To say there’s nothing going on surrounding the Penguins would be an understatement. in the nine years I’ve done this gig I don’t think I’ve ever gone as long as I have this week without posting something. I don’t even have anything about current Penguins, but I do have something to pass along from some 2009 Game 7 legends.
I swear I scored one ! #flower #oldroomates #HOF #ðŸ#Jax pic.twitter.com/a44NcfjA0g
— Max Talbot (@Max25talbot) August 23, 2022
Nice to see some old friends catching up. Max Talbot’s two goal performance and Marc-Andre Fleury’s final seconds save on Nick Lidstrom remain some of the best moments in the team’s history. One of the appealing parts of the 2009 team is that you could tell they were a pretty close group and it appears to still be the case all these years later.
Marc-Andre Fleury’s next scheduled appearance in Pittsburgh isn’t until April 6th. There’s a lot that can change from now until then. With Fleury’s 3.5M for this year and next I can foresee a lot of buzz surrounding a trade considering Jarry’s 3.5M contract will be expiring at the conclusion of this year. We’ll see.
There is an update on another Penguins legend. Phil Kessel has a new team. It is a match made in heaven for him. He is heading to Las Vegas. Vegas needs some scoring depth given their fascination with burning and churning through players and cap space. Phil the Thrill isn’t what he was, but for 1.5M they could do worse. Phil is eight games shy of breaking the consecutive games record. Eight is also his new number. No more 81 for him, it belongs to Jonathan Marchessault.
New team & new number for Phil the Thrill 👀 pic.twitter.com/d1FKEjPH5N
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) August 26, 2022
I think we’ll see a better version of Kessel this year. Not by a ton, but Arizona wasn’t exactly a great situation for anybody. At least Phil didn’t perceive it to be
Phil Kessel is coming to Vegas with a point to prove.
— Jesse Granger (@JesseGranger_) August 26, 2022
He believes the perception of him as a player has changed over the last couple years, playing for a struggling Coyotes team, and is excited to prove otherwise.
Full story on @TheAthleticNHL-https://t.co/DiV77ROSQS
“It’s tough when you’re in a spot, and you think you’re coming somewhere to win and that’s not the direction they choose to be in,… Kessel said of his time in Arizona. “I think whenever you play on a team like that, that doesn’t necessarily want to win and they want to get younger, that can be very difficult. It is what it is.…
Nobody would confuse Arizona with being a real NHL team. They are about to embark on a time period where they will be playing in a college arena.
Still August for a couple more days. Training camp around the corner.
Thanks for reading!