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Post by penguinsgm on May 27, 2010 19:54:18 GMT -7
New Look Penguins hope for same results
The Pittsburgh Penguins have started this season with quite a bang and have moved key components to their Stanley Cup team in hopes of maintaining that level for both now and in the future.
The first major trade was moving young Jordan Staal along with Tyler Kennedy and their first round pick to land power-forward Rick Nash. The belief is that Nash is already as good as Staal but is a proven winger and will develop into the premier power-forward in the RHL.
The second major trade was moving Marc-Andre Fleury to Toronto for an unproven Jonas Gustavsson. The hope is that Jonas will be a comparable replacement for Fleury at a much cheaper contract and that he will develop quickly this season to help the Penguins in the playoffs.
Other players that were moved off the cup team are veteran defenseman Sergei Gonchar and Crosby's linemates Bill Guerin and Chris Kunitz. However despite these losses the Penguins feel that their pro roster is actually much better and minimized the loss of prospects in doing so. The only major prospects moved were Simon Despres and Alex Grant who the Penguins felt were replaceable with Alex Goligoski and Kris Letang.
The Penguins have picked up a handful of former Penguins to help carry the team including superstar Jaromir Jagr, KHL great Aleksey Morozov and veteran blue-liner Sergei Zubov. In addition they picked up strong role players in Andrei Markov, Kyle Calder, Nick Foligno, Chris Clark, Mark Parrish, Janne Niinimaa and netminder Antero Niittymaki.
Perhaps the biggest addition outside of trading for Nash was acquiring super talented but often inconsistent winger Alex Semin. Semin promptly signed a cap friendly deal to ensure he can play with an elite center for the rest of his career. Semin created controversy in the past by making comments of Penguins captain Sidney Crosby but recently retracted them and said "After working with Sid I see why he is a winner and Ove is not. Sid works to improve every aspect of the game which is something that did not happen in Washington."
Penguins fans hope that this will be a good marriage between Sid and Semin although it is likely that Semin will play on Malkin's line in the future. Only time will tell if these trades will pay off but it appears that Penguins will be ready to compete come playoff time!
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Post by penguinsgm on May 29, 2010 14:08:09 GMT -7
Blockbuster!! The Pittsburgh Penguins depleted their system today but added 2 key pieces to what could be the start of the most feared dynasty in the RHL. The Penguins traded newly acquired Rick Nash, winger Alexei Ponikarosky, top prospects Eric Tangradi and Alex Goligoski along with prospect Nick Johnson to Chicago. In return they received the 2 best players in Chicago in young center Jonathan Toews and the current Art Ross favorite young Patrick Kane. Pittsburgh also bolstered their defense by adding expensive but reliable Brian Campbell to their blueline. When asked what he thought about the trade captain Sidney Crosby just said "wow". This trade has the streets buzzing in Pittsburgh about a possible dynasty for the next decade. The GM will have some work to do as far as rebuilding the prospect pool but right now the Penguins have 4 elite forwards in their top 6 scoring positions. It is believed that all of the players with arrive for the Penguins next game at home against Dallas but it is unclear exactly what the lines will be going forward. The Penguins now have re-acquired the big 3 centers that they lost moving Jordan Staal however it is believe that Toews will be converted to LW for the time being. More to come....
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Post by penguinsgm on May 29, 2010 14:18:33 GMT -7
"Never had Help like this!"
It was announced shortly after the trade that there will be a new top line in Pittsburgh. The one major issue that has plagued the Penguins for a few years is not having enough solid wingers for Sidney Crosby. The has changed today.....
The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced their lineup for the next game and the top line has already been dubbed:
"The Kid Line"
LW - Jonathan Toews - C - Sidney Crosby - RW Patrick Kane
The name and the line may change but don't let the name fool you, this may be the best line in the RHL by a rather large margin. Crosby is the oldest at 22 years of age while both Toews and Kane are only 21. This line has the potential to dominate the league.
The original idea was to separate Toews and Kane but the coaching staff wants to see how a top line like that can produce. Even though The Kid Line is expected to be the #1 line the 2nd line will likely see about the same number of minutes. The line features Evgeni Malkin surrounded by fellow Russian Alex Semin and future Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr. This lines could actually produce more then the other line as they will not see their opponents top defensive pairings.
