Penguins on the Go!

With all of the Malkin excitement, I've been remiss in not mentioning a few former Penguin players joining other teams. They are:

Dick Tarnstrom - Dick signed to play in the Swiss Elite League this year. This is kind of surprising, given that he was a key offensive guy for the Oilers in their stretch run last year. He's been a reliable offensive performer in recent years, but evidently wasn't getting the kind of offers he wanted.

Eric Boguniecki - Eric signed a two-way contract with Columbus. This one isn't too surprising, as Bogie hasn't really established himself in the NHL. I liked his hustle and grit when he played last year, but if you can't get any playing time with the second-worst team in the NHL, your future isn't too bright. I hope he stays with the big club in Columbus.

Tomas Surovy - Signed a one year deal with Lulea HF in Sweden. I liked Surovy - he seemed to have that scoring knack. However, given that the Penguins did not tender him a contract offer, and no one else expressed enough interest for him to sign... I guess the writing was on the wall for Tomas.

So what can we take from these moves? I'd say that it shows what Ray Shero was talking about when he said that he was surprised that at the lack of interest that some of his players were drawing (or not drawing, in this case). It speaks volumes about the quality of the players the Penguins were keeping around, either as a top defensemen (Tarnstrom) or a highly regarded prospect (Surovy). The more I see, the more I like what Ray Shero is doing, and the direction the team is going.