Latest NHL Buzz: Jordan Staal not looking to jump ship and force a trade to a contender

(Jordan Staal did a lot of winning as a player in Pittsburgh) LATEST NHL BUZZ When the Carolina Hurricanes acquired Jordan Staal, former Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford envisioned Carolina being a serious threat in the Eastern Conference with a 1-2 punch down middle in the Staal brothers. Things obviously haven’t panned out and Eric Staal’s dip in play is why that 1-2 punch will never be what the Hurricanes organization had hoped. Jordan Staal, though, remains a building block for new GM Ron Francis and sources close to Staal say he is fully committed to riding this thing out in Carolina and has no intentions of waiving his no movement clause in the near future, were Hurricanes management to approach

Game Day Buzz: Skinner back for Canes; Malkin skates again; Despres scratched for 2nd straight game?

GAME DAY BUZZ PENGUINS (13-7-0, 26 PTS) @ HURRICANES (9-8-1, 19 PTS) MALKIN SKATES AGAIN Things continue to move in the right direction for Evgeni Malkin who skated again this morning at Southpointe. Malkin has been symptom free since Tuesday and has now skated in consecutive days. The Penguins continue to indicate there is no timetable for his return and they are going to be very careful on not establishing one. However, it wouldn’t be surprising if Malkin gets cleared for contact following this weekend, barring a setback. CANES GETTING HEALTHY Jeff Skinner, Tim Brent, Tim Gleason and Jamie McBain will all return to the lineup tonight for Carolina. The return of Skinner is huge for Carolina who has missed

Morning Pens Buzz: Penguins haven’t felt loss of Staal yet but likely will come playoff time

MORNING PENS BUZZ The storyline for tonight’s game vs Carolina is Jordan Staal facing his former team for the first time since being traded on draft day, a day after declining a 10 year, $58 million offer from the Penguins and making it known to the Penguins at the time that he intended to play his final season in Pittsburgh out and explore free agency. Staal had six great years in Pittsburgh, playing a key role in two Stanley Cup runs and a Stanley Cup championship in 2009. He was the Penguins best forward in the 2012 playoffs and the Penguins haven’t felt the loss of Staal yet as they are second in the Eastern Conference with 26 points and

Pens Sunday Afternoon Tibits & Rumblings: Staal talks Quiet & Crosby new contract getting insured

Some afternoon Pens Tidbits & Rumblings: STAAL TALKS QUIET While there have been a number of discussions between GM Ray Shero and Sidney Crosby’s camp about new contract extension that can be signed on July 1, nothing is brewing between the Penguins and Jordan Staal’s camp, who unlike Crosby is far from a lock to sign a new deal this summer. Paul Krepelka, the agent for Jordan Staal tells Inside Pittsburgh Sports that no “meetings or discussions” are planned with Penguin management at this time, but Krepelka expects to meet up with Shero at somepoint during draft weekend (June 22-23) in Pittsburgh. Multiple teams have inquired about Staal and sources say Shero is telling interested teams,

Post-Game Reactions: Flyers give Pens a lesson on how to play with a lead

POST-GAME REACTIONS *Analysis and Locker Room Reactions from Bylsma, Crosby, Staal, Lovejoy, Adams, Malkin, Jagr, Couturier, Giroux & Laviolette* PITTSBURGH — The Philadelphia Flyers were able to do something the Penguins haven’t been able to do through two games; close out a game when holding a lead. After Jaromir Jagr put the Flyers up 6-5 with 10:47 remaining in the game, the Flyers locked down defensively, making things difficult on the Penguins to mount a comeback and force overtime. “They stacked three across the blueline there real effectively and made it tough to get through with the puck, ” head coach Dan Bylsma said. “They trap well, ” center Jordan Staal said. “we had tough time getting through neutral zone,

Morning Pens Buzz: Blueprint on attacking Pens offensively has emerged; Likely Playoff lines established; Post-Game Chatter

MORNING PENS BUZZ The Penguins dropping three of their last four games, continue to express frustrations over their struggles defensively. With the goaltending starting to take a step back in the past few games, issues defensively that have been there for the past six to seven games are starting to catch up. “We didn’t do a lot of good things and paid for it again,” captain Sidney Crosby said on the Penguins 5-3 to the Islanders Thursday night. “We made some mistakes and they capitalized on it.” A blueprint on how to attack the Penguins offensively is out there. Establishing a strong cycle in the offensive zone and spacing the Penguins out has been a prominent way to exploit the

DePaoli: Jordan Staal will get to name his “own price” on next contract

PITTSBURGH — A hot topic in Penguins circles this summer will be how much is Jordan Staal worth. In the third year of a four year, $16 million contract, the 23 year old center is eligible to sign a new extension on July 1 and to no surprise, he will be a top priority for the Penguins. League wide the center position is valued highly by General Managers and franchise centers are hard to find. Just today the Toronto Maple Leafs locked up one of their key forwards for the long term, signing center Mikhail Grabovski to a five-year, $27.5 million contract extension. In 59 games with the Leafs this season, Grabovski has scored 20 goals and added 25 assists.

Latest Penguins Buzz: Malkin at wing or center impacts several players on depth chart

The Latest Penguins Buzz Staal to wing talk *Don’t buy into any talk out there of Jordan Staal getting an extended look at wing in training camp. I’m told there are no plans to explore a possible move to wing for Staal. His spot in the lineup will be in his normal third line center role or 2nd line center spot with Malkin at wing. Bylsma hints at Malkin to wing again *The Penguins remain very intrigued about the Staal/Malkin experiment that never got to happen last season. Dan Bylsma again last week referred to Evgeni Malkin as playing wing, via Tribune-Review. Although expectations are eventually that the Penguins are going to end up with their normal three center model