The rest of the forward lines remain unchanged and Pascal Dupuis continues to be a healthy scratch. Defensively the loss of Niinimaa to injury for a couple weeks is helped by the addition of Brian Campbell. He will slot into the 2nd pairing with Leopold while Markov and Letang will round out the bottom pairing. Mckee will be the 7th defenseman and a healthy scratch once again.
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Post by penguinsgm on May 30, 2010 11:17:41 GMT -7
New Penguins Practice with Team
Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Brian Campbell all took the ice today in their new Penguin uniforms. The practice was about 2 hours long and was an intense practice due to the Penguins being off for 4 days. The good news is the new players will get some serious practice time in over the next few days to get used to the system and their teammates.
Toews saw time at LW on even strength, center on the pk and split between center and wing on the power play. Kane played on the RW with Crosby and Toews for both even strength and powerplay. Both look to play their usual number of minutes on Sunday.
Brian Campbell worked on line with Jordan Leopold and also double shifted with Jay McKee. He saw 2nd pairing icetime along with second pairing pp and pk time. Campbell has the ability to log alot of minutes if needed although there are rumors that if he is not traded he could be waived and sent to the minors to clear cap space once Niinimaa returns.
In other news defensemen Danny Markov has been paired with young Kris Letang on the third pair in order to work Markov back into the lineup and provide defensive stability to the younger Letang.
Also on the minor league front the Penguins have extended minor league offers to a number of free agents in hopes of restocking Wilks-Barre after the trade with Chicago.
More to come including rumors of Jagr on the move!
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Post by penguinsgm on Jun 1, 2010 11:13:18 GMT -7
Jaromir Jagr Dealt to Edmonton
Shortly after the Penguins acquired the young stars from Chicago they turned around and sent 2 time Penguin Jaromir Jagr to Edmonton in exchange for a 2nd round pick and Gilbert Brule.
The Penguins organization felt that the additions of Toews and Kane gave them a chance to pick up some assets to restock their system. Jagr had already informed the Penguins that he wants to test the free agent market so when Edmonton inquired the Penguins decided to make the move.
The RHL draft looks to be pretty strong this season so the hope is that the Penguins can land a solid depth player with the 2nd rounder. Brule brings center depth which the Penguins are lacking and Brule has the potential to be an immediate call up for injuries and can step in anywhere from lines 2 through 4.
This trade means that Aleksey Morozov will bump up to make an all Russian line with Semin and Malkin. Morozov is having a pretty strong season and the coaching staff would like to get him top 6 minutes to see what he can do since he is signed to a 4 year deal.
It also appears the Penguins are still making calls and are trying to land a true #3 center so more trades could happen shortly!!
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Post by penguinsgm on Jun 1, 2010 16:07:48 GMT -7
New Penguins Shine in 2nd Game
The first game was a bit of a learning process for the newest Penguins but they really showed their talents in a 6-2 win over Toronto. The Penguins used their scoring depth to overwhelm the Leafs and all 3 new Blackhawk additions for major factors.
Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Brian Campbell all notched a goal and an assist and Sidney Crosby had a fun night adding 3 assists (goals by Toews, Kane and Semin). The big line really dominated and factored in each period. In addition the second line responded well with a goal and an assist from both Semin and Malkin. Jaromir Jagr had 2 assists in what would be his final game as a Penguin.
Looking forward the team is likely going to stick with the same top line for a while and Malkin and Semin will hope to make a successful all Russian line with Morozov joining the unit. Some Penguin Insiders believe that Morozov brings more to the table on that line then Jagr did as Morozov's skills have improved while Jagr's seemed to decline a bit.
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Post by penguinsgm on Jun 9, 2010 18:08:38 GMT -7
Penguins Streaking into All-Star Break
The Penguins finished on a 8-1-0-1 tear before the All Star break this week. There has not been one particular player that has been dominating but the top 2 lines have been scoring on a consistent basis and the defense has pitched in some goals as well.
The top line has still been clicking and each player on that line seems to be getting a point per game. However Kane has fallen out of the Art Ross lead by 1 point during this stretch. The second line has stepped up to the pace of the top line since Morozov completed the all Russian line.
Alex Semin has rebounded nicely after being traded to Pittsburgh. In 24 games in Washington he had 7 goals and 15 points but in 26 games in Pittsburgh he has 11 goals and 28 points and is a +16.
The defense has really stepped up offensively for the team as both Leopold and Zubov made the All Star game and are amongst the league leaders offensively and in +/- for defensemen.
