Pens Wednesday: The waiting is the hardest part
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The Penguins are off Wednesday, so don’t expect to hear any updates on injured players like Arron Asham or Dustin Jeffrey.
Thanks to those who took the time to answer the Penguins questions from the last thread, especially the ones that re-typed the 10 questions. Stick taps to mventres, Ben37, drummer829, 71malkin, lloyd095, SuperHenderson13, madmike71, Sell My Monkey, asmckenna, and fatman00. Sorry if I missed anybody.
I think it’s too early to target a specific skill set until we get closer to the trade deadline. At that point the Pens will have a better idea of their health. I had hopes of a January return by Sidney Crosby after the team thought he might come back against Detroit in the following week after his symptoms, but that doesn’t seem remotely likely. If he feels better, I’d be content seeing him back in the lineup for the last month of the season and into the postseason.
Some readers suggest that the Pens look for a gritty goal scoring wing. Shane Doan would be a nice pick if the Coyotes would part with him. I’ll ask my contact in the Phoenix front office and see what he thinks.
Brooks Orpik is one of my personal favorite players. I took some heat in the spring for saying I would take Orpik in the playoffs over any other NHL defenseman. He hasn’t been himself this year and must still be hurt. He’s backing into his own goal defensively, giving opposing fast forwards too much room on rushes. His gap control is too large and I think it’s a sign he’s still not 100 percent.
I think the Pens could find a way to make the playoffs without Evgeni Malkin easier than without Marc-Andre Fleury, if only because they did it last year. If they want to win in the postseason, they’ll need a goal scorer. Last year Fleury played fairly well, but when Arron Asham – no offense to Asham’s game – is your best offensive weapon, you know you’re in trouble.
It’s hard to pinpoint why the Penguins seem to have trouble against other top teams. It’s still early, though, and the sample size is not great. I will say I like the scoring depth of the Flyers; it’s deeper than the Pens. Guys like Joe Vitale are great at faceoffs but lack the overall talent to scare top opponents. Don’t get me wrong, Vitale has truly overachieved but he’s not a finisher.
I’m all for the Jarome Iginla-Jordan Staal trade. Just kidding, I don’t see how Iginla could come to Pittsburgh. His price is too steep, both his salary and the Flames’ demands – although Calgary did give up Dion Phaneuf rather easily.
The Pens are in trouble if the Flower goes down to a major injury. I don’t trust Brent Johnson, Brad Thiessen has been outplayed by Scott Munroe at Wilkes-Barre. The team would need to make some sort of a deal, I think, if something happened to Fleury.
I would sign Crosby for as long as possible for as much as he wants. His name is worth more off the ice than the team can pay him. Insurance is a good thing, too.
The Pens’ win in Minnesota sticks out in my mind as a favorite. The team was playing in its ninth game in 17 days to start the year and had just lost in Winnipeg the night before. They didn’t fold in the tents just because Evgeni Malkin was hurt or because Fleury was being rested. The game was a big character game with Brent Johnson in goal, Jordan Staal scoring, Pascal Dupuis netting a short-hander, etc.
If I hung out with GM Ray Shero, I’d ask him to if I could look over the player grades he discusses with Dan Bylsma, see what they say, where the surprises are and go from there. Remember in last year’s 24/7 when the two discussed individual performances? I think they talked on air about Deryk Engelland getting big marks for sticking up for a teammate, though he didn’t play well otherwise. Seeing how the Penguins organization evaluates its own talent would be interesting to me.
If I was to take Pens player to build a franchise around it’d be Malkin. I’d be a little leery of his bad knees, though.
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After the five-day lull between contests, the Penguins will play 11 times in 19 days, beginning Friday. The frequency rivals October, when Pittsburgh played 13 games in 24 days.
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Jaromir Jagr is out at least a week with a groin injury, something Penguins fans got used to hearing about more than a decade ago. I suggested the Penguins pass on Jagr during the summer
here. I thought the Pens should pass to save room for salary cap room at the trade deadline. I wouldn’t want to take a chance on Jagr staying healthy for the playoffs, either, but with the way everyone’s going down to injury, Jagr’s risk doesn’t seem greater than Shea Weber’s or Jeffrey Skinner’s.
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What’s more heartbreaking, losing like Canada did Tuesday night or Finland on Tuesday evening? Captain Mikael Granlund of Finland saw the puck drift off of his stick during his game-losing shootout attempt, giving the Swedes a gold-medal game birth. If Canada had stopped the bleeding at 5-1 then it would’ve been right there at the end. Giving up a sixth goal in the third period seemed innocuous at the time but proved to be the difference in a one-goal game. Penguins defensive prospect, Scott Harrington, was on the ice for at least four Russian goals Tuesday. That said, he’s had a strong showing overall. His name is in the mix with Simon Despres and Joe Morrow as a top prospect on the blue line.
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I’m not sure why the Penguins would even want Ales Hemsky anymore. They have enough troubles on IR. I’d take a flier on Sam Gagner.
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Speaking of dealing, role players like Ben Lovejoy might have more trade value than currently perceived. Max Talbot and Mike Rupp are considered key pickups around the league, bumping up the Pens’ reputation for solid players. Nick Johnson and Mark Letestu have also done well in Minnesota and Columbus, respectively. Lovejoy might seem like an ordinary sixth defenseman in Pittsburgh, but other teams value his coming from a winning organization, too.
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After watching Sidney Crosby struggle on a long walk with skates from the Heinz Field rink in last year’s Winter Classic, I was surprised to see there weren’t any player shuttles in Philly. Jagr had a long walk to the dressing room. The NHL needs golf carts next year in Detroit.
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Wednesday is the last day for
All-Star balloting.
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James Neal feels comfortable, the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Penguins players talk about Mike Rupp’s salute at the Winter Classic, reports the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
"I don't know what the significance was," Craig Adams said. "I like Rupp a lot. He's a friend. He's a big boy. He can do what he wants."
Fighting is on the wane, according to Steve MacIntyre and Deryk Engelland, the
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.
Coach Bylsma is looking to pair Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek together again, according to the
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
"To get Paul back in there is big," Bylsma said, "especially to get Paul and 'Z' back together again as a shutdown pair."
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Treasure Life!
JT
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
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