Deadline Assessment As Penguins Get Ready To Face New York Rangers

As the Pittsburgh Penguins get ready to face-off against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden tonight (7:00 PM EST), it's time for everyone to take a step back and inhale a deep breath after all the buzz surrounding yesterday's trade deadline and the moves which took place leading up to it.

It's time to focus on the final 20 games of the season.

It's time for the Boys of Winter to channel their energies into a good playoff rhythm, regardless of where the Penguins actually finish in the regular season standings.

In doing that, we all will see how Penguins' GM Ray Shero's latest additions to the team contribute to that effort.

Alexei Ponikarovski, for one, will have to wait until the weekend to do that, in all likelihood. Because he doesn't have a regular US work visa in place (he only has one to play in the US as a visiting member of a Canadian hockey team) and isn't likely to have that completed until tomorrow, he will miss tonight's game in NY.

The Penguins are hopeful his status will be cleared up to join the team in time for their game Saturday afternoon at home against the Dallas Stars, and if not for that contest, then for Sunday's home tilt against the Boston Bruins.

Monday-morning quarterbacking the trade deadline, though, it's clear that Shero made his club better for the stretch run this season. Most observers -- this one included -- believe Pittsburgh was among a small handful of teams that did the most to improve its chances of going far in the post-season.

Here, for example, are a few ESPN pieces grading the deadline day trades and evaluating which teams came out of the deadline with higher stock:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?columnist=burnside_scott&id=4962891

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=4963359

Here's another great piece from Joe Starkey commenting on what I talked about in this space a few days ago --- Shero's trend of using the trade deadling to help put his team in the best position to compete for a championship year after year:

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/penguins/s_669950.html

While both Ponikarovsky and Leopold bring the Penguins' list of expected unrestricted free agents this summer to 10 -- a list that includes Sergei Gonchar, Ruslan Fedotenko, Bill Guerin, Mark Eaton and Matt Cooke, to name a few -- I woudln't rule out Shero taking a run at resigning both of his latest additions, depending on their performance down the strectch. Clearly, Shero doesn't mind bringing in players at the deadline with expiring contracts. He's been doing that for several seaons now and, while it gives him some decisions to make in the summer, it also gives him flexibility. Like I said, though, I'm not sure at this point that it's fair to view either Leopold or Ponkiarovsky as strictly a rental.

Again, time will tell. But there's no doubt that both players have a good chance to contribute to the Cup run of a pretty good hockey team.

A run which starts tonight. In New York.

And speaking of that game, it will be interesting to see if star RW Marion Gaborik -- who suffered an injury before the Olympic break and another one during the games -- will play this evening.

Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to start in goal.

Game recap tomorrow.

Let's Go Pens!