Pittsburgh Penguins Thread

[fryer98 30]

From a source of mine... -- Ryan Malone (et. al, possibly the Pens #1 pick) to Montreal for Alexei Kovalev-------- Montreal is trying to dump Kovalev's salary so they can sign Daniel Briere-- Eric Christensen to Chicago for Brent Seabrook-------- Columbus and Edmonton are also interested in Christensen-- Edmonton is looking for a top offensive D and has asked about Sergei Gonchar-------- The Pens are supposedly not looking to trade any of their top D, esp. Gonchar-- Los Angeles and St. Louis have made serious inquiries about Colby Armstrong-- Bill Guerin has a list of 5 teams to which he'd like to sign, including the Pens-------- The Pens had interest in Guerin at the trade deadline-- New contracts will not be offered to Ekman, Petrovicky, Cairns, and Kwiatkowski-- No decisions have been made on Thibault, Nasreddine, Scuderi, and Melichar-- The Penguins plan on keeping Georges Laraque

[doox 15]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=211557&hubname=

[rinswun 6]

From a source of mine... -- Ryan Malone (et. al, possibly the Pens #1 pick) to Montreal for Alexei Kovalev-------- Montreal is trying to dump Kovalev's salary so they can sign Daniel Briere-- Eric Christensen to Chicago for Brent Seabrook-------- Columbus and Edmonton are also interested in Christensen-- Edmonton is looking for a top offensive D and has asked about Sergei Gonchar-------- The Pens are supposedly not looking to trade any of their top D, esp. Gonchar-- Los Angeles and St. Louis have made serious inquiries about Colby Armstrong-- Bill Guerin has a list of 5 teams to which he'd like to sign, including the Pens-------- The Pens had interest in Guerin at the trade deadline-- New contracts will not be offered to Ekman, Petrovicky, Cairns, and Kwiatkowski-- No decisions have been made on Thibault, Nasreddine, Scuderi, and Melichar-- The Penguins plan on keeping Georges Laraque

not seeing this one, especially with aucoin gone, seabrook will be the go to guy on the hawks blueline this year.

[doox 15]

So the Pens get Esposito, a formerly ranked #1 mid-season prospect...should I be thrilled that we got a steal, or are there legitimate concerns that made this kid drop so far? From what I've read, he's not physical enough, and he needs more mental toughness.

[nell789 0]

So the Pens get Esposito, a formerly ranked #1 mid-season prospect...should I be thrilled that we got a steal, or are there legitimate concerns that made this kid drop so far? From what I've read, he's not physical enough, and he needs more mental toughness.

of course there are legitimate reasons that he dropped, but he's got the part of a hockey player that is unteachable: The talent.Some might say working hard, going into corners, and mental toughness isn't teachable either, but I would say that part of the game is easier to develop than raw scoring ability.

[fryer98 30]

Penguins leave Ouellet off listNot among 6 players to get qualifying offerTuesday, June 26, 2007By Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-GazetteThe Penguins yesterday extended qualifying offers to six players who otherwise would have become unrestricted free agents Sunday. The only regular from last season who did not receive a qualifying offer was winger Michel Ouellet.The restricted free agents who received the offers were forwards Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, Maxime Talbot and newly acquired Tim Brent, defenseman Ryan Whitney and minor-league defenseman Ryan Lannon. Armstrong is the only one of the five who has arbitration rights.General manager Ray Shero said the Penguins explored trading Ouellet but couldn't come up with a deal, so they will let him test the free-agent market and could attempt to re-sign him if the price is right.Ouellet had 19 goals, 48 points in 73 games and got time on the power play in his first full season in the NHL. He made $500,000 and would have been entitled to a qualifying offer of $550,000."The way the system is set up, while I believe Michel made good strides, it's not reflective of his value," Shero said.The only other restricted free agent who was not given a qualifying offer was minor-league goaltender Andrew Penner, who signed with the Penguins as a free agent last summer and split his season between the team's minor-league teams in Wheeling and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, going a combined 23-12-2.After working out deals to re-sign veteran wingers Mark Recchi and Gary Roberts over the weekend, the Penguins have 16 NHL and minor-league players besides Ouellet and Penner set to become unrestricted free agents Sunday.Of those, Shero said defenseman Rob Scuderi is the only one the team is trying to re-sign before Sunday.Others, including defensemen Josef Melichar and Alain Nasreddine and backup goaltender Jocelyn Thibault, could re-sign with the Penguins during the free-agency period.Many of the rest -- defensemen Eric Cairns, Wade Brookbank, Matt Carkner, Micki Dupont, Joel Kwiatkowski, Richard Litner and Wade Skolney; forwards Nils Ekman, Niklas Nordgren, Ronald Petrovicky and Libor Pivko; and goaltender Nolan Schaefer -- won't be back.That will leave Shero with the task of not only filling in a few spots on the Penguins' roster but also adding several minor-league players to the organization.Shero hopes to hear from defenseman Alex Goligoski, the team's second-round draft pick in 2004, by Sunday on whether he plans to turn pro or return to the University of Minnesota.NOTE -- The team today will begin a weeklong conditioning camp for 32 rookies and young prospects, including Angelo Esposito, their first-round pick in the draft last weekend, six other 2007 draft picks and top defense prospect Kris Letang.

