The Pittsburgh Penguins have made a few more cuts and have put some players on waivers. We have what should look like the opening day lineup playing against Columbus this evening. We even have new 8th defenseman
It is good to see Sidney Crosby in a regular practice jersey alongside Zach Aston-Reese. He skated today for the first-time with the team during camp. He’s got those backward crossovers down.
Crosby appears to be on track to play in real games sooner than later. The Penguins definitely need all the help they can get. Here are the projections for the lineup they are using tonight.
Aston-Reese has been cleared from COVID and per Mike Sullivan he will be reacclimated into the lineup over time so getting him in over Sam Lafferty is a big bump in quality due to Lafferty being below replacement level. Jake Guentzel’s return is huge. This projection does go to show just how quickly things can go south with injuries to the wrong people this year. You can say that about any team in the league, but the Penguins have a history of overcoming injuries in the regular season. I think this season it might not work out like in the past if it were to happen.
As for tonight’s game I don’t think there is a lot to learn from this game now that the majority of the hopeful prospects (Poulin, Legare, Hallander, Olivier-Joseph) were all sent down. This is what happens when you have the 31st ranked prospect pool. I still maintain Sam Poulin and Nathan Legare’s value to the Penguins was to be packaged in a trade. Their timeline, if they ever become regulars in the NHL, just doesn’t fit the Penguins. Their trade value is likely lower now because teams are more intrigued by the unknown, especially with a first round selection. Now it is known they really weren’t all that close to making an NHL roster desperate for offensive depth. Part of the issue is the QMJHL and their juiced up offensive stats, but the bigger problem was the CHL transfer agreement preventing them from playing in the AHL at an earlier age. Their offensive stats as overagers in the Q are pretty meaningless.
Also, Juuso Riikola was put on waivers. He has had the weirdest tenure of any Penguin in recent memory. Nothing, absolutely nothing, about his time on the team has made any sense. He has basically been an unforced error on the cap for reasons unknown. He has only played 75 games in 3 seasons and somehow had a 1.1M cap hit. Mike Sullivan has never shown much of an interest in dressing him for game action. This was just another one of Jim Rutherford’s random acts as general manager of the Penguins.
Tonight’s game there isn’t much to take from it other than get everybody through without injuries. Personally, I wouldn’t be playing Jeff Carter, Bryan Rust, Kasperi Kapanen, Jason Zucker, Kris Letang, or Brian Dumoulin in this meaningless contest before Tuesday’s opening night against Tampa Bay. They don’t have the wiggle room to lose anybody else.
Thanks for reading!
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