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Today we start with some rumors/news about some old Penguins.
First up is Tyler Kennedy. According to Dejan Kovacevic at DKonPittsburghSports Kennedy wants to return to Pittsburgh. This does not mean that the Penguins have interest. Tyler Kennedy making under 1M playing on the fourth line would be an upgrade over some of the stiffs that Pittsburgh has elected to go with the last few years but there are better avenues available. I would much rather see somebody like Conor Sheary get a chance than to recycle Tyler Kennedy. If Pittsburgh does want to go the UFA route for the fourth line Patrick Eaves will be at the same price point and is much better.
Matt Cooke is being bought out by the Minnesota Wild and will be an unrestricted free agent. Cooke obviously carries with him incredible amounts of baggage due to his dirty style of play. It was a headache to deal with when he was a good third line player. These days he isn’t close to being a productive bottom six player.
One might say he is “cooked… as a useful NHL player. Pittsburgh should have no interest in bringing him back.
It appears that Mike Reilly has not ruled out the Pittsburgh Penguins. From Mike Russo of the Star Tribune in Minneapolis.
Highly sought former Gophers defenseman Mike Reilly, a Hobey Baker finalist and the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year who became a free agent Tuesday, cut down his list to a few teams, believed to be the Wild, Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins. It sounds as if the Wild and Black¬hawks, considered the original front-runners, were neck and neck.
@GunnerStaal it'll be Hawks or wild imo, but Crosby and Lemieux have been chatting him up
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) June 18, 2015
I like the fact that Pittsburgh is still being considered, but I agree with Mr. Russo. I believe he will choose the best team in hockey or his family in Minnesota.
Pierre LeBrun mentioned the potential of St. Louis moving some core players.
But if there’s a deal out there that makes sense, word from rival executives is that the Blues are more open-minded than ever to move one of their long-standing core guys, whether that’s David Backes, T.J. Oshie, Patrik Berglund or other veterans.
David Backes makes little sense for Pittsburgh considering they are already set on the top six center front. TJ Oshie would be nice but I just don’t see Pittsburgh having the proper assets to make something like that happen. I like the idea of Patrik Berglund replacing Brandon Sutter as I have written in the past.
The NHL draft is one week from today. Should make for some fun rumors and speculation.
Thanks for reading!