Crosby to miss Buffalo game as well

According to TSN, Sidney Crosby will also miss tonight's game against the Sabres.

Who do the Pens have that can still skate? Here are the forwards (I'm not even going to try putting them into line combinations):

Malkin
Malone
Dupuis
Ruutu
Kennedy
Staal
Taffe
Laraque
James
Minard
Stone

Here are the injured forwards:
Crosby
Roberts
Sykora
Talbot
Hossa
Hall
Beech

Crosby to play tonight

According to radio reports here in Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby will return to the ice tonight against Tampa Bay. It's ironic in that he last played in a game against Tampa in January.

I'm excited to see him back. Now we just need Hossa and it will be party time.

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!

So where do they go from here?

The Pens have several difficult decisions approaching them. Consider these:

Goalies

The biggest and most obvious issue in the near future is to determine who becomes the #1 goalie, as well as the backup, when Marc Andre Fleury is ready to return.

Fleury is starting on a 3-4 game rehab stint at Wilkes-Barre. The schedule for the Baby Pens over the next week or so looks like this:

1. Wednesday, Feb. 13 @ Norfolk Admirals
2. Friday, Feb. 15 Philadelphia Phantoms
3. Saturday, Feb. 16 @ Bridgeport Sound Tigers
4. Monday, Feb. 18 @ Binghamton Senators
5. Wednesday, Feb. 20 Hershey Bears
6. Saturday, Feb. 23 @ Syracuse Crunch
7. Sunday, Feb. 24 @ Hershey Bears

You'd think the Pens won't play him on both Friday and Saturday, so four games would put him ready to come back on Thursday, February 21st. The Pens play back-to-back games on February 23-24. They'll need a second goalie.

So, before Fleury is ready to return, do the Pens make a move with Sabourin or Conklin? When he returns, who is the #1 goalie?

Here's what I think is the likely scenario:

• The Pens put Sabourin on waivers. If he clears, he goes to Wilkes-Barre. He's on a one-way contract, but at this point of the season, I think the team can stomach the cost.
• Fleury and Conklin will both get chances to play, as the Pens have back-to-backs for two straight weekends starting February 23-24. Whoever wins the job with their play is the starter. The Pens need that to be Fleury. I don't think Conklin can carry them through the playoffs.

Roster Depth

The Pens have a laundry list of players who were a part of their lineup earlier this season who aren't now, mostly for injury reasons. They include:

• Sidney Crosby
• Gary Roberts
• Tyler Kennedy
• Adam Hall

The current lineup has been something like this:

1. Malone - Malkin - Sykora
2. Christensen - Staal - Talbot

The remaining six are something of a mish-mash:

• Armstrong - Taffe - Ruutu
• Laraque - Smith - Beech

(those first three guys are getting more of the playing time, either by playing in odd-man situations, or by being double-shifted)

Assuming there are no more injuries for the point of discussion, who sits when Roberts and Hall return? Does Kennedy come back from Wilkes-Barre?

Here's what I think is the likely scenario:

• Roberts goes right back on the third line, allowing Ruutu to go back to playing with Laraque. I think that makes Laraque a scratch sometimes as well, especially when the Pens would be hurt by his lack of speed.
  
• Hall takes the spot of either Smith or Beech. I think management would like Beech to show something that makes him worth keeping. He has some skill, but he has to earn a spot. If he doesn't, I think he's gone, or a healthy scratch if the team wants to give him a shot through an off-season cycle.
• Little Tyler (thanks, Steigy) stays in the minors. I think Shero (and maybe Therrien) like having some size on those lower lines, and Kennedy just isn't very big. Everyone else is.

Where does Crosby go?

So, the last question is a nice problem to have - what do you do with Sidney Crosby when he returns? The top two lines are clicking really well. You want to leave that first line intact for sure.

Do you mess with the second line? Staal and Crusher are playing really well together and Talbot is the glue that keeps everything going. On the other hand, they like to play a cycling game and Sid is phenomenal along the wall. He could fit in there really well, as well as setting up Christensen for some great chances (see: Malkin and Sykora lately).

Do you put Sid with two other guys entirely, like Army and Beech (if he shows us something) to give the Pens two #1 lines and a killer third line? Therrien has been playing Staal's line in a defensive posture against the top units of other teams.

Here's what I think is the likely scenario:

• As much as I like the idea of leaving the top two lines intact, I think you put Sid into Talbot's place on the #2 line (though that would probably make it the #1 line)
• Talbot would play with Army and Roberts on the third line with Laraque, Ruutu and whoever else is left making up the fourth line (probably some combination of Taffe, Hall and either Smith or Beech).

