Pens keep Eaton, sign a fighter, lose two more UFAs

The Penguins signed Mark Eaton, two years $2 million (source: TSN). A great signing if Eaton can stay healthy. Eaton played well with Sergei Gonchar on the top pairing before his knee injury, so one has to wonder if the Pens intend to stick him back there with Gonchar and come to terms with Brooks Orpik going somewhere else. The Pens now have seven defenseman on the roster and that doesn't even count Alex Goligoski who tore through the AHL playoffs.

The Pens also signed Eric Godard. He's regarded as a pretty solid fighter, but his hockey skills leave to be desired. This probably means the end of Georges Laraque's stint as a Penguin. Godard doesn't have to play much, even if dressed he won't take the ice much which could mean more opportunities for Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to double shift and increase their own ice time.

Tampa Bay, in their continuing effort to sign every free agent under the sun (especially if they're from Pittsburgh) signed Adam Hall, three years $1.8 million. Can't really blame Hall, as I'm sure the Pens contract wasn't three years. But still Hall owes something to his former aGM Ray Shero for inviting him to training camp last year when it seemed his NHL career was over.

Also, it's somewhat sad to report the Conkblock has moved on, signing a one year deal with Detroit. We wish he could have gotten the shot to be a number 1 goalie somewhere (like Colorado) but in the end he's going to a great organization. Also Conklin should fit in well with Detroit with how he handles the puck and can hold a team in the game.

A lot of rumors flying around as to who's fielding offers from where. Stay tuned.

And no, we're not even going to touch this one with a stick.

The hustle to return

As if Philadelphia thought Pittsburgh couldn't possibly play harder, out comes the news that Max Talbot took all 90 minutes of practice this morning and declared his broken foot good to go.

They said it was a pain issue, so if Talbot was able to get the skate on and practice, obviously that means the pain is manageable enough to go.

So now the question becomes; who sits?

• Georges Laraque? The big guy only played 7:01 last night and didn't really seem to have much an impact. Plus the Flyers didn't play Riley Cote or Steve Downie, so keeping the heavyweight in the lineup may not be needed.
• Adam Hall? He's the 4th line center (Talbot's niche) and only played 4:49 at even strength. Hall also lost 4 of his 6 faceoffs last night. Hall's been quietly solid at his job, but not spectacular.

It'll be interesting to see what happens, Michel Therrien isn't a coach that likes to change a winning lineup that much, but to get one of his best energy guys and PK'ers back, we think he's going to have to. If it were our call, we'd scratch Hall tomorrow night and then, if all goes well, think about scratching BGL for Game 3. That's a long ways away though.

Playoff Lineup coming into focus

Here were the forward combinations from Friday's practice:

Talbot-Crosby-Hossa
Malone-Malkin-Sykora
Ruutu-Staal-Dupuis
Roberts-Hall-Laraque


Is Max Talbot skilled enough to convert on all the chances Crosby and Hossa will generate? Maybe, maybe not. But Talbot is a balls-to-the-wall, high energy player that will drive to the net and tends to make good things happen when he gets the puck on his stick.

The second line is perfect. Those three have a great chemistry, and one has to believe the opponents will be forced to match their best checking line and defensive unit against Crosby+Hossa; opening up all the more ice for Geno, Bugsy and Sykora to take advantage of....But if a team does try to pick their poison of shutting down this line, they're going to leave the league's reigning MVP with a 100 point scorer blasting up the ice together.

Jarkko Ruutu is playing some good hockey, Pascal Dupuis has been a dependable all-around forward and Jordan Staal still has his immense potential to live up to. Still, you have to think that once THE Gary Roberts gets in game shape he will be up on this line with Staal and either Ruutu or Dupuis (depending on who's making things happen).

The 4th line is what it's all about. Adam Hall will quietly be a very important player; winning the majority of his faceoffs, killing penalties and playing non-descript "nothing against" hockey. He can cycle, which is one thing Georges Laraque can do too. If the opening series is against a chippy team like Philadelphia, Pittsburgh will require the presence ultimate deterrent in BGL to keep the opposition honest.

