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August mailbag featuring Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, and Carter Rowney

August 1, 2017, 11:08 AM ET [320 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
It's officially August which means we've got some time to kill until training camp starts up. Here are some answers to your questions




There are two options with one being way better than the other. Those two options are Matt Cullen and Carter Rowney. Ideally, Matt Cullen will come back for one more season and the issue is solved. Carter Rowney is not an ideal option for a full season. He had a wonderful Game 5 against the Ottawa Senators during the Eastern Conference Finals. He had three assists, iIt was in a 7-0 blowout. The other 19 games he didn't register a single point. When you look at the UFA list for centers it is a depressing place. If Cullen doesn't come back Rowney will start the year as the fourth line center and the team will probably trade for an upgrade at some point.




I don't know if the Penguins have an edge because only Will Butcher knows that. Pittsburgh does have a recent history of utilizing NCAA players in a positive way. Butcher has the same agent as Bryan Rust, Scott Wilson, and Josh Archibald.

Chicago is more likely to have an NHL spot right now, but Butcher's camp has said they are willing to develop in the AHL. We'll find out after August 15th.




If there are no good UFA options for a fourth line center by logic that means there aren't any for a third line center. The third line center hole is going to be solved via trade.




The biggest comeback from injury is an easy one. It happened during what should be considered the best individual season by an NHL player of all-time. It occurred during the 1992-93 season and it involved Mario Lemieux. He was famously diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease in the middle of the season when he was on pace to break Wayne Gretzky's single season points record. As a result he had to stop playing hockey and receive radiation treatments. During Lemieux's absence Pat Lafontaine built up a 12 point lead in the scoring race. When Lemieux returned to action in March there were only 20 games left in the season. Mario put up 30 goals and 26 assists in those 20 games and finished the season with a 12 point lead on Lafontaine. His points per game actually improved after coming back from cancer.

He received standing ovation from a Philadelphia crowd on the day he came back. He received a standing ovation from the folks at Madison Square Garden for this






Eugene Malkinson.

For real, it's Paul Coffey or Ron Francis. I'll go with Francis who played longer with the Penguins and has the second most assists of all-time.




I think the plan is pretty straight forward. They want him to play. He wasn't going to play a ton behind Matt Murray so they elected to sign Antti Niemi. Projecting goalies isn't an exact science. You never heard about Matt Murray as an elite prospect. It wasn't until he lit the AHL on fire that his name was brought up. Jarry had a really nice season in the AHL last year with a .925 save percentage. If he can back that performance up with another solid campaign in 2017-18 he will probably be the backup to Murray next year.




He is Nashville or bust. There is a good chance he retires. No city can provide the combination of on-ice and off-ice variables that he would be looking for. If Mike Fisher was open to playing for the Penguins I would still look at trading for a third line center.




He is a fit on all 31 NHL teams. Jim Rutherford does not have any interest in him. I still feel strongly that trading Patric Hornqvist is something that should be on the table. The value you get in return for Hornqvist would help the team in other areas and replacing Hornqvist with Jagr minimizes the lost offense from Hornqvist. Hornqvist was a 1.77 points per 60 player at 5v5 last year while Jagr was 1.75. Jagr wasn't glued to Crosby or Malkin. Alas, this is not the direction the team is taking.

I'll have some more answered questions for tomorrow.



Thanks for reading!
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