As the Pittsburgh Penguins 2015-16 season continues it has become even more readily apparent that Ian Cole is not suited to skating top pairing defensive minutes and has not clicked as a partner for Kris Letang. Their defensive struggles have led many to call for a change and find a new partner to skate with Letang, and of course Olli Maatta is the name on most everybody’s lips. Over the summer, most people had penciled Maatta in to open the season skating alongside Letang. They had spent time ... Read More
Changes to D-pairs paying off for Pens
After starting 0-3, the Pittsburgh Penguins have turned things around and are now on a three-game winning streak. They even managed to finally score on the power play against Florida last night. The wins have not come easy, however, and there are still adjustments that could be made to help them improve going forward. One area that has been a hot topic for discussion is the team's defensive pair. The Penguins have used seven defensemen so far this season, and of a potential 21 combinations, ... Read More
Pens call up Rust, sit Scuderi vs Ottawa
After three straight losses to start their season, the Pens have shaken things up a bit going into their game tonight against the Ottawa Senators. Not all of them are willing changes. Right-winger Beau Bennett, one of the team’s best players in Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens, has suffered an undisclosed injury and will miss tonight’s game as a result. With Bennett out of the lineup, expect rookie right-winger Daniel Sprong to get his first shot an increased role. Sprong, who ... Read More
Can the Penguins afford Cody Franson?
The Pittsburgh Penguins are still looking to bolster their blue line for the upcoming season and are rumored to be one of the teams attempting to woo free agent defenseman Cody Franson. Franson was drafted by the Nashville Predators and spent the first four years of his career as a minor leaguer or a third-pairing defender in their organization. They traded him to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2011 and, over the past four seasons, he improved into a solid top four defenseman before getting ... Read More
Despite Kessel, problems remain for Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins made a big splash on the first day of NHL free agency, landing star right-winger Phil Kessel in a six-player trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Since then, the Penguins have been mostly quiet, singing Russian winger Sergei Plotnikov and a host of depth players that may or may not see time in Pittsburgh this season. One of the reasons that the Penguins have fallen silent is that their roster has largely filled: they have two goaltenders, eight defensemen and 10 ... Read More
Column: Scuderi in the way of Pens youth movement on defense
Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford made a surprising admission to Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette when he said on Monday that the Penguins “don’t have any plans to buy guys out." It’s surprising because Rutherford had intimated earlier in the offseason that he had approval to proceed with buyouts if he saw fit, and because Rutherford had made a youth movement on defense a priority for this offseason. “I have full support from the ownership to do what’s ... Read More
Did the Penguins get Robbed?
There were plenty of things about the Penguins 3-2 overtime loss to the Bruins that could be upsetting to Penguins fans. A questionable call in overtime (and even worse handling of that call), a flat-out bad call for goaltender inteference that wiped out a goal, the power play’s continued struggles (0-4 with only five shots), and plain old bad luck (Zdeno Chara’s goal went off two posts and in. Sideny Crosby’s shot hit the post and the back of Tuuka Rask but couldn’t find it’s way across the ... Read More