Trade Deadline: Penguins

The trade deadline has passed, but there could still be trades announced in the coming moments. Deadline day in the NHL is like Christmas Day come early. You wake up on this day not knowing if you have coal in your stocking, or the shiny red rider bee bee gun.

With just a couple hours left before the deadline, the Pittsburgh Penguins made two roster moves. One was a trade and the other is a claim off waivers.

First: Pens send defenseman Danny Richmond to St. Louis for defenseman Andy Wozniewski.

I can live with this, but I'm not convinced this is Ray Shero's "big move." Wozniewski's contract of $775K runs out this season, so perhaps this was Shero's move to start preparing for next season?

Perhaps he thinks Wozniewski will be an every day player on the roster and let Hal Gill go? Time will tell.

Wozniewski's frame at 6'4" 220 pounds makes me happy as well. Would appear to be a more mobile version of Gill who actually hits things.

The other move the Penguins made was claiming Craig Adams off waivers from Chicago.

Adams will bring some veteran help to the young Pens. Just don't expect him to put up many points. With a combined six goals and 11 assists over the last 3 seasons where he's missed about half of each of those seasons, you can expect him to be a role player.

More to come soon.

UPDATE

Bill Guerin has been traded to the Penguins for a conditional draft pick. No word on the details of he conditional pick, but at this point in time it's pocket change for him and I'll take it.

According to TSN.ca, the pick starts as a 5th. Should the Pens make the playoffs it becomes a 4th rounder. Should the Pens advance to the second round of the playoffs it becomes a 3rd rounder.

That's it. A max of a 3rd round pick. I'm very happy with this deal.

More details soon.

Pens Win 3-1 For 4th Straight Win

The Pens are now on a four game wining streak thanks to a solid 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight. That's three straight wins on the road too!I'm going to keep this very short tonight, because of the trade deadline looming large.

The win puts the Pens in a tie for 7th in the East with the New York Rangers with 72 points. They lead the Hurricanes by one point and Buffalo by three.

The Pens looked good tonight and Marc-Andre Fleury stood on his head at times to keep them in the game. Even newly waived Miroslav Satan played a good game and had some great chances to make Ray Shero change his mind. The biggest problem with Satan is that he's obviously forgotten how to put the puck in the net, much like pop music has forgotten what a bridge is. Change things up and you get results! Trying the same shot over and over again makes you predictable and playing the same beat for 5 minutes gets real old real quick. I'm looking at you Coldplay.

Video Highlights Courtesy Of NHL.com


Can I just say how much I'm already loving Chris Kunitz?! Not just for his scoring two goals tonight, but for how he's scoring goals. He's crashing the net and banging home rebounds. Who have the Pens had to score those types of goals this season? No one really jumps to mind so this trade is already looking good for the Pens.

There was only one goal against tonight so let's take a quick look.

Goal #1 - Vinny Prospal One-Timer Tap-In

Ryan Malone nicely picks off a cross-ice pass from Evgeni Malkin to Sergei Gonchar who had jumped up to join the rush. Malone throws it up ice to Vincent Lecavalier who moves in on a 2-on-1 with Vinny Prospal with Brooks Orpik being the lone man back.

Orpik waves his stick around to try and force Lecavalier to make the firs move, but Vinny just outwaits him and lays a soft pass over to Prospal for the easy one-timer goal. No chance for Fleury at all.

Points assigned - .5 to Gonchar for being trapped in the offensive zone, .5 to Orpik for not stopping the pass. Hockey 101 dictates that in a 2-on-1 situation the goaltender is responsible for the puck carrier in the event of a shot. The lone defender is responsible for the other man or potential puck receiver.


Updated Hal Gill Quotient Standings:

Hal Gill - 4.34 - 9 GP
Marc-Andre Fleury - 4.08 - 10 GP
Ryan Whitney - 3.5 - 6 GP - TRADED
Kris Letang - 2.84 - 7 GP
Sergei Gonchar - 2.75 - 9 GP
Mark Eaton - 2.33 - 10 GP
Jordan Staal - 2.25 - 10 GP
Brooks Orpik - 2.25 - 10 GP
Rob Scuderi - 1.50 - 10 GP
Matt Cooke - 1.0 - 10 GP
Ruslan Fedotenko - 1.0 10 GP
Pascal Dupuis - .83 - 10 GP
Referee Paul Devorski - 0.5 - 1 Game Reffed
Bill Thomas - .33 - 5 GP - WAIVED

Quick rumor hits:

Mark Recchi did not play tonight against the Pens.

Nik Antropov and Dominic Moore did not play tonight against the Devils. According to Sportsnet.ca, Leafs GM Brian Burke is fielding multiple offers for both of these players.

Tomas Kaberle left the game against NJ in the 3rd period with what appears to be an "injury." Stay tuned on that one.

Derek Morris was once again held out meaning Phoenix is still mulling offers from Eastern Conference teams.

According to Newsday Islanders' blogger Greg Logan, the Pens might in fact be the mystery team in the Bill Guerin saga afterall. Time will tell.

Breaking: Pens Put Satan On Waivers

According to a report on TSN.ca, the Pittsburgh Penguins have placed winger Miroslav Satan on waivers.

This to me means something big could be in the works if they are trying to free up some cap space before tomorrow's deadline.

I will fully admit that before the season I really wanted the Penguins to sign him. I was using simple logic in that if you place a guy who has offensive talent on a line with Sidney Crosby, he should be in the vicinity of 65-70 points. Clearly, that is not the case with Satan.


At least the experiment is over. I would think that someone out there will claim him and take him off our hands, but the thought of him clearing waivers and being sent to Wilkes-Barre cracks me up.

Also placed on waivers, was former Penguin Chuck Norris...aka Gary Roberts. I wouldn't be surprised if we tried to claim him, but something tells me he's already played his last game in Pittsburgh.

He wanted no part of contract negotiations last summer, so I'm not expecting him to be back even though it would be fun to see the Igloo with WWGRD (What Would Gary Roberts Do) signs again.

