Pesonen cut?

The rumor going around is the Penguins have decided to make Janne Pesonen the final cut, meaning the last forward spots are going to be claimed by Paul Bissonnette and Pittsburgh native Bill Thomas.

Though Pesonen hasn't looked out of place in qausi-NHL action (3 points in 4 preseason games), it does make sense to let him go to Wilkes-Barre and get some time in on the first line where he'll be playing in all situations, as opposed to being relegated to 4th line minutes with guys like Eric Godard and Jeff Taffe. Once he adjusts to the smaller rinks, increased physicality and gets the feel for North American hockey he'll be better off and ready to dive into the speed of the NHL game.

Hopefully Pesonen's attitude is this way, many European players balk at the lower salary and increased bus rides of the minor leagues, especially when they can be major players in their own country. The hockey playing JP (not to be confused with the blogger JP) is still in the Penguins plans, and hopefully he will take it that way and go to WB/S with the intentions of working hard to be a better player and keep his dream of playing in the NHL alive.