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With Another Piece of the Core Locked Up, Pens Prepare for Preds…

January 8, 2009, 3:42 PM ET [ Comments]

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With the signing of Jordan Staal, the Penguins have locked up what seems to be the last piece of the core. Ray Shero spent the past two seasons getting the likes of Sidney Crosby, Ryan Whitney, Evgeni Malkin, and Marc Andre Fleury inked to long term contracts that will keep them together through at least 2012. He also got Brooks Orpik, Max Talbot and Tyler Kennedy locked up, as he felt they were all valuable to the future.

Staal’s negotiations started back in training camp, but both sides agreed that they were not worried about coming to terms. Jordan Staal made it no secret that he wanted to stay in Pittsburgh long term and Ray Shero has long gone on record as saying that he wanted to keep him here. The only issue to discuss was the dollar amount, which was believed to fluctuate between $2.5 and $4 million per year throughout the process.

Staal’s camp hand been looking for something in the range of 3.5 to 4 million per year and that is exactly what they came away with. The Penguins will pay Staal 3.5 million during the first two years of the contract that kicks in next season and 4 million in the last two years of the deal. It is a bit generous for a guy who has 52 career goals in 204 NHL games and currently plays a checking role on the team, but as a fellow blogger (Sean Leahy – goingfivehole) quipped earlier, teams sign deals based on potential in the new NHL, not production.

That is exactly what the Penguins did in this situation. They keep another homegrown talent in the flock and get themselves cost certainty for the next four years. You just have to hope that his production matches up at the end of the day. As paying a checking center an average of $4 million dollars per season is a bit steep when you have no significant depth to speak of on the wing.

The Penguins now have 15 players locked up for next season with a cap hit of roughly $41.893. If the cap stays at it’s current level, the team would have roughly $12,807,000 available to spend on 6 players, however it is expected to come down from its current level of $56.7 million. You cannot argue with the job Ray Shero has done in locking up his young core as well as several additional players that he felt were important to the future.

Overall, I like the signing, as it proves that Ray Shero, losing streaks aside, is sticking to his plan and not making any knee jerk reactions. He has long talked of locking up the nucleus of this team and supplementing them year to year with cost effective one and two year signings. That is exactly what we have seen with this transaction and it fits his plan perfectly.

On to this evening’s match-up…

The Penguins and their fathers have ventured into Nashville for a rumble with the Predators. The Predators are mired in a 5 game losing streak and have gone 3-7-0 over their last 10 games. They would like to stop the bleeding while the Penguins would like to pick up back to back victories for only the first time since the middle of November. That will not be easy, as the Penguins have not had great success in the Sommet Center in Nashville, having posted a 2-5 record in the Music City. The Penguins have not only struggled in Nashville, as their all-time record against the Predators sits at 4-7-2.

Believe it or not, one of the players that the Penguins need to keep an eye on is veteran forward Radek Bonk. Bonk has had great success against the Penguins over his career, posting 30 points (12G 18A) in 47 career games against them.

Martin Erat, who is mentioned often by Penguins fans that would like to see him in Black and Vegas Gold, has 4 goals in 5 career games against the Penguins.

Tonight marks the first and only meeting between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators. The two teams last met Feb. 6, 2007 in a 4-1 Penguins victory at Mellon Arena. The Penguins are 0-4-0 in their last four road games against the Predators. The last time the Penguins played the Predators in Nashville was Jan. 18, 2006 in a 5-4 loss.

Game Notes:

Sidney Crosby has recorded three assists in two games versus the Predators, while Evgeni Malkin has two points (1G-1A) in one game.

Petr Sykora tallied 15 points (7G-8A) in 20 games against Nashville.

Marc-Andre Fleury is 1-1-0 with a 1.24 goals-against average in two games against the Predators.

The Penguins are 3-3-1 this season against the Western Conference.

Marc-Andre Fleury tied Denis Herron’s 88 wins for third on the Penguins’ all-time wins list and is three games shy of playing in his 200th NHL game. Fleury leads the team with 12 wins and ranks first on the team with .905 save percentage. He recorded 12 wins in 24 games after missing 12 games due to injury. Fleury had a 9-8-1 record with a 2.90 goals-against average and .887 save percentage through 41 games last season.

The Penguins are 20-17-4 with 44 points and in fourth place in the Atlantic Division at the midway point of their season. The Penguins were 22-16-2 with 46 points at this point last season and 18-16-7 with 43 points after 41 games during the 2006-07 season.

Milestone Watch:

Miroslav Satan is one goal shy of reaching 350 in his career.
Marc-Andre Fleury is three games shy of playing in his 200th NHL game.
Evgeni Malkin is five goals shy of reaching 100 for his career.
Matt Cooke is six goals shy of reaching 100 for his career.
Pascal Dupuis is six assists shy of reaching 100 and eight goals shy of 100 in his career.
Philippe Boucher is seven goals shy of reaching 100 for his career and four points shy of reaching 300 in his career.
Jordan Staal is nine points shy of reaching 100 for his career and needs four penalty minutes to reach 100 in his career.
Mike Zigomanis is 11 games shy of playing in his 200th NHL game.
Miroslav Satan is 12 games shy of playing in his 1000th NHL game.

Penguins Youtube of the Day:

In honor of Jordan Staal’s new contract here is a look at the origin of his nickname – THE GRONK


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