Like we mentioned, Gary Roberts is here to wreak havoc and work himself back into game shape. It wouldn't shock us; if and when Roberts proves his is ankle good to go for him to be taking shifts with Crosby and Hossa and terrorizing the opposition. Future aside, this could very well be Gary Roberts' last hurrah....No one who's passionate enough about hockey to read this blog wouldn't believe that he's going to leave every ounce of effort, desire and tenacity in his soul to make the difference in a series.

So what does the practice mean for Tyler "Mr." Kennedy? Probably that he will be assigned to Wilkes-Barre for the AHL playoffs (where they are in desperate need of scoring forwards). Hopefully TK doesn't take this as a slight, but rather an opportunity to make a difference at a level where he'd be a first liner. Kennedy is still in Pittsburgh's long-term future, but with guys like Hall and Roberts returning from injury, his niche is better filled by more experienced players.

The Penguins also have Jeff "Laffy" Taffe and, ugh, Kris Beech as forward depth in case of injury of performance. Taffe has proven to be a legit NHL player, one that can be counted on to play any position in a lower level role. And Beech, well we think it's safe to say we all know what he brings to the table....Or doesn't.

Either way, the playoff lineup is starting to come into focus....We can see what opportunities are on the table (specifically for Talbot and Ruutu); soon we'll see if they make the most of it.

Who’s out when Roberts and Hall are back?

The good news is that Gary and Adam Hall seem like they will be back for the playoffs. Adding two to the lineup means subtracting two. Who could it be?

Tyler Kennedy: TK has the misfortune of being a rookie lower-line energy winger; just like Roberts. Mr. Gary has 20 years and 119 NHL playoff games on Kennedy. Kennedy has just 2 goals in 23 games since returning from mono in February. By contrast, TK had eight NHL goals in thirty-one games to start his season. Kennedy is also on the AHL “Clear Day” roster, which means he is eligible to be re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre for the Calder Cup playoffs. TK is a point-per-game difference maker at the AHL level, so we’d let to 21 year old go down to a place where he’ll get a ton of minutes and see how far he can take WB/S.

Jeff Taffe: Taffe too plays a similiar role that Hall plays (4th line niche player) but Hall can kill penalties. Hall is also better at faceoffs (50.7% to 48.7%). So that gives him the edge in this book. Taffe could have a role in the playoffs for the Pens if there’s an injury and Pens fans should be pretty comfortable if Taffe has to be out there....Sure beats Kris Beech.

Injury Update

These have been compiled from all over the internet/TV about the Pens injured players and the strides they are individually making on the road to recovery. We don’t have the time or gumption to list all the sources, so either take our word for this, or start searching yourself. And to our extra deep readers, the type of injury and the date suffered are in parenthesis

Marc-Andre Fleury (sprained ankle, 12/6) – Has been practicing all week. Coach Therrien said “we’ll see where he is” after the weekend, seeming to indicate Fleury could be ready for action very soon….In the light of Ty Conklin’s performance, how the team decides to use Fleury upon return seems to be the bigger question right now.

Sweater Ted Early Outlook on a return to the lineup: less than a week

Gary Roberts (broke leg on 12/29) – Skated before practice today, but said his leg still was sore and that it’ll probably be 7-10 days before he rejoins practice.

Sweater Ted Early Outlook on a return to the lineup: 2-3 weeks

Tyler Kennedy (diagnosed with mono, 1/19) – Kennedy has been assigned to the AHL today, after practicing for a week with Pittsburgh. While not officially designated as a rehab assignment (perhaps because the Pens a few extra forwards), a few games in the A should get TK back into game shape where he should be quickly promoted back to Pittsburgh, hopefully banishing Kris Beech once and for all.

Sweater Ted Early Outlook on a return to the (NHL) lineup: less than a week

Sidney Crosby (sprained ankle, 1/18) – Participated in a full practice today, wearing a non-contact jersey, but the team still insists this is normal rehab and he’s on pace still for 6-8 weeks on the shelf.

Sweater Ted Early Outlook on a return to the lineup: 2-3 weeks (which is a little before their window, call us optimistic)

Adam Hall (groin, 1/19) – Came back to practice but wasn’t 100% and is back to “give it time mode” which is really the only thing you can do for this type of injury

Sweater Ted Early Outlook on a return to the lineup: Who knows, hard to diagnose groins. (Hopefully for the Pens penalty-kill sooner than later)

Reinforcements trickling in!

