Penguins/NHL
The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed forward Daniel Carcillo to a Professional Tryout contract, the team announced this morning. Carcillo a notorious pest, can provide immediate toughness, but is also one of the dumbest players in the NHL when it comes to his on-ice antics.
Carcillo, though, is a player who will immediately stand up for teammates, something the Penguins lacked last season when their star center was getting cross-checked in the face.
Those are the positives with Carcillo and he can provide some energy for a hockey club when he plays smart hockey.
Carcillo (6-feet, 200 pounds) has played nine NHL seasons, beginning with the Phoenix Coyotes in 2006-07 when he was traded from Pittsburgh to Phoenix at the 2007 trade deadline for Georges Laraque. After finding his niche with the Flyers for a few seasons, Carcillo has bounced around with the Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers the last couple seasons.
Carcillo split last season between the Kings and Rangers. He had four goals and one assist with 100 penalty minutes in 57 regular-season games and scored two goals in eight playoff games for the Rangers.
He’s one of those players who always wears out his welcome after a bit.
IS THERE A FIT FOR CARCILLO?
The Penguins in recent weeks have shown interest in bringing a player with toughness into camp. There had been some discussions on bringing Paul Bissonnette into camp on a tryout, but there was no match as Bissonnette is looking for a one-way contract.
With tryout contracts there is no risk, why the Penguins are also interested in bringing Ryan Malone into camp, if he gets reinstated. For Carcillo, you’re not only playing for a contract with the Penguins but all 29 other teams.
The question with the Penguins is whether’s there’s even a fit?
The Penguins have talked about becoming a more balanced team and improving their 4th line defensively and offensively.
The 4th line center spot was not the problem last year and it isn’t this year with Marcel Goc returning. It was the wingers. Goc’s a viable 4th line center to build around. When the Bissonnette talk was going around few weeks ago, the question I brought up was do you want Craig Adams and Paul Bisonnette to be your 12th and 13th forwards?
You don’t and the same applies here with Carcillo. A Marcel Goc gets wasted if he has wingers like Adams, Carcillo.
Ideally Carcillo is a player you want on a two-way contract.