[doox 15]

I don't think $550,000 was that steep for him Here's another news item:Pens enforcer Laraque injures shoulderThe Hockey News.com6/26/2007 11:54:50 AMThe Hockey News.com has learned Penguins enforcer Georges Laraque injured his shoulder during an off-season training session and is expected to travel to Pittsburgh this week to be evaluated by team doctors. Laraque's agent refused to confirm the right winger was had been hurt - and a call requesting comment from Pens GM Ray Shero was not immediately returned - but a source said the injury occurred while the right winger was lifting weights. Another source said a preliminary MRI conducted on the shoulder was negative. The 6-foot-3, 243-pounder, ostensibly was brought to Pittsburgh to help protect young stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. But if the injury causes him to miss a significant amount of playing time, Shero may have little choice but to bring in another player of Laraque's physical ilk. Acquired in a trade with the Phoenix Coyotes in February, Laraque had 19 assists, 24 points and 70 penalty minutes in 73 games last season.

[fryer98 30]

Penguins' Talbot wins a shot at $10 millionEarns spot in poker's World Series in JulyWednesday, June 27, 2007By Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-GazetteThe NHL hasn't landed in Las Vegas yet, but Penguins forward Maxime Talbot is headed there hoping for riches.Talbot has won his way into the main event of the World Series of Poker, a tournament that draws several thousand players, usually has a $10,000 entry fee and could make the winner $10 million or more.It starts July 6."Everybody's asking me about that," Talbot said when he stopped by the Mellon Arena locker room while it was buzzing with the first day of conditioning camp for prospects."I'm kind of nervous. It's a different kind of competition. I don't know how well it's going to go, but I'm pretty excited."Talbot, who earlier this week was given a qualifying offer that will prevent him from becoming an unrestricted free agent, said the Penguins don't have to worry; he won't retire from hockey if he strikes gold."I'll be signing here with a minimum salary and having fun playing," he said.Talbot has recruited family members to play so he can practice. He figures, because it didn't cost him anything to enter, he has nothing to lose."I'm going to be really aggressive," he said.Although Talbot is an expressive and outgoing guy, he claims to be good at bluffing.And he has the pat answer for questions about his skill at poker."Actually, I'm pretty bad."

[WestcoastCanuck 0]

Maxim Talbot is awesome. Any interview I have seen with him is entertaining.

[doox 15]

I bet he and Ian Moran would've made for great tv together

[fryer98 30]

Congrats, Ronnie!

[doox 15]

The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed unrestricted free agent right winger Michel Ouellet to a two-year deal worth $1.2 million and $1.3 million.

[Zach6668 513]

For some reason we signed Dany Sabourin back...

[doox 15]

He was reportedly the best goalie in preseason...I hadn't paid much attention to him, but a dude I know who follows the Canucks said it was a good thing Guess that means Thibault is expendable?

[doox 15]

1:02am etThe Pittsburgh Penguins signed defenceman Darryl Sydor to a two-year, $5 million contract.