--Colby Armstrong practiced yesterday and virtually declared himself good to go.

--Adam Hall practiced hard and while he didn’t give his unconditional return tomorrow night, it does seem like he’ll be back sooner than later; which is good news for the Pens faceoff rates and penalty kills.

Sadly America can’t deny crappy hockey players for long, as Kris Beech is in-country. But don’t expect him in the lineup tomorrow night. Michel Therrien is not a fan of Beech at all; the last time the two were together was a playoff run in Wilkes-Barre in 2005. Despite a great AHL roster (featuring among others Armstrong, Ryan Whitney, Erik Christensen, Michel Ouellet, Max Talbot, Rob Scuderi, Tomas Surovy, Shane Endicott and Marc-Andre Fleury) the Baby Pens were bounced in the 2nd round. Therrien was less than pleased, especially with Beech not really carrying the banner as far as he should. Beech would get traded that summer. To Nashville (where Ray Shero was assistant GM).

Speaking of Fleury; according to the PG he went through a rigorous on ice pre-practice workout and is going to give it a go in an actual practice today. It’s been 9 weeks now since he suffered an ankle sprain, which thanks to the solid play of Ty Conklin doesn’t actually seem that long. One gets the feeling that the NHL at large is learning more and more about the high ankle and how to treat it.

Earlier--even this season, you saw guys try to rush back before 100% (Talbot and Washington’s Alex Semin) only to have a setback. Because of the low bloodflow to the area plus the importance of pushing off your ankle (especially for a butterfly goalie) you just can’t rush it. The ankle will get better when it gets better and all you can do is just wait it out. Surely that’s going to be the strategy for Sidney Crosby. He’s too important and it’s too late in the season to suffer a protracted setback.

Now that some familiar faces are set to start trickling back in the lineup, let’s look at a line scenario (assuming Armstrong and Hall are ready and Jarkko Ruutu is not suspended).

Malone-Malkin-Sykora
Christensen-Staal-Talbot
Ruutu-Hall-Armstrong
Filewich-Smith-Laraque

Why, that’s almost starting to look like an NHL lineup again!

Jonathan Filewich has given a lot of energy and is playing balls out. He hasn’t had “Tyler Kennedy” level impact, but he’s been better, to us, than any of the Tim Brent’s and Ryan Stone’s that have gotten the same chance.

Nathan Smith continues to impress as a reliable lower line center. If he can keep winning faceoffs (he’s at 66.7% but only has only taken 15 draws in his two games up) then he might be able to carve out a niche as a 4th line center for a while. It will be a numbers game though, even after those close to returning come back the Pens still have three more forwards that will be back sooner or later (Crosby, Kennedy and Gary Roberts) that will probably knock Smith back to Wilkes-Barre. But Smith has proved to be good depth so far.

Orpik wants to stay....But why?

Gary Roberts, Georges Laraque, Mark Eaton, Jarrko Ruutu, Adam Hall, Ryan Malone and Brooks Orpik

What do those seven Penguins skaters have in common? As of July 1 they are free to find another place to play.

Ray Shero, smartly, has only signed veterans for a term of one or two years, preferring to spend the lion-share of the team’s cap room on the nucleus of the franchise’s core. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to identify the core: it’s Crosby, Malkin, Fleury, Staal and Whitney. And it shouldn’t be a surprise.

All of the impending unrestricted free agents are pretty good at what role they’re cast to. They’re veterans and most, as you’d expect, are predictably reliable. None, however, are cornerstones to the team and it’s not a stretch to imagine the majority of this list could be plying their craft somewhere else starting next fall.

There are two players of this bunch that intrigue us here at TST the most. They probably intrigue most Pens fans and observers because they have the complete package: size, skill, reasonable speed, physicality and most hauntingly “the potential of youth”. Ryan Malone and Brooks Orpik, though almost UFA ready still seem like they have the potential to have a bigger impact than they’ve since shown. Both lack consistency. Both have shown flashes of brilliance.

Thanks to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement Malone (28) and Orpik (27) are years younger than the tradition unrestricted free agent. Malone’s NHL career is just 266 games so far and Orpik has only 264, which is just over 3 seasons worth for both. It’s strange to think both are hitting the open market when it seems like they’re just getting started.

