The Penguins have caught many around the league by surprise in their ability to overcome the losses of Ryan Whitney and Sergei Gonchar.
Ryan Whitney is skating and looks to be in the best shape of his career. Whitney is determined to resemble the player he was two seasons ago and I expect him to have a big season when he returns to the lineup in December.
Is Ryan Whitney trade bait?
The Penguins have received a lot of inquiries about Whitney in the past year and despite the emergence of Alex Goligoski and Kris Letang, the Penguins view Ryan Whitney as the heir apparent to Sergei Gonchar and GM’s around the league know if will take an offer the Penguins can’t refuse for them to consider moving Whitney.
The Penguins are shopping……..

Penguins shopping Fedotenko and Eaton?
Sources tell me ownership sees the Penguins having a golden opportunity in the wide open Eastern Conference to make another significant run. The pressure continues to mount on the front office for the Penguins to add a top flight winger. For now the Penguins are taking a conservative approach and are shopping Ruslan Fedotenko who does have some value and defenseman Mark Eaton to see what kind of return they could fetch.

Things may change in the near future but for now the indications are the Penguins will continue to explore the market with the mindset of their young core players being off-limits unless a offer they can’t refuse comes their way. That means Staal, Whitney, Letang and Goligoski will not be actively shopped by the Penguins to upgrade their top two lines. Players like Fedotenko, Eaton, draft picks and prospects will be in play this season.
Prospects who are off-limits

I’m also hearing Shero would be very reluctant to move Carl Sneep, Nick Johnson and Casey Pierro-Zabotel, in any deal. All three players are valued very high by the Penguins and the Penguins really like Johnson’s and Pierro-Zabotel’s potential.
Prospects who could be trade bait that have value around the league.
F Dustin Jeffrey, D Brian Strait, D Alex Grant.
Penguins have a deep young blue line with Whitney, Goligoski, Letang and Sneep the teams #2 rated prospect waiting in the wings. Grant and Strait will be expendable.
Penguins are active
The months leading up to the trade deadline is always fun as teams explore potential trade partners. Penguins scouts have been active but for now they don’t have any set in stone targets like they did last year with Hossa,Jokinen and Havlat.
Lightning to shop St. Louis?
A source close to a Penguins scout still believes the Tampa Lightning will look to move forward Marty St. Louis later in the season to clear enough cap space to land a younger top tier winger for Vincent Lecavier via free agency.
More to come. Check back Thursday afternoon for a update on Janne Pesonen and whether the Penguins have any plans to call him up or do they see him as trade bait this season?
Photo courtesy of Dan4th