Well, with about 16 hours left in before the trade deadline, the Pens have made two moves, and as usual I think Ray Shero has done quite a bit to improve the chances of this team to repeat as champions.........the Pens went into this period looking to improve their defensive corps, and if possible add a top six level winger for scoring punch up front. The Pens needed to careful as they have to balance the desire to make moves for this season, but need to do it in a way that does not bankrupt the next several years worth of young talent. As usual Shero makes the smart moves..........While everybody expected the Pens to make aggressive moves to pick up Dan Hamhuis from Nashville or Andy Sutton from the Islanders, Shero surprised most by trading next years second round pick to Florida for blueliner Jordan Leopold.............At first the move seemed a little curious as the need was for more of a DEFENSIVE defenseman, and most thought Hamhuis fit that bill.......he was a minus player on a pretty good team, so it did not seem like a lock that he fit the bill............then most thought we would pursue Andy Sutton, because he is a big stay at home defenseman who is not afraid to hit.............so why did the Pens ignore those moves and deal for Jordan Leopold who seems to be more of an offensive defenseman? Well he FITS the Pens style of play of course.........He may not be a big hammer with hits, but he does hit....he is creditted with 159 hits which would place him third on the Pens blue line behind Orpik and Letang. He is not a traditional stay at home defenseman, but he is defensive in his own way....that way is being a good skater, who is very effective at retrieving the puck in his own end and GETTING out quickly, safely and efficiently........the other team cannot score if they do not have the puck, and his team can score off his smart transition game........oh, and his 7 goals would put him second among defenseman on the team in goal scoring. Finally, he logs 22 minutes per game, eating minutes......he is young at 29 and has decent size at 6 foot 1 and 205 lbs. So the Penguins have added a defenseman who gives them 7 NHL defenseman(Skoula is gone as part of another trade), and a top 6 who are ALL very good skaters. He is reasonably priced at 1.75 million per year, but he is a UFA after the season. He is at a salary level that makes him resignable for sure and is a huge upgrade over Skoula or McKee in the Penguins system. Very solid deal for Pittsburgh, especially if he signed to a longer deal over the summer.
Today Shero addressed the need to add scoring talent up front by acquiring Alexei Ponikarovsky from Toronto for prospect Luca Caputi and Martin Skoula. Hey, Caputi has been a top level prospect in the Pens system for a few years, and one point was slated as the next power forward on the club, but he is small for that role at about 190 pounds, and in his stint in the NHL this season he looked a little soft on the puck.....the prescence of Eric Tangredi, a much larger and more ornery player in the Pens system makes Caputi a bit more expendable.....Caputi may blosssom into a top six forward, he may not, but Ponikarovsky is a legitimate two way forward with good size at six four and 229 lbs........he is a plus 5 player on a team full of minus players, and has 19 goals on a team that has very little offense. That would make him third on the Pens in goal scoring behind only Crosby and Malkin. He should fit on Malkins line, and he should be a 30 goal guy on a line centered by Malkin, and could really boost Malkins jump, giving him his only legitimate goal scoring threat on wing this season! Poni is a solid two way winger with scoring punch and he is only 29 years old. The trickle down affect is that a guy like Pacal Dupuis can now add some punch to the fourth line. Ponikarovsky is also a UFA, and makes 2.1 million per year. We can deal with his signability in the summer time, but to me the addition of Ponikarovsky makes the Penguins a significantly more dangerous offensive team. If you ask me, Ray Shero thus far has AGAIN shown the NHL that he is one of the best GMs in the league. The Penguins have very effectively addressed their two most pressing needs with quality players without losing anybody of value off of the NHL roster. Skoula was likely to be waived, so throwing him in with Caputi dumped salary, secured Poni, and if the Pens need an 8th Dman, Lovejoy or Engelland in the farm system would both be better than Skoula. The blue line got significantly better with Leopold and all it took was a second round pick.......so Shero has made the Penguins a deeper and better equipped team to make a run at a second straight cup, and he lost a 2nd round pick, a prospect who has been slow to bloom, and a bag of pucks called Skoula. The Pens still have great depth in the minors at both the forward and defensive positions to continue to add depth to the big club. The Penguins will have some interesting issues this summer, as the will have many UFAs, but the likely defection of Sergei Gonchar will open up some cap space to address some of these issues. The fact that they did not have to move Goligoski or Letang to achieve the objectives, and adding Leopold to the mix gives them options in the summer............In Shero we trust! Oh yeah, and the Pens start the 20 game home stretch with a 3-2 win over Buffalo tonite.
Today Shero addressed the need to add scoring talent up front by acquiring Alexei Ponikarovsky from Toronto for prospect Luca Caputi and Martin Skoula. Hey, Caputi has been a top level prospect in the Pens system for a few years, and one point was slated as the next power forward on the club, but he is small for that role at about 190 pounds, and in his stint in the NHL this season he looked a little soft on the puck.....the prescence of Eric Tangredi, a much larger and more ornery player in the Pens system makes Caputi a bit more expendable.....Caputi may blosssom into a top six forward, he may not, but Ponikarovsky is a legitimate two way forward with good size at six four and 229 lbs........he is a plus 5 player on a team full of minus players, and has 19 goals on a team that has very little offense. That would make him third on the Pens in goal scoring behind only Crosby and Malkin. He should fit on Malkins line, and he should be a 30 goal guy on a line centered by Malkin, and could really boost Malkins jump, giving him his only legitimate goal scoring threat on wing this season! Poni is a solid two way winger with scoring punch and he is only 29 years old. The trickle down affect is that a guy like Pacal Dupuis can now add some punch to the fourth line. Ponikarovsky is also a UFA, and makes 2.1 million per year. We can deal with his signability in the summer time, but to me the addition of Ponikarovsky makes the Penguins a significantly more dangerous offensive team. If you ask me, Ray Shero thus far has AGAIN shown the NHL that he is one of the best GMs in the league. The Penguins have very effectively addressed their two most pressing needs with quality players without losing anybody of value off of the NHL roster. Skoula was likely to be waived, so throwing him in with Caputi dumped salary, secured Poni, and if the Pens need an 8th Dman, Lovejoy or Engelland in the farm system would both be better than Skoula. The blue line got significantly better with Leopold and all it took was a second round pick.......so Shero has made the Penguins a deeper and better equipped team to make a run at a second straight cup, and he lost a 2nd round pick, a prospect who has been slow to bloom, and a bag of pucks called Skoula. The Pens still have great depth in the minors at both the forward and defensive positions to continue to add depth to the big club. The Penguins will have some interesting issues this summer, as the will have many UFAs, but the likely defection of Sergei Gonchar will open up some cap space to address some of these issues. The fact that they did not have to move Goligoski or Letang to achieve the objectives, and adding Leopold to the mix gives them options in the summer............In Shero we trust! Oh yeah, and the Pens start the 20 game home stretch with a 3-2 win over Buffalo tonite.
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