We bring this up over something Orpik said in today’s Post-Gazette.

Even though there have been times this season when Orpik has fallen out of favor with the coaching staff, he said he'd be "very receptive" to negotiating a deal to remain with the Penguins.
"I've loved all the time I've had here," he said. "I love the guys here, love the direction Ray [Shero, the general manager] has put the organization in. Everything here is done first-class, very professionally."
While there clearly would be a market for a defenseman with Orpik's willingness -- and ability -- to play the body, he expressed no great desire to test the open market.
"Some guys get really upset with where they're at," Orpik said. "They can't wait to get to July 1 to get out of a situation. ... I've talked with a lot of guys I've played with here who have gone other places, and they kind of wish they could come back."

While we don’t doubt Orpik must enjoy his teammates and the only organ-eye-zation he’s ever known, doesn’t he have an agent? One that could tell him that if a 32 year old Andy Sutton can fetch $9 million over three years then dangit Brooks, you can too.

Also a new opportunity might do Orpik well. As the article alludes to, he’s been benched, gone through a long streak of sitting in the press box (including once in his hometown of Bahhston) and even when he’s in the lineup he’s averaged 16:46.

Orpik’s done his part to make his minutes count, with a team high 129 hits. He is the only physical defenseman on the roster, given the next blueliner is Kris Letang (39 hits in 31 games) and, brace yourself, the Sarge (34 hits in 45 games).

But physical play doesn’t always translate into smart play or indicate the coaches are happy with your performance. Orpik is on the ice for penalty kills a mere :42 a game. He mans a point on the powerplay (if you can call it that) for an average of :50 a game.

So you’re a physical defenseman but the coaches don’t trust you on the PK. You’re getting less icetime than a 20 year old rookie. You have the chance for a big payday with a team that will fall for your big hits and “potential” for more consistency. But you want to stay?

We’ll see how this pans out, we’d love to see Orpik stay and love even more for his performance (and minutes) to pick up but we just can’t see it happening.

By the way, UFA predictions:

• Ruutu: Didn’t get a bigger role, 80% chance of leaving
• Laraque: Still is happy here, team still needs that presence, 75% staying
• Eaton: Great when not injured, problem is injured too much, 50% staying (we think the Pens might not want him for durability fear, not Eaton wanting to leave)
• Hall: Great roleplayer and PK’er but his type is a dime-a-dozen 40% of staying just since Shero knows him so well
• Roberts: whatever he wants to do, stay, go to a Canadian team, retire…As usual Gary’s calling the shots, 100% awesome
• Malone: Pittsburgh boy, hard to see him leaving when he’s so comfortable with team/city but it is UFA; 50% chance of staying
• Orpik: Saying all the right things but all signs are pointing to a departure, 25% chance of staying (due to above comments)
  
  

Unbelievable: Michel Therrien switches the lines

As earlier quipped on this blog, Penguins head coach Michel Therrien will change line combinations as frequently (and maddeningly) as an aggressive driver changes lanes on the interstate....So perhaps it should be no surprise to see he used the following forward units at practice today:

Malkin- Crosby -Recchi
Malone- Staal - Hall
Roberts - Talbot -Sykora
Ruutu - Christensen - Armstrong

With the way the message boards, or Darwin's Waiting Room (as one occasionally amusing Caps blogger refers to them), you would have thought Coach was talking about making Crosby and Malkin healthy scratches.


"Why tinker with success when the Pens have won three straight!" they yell and, "Therrien has lost it, Hall on the 2nd line?" others whine.


Random protestor guy, your thoughts?

Therrien is no fool, he knows what he's doing. Fact is, practice IS the time to mix things up and let players get some time to play with new combos, to see if there's chemistry (like Staal-Hall) or to give your best two players (Crosby-Malkin) more icetime together. Maybe throwing in a sniper like Sykora with two grinders like Talbot and Roberts would be money. No risk trying it in a practice situation.

Clearly long-term Hall is not going to be a top 6 forward, and Sykora is not going to play a checking role. But in practice, to get a feel for the team, why not work some of the newer additions (Hall and Sykora) with some fresh faces. An in-game injury or penalty situation might mean they have to play with different players anyways. Now they atleast have something to build upon.