Speaking of Crosby, he will not play tonight against the Lightning due to a sore groin. This will be the fourth straight game the Kid has missed. Do me a favor, if you see posts on message boards about him not in the lineup tonight meaning he's being traded, just point them my way and I'll set them straight.

Stay tuned for more developments as we see them. This is going to be a crazy 24 hours.

Kicking The Tires On Eklund's Pens Rumors

OK so our famous friend Eklund is hearing grumblings that the Penguins are interested in two high-priced players.

Which players?

Anaheim Ducks defenseman Chris Pronger and Minnesota Wild winger Marian Gaborik.

Now I'll give you a few moments to let your brains try and comprehend seeing either of these two players in a Pens uniform.

Go ahead, I'll wait.

.......

Done? Good, because let's analyze this strictly from a salary cap hit standpoint. Just for giggles, let's use Eklund's own salary cap central figures to further prove the absurdity of having either of these players. Even with prorated contracts and blah blah blah it doesn't work out, but let's look at this with the raw numbers shall we?

The Penguins team salary is $56,257,567 leaving $442,433 to remain under the cap. Pretty tight squeeze right? Let's look at Pronger first.

Chris Pronger - $6.25 million with one year remaining.

In order for this deal to happen, the Penguins would need to at least get in the ballpark of salary going the other way. How do they get near $6.25 million?

Based on raw numbers, Miroslav Satan ($3.5 million) and Ruslan Fedotenko ($2.25 million) gets them close. However, there is no way the Ducks would trade for both of these guys considering their contracts run out at the end of the season.

So, shy of trading Evgeni Malkin or Sidney Crosby this deal is moot.

The main objective so far appears to be getting a top 6 forward for Crosby's line, so why would they consider trading away a couple forwards to get a defenseman when they are so obviously thin up front with scorers?

Also consider, the Penguins just traded with the Ducks last week to get Chris Kunitz! Why would they trade with the same team twice in a week?!

Moving on.

Marian Gaborik - $6.33 Million

Would I love to see a healthy Gaborik on the top line with Crosby? Umm, yes. You'd have to have no pulse in your body if that combo doesn't give you chills. However, again according to the numbers that Eklund has on his site this cannot happen.

Who would the Pens give up to get Gaborik?

Jordan Staal? Probably, but he's only making $2.2 million so combine that with the roughly $440K and we're up to $2.6. Still roughly $4 million short. Satan and Fedotenko could be in play there too, but again they'd be giving up 3 forwards for just 1 in return. Maybe 2 if the Wild threw in someone like Derek Boogaard ($875,000).

What about Hal Gill ($2,075,000) or Mark Eaton ($2,000,000)?

Now you're just fixing one problem and creating another by depleting the defense to add in some offense. What if instead of Boogaard the Wild sent back Marc-Andre Bergeron ($1,254,000) or Kurtis Foster ($1,025,000)?

The rumor before the season was dealing Staal and Ryan Whitney for Gaborik and something. That would have gotten the Pens to the magic number, but alas it didn't happen and now it's really not going to happen.

Trying to crunch the numbers on any of these deals is mind boggling and frankly not worth my time because these deals can't happen unless Ray Shero blows up the team and feels like having three guys eating up 75% of the payroll next season.

Can I also just say that the Pens dealt for another Marian at last year's deadline? We all know how that turned out. Learn from your mistakes Shero. Beware of Judas version 2.0.

Eklund also just reported that the Penguins have had discussions with San Jose about Jonathan Cheechoo.

I could very easily see Cheechoo coming to Pittsburgh based on cap space and who we have on the roster that could be traded. I can't imagine the asking price would be very high for the one-time 56-goal scorer. With just 21 points on the season (9 goals, 12 assists) in 49 games, the Sharks may just want to unload him. Who knows?

Perhaps a deal of Cheechoo for Satan? Where do I sign?

Now I know that wouldn't be the deal, but I'm allowed to dream.

Now another rumor I saw earlier tonight from Spector, states that the Penguins are interested in bringing back Jarkko Ruutu.

I can't imagine the Pens would bring him back in after letting him walk after last season. Wouldn't Shero have re-signed him last summer if he really wanted him back?

Don't get me wrong, opposing teams would fear a line with Matt Cooke and Ruutu on it. Imagine two of the leagues' biggest pests roaming the ice on the same line. Fun isn't it?

The Pens play the Bolts Tuesday. Let's keep an eye on the roster to see who's normally in and who isn't in the game.

Crosby may return from a groin injury that has held him out of the last three games as well. If he doesn't play watch for message boards everywhere to say "CROSBY TRADED!" Obviously, he's not going anywhere. Write it down.

BREAKING: Avery Already a Ranger?

TSN.ca is reporting that the NY Rangers have demoted recently claimed forward Mark Bell to the Hartford Wolfpack, the Ranger's AHL team. Certainly this could be construed to be pre-emptive to claiming Sean Avery off re-entry waivers from the Stars. This move ought to take up most of what was left of the Rangers salary cap, and will cause Glen Sather to be creative at the trade deadline.

My Take

I have very mixed feelings about this move, if in fact it happens. While Avery is the gritty player that I yearned for a few weeks ago, that was under the Tom Renney regime. Certainly he was the spark that the Rangers needed then, but will his spark be needed now?

Since Tortorella took over, Voros has been scratched a couple of times and Colton Orr is basically invisible. The tough guys that Renney used to try and jump start a stagnant Rangers team have been put onto the back burner over the last three games. Plus, what line is Avery going to fit on?

The last two seasons, he bounced around a bit but was effective on the Jagr line protecting the Rangers star player. Jagr would invariably circle to the right dot and shoot and Avery was in front causing havoc. Jagr is long gone to Siberia and Avery really doesn't fit on any line.

The obvious candidates to be dropped to the 4th line (assuming Avery isn't stuck down there) from an overall talent point of view are Dawes, Prucha, Korpikoski, and Callahan. The problem here is that these are the grinders that are truly excelling under Tortorella's strategy. All of these guys ooze fundamentals and gritty play. It would be hard to rationalize scratching them or dropping them for Avery.

