doesn't typically do direct scouting -- to Columbus last night.

It's no secret the Penguins are looking hard at Blue Jackets RW Raffi Torres as a potential fit for their second line.

Torres has 16 goals this season and is a guy that will go to the net for you.

There's also been a lot of talk that Pittsburgh is looking at Plum native R.J Umberger, but I'm not sure there's a great deal of truth to that.

Columbus values Umberger greatly and I'm not sure the Penguins would be able to pony up the return that Blue Jackets' GM Scott Howson would likely seek in any deal for Umberger.

So, while his 19 goals and 40 points in 59 games would be a nice complement to the Penguins' top 6 forward group, I don't expect to see a hometown reunion between the Penguins and Umberger anytime soon.

Another guy the Penguins have long been connected to is a guy who somehow survived the recent player purge in Toronto -- Alexei Ponikarovsky.

"Pony", as he's affectionately known by in Toronto, is a big winger (6' 4") with size and the willingness to do the dirty work in the corners and around the goal to score. He's the Leafs' leading scorer this year, with stats just like Umberger's.

Even though he's an unrestricted free agent this summer, I would rather see him in Pittsburgh than Torres. But, while the fit is certainly right, I don't have as much intelligence that he's at the immediate top of the Penguins' radar right now. Some are speculating about it. See this piece:

http://www.torontosun.com/sports/columnists/bill_lankhof/2010/02/03/12717506-sun.html

Unfortuantely, though, I don't hear as much about him in a Pens' uniform as I'd like.

Another guy who has been talked about a great deal of late -- and who may have the most logical connection to Pittsburgh -- is Carolina forward Ray Whitney

Whitney has a no-trade clause, but is a veteran with experience who can score and help the power play. While I think the Penguins can improve their man advantage without him, he certainly would bring some scoring depth to the club for their postseason run.

Curiously, Whitney -- also an unrestricted free agent after this season -- was supposedly close to being dealt to the LA Kings about 4 or 5 days ago. It seemed that Carolina and LA had the parameters of a deal worked out, but when LA was given permission to talk with Whitney about signing a contract extension, Whitney apparently wanted a 3-year deal and the Kings balked. That seems to have scuttled those talks, at least for now.

Meanwhile, word seems to be that Whitney may have used his leverage in asking for that contract because he isn't really as interested in going to the Kings, and instead is holding out hope to be dealt to his #1 preferred destination.

That's said to be Pittsburgh, as per respected hockey journalist Bob McKenzie, from TSN Canada. Read his piece from a few days ago here:

http://www.tsn.ca/columnists/bob_mckenzie/?id=308689

The problem with Whitney is that he's in great demand around the league right now. After Kovalchuk, he may be one of the more sought after players. Given his reputation as a reliable scorer, that's understandable, but is it enough to push him out of the Penguins' price range?

The asking price for Whitney has been said to be a 1st round draft pick and another young player on the rise. I doubt Pens' GM Ray Shero will pony up that much and, I'm not sure I would either.

Meanwhile, I've started to hear some talk that the Penguins may be involved in some form of trade dialogue with the Dallas Stars.

I expect the Stars and first year GM Joe Nieuwendyk to be active leading up to and right before the trade deadline this season, and if Pittsburgh is talking with Dallas, they are likely looking hard first and foremost at one of their young wingers -- maybe rookie Jamie Benn, or even James Neal.

The Stars would almost certainly want one of the Penguins young defenseman, Kris Letang or Alex Goligoski, in return and, to be frank, I can't say I'd be shocked if Shero made a move involving one of those two players.

The Pens' brass has been great at stockpiling good, young defensemen the last few seasons. Letang and GoGo are on the rise at their position, and guys like Carl Sneep, Robert Bortozzo and Simon Despres -- the Pens' first round pick this last year -- are proving themselves to be strong prospects as well.

Of course, the Penguins are known to be looking to bolster their defense corps as well, and are picking around the league looking for a physical, defensive defenseman.

I thought they might look at Brendan Witt, who was waived by the New York Islanders two days ago, but it doesn't appear they made a claim, since Witt cleared waivers and was sent to the American Hockey League.

You want toughness? Witt was hit by an SUV in the street in Philadelphia a few months ago and played that night. After the collision, in true Chuck Norris form, he stood up and said, "I'm okay .. I'm a hockey player."

Maybe the quote of the year.

Anyway, we'll see if the Isles' attempt to put him through re-entry waivers. Maybe something will happen there.

Time will tell whether any of this -- or something else -- comes to fruition soon, but needless to say, chatter has certainly heated up lately as the Penguins get ready for big back-to-back contests on the road against the Montreal Canadiens tomorrow afternoon and the Washington Capitals in their 3rd straight nationally televised NBC game on Super Bowl Sunday at noon.

More this weekend.