Any way you look at it, though, these are all good problems to have. The Pens have some real depth right now, both in goal and with their forwards. The weak spot for the team is depth at the blue line, where an injury would really hurt them. That, however, is a topic for another day.

So what do you think?

Sidney Crosby - high ankle sprain

Sidney Crosby will be out indefinitely with a high ankle sprain, suffered during the first period of a 3-0 loss to the Lightning. He'll be evaluated by the doctors on Saturday in Pittsburgh.

Here's the video of the injury - it's at the tail end of the 18 second clip.

Mark Eaton - Torn ACL

According to the Post-Gazette, Mark Eaton is out indefinitely with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

This will open up a spot for Brooks Orpik, and someone will likely be recalled from Wilkes-Barre. We could hope for a chance to see Golgowski or Lannon, but most likely it would be the old standby, Alain Nasreddine.

Mark Recchi claimed by Thrashers

Mark Recchi was claimed off of waivers by the Atlanta Thrashers.

The 50% off sale was successful. The Pens will be responsible for half of Recchi's salary for the remainder of the season.

I hope Recchi is successful. Just not against the Pens.

More Recchi Madness!

So Mark Recchi was assigned to Wilkes-Barre. He'll be put on re-entry waivers on Friday, according to the Trib.

If someone claims him on re-entry waivers, they'll be responsible for half of his salary, which is $1.75 million. Ostensibly, they'd also be responsible for half of his $250,000 performance bonuses as well, should he achieve them.

If no one claims him on re-entry, I can't imagine the Pens keeping him. He'll likely be cut outright.

The articles in the local papers (Trib, Post-Gazette) have a few significant differences. Here's what jumped out:

• The Trib has the information on the re-entry waivers on Friday, but they have a clueless headline writer. The article on the website was titled "Pens assign Recchi to AHL, but will he go?" What the heck? The point was never to actually send Recchi to the minors, right? This is just the 50% off sale.
• The Post-Gazette continues to mention that this is Therrien's fault, according to Recchi's agent, in their Penguins Notebook. The Trib hasn't said word one about it that I can find. I can't decide why this is, except that the Trib seems to have a closer relationship with the team.
• Finally, I'm not sure why no one will come out and say what is happening: the Pens are dumping Recchi. He most likely won't play with the team again. The day they put him on waivers sealed his fate. It's a pretty straightforward procedure from this point. See the top of this post if you're unsure on how it goes.

Recchi clears waivers

Mark Recchi has cleared waivers. I'd expect that the Pens will assign him to Wilkes-Barre and then recall him, thus enabling the 50% off holiday sale. No one wanted him at his full cost ($1.75 million), but on re-entry waivers, he can be had for about $900,000. What a deal!

The interesting part is that in the Post-Gazette article this morning, Dave Molinari leaves no doubt that Recchi's agent (Rick Curran) places the blame for this on Michel Therrien. Curran says that Therrien has been excluding Recchi from the lineup and wasn't going to give him a chance to play.

The Trib article doesn't even mention Therrien.

Is it because the Trib has a much closer relationship with the Pens? Or is the Post-Gazette blowing things out of proportion?

Either way, this is just about over. The only question yet to be determined is how much of Recchi's contract the Pens will be responsible for.

Mark Recchi on waivers

According to TSN, the Pens have placed Mark Recchi on waivers.

At this point, it's all about trying to get some other team to claim him and pick up some or all of his salary. I can't imagine he'll actually play for Wilkes-Barre.

If someone claims him on this round of waivers, they claiming team will be responsible for his salary.

If no one claims him, he can be assigned to Wilkes-Barre. Should that happen, he would likely be recalled immediately and have to go through re-entry waivers. During that phase, the claiming team would only be responsible for 50% of his salary.

If no one claims him on either set of waivers, the Pens will likely cut him, much like they did with John Leclair last year.

It's a shame his career has to wind down this way. I always like to see guys go out on their own terms. The Pens have to do what's right for them, however, and Ray Shero is making his feeling known pretty clearly at this point.

I think the emergence of Tyler Kennedy as a viable player has helped to speed this along.

Hopefully someone will pick up Recchi and play him.

Pens recall D Kris Letang, demote two

The Pens recalled Kris Letang from Wilkes-Barre. He fills the obvious need of a right-handed shot from the blue line. He's not here to sit, so I'd expect that we'll see either Scuderi or Sydor sit down (unless there's an injury we don't know about).

The two players sent to Wilkes-Barre were Alain Nasreddine and Tyler Kennedy. With the games that Ruutu and Laraque played against the Devils, Kennedy is probably not needed. Nasreddine just couldn't get any playing time. He has to clear waivers, but I don't think that will be an issue.