Where he likely ends up: On the Gomez and Naslund line. (Sorry Nigel) I think that this could be his best fit, digging pucks out of the corner and getting them to the front of the net.

Overall Rangers fans will be happy with this move, and while one 6 goal game is nothing to say the turnaround has happened, will Tortorella really mess with the chemistry of the top 3 lines? Time will tell.

Devils Strengthen D With Havelid

TSN.ca reports that the New Jersey Devils have shipped Anssi Salmela to the Atlanta Thrashers for shot-blocker extraordinaire Niclas Havelid.

Havelid was one of many blueliners that have been rumored to be headed Boston, along with the likes of Chris Pronger (dead), Tomas Kaberle (denied by Leafs GM Brian Burke), Jordan Leopold (unknown) and Derek Morris.

The Devils give up a fringe player in return for a quality defenseman who will add some grit and toughness to the team. It's also a nice little stick to the Bruins who may have been interested in Havelid.

Just what the Devils need, another player to make them even more boring than they already are.

Pronger Off, Kaberle as Well?

To begin with, our friends at NESN are reporting that any deal involving Ducks d-man Chris Pronger coming to Beantown are off.

It's certainly for the best in my view. Whether they were giving up Phil Kessel straight up, or any combination of Mark Stuart, Chuck Kobasew, Joe Colborne, etc. would have been far too steep a price to pay for what would likely be an 18 month rental.

Our good friends up north at TSN.ca are reporting that Leafs GM Brian Burke has denied last night's report out of Boston that an offer was made for Tomas Kaberle.

Burke himself told TSN the following:

“It's not true, a total fabrication,” Burke told TSN. “I sat with (Boston GM) Peter Chiarelli for the first period of Saturday's game in Boston and we never discussed Tomas Kaberle. We hadn't spoken about Kaberle before that and we most certainly haven't since then. There is no truth to it at all. None.”

Well then. I suppose that settles that... then again Burke vehemently denied rumors that he was leaving Anaheim for Toronto and we all know how that ended up.

It's also been said by ESPN that the B's may also be interested in Derek Morris from Phoenix.

More to come...

Pens Whip Stars, Win 3rd Straight

Just typing the headline on this post makes me smile. The Penguins appear to have new life under interim head coach Dan Bylsma. Since he took over for Michel Therrin, the Pens are 5-1-1 and now have a three-game winning streak.

I haven't been able to use the words "win" and "streak" in the same sentence in a positive light in a long time.

This is the first time since the Penguins had a six-game win streak snapped in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Wild way back on Nov. 18, 2008. That's a long time to go without making a statement if you ask me.

This was a game the Pens absolutely should have dominated and they did. The Stars were without Steve Ott, Brenden Morrow, Brad Richards and they gave Marty Turco the day off after starting 32 consecutive games.

The Pens wasted no time in getting on the board as Jordan Staal pounded home a rebound on a shot by Evgeni Malkin at 4:08 of the first period. These two need to play together more often. This goal was created off the rush during a line change, but it worked.

Keep that in mind Bylsma for when Sidney Crosby comes back from his groin injury.

With just over three minutes to play in the opening frame, Malkin led the rush into the Stars' end and found Kris Letang streaking all alone on the nearside. Letang walked in clean and deked right around Tobias Stephan to put the Pens up 2-0.

How Letang was left that wide open and why Malkin had three defenders pull toward him is beyond me. Maybe Josh here at BTTP can give some further explanation in the form of a Trevor Daley Quotient.

Video Highlights Courtesy Of NHL.com


The Pens outshot the Stars 9-5 in the first, but completely controlled the play and pace. This new aggressive system seems to be working wonders and the players appear to be having fun playing in it.

The second period was a little different, but still yielded two Penguin goals by Miroslav Satan and Malkin on only four shots as a team

Satan picked off an outlet pass and walked around Stephan to put the road team up 3-0 at 8:18 of the period.

Just over four minutes later, Malkin was the recipient of a fortunate bounce off the boards on an attempted Dallas clearing attempt on the penalty kill. Malkin moved into the slot and buried it for his 29th goal of the season and third point of the game.

The three-point night gives Malkin 92 on the season and a ten point lead over Alex Ovechkin. Crosby is third with 79.

One of the big difference with this game as opposed to other games in recent history, is that the Pens didn't blow a multi-goal lead. Against Chicago on Friday they blew a two-goal lead not once, but twice. More on that later in this post.

Their gap control was much better in this game too. They didn't allow the Stars much time or space to get set up once they gained the zone. This was very much a dominant performance.

In the third period, the one and only Hal Gill took a brutal interference penalty when the puck was not even close to him. Marc-Andre Fleury can thank him for killing his shutout, because Chris Connor fed Loui Eriksson in the slot from behind the net and he made no mistake to cut the lead to 4-1.

Rob Scuderi forced Connor behind the net and Mark Eaton moved over to attempt to block the pass, but left Ericksson wide open as a result. I normally don't assign points to people who take penalties, but in this case I will be because it was a stupid penalty that directly led to a goal. Gill gets .75 and Eaton gets .25 for not blocking the pass and allowing his man to score.

Now, as for the game Friday against Chicago that the Pens won 5-4 in OT thanks to a Malkin bomb on the powerplay. Here's the four goals against:

Goal #1 - Jonathan Toews tips it past Fleury on a blast by Cam Barker.

Hawks win the draw clean back to Barker who unloads. Sergei Gonchar was parked in front of Fleury and allowed Toews to get body position and tip it past Fleury.

Points assigned: Staal .5 for losing the draw clean, .5 for Gonchar for letting his man get body position for the tip.

