A Look At The Penguins Roster

After 3 games and the half-way point of the pre-season, the Penguins have little to complain about thusfar.

While their team has shown a good blend of offense and defense, they're still closely analyzing who it is that deserves the last few roster spots up front and on the blueline.

Right now, after sending goaltender Mattias Modig to Wilkes-Barre yesterday, the Penguins have 41 players left in camp, which means many more still need to go in order to get the roster down to 23 before the regular season.  And many of the 18 who will be leaving will probably depart after tomorrow after tonight's final exhibition game at CONSOL against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks.

Let's take a look at where things stand on the blueline.

Going into camp, many felt that defenseman Ben Lovejoy -- who played 11 games with the big club last year and didn't look out of place doing it -- had the inside track to the start the year in Pittsburgh as the #6 reargard.

Lovejoy, however, hasn't distinguished himself in camp.  He hasn't played poorly either, but with the surprising performance of a few of his fellow blueliners vying for that spot, it's still a race at this point to see who sticks.

Andrew Hutchinson is one of the guys that has inserted himself strongly into the picture.  Hutchinson played in the American Hockey League for the Dallas' Stars affiliate last season, but has 130+ NHL games on his resume.  While he brings fair offensive tools to the table, I'm not sure that's an ideal fit for what the Penguins need in the #6 hole -- which I believe is steady defensive play and a physical presence, especially since whoever gets that job is probably going to be playing with the more offensive-minded Alex Goligoski.

Another guy who has raised his game and put himself squarely into contention for the spot is Corey Potter.

Potter has some skill and can make a good first pass, but the strength of his game is using his body and playing well positionally.  The 6' 3" blueliner played 3 games for the New York Rangers last season, but suited up most of the year for their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf-Pack, where he finished with 28 points and a +17 rating in 69 games.  He's impressed Pens' brass -- and me -- with his play in the pre-season so far.

I think HC Dan Blysma was hoping they'd get some of that type of game from Deryk Engelland -- who plays a style similar to Potter's, albeit with a little less puck-moving ability -- but, like Lovejoy, Engelland hasn't overwhelmed anyone at camp either.

There's one other defenseman worth mentioning here -- Simon Despres. 

Despres, last year's #1 draft pick, has shown strong offensive flair this pre-season and I think the Penguins are pretty happy with his development, but while they could keep him for up to 10 games and see how he handles himself at this level before sending him back to Junior hockey without it costing him a year on his entry-level contract, I don't believe his play has been so over-the-top that the organization is seriously considering that option at this point, as I suggested they should a week or two ago.

It's going to be interesting to see how the battle on the blueline shakes out over the next week.  As I mentioned, cuts are likely to be made tomorrow, so things will come more into focus at that point.  I would expect the Penguins will keep 3 bubble players on the blueline at that juncture and see if they can settle on one after the final two exhibition games

How the forward ranks are thinned is going to be very interesting as well.

One guy who has been playing really well and making it hard on the Penguins to consider sending him down is Ryan Craig. 

Craig is a versitle player with NHL experience who can play all three forward positions, grind along the wall and in the corners, win face-offs and chip in occasionally offensively.  His problem, however, is that he suffered a groin injury against the Columbus Blue Jackets last week and remains out of the lineup.

When you're battling for a bubble spot on the roster, but can't play because of injury, you lose the opportunity to impress.  Because of that, Craig and his two-way contract are now probably ticketed to start the year in Wilkes-Barre.

Meanwhile, Eric Tangradi continues to get good looks in practices and in games in a top 6 role with Evgeni Malkin and Mike Comrie, and he continues to get power play time as well.  While I think Tangradi has played fairly well, he has yet to meaningfully chip in on the scoresheet or otherwise make it impossible for team brass to do anything but keep him.

I expect the team to keep him around for the balance of the pre-season, however, so he still has a chance to make a real impact.  If he does that in the next 3 games, Tangradi could possibly play himself onto the roster, at least to start the season while Jordan Staal is on the shelf.

The guy who's probably the most curious case is forward Brett Sterling.  Sterling scored a nice goal in the exhibition opener while playing with Sidney Crosby and has shown in camp thusfar some of the traits which have made him a strong goal-scorer at times in the AHL.  He's also demonstrated a willingness to get his nose dirty around the net, despite being only 5' 7".

That said, it looks like Sterling's play has leveled off a bit in recent days, and he's now no longer skating on one of the top lines in practice.  He'll probably still get some more exhibition action and, like Tangradi, that could make or break what the Penguins do with him come the end of the pre-season.  In the end, though, he's going to have to do even more to convince the Penguins that they should keep him instead of one of their other 13 forwards who have one-way contracts and can't be sent down to the minors without it costing their full salary.

Another player who I was very curious to look at during this camp was Dustin Jeffrey.  When he was drafted, Jeffrey, 6' 5", was cast as a 3rd/4th liner if he ever made it to the NHL.  Last year, though, he made great offensive strides at Wilkes-Barre.  With the few cups of coffee the Penguins have already given him at the NHL level, it was no secret that he'd be competing for one of the last few roster spots up front at this year's camp.

Unfortunately, while I don't think the Penguins are disappointed in his play, Jeffrey hasn't seized on the opportunity thusfar to distinguish himself to the point that the team would have to keep him.   Unless things go differently for him the last few games, I think he, too, is probably ticketed for Wilkes-Barre.

The forward who has undeniably had the best training camp among all the bubble players up front is center Mark Letestu.

Letestu has done almost everything well -- and well enough that he would have to really drop the ball to probably not start the season in Pittsburgh.  He's played sound positionally, won face-offs and leads the Penguins in pre-season scoring with 4 points in only 2 games played. 

After playing a few games each year in the NHL during the 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 seasons, Letestu stepped up his game last year, and played pretty well when called to fill in with the big club in 2009/2010.  He even dressed in the post-season a bit without looking the least bit out of place, and has clearly carried that over to this year's camp. 

He's just playing with a lot of confidence and it shows.

Unless something drastic changes, Letestu is probably going to open the season with the big club, and maybe even centering the third line with Aaron Asham and Matt Cooke, and I doubt that would make anyone in Penguin Nation uncomfortable.

Again, it's going to be an interesting next few days.

More soon.