In goal both Gustavsson and Niittymaki have been solid however Gustavsson has emerged as the #1 goalie and has started in all of the Penguins recent games.
Overall the Penguins rank #1 in the East and are challenging Detroit and Chicago for the best record overall. It will be interesting to see if they can keep this pace up for the rest of the season!
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Post by penguinsgm on Jun 26, 2010 20:37:23 GMT -7
Penguins Make 3 Blockbusters!!
The local Penguin media is shocked about the recent trade of Evgeni Malkin to the Los Angeles Kings. To make matters more appalling is that the Pens turned right around and moved the cornerstone piece they received for Malkin (Anze Kopitar) to the division rival Rangers. Before the fans jump off the Penguin bandwagon what needs to happen is have everyone step back and look at the last 3 Penguin trades as one big move. It seems to be put in perspective when you take that into account. Before we do that these are the 3 trades that occured:
Trade #1
To New York: Pit 2011 1st, Pit 2012 1st, Edm 2010 2nd, Pit 2010 3rd, Was 2010 3rd, NJ 2010 4th, Bos 2010 5th, Edm 2010 5th, Pascal Dupuis (71) Nick Foligno (67), Anton Gustafsson (73), Phillip Samuelsson (71) Alex Velischek (65)
To Pittsburgh: Tomas Vanek (71), Olli Jokinen (67), Evgeny Grachev (64) Matt Gilroy (76)
Trade #2
To LA: Evgeni Malkin (80), Thomas Vanek (71), Olli Jokinen (69) Jay Mckee (84), Chris Clark (61), Matt Gilroy (76) Chris DiDomenico (72)
To Pittsburgh: Anze Kopitar (84), Ryan Kesler (77), Mike Fisher (85) Mikael Samuelsson (75), Marc Steit (74), Jack Johnson (74) Los Angeles' 2010 1st
Trade #3 To New York: Anze Kopitar(84), Mike Fisher(85)
To Pittsburgh: Calgary's 2010 2nd, New York's 2011 1st, Pittsburgh's 2012 1st, R.J. Umberger(71), Tomas Kundratek(74), Ivan Baranka(73), David Kveton(62)
When you combine the following trades you actually end with the Malkin being traded along with a bunch of replaceable parts for essentially half of a RHL roster:
Leaving Pittsburgh:
(Best player in the deal) Evgeni Malkin
(3rd/4th line players) Jay Mckee Chris Clark Pascal Dupuis
(2nd Tier Prospects) Nick Foligno Anton Gustafsson Phillip Samuelsson Chris DiDomenico (We are glad not to try and spell his name again) Alex Velischek (borderline lower 1st tier prospect)
(Draft Picks) Pittsburgh's 1st in 2011 (Late first but still a first. This is the 2nd best asset in this trade) 2010 picks - Edm 2nd, Pit + Was 3rd, NJ 4th, Bos + Edm 5th
Assets acquired for Malkin and parts:
(Best Player) Ryan Kesler (not Malkin but will be a better version of Staal)
(Roster Players 2nd, 3rd and 4th lines) Mark Streit (2nd line RW or 2nd line D pairing) R.J. Umberger (2nd line RW) Mikael Samuelsson (3rd line W and fill in 2nd liner) Jack Johnson (current 5/6 Dman but will develop into top 4)
(Prospects/AHLers) Evgeni Grachev (future top 6 forward, ready for pro now) Tomas Kundratek (future top 4 Dman, could be top 2) Ivan Barnaka (AHL lifer to help with AHL postseason) David Kveton (AHL prospect, pro injury filler)
(Draft Picks) Los Angeles' 2010 1st New York's 2011 1st (potential big upgrade on Pitt's #1) Calgary's 2010 2nd (moved up 10 spots in the 2nd round)
Final Results:
We gave up Malkin and a 1st along with a ton of lower picks and replaceable parts however it still hurts losing Geno. Saying that the Penguins ended up getting more for Geno then what was thought possible. Guys like Kesler, Johnson and Grachev are huge additions while Streit, Umberger and Samuelsson give incredible depth for this post-season run. Kundratek helps restock a weak defensive prospect pool and not only did we add a first this year but upgrade both our 2nd this year and our first the following year.
Overall this team may look a bit weaker and it is possible it will show in this postseason (although losing Kane could be a reason too) but this team is definitely better poised for long-term success after this trade deadline.
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