Video Highlights From NHL.com


Goal #2 - Toews banks it in off Fleury's skate on the powerplay

Pretty simple one to analyze here. Patrick Kane takes the puck along the half boards and fires it down low to Toews who attempts a pass across the crease to the wide-open man on the back door. However, Toews gets a little lucky in that he fanned on the pass and the puck goes off Fleury's skate and in. Fleury takes the fall on this goal, but his movement was correct in trying to get over to the other post.

Points assigned - Gill and Scuderi were both in the vicinity of the puck and were unable to knock it away from Toews. Both receive .25. Fleury gets the other .5 for having it go in off him in that manner.

Goal #3 - Toews Hat Trick Goal

Fleury makes a solid save and the rebound is collected by the Hawks. The puck works its way back to the point where Barker tees up. Max Talbot is a little far from Barker, but still in the shooting lane. This forces Barker to make a slap pass to the back post to Toews who gets his hat trick goal. This was really his fourth goal of the game, but he had one called back in the second period for deflecting it with a high stick.

Points assigned - Gill 1.0 for two reasons. One, the man he was covering should have been Scuderi's man and would have been had Gill not parked himself two feet from Fleury. The man he was trying to cover had clear body position on him rendering Gill useless.

Reason number two, Toews goes unchecked with a clear shot to the empty net behind Fleury. Gill didn't even know Toews was there judging by his lack of reaction to the pass.

Goal #4 - Dave Bolland tips in a pass from Andrew Ladd on the back post

Again on the powerplay, but this time off the rush. Ladd throws the puck toward the net and somehow finds Bolland streaking to the cage with an empty net staring him in the face. Ruslan Fedotenko was coasting into the zone and realized his error in not heading to the open man (Bolland) way too late.

Points assigned - Fedotenko 1.0 for not hustling back on the 3-on-2 against to even up the rush and prevent his man from shooting the puck.

Updated Hal Gill Quotient Standings:

Hal Gill - 4.34 - 8 GP
Marc-Andre Fleury - 4.08 - 9 GP
Ryan Whitney - 3.5 - 6 GP - TRADED
Kris Letang - 2.84 - 6 Games Played
Mark Eaton - 2.33 - 9 GP
Sergei Gonchar - 2.25 - 8 GP
Jordan Staal - 2.25 - 9 GP
Brooks Orpik - 1.75 - 9 GP
Rob Scuderi - 1.50 - 9 GP
Matt Cooke - 1.0 - 9 GP
Ruslan Fedotenko - 1.0 9GP
Pascal Dupuis - .83 - 9 GP
Referee Paul Devorski - 0.5 - 1 Game Reffed
Bill Thomas - .33 - 5 GP

Up next for the Pens on this road trip are the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Pens stormed back from 3-0 down against the Lightning the last time these two met. Let's hope the Pens don't need another furious third period to knock off one of the worst teams in the league.

It will also be the last game before the trade deadline on Wednesday. Rest assured, I'll be watching to see who's not in the lineup and try to find out why.

Breaking: Bruins Offer For Kaberle?

This just in: the Boston Bruins have reportedly made an offer for Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Tomas Kaberle. NESN.com is reporting the story along with the Boston Herald.

"According to the Boston Herald, the Bruins have offered their 2008 first-round pick, forward Joe Colborne of Denver University, their 2009 No. 1 pick, and a third-round pick to the Toronto Maple Leafs for defenseman Tomas Kaberle."

Very interesting if this proves to be true. It goes with a number of thoughts out there that GM Peter Chiarelli would only be interested in trading picks and prospects. It's also curious that the 30-year-old Kaberle has 4.2M remaining on a contract for the next two years.

Kaberle would fit under the Bruins salary cap for the remainder of the season, but the team would be giving up far too much in return. Colborne is a B range prospect, a forward with terrific size, 6'5, 195lbs, and as a freshman, he certainly has time to grow into his frame. He's got 9 goals and 19 assists for Denver in 34 games, as well. Though he's certainly a couple of years down the road, with his size, you'd think the Bruins would want to keep him around awhile to see what he can develop into.

And a first and third round draft pick? Too much. Sure it's a late first rounder, but a first round pick nonetheless. I could potentially be sold on this if it were Colborne and a second rounder, but I'd be happier not to see this deal go through at all. I don't know where people continue to see a weakness in the Bruins defense, but it is not going to be their all-out key to winning it all. They're very steady in the back as I mentioned earlier today, with a good mix of youth and veteran presence and talent that is continually improving.

Though, I do realize that Kaberle would be an asset on the power play, and could potentially move Patrice Bergeron away from the point. I could still yet be sold on this...

More to come as this develops.

B's Lose in OT, Pronger and More

After opening the six game home stand at T.D. Banknorth Garden with a pair of six-goal outings, the Bruins fell in overtime yesterday 4-3 to the Capitals and Alexander Semin's 80 foot shot. Unfortunately, I was at work and missed the game, so my comments on it will be brief. From what I've read and watched from highlights, the game reminds me of the encounter with Tampa last week. Constantly playing catch up. The Bruins should be content, though not pleased to come away from this one with a point.

I feel like the Caps and all of their weapons would be a tough match for the Bruins in the playoffs, aside from Ovechkin being a monster, they're got a very strong team that can move the puck around quickly and make things happen. Now I'm not saying the Bruins can't do the same, they can, but I've got a feeling about the Capitals. Then again, it would be the playoffs and anything could happen.

The B's once again led the way in shots 37-32, but the Bruins surrendered two power play goals. Marc Savard had three assists, but could be the culprit for the first goal when he was sent to the box for hooking. Matt Hunwick, getting some serious ice time the past two games has responded extremely well, with two goals and an assist.

Bruins fans will certainly hope that the club can bounce back from this with a win, because they know that Jersey and Washington are becoming hot on their heels as the season begins to wind down through the last 20 or so games.

Highlights courtesy of our good friends at NHL.com


Also last night, Yahoo Sports and the Sporting News had an article that Ducks defenseman Chris Pronger to Boston talk was picking up steam. One potential deal I've read is Pronger and Travis Moen to Boston in exchange for Mark Stuart, Chuck Kobasew, Joe Colborne and a 2009 2nd round pick.