[doox 15]

and...1:18am etThe Pittsburgh Penguins signed winger Petr Sykora to a two-year contract. That's actually a better 1st FA day than I was expecting - a decent defenseman and a solid winger. My guess is a Letang/Sydor pairing, and Sykora ought to find time with Crosby.

[doox 15]

Penguins re-sign Cs Talbot and Christensen July 5, 2007PITTSBURGH (TICKER) -- The Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday re-signed centers Max Talbot and Erik Christensen to two-year contracts. Terms of the deals were not disclosed. "Max and Erik both made great strides in helping us reach the playoffs last season," Pittsburgh general manager Ray Shero said. "We look forward to continued contributions from them in the future." Talbot had 13 goals and 11 assists and recorded 53 penalty minutes in 75 games last season. The 23-year-old ranked second on the team with four short-handed goals and also netted four game-winning tallies. Christensen, 23, posted 18 goals and 15 assists in 61 games last season. He tied for the NHL lead with eight shootout goals and had the deciding goal in three of the 10 shootout victories for the Penguins.

[fryer98 30]

Penguins re-sign Cs Talbot and Christensen

Just heard ths on 'DVE, but hadn't seen any article on it yet. I was hoping it wasn't just a rumor.

[grocery_mony 9]

Heard on Pratt and Taylor Crosby is gonna sign a long term deal bellow market value in the next week or so. Congrats to Pens fans on having the best player in the leauge who is willing to share the wealth to build a winner.

[Zach6668 513]

Heard on Pratt and Taylor Crosby is gonna sign a long term deal bellow market value in the next week or so. Congrats to Pens fans on having the best player in the leauge who is willing to share the wealth to build a winner.

Wow... I hope you're right.

[fryer98 30]

Heard on Pratt and Taylor Crosby is gonna sign a long term deal bellow market value in the next week or so. Congrats to Pens fans on having the best player in the leauge who is willing to share the wealth to build a winner.

Wow... I hope you're right.

You can find plenty of local coverage about this in the last few days here: http://www.post-gazette.com/penguins/

[serge 904]

You can find plenty of local coverage about this in the last few days here: http://www.post-gazette.com/penguins/

How do the Penguins afford to sign all their young players???Free agency will hit them hard..Crosby will get sick of losing in Pittsburgh and I guarantee that he will seek free agency when he is eligible...That is the truth

[rinswun 6]

but serge last year the pens had the 4th most regular season wins in the East. sure they got knocked out in the playoffs pretty early but they were lacking playoff experience in a big way. If you want i will go $25 on the Penguins going further in the playoffs than the Leafs (as well as the other bet about the sabres and the leafs), if they both get knocked out its a push, Leafs go further you win.

[Fenxis 99]

Free agency will hit them hard..Crosby will get sick of losing in Pittsburgh and I guarantee that he will seek free agency when he is eligible...That is the truth

Funny that there's talk of Crosby signing an extension at a "discount" then? I think most of their younger players will wait until they win a Cup or two and then cash in.Will Crosby be with the Penguins forever? The overwhelming odds are no, but that's more a symptom of this day and age.

[doox 15]

Funny that there's talk of Crosby signing an extension at a "discount" then? I think most of their younger players will wait until they win a Cup or two and then cash in.Will Crosby be with the Penguins forever? The overwhelming odds are no, but that's more a symptom of this day and age.

I dunno - as Pens fans, we're a little spoiled when it comes to player loyalty. We had Mario for his entire career, and now he's part pwner of the team. Maybe that's part of the reason fans turned on Jagr. He was dubbed "Mario Jr" (Jaromir anagram) but wasn't the same type of person, so left and was vilified. I'd say the Pens have a decent shot at keeping him for his career - maybe better than most teams would. It's not a huge market, and Pittsburgh fans tend to give star athletes their space a bit more. He's a private person, so that's got to be a draw. He currently lives with Mario, so the closeness of their relationship would definitely help his decision to stick around...he's even said in the past that he respects how Mario stuck with one team for his entire career. That's not set in stone by any means, but I would like to think he's got a better than average chance of staying.