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New players, new lines

February 25, 2020, 5:19 PM ET [90 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Penguins have a ton of depth and we are going to start finding out how they want to use this newfound advantage. With Patrick Marleau, Conor Sheary, and Evan Rodrigues on board we are getting our first glimpse.




Conor Sheary gets the big promotion right away and I am not surprised by this. Sidney Crosby liked playing with him. Sheary was not traded away because the team didn’t like him. Sidney Crosby also liked Chris Kunitz, Pascal Dupuis, and Jake Guentzel. Sheary is going to get the benefit of the doubt unless he is really struggling. The ability to place him there really helps with the depth of the lineup.

The Malkin line is so so. I might entertain putting Marleau there for now because I would rather have Bryan Rust playing on the right side. Hornqvist has a hot hand so he’s getting a look for now in the top six. Long term I don’t know if that will stick and not sure it should. His underlying numbers aren’t where they used to be and I’ve already beaten the horse about his lack of transition skills.

Evan Rodrigues has some potential. I remember watching him in Buffalo when he first came in after signing with the team after he finished up at Boston University. It should be an intriguing line to watch. Marleau and Rodrigues are still fast and Simon is no slouch. Rodrigues has a higher ceiling than what he showed this year with Buffalo.

It appears McCann will be playing the wing for now with Blueger and Tanev if he is healthy. As of right now no reason has been given for his absence from practice. McCann being hurt would fit nicely into the season narrative.

There are plenty of options and I’m sure we’ll see more configurations in the future.

Huge news with the defense as both John Marino and Brian Dumoulin are practicing. They aren’t ready for game action and the defense pairings will be the same for the next game, but yeah this is really important for the team’s success and a step in the right direction.

Yesterday I had some fun with potential lines for the Stanley Cup Final




Get your sleep in tonight because tomorrow the Nigh Owl Club is in full effect.

Thanks for reading!
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