From the outset I don't like this deal for Boston for a few reasons.

1. Pronger makes $6.25M. Yes the deal would only include the last 20ish games of the season, so that salary will be pro-rated and easier to swallow, but the B's are just $1.43M under the cap. Pronger is owed about $1.5M the rest of this year if my math is correct.

2. Mark Stuart is a poor man's Pronger. They play a similar style of play, sure Stuart doesn't have the size, or quite the same talent level, but he's younger, cheaper and has been effective for the Bruins this year.

3. Kobasew is a good piece to have around. He's a hard worker, a team player, can work on the power play, can score a goal and has definitely endeared himself to the Boston fans this year. I definitely see Chuck as a trading chip potentially in the future though.

4. Pronger is due $6.5M next year, the final year of his contract. The Bruins also will have expiring contracts in Tim Thomas, David Krejci and Phil Kessel. Where does Pronger fit under the cap in these circumstances? Which player doesn't return? How long would the B's really have Pronger for? Would he be an 18 month rental and out the door?

The Ducks are retooling, but they don't need help from the Bruins. I'd like to believe that B's GM Peter Chiarelli is more interested in finding a winger to help out in Marco Sturm's absence to get a little more oomph at the offensive end of the ice.

Other rumored targets for the B's are Keith Tkachuk (Mass. native), Jordon Leopold and of course, the oft-mentioned Erik Cole.

I would be okay with a player like Keith, he'd be a blessing on the power play, his big body in front of the net for screens and generally being a nuisance to the opposing goalie. Leopold would be a decent second-tier defenseman, but I don't see where he fits in right now. Chara/Ward, Hunwick/Wideman and Hnidy/Stuart are a good six-some, but unless Hunwick gets sent back to Providence (would be a bad move), I can't see Leopold being a B.

I think I've done the Erik Cole thing to death.

Would I like to see the Bruins make a move? Yes, but only if it supplements what is already at the club, Chiarelli has been quoted as saying that he's 50% likely to make a deal. I would put money on prospects and picks being traded over anyone actually on the B's, as long as any deal fits under the cap. Other than that, you could potentially see a Kobasew-type being moved, but I expect the Bruins to stand pat. I just don't see anything that makes a lot of sense right now.

There's three days left until the deadline on Wednesday, so I'm sure we'll be back with more information.

Guerin Pittsburgh Bound?

According to a plethora of sites tonight, New York Islanders captain Bill Guerin was pulled off the ice prior to their game against the Sabres.

This clearly tells me that a deal has been reached. The question now is where is Billy-G heading?

It was long believed that Boston and Montreal were the clear-cut leaders in this deal, but Spector believes otherwise.

According to Spector's blog on FoxSports.com, he believes the Penguins, Panthers and Hurricanes are the current leaders.

Here is his explanation of how he came to that conclusion:

"Flyers? They're very deep up front and appear to be seeking depth on the blueline. Montreal? Their need appears to be for a scoring center. Rangers? Would the Isles actually peddle Guerin to their rival despite being out of the playoff race? Sabres? They're already deep at right wing.

Florida and Carolina could use more depth at right wing, while the Penguins - despite their recent acquisition of Chris Kunitz - might want a more seasoned right winger for Sidney Crosby's line."

For his full take, click here.

Now as for my take on this potential trade, I'm not sure how I feel about it.

If we gave up a roster player for him and it's not named Hal Gill, I don't like the deal. Maybe Miroslav Satan or Ruslan Fedotenko, but outside of those three I won't be a happy Pens fan.

Spector seems to think that the deal in place is Guerin for an early round pick. Perhaps a second rounder? If it's a first rounder, that's way to high of a price for a rental player the Pens most likely won't be able to re-sign. Let's also keep in mind this is assuming the Penguins make it into the playoffs.

If it's for a third-rounder, I'd live with it.

I do think he Pens are missing some valuable veteran presence in the locker room. They also lack a grit and feisty attitude they had from guys like Jarkko Ruutu, Georges Laraque and Gary "Chuck Norris" Roberts last season.

From that perspective, Guerin is a guy I would most certainly want. Is he the goal scorer that should be on Sidney Crosby's line? I don't tend to think so.

I'm still holding out for a "Holy @#%!" moment from the trade deadline where we land someone like Milan Hejduk for a bag of pucks, but that's probably not happening either. He is less money than Guerin and has clearly proven that he can put the puck in the net. Send the Avs a second-rounder for Hejduk, see if I care. I'll be jumping for joy like the annoying kid you never liked when he gets a date with amazingly attractive woman. The rest of you understand why he's jumping up and down and want to hurt him for it.

I was that guy last year when we got Judas.

Give me another moment like that this season Shero, just don't clean house to pull it off.

I don't know that a top line of Kunitz - Crosby - Guerrin is the answer to the Pens problems, though it is an improvement over what they have rotated around Sid all season. In that respect, it's an upgrade.

From what I saw of last night's game against Chicago, which will be broken down a little more in depth tomorrow along with the game against Dallas, Kunitz and Jordan Staal seemed to click pretty well right off the bat. So maybe Dan Bylsma will put a line of Kunitz - Crosby - Staal together? I say try it, doesn't seem to me like it takes Sid long to figure out his winger's tendencies and gel with them accordingly.

In any event, the world should know the fate of Guerin in the coming hours. Who knows, maybe Spector is wrong and the his hometown Bruins bring him in after all.

Stay tuned.

Fun With Eklund, Bruins "Rumors"

Came across two gems from our good friend Eklund today.

Eklund's "rumors" will be in quotations...

"Phil Kessel on the move?

There are also rumors that the Bruins are possibly considering moving Phil Kessel in a deal. Perhaps to free up cap space to bring in a defenseman or bigger power forward..."

Seriously? So the Bruins are going to trade away their leading goal scorer for a bigger power forward?

I wonder if it has any correlation with the next rumor here...

