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We are one day removed from the end of the Penguins season and today is locker clean out day. The players will have the opportunity to speak to the media and there is the potential of other big news dropping as well.
It has been reported that the Penguins have made their decisions about who is staying and who is going
I hear Bylsma's out, Shero stays. I also hear Babcock's a real possibility. More tomorrow. Mario& Mr Burkle will fix this. They have to.
— Mark Madden (@MarkMaddenX) May 15, 2014
Babcock one yr left in Det deal. Maybe he leverages Pens interest2 get more $. But I'm told Pens already have inquired.
— Mark Madden (@MarkMaddenX) May 15, 2014
Love him hate him or anywhere in between Madden usually has his finger on the pulse of the organization.
Mike Babcock would be a best case scenario in my opinion, but I don't see that happening. People will point to the Detroit Red Wings results and say what has he done more than Bylsma, but that is not the scope you need to look through when evaluating coaches. You need to ask if the coach puts his players in the best position to succeed and Mike Babcock consistently does that. The Red Wings are in a transitional phase after losing Lidstrom and some of their other veterans. The Red Wings were still one of the more disciplined and structured teams in the league. I know this, the Penguins caught a break by not playing Detroit and instead playing Columbus.
If I am being honest I don't even know how the logistics would work even if Babcock did want to coach the Penguins. He still has another year left on his deal in Detroit.
Here are some of the other things we have learned today from locker clean out:
Beau Bennett was dealing with health issues ever since he came back.
Bennett is having surgery. Never was close to 100 percent.
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_Trib) May 15, 2014
Bennett says he was given option to have surgery in Feb. Chose to play. Should be ready for next season.
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_Trib) May 15, 2014
Jussi Jokinen has been tremendous during his stay in Pittsburgh but I believe that he will have the ability to make way more than the Penguins can offer him.
Jussi Jokinen: "I've really enjoyed my time here and I hope I can be back but this organization obviously has a lot of decisions to make."
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) May 15, 2014
Marc Andre Fleury expresses his desire to stay in Pittsburgh
Marc-Andre Fleury: "Not sure what's gonna happen. But really hope I'm gonna stay. It's my team here. It's where I wanna stay."
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) May 15, 2014
Chris Kunitz did not believe there was a divide between coaches and players
Kunitz on if there was a disconnect between players and Bylsma: "Not at all." #Pens
— Wes Crosby (@OtherNHLCrosby) May 15, 2014
Pascal Dupuis says his recovery is going as planned
Dupuis says he'll be ready for camp. "Right on schedule."
— Sean Gentille (@seangentille) May 15, 2014
Evgeni Malkin will be playing for Russia in the World Championship
Evgeni Malkin plans to join Russia for world championships. #Penguins
— Shelly Anderson (@pgshelly) May 15, 2014
Yesterday I broke down my thoughts about what the Penguins need to do moving forward, who do you actually think should fall on the sword for this season?
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I'll be updating the blog throughout the day if any significant news breaks.
Thanks for reading!