It will be interesting, when the Pens come out at home against another stumbling opponent-the Toronto Make Beliefs, if Therrien trots out line combos like this. Unless practice revealed something out of the ordinary, I highly doubt it.

Key Indicators Through 4 Games

The up and down roller coaster continues, after a 6-4 win in Toronto. Stats courtesy NHL.com

The Good:
--7th in the league in goals per game (3.5)
--1st in the league is shots per game (35.8)

Kind of Acceptable:
--14th in penalty kill (83.3%)
--18th in faceoff percentage (49.8%)

Needs work:
--18th in the league in power play efficiency (16.7%)
--21st in the league in shots allowed (29.5 a game)
--27th in the league in goals against average (3.75)


The Toronto scorefest blew these stats out of line a little bit, but the bottom line is the Pens have been, as usual, an action packed team. Taking the most shots, but allowed a lot of rubber too. Goals everywhere.

I think an important figure is faceoff percentage. It's practically 50%. Seemingly for a long time this franchise has always been notoriously weak on draws, so it's good to see that Sidney Crosby is clicking at 58%, and Adam Hall's at 61.2%, Malkin has some room for improvement, as the big guy is only winning 41.7%. The other regular center, Maxime Talbot is not much better at 42.2%. However if he keeps pace with Crosby in scoring goals, I think that will be forgiven!

Wake me up when September ends...

Preseason is winding down, hell Anaheim and LA are about to kick off the season in a matter of minutes over there in jolly old England. A couple quick hits about the Pens:

• First and foremost, Sidney Crosby was electric last night. 2 goals, 1 assist and was flying around making things happen. He's clearly ready for the season.
• Same can be said about the other young, uber-talented center Evgeni Malkin. He was flying around, making things happen, deking guys left and right and all over the place. Showing the flashes of brilliance himself. It's too bad he scored an apparant game-tying goal just after the clock hit 0:00.
• Erik Christensen seems to be playing really strong. It's a long season, so who's knows what consistency and production he'll give, but for now, clearly he's earned a place on Malkin's wing.
• Not so electric was Darryl Sydor, who's well, showing his age and didn't look particularly good. Some of the folks at Darwin's Waiting Room (aka letsgopens.com message board) are calling for Sydor to be cut. Some of those folks wouldn't know what end of the hockey stick to put on the ice. Still, Sydor does need to be better, and I think he'll ratchet it up a little now that the games will count for real.
• Didn't hear too much about Adam Hall. Is that a good thing for a player trying out? But then again, Hall's game is to be solid and kinda fade in, so maybe it is.
• Someone mapquest directions to Wilkes-Barre for Kris Letang. Not every prospect can develop with some time in the minors (Ryan Whitney spent 3 years in college and 2 full seasons in the A) so it's not the end of the world.
• Danny Sabourin looked good at times, but you can't give up 6 goals a game. A lot of observers question the Penguins goaltending situation, but I'm pretty comfortable with it right now.

Inevitable Roster Moves

This is hardly a news breaking website, but you knew that of course....Still some kind of news-y things that feel like they will happen soon...They might not, but it just seems inevitable that:

--Adam Hall will earn a contract. You can officially flush the Sweater Ted projected roster down the toilet with the demotion of Tim Brent. Hall, a proven NHL vet has been great in camp and done everything you could hope for. The Penguins are trying him out as a center tonight, and if he plays well there, expect him signed soon. Youngsters Jonathan Filewich and Ryan Stone have had ok training camps, but they haven't really proved themselves onto the NHL roster.

--Kris Letang will be in Wilkes-Barre to start the season. Ray Shero was very, very complimentary of him in the off-season, and it's easy to see why. Letang is a young, promising defenseman in the mold of a Dan Boyle type player. But Letang has had an underwhelming camp. No one expected him to be that strong in his own zone (and he hasn't been good), but Letang's strength of making good passes and quick decisions hasn't been good either. Better to let him play 20+ minutes a night in the AHL. Mike Weaver, another NHL proven guy, has had a great camp. As I've often referred to him, he's Mark Eaton Lite. I think Pens fans will be surprised by the efficiency and ability that Weaver will be able to quietly get the job done as a 6th defensemen for a little while.