"As I wrote earlier tonight...I was checking in on some rumors that Erik Cole could be headed to the NJ Devils....It does have some legs and I will be calling it an e2 for now...but don't count out Boston for Cole AT ALL..."

Erik Cole (15 goals, 10 assists) for Phil Kessel (25 goals, 20 assists)? Sounds fair...

It's been said to death, but Eklund should not be allowed to report on anything about hockey, ever.

I've also read on ESPN Insider that Cole for Sobotka and Lashoff could be a possibility.

I've got to think that B's GM Peter Chiarelli is smart enough to know not to mess with the chemistry the team has. I can see them adding in a player to supplement what they currently have, but it'd be rubbish and nonsense to completely change the shape of the Bruins.

Cole isn't the kind of player the B's need. Sure he's physical, but he's not a goal scorer. Kessel has as many goals as Cole has points, so what would be the point of trading Kessel to bring in that "big power forward?" While enhancing the physicality, it handicaps the offense.

I don't see Erik Cole being a Bruin by March 4th.

EDIT

Major laugh here, as this blog was originally posted around 7:30 (opened at 7:13), Eklund had an update around 7:57 that I just picked up on.

"No doubt whatsoever in my mind at this point that Boston is leading the way for Erik Cole. Working on more of what could be heading back but I feel very confident that Cole will be a Bruin this time next week.."

I feel that between Eklund and I, one of us will be right. It will be me.

Pens Send Whitney To Anaheim For Kunitz

I just saw the news that the Penguins have traded Ryan Whitney to the Anaheim Ducks for Chris Kunitz and Eric Tangradi.

Part of me feels that this is a good trade because it clears some cap space, and by some I mean $250K. The good news is that Kunitz is signed through 2010-2011.

So far this season Kunitz has 16 goals and 19 assists, which makes me wonder why he's being paid $3.75 million when his career high in points is only 60.

What Kunitz gives the Pens is a more reliable wing for Sidney Crosby. I still think the Pens could have gotten a better winger, but something tells me Ray Shero isn't done and that something big is going to go down in the next week.

Perhaps Jordan Staal is heading out of town as has been discussed in a variety of places.

As for Tangradi at 6-4 221, this could be a stud in the making, He's second in the OHL in scoring with 87 points in 52 games. Only highly touted John Tavares is ahead of him.

This kid has the makings of a true power forward and that excites me.

By getting rid of Whitney, the Penguins have eased the logjam on defense and it will allow Kris Letang to get back into the lineup. Letang is rounding into a very solid offensive defenseman, but still needs work in his own end.

The top 6 defensemen are:

Sergei Gonchar - Brooks Orpik
Rob Scuderi - Hal Gill
Kris Letang - Mark Eaton

The Penguins also have Alex Goligoski waiting in the wings, but there are some rumors out there that he could be dealt as well. If that's the case, we better get a lot back.

Now as for new line combos up front let's shake things up a bit. I've suggested before moving Staal to a wing to better utilize his scoring ability. With that said, here's my suggested lines:

Kunitz - Crosby - Dupuis
Sykora - Malkin - Staal
Satan - Talbot - Fedotenko
Cooke - Kennedy - Godard

If the Penguins still want to keep Staal as a center, move him to the 2nd line center and move Evgeni Malkin out to a wing. It's not like he hasn't proven that he can play wing or anything.

Ideally, the Penguins can find a way to move Miroslav Satan to free up his $3.5 million contract heading into the offseason. Ruslan Fedotenko probably won't be back either at $2.5 million, so that already would free up six million in cap space by either dealing those two or letting them walk.

It's also pretty safe to assume that Philippe Boucher won't be back. Yes, he's still on the roster and making $2.5 million. He had foot surgery in January is is out indefinitely. He's also a UFA after the season, so he can walk too.

There's $8.5 million you free up just from letting those three guys walk. That should be more than enough to go out and get a couple of solid wingers to help out the depth up front, but that's also assuming Shero is fully happy with the now current roster.

Something tells me he's not.

Pens Get 1-0 Win Over Islanders Sans Crosby, Whitney

For whatever reason, the New York Islanders always seem to give the Penguins fits. Tonight was just another example of this as the Pens squeaked by the Islanders 1-0.

Before I go any further, can I just say that I'm sick of the powder blue jerseys? They were cool in the Outdoor Classic last year and maybe as a rare throwback jersey, but 20+ times this season? Come on. The team was garbage when they wore those jerseys back in the late '60s and I think it's showing up in their play this season.

Anyway, the Pens had plenty of glorious opportunities in this game. On a few occasions they had the puck behind Isles goaltender Yann Danis, but were unable to slam it home or settle the puck.

Finally, Petr Sykora was the recipient of a fortunate bounce out front on a pass from Sergei Gonchar and buried the puck behind Danis for the game's lone goal. he nearly killed himself while celebrating the goal, but hey when you score a potentially season saving goal, you're allowed.

Video Highlights Courtesy Of NHL.com


Sidney Crosby and Ryan Whitney missed tonight's game for a couple different reasons. Crosby pulled himself out of practice with a sore groin he suffered Sunday against Washington.

Whitney missed the game due to personal reasons and is expected to re-join the team Friday in Chicago.

Updated Hal Gill Quotient Standings:

Marc-Andre Fleury - 3.58 - 7 GP
Ryan Whitney - 3.5 - 6 GP
Kris Letang - 2.84 - 4 Games Played
Hal Gill - 2.34 - 6 GP
Mark Eaton - 2.33 - 7 GP
Sergei Gonchar - 1.75 - 6 GP
Brooks Orpik - 1.75 - 7 GP
Jordan Staal - 1.75 - 7 GP
Rob Scuderi - 1.25 - 7 GP
Matt Cooke - 1.0 - 7 GP
Pascal Dupuis - .83 - 7 GP
Referee Paul Devorski - 0.5 - 1 Game Reffed
Bill Thomas - .33 - 5 GP

As a result of the shutout, the Hall Gill Quotient remains unchanged from the last game and in place of dissecting goals against, let's take a look at some "rumors."

