Letang Recalled

As I said in the last post, the Penguins needed SOMETHING, ANYTHING to give them a shot in the arm. Mr. Shero obviously has his finger on the pulse, as 20 year old defensemen Kris Letang was just recalled from Wilkes-Barre.

Arguably defensemen is the hardest position to adapt to in the NHL, especially for an offensive defensemen who's game is a little more complicated than a simple game that someone like Rob Scuderi or Darryl Sydor might play.

But with the high risk comes the chance of a high return. Letang might be able to give a shot of energy to a club that's in need of it.

Letang had a rude awakening in his first six weeks of being a full time pro; he didn't make the NHL roster out of camp (as he was expected to), and then he was often the target of Wilkes-Barre coach Todd Richards and was even sat in the press box as a healthy scratch himself.

Letang's stint though, statistically, is a pretty fine line for a defensive rookie: 1 goal and 6 assists in 10 games played, and built his +/- rating back up to 0.

This roster move makes 24 on the Penguin roster, so Alain Nasreddine, has been placed on waivers. He's not a bad option as a 6/7 defensemen for some NHL teams, so it wouldn't surprise me at all if someone picks him up. I would be sad to see him go, but also be happy for a good guy to get a chance in another organization.

Here's my very early look at how I would set up the defense pairings for Thursday night's game against the Islanders:
Eaton-Gonchar
Whitney-Orpik
Scuderi-Letang
Healthy scratch: Sydor