Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Pens obtain Hossa, Dupuis and Gill

As I'm sure you know by now, the Pens made a few trades today.

First, the outgoing players are:

Colby Armstrong - I'm probably the most disappointed to see Colby leave. He was one of my favorite Penguins, mainly because he seemed to be just a regular guy. You have to wonder how Sid will feel about him leaving, but I'm sure Penguins management took that into consideration. I'm also sure that Sid will say and do all the right things - he's the consummate professional.

Erik Christensen - Crusher could never put up the numbers that might have kept him here. The Pens wanted him to succeed, and he has shown flashes, but never over an extended period. I hope the Pens aren't making a big mistake in not waiting a little longer with him.

Angelo Esposito - Now we'll get to see another team try to figure out if there was a good reason why Espo fell so far in the first round. The Pens are still stacked at center, so this wasn't a bad guy to move.

The incoming guys:

Marian Hossa - Wow. Just wow. He's the real deal - a 40 goal guy that shoots the puck (he averages over four shots per game). He'll be lethal playing with Sid, or heck, with just about anyone. For this deal to make sense, the Pens really need to sign him long term. Think they can do that with all of the other guys they have to take care of?

Hal Gill - A solid physical presence who doesn't go to the box very often. He'll clear the area in front of the net, as well as chip in a few points here and there. Nice pickup. Signed through next season.

Pascal Dupuis - He's a bit of a wild card. He can score a little bit, but his numbers haven't quite been the same since the end of the lockout. He has scored 20 goals in one season before. Useless trivia - last year, he was traded for.... Adam Hall!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sad to see Army go, too. But I'll be interested to see hat happens going forward.

Unknown said...

Agree with everyone, hard to let Army go. I remember first year after the lockout, he was about the only Pen who stuck up for Sid, or anybody for that matter. But, if we can get Hossa signed (I'm thinking 2-3 years at 7-8 mill/per???)then I think he's worth Army and a 1st. I'll let Dupuis be a wash with Christensen even though like you said Pat was still a work in progress. Is Dupuis a UFA end of season?

Pat said...

Dupuis is on a one year contract, according to TSN, so he's free to leave at the end of the year

Unknown said...

Well that's kind of lame. Hopefully, he's a good fit and we can sign him at a fair rate.

Anonymous said...

I'm looking forward to another typical Hossa performance in the playoffs. Last year was amazing. He had one assist in a four game sweep.
Good thing Mario only gave up garbage to the soon to be former GM of the Trashers.
What a genius Trading Marian Hossa for a bunch of scrubs.