Alexander Frolov To Pittsburgh e4

First off, I like the possibility of having a guy like Frolov on Sidney Crosby's wing. A lot. However, given that Eklund is only correct 2.9% of the time according to HockeyBuzzHogwash.com, this isn't happening. He is also rumored to head to Colorado or Buffalo.

Let's just assume that Eklund is onto something here. What would we give up to get Frolov?

It's widely thought that Ryan Whitney will be shipped out of Pittsburgh by the deadline. I'm willing to take a guy like Frolov and a draft pick for Whitney. The upside to this kind of a deal is that Frolov is signed through the end of next season at $2.9 million, meaning we save about $1.1 million in cap space by dumping Whitney's salary.

Erik Cole To Pitt e4

Eklund seems to think that the Pens will trade Whitney to Edmonton straight up for Cole.

Please.

Does anyone out there seriously think that this would be an equal trade or that the Pens would actually be the victors in this deal? Come on.

Not to mention, Cole's going to be a UFA after this season. Where's the logic here Eklund?

Scott Niedermayer To Pittsburgh

Dear God, why? There's not even an "E" rating on this because there isn't a quantitative negative value for utterly laughable. It doesn't exist.

Moving on.

Ryan Smyth To Pitt

Gimmie gimmie gimmie. Seriously, I'd love this guy in Pittsburgh. The only problem here is his $6.25 million contract. Upside is that he's signed through 2011-2012.

With 20 goals and 30 assists on the season, Smyth could be the perfect fit on the top line with Crosby. Throw Pascal Dupuis on the other wing to wreak havoc and win one-on-one battles in the corners and you have yourself a formidable top line.

Smyth isn't Judas, but it's an improvement over (insert player here not named Sykora or Evgeni Malkin.)

Now onto some other rumors I've read on other sites:

Nik Antropov To Pitt

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I do not see what the big deal is with Antropov. Leaf fans affectionately refer to him as Antropuff.

Here's what I think of Antropov:

He's a good guy to have out in front to set up screens and he does score a bunch of garbage goals. That's fine and dandy. However, he's what Hal Gill would be if Gill was a forward.

At 6'6" 230, he should be feared in the corners. He's not. He's also not going to be able to keep up with Crosby on the rush.

If we send the Leafs Alex Goligoski and a 1st-round pick for him, I'm driving to Pittsburgh to demand a meeting with Ray Shero. Simple as that. Even if we send Whitney up there for him, I'm not happy.

I would much rather a guy like Frolov or Milan Hejduk than Gill's younger brother.

Stay tuned for more as we are now getting ever closer to the deadline and there's bound to be more rumors soon.

Eklund Inserts Foot In Mouth...Again

Just an update on yesterday's post about Evgeni Malkin being traded to the Thrashers for Ilya Kovalchuk and other considerations.

Eklund, who seemed to be about 99% sure this deal was happening yesterday, has backed off this one ever so slightly today saying:

The Penguins and Thrashers are still chatting according to sources, and as said yesterday it is uncertain how Malkin and Kovalchuk play into this, but it is fairly certain that they could be discussed. The Pens are also talking to Nashville and Edmonton about a deal that is a "good plan B or 1A."

I wonder if his sudden change of heart had anything to do with what was posted here yesterday. Or, could it be that the Penguins writer on his site essentially flipped him the bird in his latest post addressing the rumor?

I read that article last night and had a very long and hard laugh over it. Eklund called out on his own site. Fantastic.

As for the second part of that update involving Edmonton and Nashville, he may be onto something there.

I've read on more reliable sites and heard rumors during broadcasts of games, that the Pens were interested in Erik Cole and could be interested in the likes of J.P. Dumont and Ville Koistinen.

Is Cole the dream winger for Sidney Crosby? No. Is he an improvement over Miroslav Satan or anyone else not named Malkin or Petr Sykora? Absolutely.

I'm still not opposed to having Dumont and Koistinen, but I question why we'd be bringing in another offensive defenseman when we've already got four others on the roster.

I'm still compiling a list of players I've seen that may be available at the deadline to see who I'd like to come to Pittsburgh. The trade deadline is March 4, and with each passing second the frenzy gets closer and closer.

I have a feeling this deadline is going to be insane and leaving Eklund in tears over how wrong he continues to be.

Eklund Owes Me New Pants

This will be short and sweet, but I felt compelled to comment on Eklund's latest "trade rumor" about the Penguins.

We've already discussed how it would make no sense for the Pens to trade Jordan Staal and others to Atlanta for Ilya Kovalchuk from a financial standpoint. I think Eklund read that post and realized how utterly wrong that sounded and then decided to tweak it today.

According to his latest post, the Penguins are talking about trading Evgeni Malkin to the Thrashers for Kovalchuk and something else.

You read that correctly. Malkin for Kovalchuk and a doggy bag of players or picks.

Umm....

Do I really need to go into why this will not happen and why this would be the worst move the Penguins have made in recent history?

It's pretty self -explanatory I would think. I literally laughed so hard when I saw this that tears were coming down my face.

The only logical big name players that could/will be moved at the deadline are Staal and Ryan Whitney. I'm not counting Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko as big names, but they could also be on their way out.

If I'm Ray Shero, I blow up the roster and start over. Get rid of everyone except for Sidney Crosby, Malkin, Marc-Andre Fleury, Brooks Orpik and Max Talbot.

Everyone else can go and I wouldn't be upset over it for very long. I'll pull together a wish list of players I'd like, but if you saw yesterday's post, you'll see that Milan Hejduk is at the top of the list.

Stay tuned for more.

"The Hal Gill Quotient "And "Rumors"

Initially I was only going to detail out the formula for which I will be keeping track of how many goals are caused by each player on the roster. I then awoke and poked around on HockeyBuzz.com and now I'm compelled to do a little more.

Let's start with the new stat first because that will be the easiest to get through and least offensive unless you're Hal Gill. Allow me to explain. Thanks to Josh we will be naming this new stat "The Hal Gill Quotient," due to the general feeling around Back To The Point that Gill is responsible for a majority of goals against. I decided to test this hypothesis and reserve the right to change the name at a later date.

