Pittsburgh Penguins
Additions: Mark Eaton, Jarkko Ruutu, Patrick Ehelechner, Nils Ekman, Dominic Moore, Mark Recchi
Subtractions: Andy Hil
Analysis:
Ahh, Pittsburgh. The team of big “P” potential for how many years now? How many top draft picks have they had who weres supposed to save the team and catapult them into the playoffs? And yet Pittsburgh has remained mired in the basement of the standings for year after long year.
The good news, of course, is that all of those draft picks, while not sufficient any one by himself, are starting to pile up. With or without Malkin, the Penguins this year will feature a year older, more mature (physically and mentally let’s hope), stronger, more experienced Sidney Crosby, a Fleury who’s always looked like he deserved better than the team he’s had, and a number of other young, quick players. Really, the Penguins can only go up from last year, right?
Right?
Maybe so, but next year will not be the year they make the playoffs. Unless of course they wize up and fire their coach ASAP. Michel Terrien is simply not the guy you want behind your bench. The tyrant routine just doesn’t work at the NHL level. He’ll shout out and insult his players in front of the media, and those same players, for some strange reason, stop wanting to work for the guy. As long as this guy is their coah, the Penguins will remain a bottom-feeder.
Beyond that, the Penguins do seem destined to gain some points this year. Their division got substantially weaker and their young stars are only going to be better. The return of Mark Recchi will help, and you’ve got to think that Sergei Gonchar will bounce back from his pathetic season last year. He may never be a $5 million dollar defenceman, but he should be a very capable power play quarterback and a solid #2 or #3 guy. With the bulk of their players young and therefore fairly cheap, the big salary bite doesn’t hurt as you might expect, anyways.
The additions won’t shock the hockey world but they were smart, safe moves. Guys like Ruutu and Ekman aren’t easy to play against and always nice to have on your side. As already mentioned, loaning Recchi to the Hurricanes last year only made him more experienced this time around.
I for one really hope the Penguins stay in Pittsburgh, ditch Terrien, and surround Crosby, Fleury and Malkin with the support they deserve. They’re a great franchise, but this year’s team is still a little too heavy on the “P”otential and will be a little too lite on results. But they will be fun to watch.