Last day of the offseason, it’s a good feeling.
A sure fire way to know that the season is upon us is when Jason Botterill starts to execute the “Wheeling Shuffle…. Since 2010 Botterill has used the ECHL as a clever cap savings strategy to help save the Penguins a little bit of money down the road.
Penguins assign Harrington to Wilkes. Ebbett, Sill and Chorney go to Wheeling. Sundqvist heads to Skelleftea of Sweden's SHL.
— Seth Rorabaugh (@emptynetters) October 7, 2014
If you want the details of why the “Wheeling Shuffle… works the always excellent Mike Colligan breaks it down for you here
Scott Harrington did a nice job, but his waiver status was always going to get the best of him. It is better for him to receive big minutes in WB/S than to sit in the press box. Taylor Chorney had an OK camp and for his efforts he will be rewarded as the guy who gets to sit and watch. With a guy like Chorney as the 7th defenseman it makes it easier for the Penguins to play Rob Scuderi with nobody really pushing him from that 7th spot. Eventually when Robert Bortuzzo is healthy that dynamic changes drastically. If Scuderi wants to be a regular, now is his best time to seize the opportunity.
Can’t say I’m too excited about the idea of Zach Sill staying up with the big club, he is Craig Adams Jr.
Speaking of Craig Adams, I noticed during my fantasy hockey draft last night that he is the 2,551 ranked player in ESPN fantasy hockey, dead last.
At the same time, the roster now really doesn’t matter. It isn’t going to look anything close to this months down the road.
Kasperi Kapanen and Oskar Sundqvist were sent back to their professional teams in Europe. This is OK. Sundqvist did a really nice job at camp and gave the brass a lot to think about. It is great news because next year barring anything unforeseen, he should be ready for NHL action full time in 2015-16 and that is a big help.
Kapanen just isn’t physically ready. I don’t think we need to see nine games to figure that out. I did a little research and tried to find out if any forwards who were drafted #22 overall made an immediate impact with their NHL clubs after being drafted. Some names who were taken at #22 include Jordan Eberle (2008), Max Pacioretty (2007), Claude Giroux (2006), and Simon Gagne (1998). I went as far back as 1990 and not one player played in the NHL the year after they were drafted. The Penguins having a huge need doesn’t change the fact it isn’t realistic for a guy like Kapanen to play this soon. He has a bright future, it just isn't right now.
Evgeni Malkin was playing a little wing yesterday on a line with Crosby and Hornqvist. I see no harm in playing Malkin on the wing right away if that is what the coaching staff wants to do to ease him back. It won’t be a long term thing. He is a center, and a damn good one at that.
#Pens line combos: Kunitz-Crosby-Hornqvist, Dupuis-Sutter-Malkin. Other 5: Spaling, Goc, Comeau, Downie & Adams worked various combos
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 8, 2014
Malkin is not only taking even strength line rushes but he participated in the special teams session before practice on the #1 power play. He said he is 50/50, but all signs are pointing to him playing in the opener tomorrow.
Public service reminder, the roster and line combos today aren’t the ones that we will see when things really start to matter. You don't have to love them and it is pointless to get upset about it.
Jesse Marshall of The Pens Blog ran a statistical breakdown of Marc-Andre Fleury the other day. He compared Fleury vs. the league average. You can find his work here
The PensNation put together a list of hockey twitter accounts you should be following. If you are a twitter user it is worth checking it out. You have find that list here
NHL hockey is back tonight, enjoy the action.
Thanks for reading!
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