Here's how it will work:

I will examine each goal the Penguins give up for the remainder of the regular season and assign a full point in the standings to the player responsible.

In the event of multiple players being at fault, fractional points will be awarded to the players involved.

I will keep a running total at the end of each game recap and the player with the highest total at the end of the season wins, or loses, whichever way you prefer to look at it.

Here's the current standings since I started keeping track after the Detroit game on Sunday:

Hal Gill - 1.34
Ryan Whitney - 1.0
Jordan Staal - .5
Kris Letang - .5
Bill Thomas - .33
Marc-Andre Fleury - .33

Now who's ready for some "rumors?!"

Here's three that have popped up on HockeyBuzz.com and further elaborated about on HockeyBuzzHogwash.com

#1 -Ryan Whitney To The Rangers For Petr Prucha And A Pick

Here's Eklunds take on this: "In Pittsburgh and NY I continue to hear rumors involving a deal the would send Whitney for Prucha and a pick. I like it for both sides."

Really? You like it for both sides?

Here's what's wrong with this from the Penguins side of things as this really would only benefit the Rangers.

Do we have a surplus of defensemen right now? Yes, and even moreso with Sergei Gonchar coming back. However, Whitney isn't the guy you trade though I would understand the logic in doing so to help ease the cap pressure.

The guy who can go is Mark Eaton if the Rangers want someone from us who can actually play defense. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that he's among the league leaders in blocked shots, but he hasn't been the most reliable guy as a result. He gets injured frequently as a result of blocking all those shots, but you can't tell me Henrik Lundqvist wouldn't mind having someone actually play defense in front of him for once.

The other major flaw in this plan is that the Penguins and Rangers are both fighting to get into the playoffs. Do you really think these teams (who are in the same division mind you) are going to execute a trade when they could very well be fighting for the same playoff spot? I don't think so either.

Now as for Prucha, he's not the answer to any of the problems the Penguins are having. While he's a good energy guy, Max Talbot serves the same purpose. Prucha may have more of a scoring touch, but we need someone to play with Sidney Crosby in the worst way.

Eklund's solution?

"Rumor" #2 Mike Cammalleri To The Pens For Unknown

I would gladly take Mike Cammalleri, but there's no way this deal gets beyond the "hey what about Cammalleri?" phase.

He'd be a good fit with Crosby, but don't buy into this rumor at all. Anyone with half a brain in their head can see this. If it does happen, I'd me more shocked than I was when we landed Judas at the deadline last year.

Rumor #3 - Ilya Kovalchuk To The Pens For Staal And Others

First off, I would just like to say that I would not be surprised to see us move Staal at the deadline to clear some cap space for next season. I came to terms with him leaving town a long time ago as long as we kept Evgeni Malkin, Fleury and Crosby.

With that said, I don't want Ilya Kovalchuk. Would he score some goals? Yes. Is this the type of guy who should be on a line with Crosby? Yes. So why don't I want him?

Cap space. At $6.4 million for only another season on top of Crosby and Malkin at the current max of $8.7 million, we cannot afford to put a competitive team on the ice. We'd be in the same situation as the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The other problem with this is that I would have to become an Atlanta Thrashers by default. How could I not when we sent Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen and Angelo Esposito last year for Judas. In order to get Kovalchuk we'd have to give up Staal and who knows what else, meaning half of the Thrashers' roster would be former Penguins.

It's that simple.

It's not going to happen anyway because Eklund just appears to be throwing up "rumors" to get people to click on his site. It's fine by me because it gives all of us here at BTTP things to write about on a daily basis.

Apparently The Pens Are Going After Every Player On The Market

I've been saying for weeks that the Pens need to make some moves to spruce up the roster. According to our good friend Eklund and his hockeybuzz.com site, I just may get my wish and get an entire new roster!

According to his latest trade rumor list the Penguins are interested in every old veteran on the market.

Here's the list:

Erik Cole - please for the love of God no.
Mark Recchi - Aside from the leadership quality he brings, he's not going to help the offense.
Christian Backman - Eh, physical guy. Not going to help out on offense at all.
Denis Gauthier - Solid physical gritty guy. Would welcome him in.
Keith Tkachuk - Another veteran presence guy. Could work, but I dunno.
Bill Guerin - Would prefer him out of the other vets on this list. Gritty guy who can still be effective in the late stages of his career.
Dan Hinote - Meh
Ville Koistinen - Solid puck moving defenseman, but we already have Sergei Gonchar, Ryan Whitney, Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski. We don't really need a 5th offense d-man.
Marian Gaborik - If he wasn't so injury prone, I would be excited about this "rumor"
Steve Eminger - umm...why?

Here's the list of players he has listed as guys potentially leaving town:

Petr Sykora - makes no sense to me other than him being in a contract year.
Jordan Staal - I came to terms with him being the first of the young guns to go.
Miroslav Satan - Take him...please
Ruslan Fedotenko - Just didn't pan out. Solid effort every shift, but the experiment is over.
Hal Gill - I've lost my voice countless times yelling at him in both person and in my living room. He never knows where he is on the ice. He refuses to hit people despite his size. He can't handle the puck to save his life. Need I go on?

So let's do the math. We're apparently interested in getting 10 guys, and only entertaining giving up 5 off the current roster. That means if these deals are to happen, that more picks and prospects are going to leave town. Essentially, Eklund is saying the Pens are going to nuke the farm and the parent club to make something happen this year.

I really don't know where he gets these rumors from. I mean, I know he has some connections to guys around the league, but I think they just screw with him so that people like me and the fine people at hockeybuzzhogwash.com have something to write about every day.

Up next for the Pens are the Columbus Blue Jackets. Steve Mason has been incredible so far this season, but has been feeling the effects of mono and has had a rough go of it in his last couple starts. Here's to hoping that trend continues and the Pens putting a big two points in the standings.