Penguins/NHL
Penguins Roster Outlook
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The Pittsburgh Penguins roster officially stands at 25 with Tom Sestito clearing waivers and re-assigned to Wilkes Barre/Scranton on Friday.
Where do things stand heading into Opening Night?
FORWARDS
Top-12
Sidney Crosby
Jake Guentzel
Conor Sheary
Evgeni Malkin
Patric Hornqvist? (Injured)
Byran Rust
Phil Kessel
Greg McKegg
Carl Hagelin
Cater Rowney
Ryan Reaves
Scott Wilson
— Barring a trade for a third line center, the Penguins are committed to Greg McKegg as their third line center for the start of the regular season and will see where it goes. He’s not going to have to a long leash but he’s won over the coaching staff who love the forechecking presence. McKegg’s emergence has had a big impact on what the Penguins do with Jay McClement who is in camp on a PTO.–
Safe as of Today
Tom Kuhnhackl
While Kuhnhackl’s name has been out there in trade talks To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
On the Outside
Jay McClement, Josh Archibald
Jay McClement remains in camp but has fallen out of the picture among the regulars. McClement has struggled with the Penguins pace and with this evolving into a league about speed and youth, 34 year olds with limited speed and offense are struggling to find work around the league.
Pittsburgh is also at 49 contracts. Do they waste a roster spot on McClement that would put Pittsburgh at the 50 max and would in all certainty force them to put Josh Archibald on waivers?
The Penguins thought coming into camp McClement would emerge as fourth line center but that hasn’t panned out.
Josh Archibald is safe if Patric Hornqvist goes on IR to start the season but things get a little tricky if he doesn’t……
The Derrick Pouliot Dilemma
13-8-2 or 14-7-2?
The Penguins top-7 D to start the season will be Kris Letang, Brian Dumoulin, Ian Cole, Justin Schultz, Olli Maatta, Matt Hunwick, Chad Ruhwedel.
What happens with Derrick Pouliot?
A trade is a matter of when not if for Pouliot, multiple league sources say.
The question around the team is whether a trade comes quick enough by Tuesday, October 3 at 5:00 p.m. when the 23-man rosters officially have to be submitted.
If a trade doesn’t happen, then the decision comes down to whether to keep Archibald or Pouliot from being exposed to waivers.
Playing the ‘If’ game again, but if Patric Hornqvist goes on IR and the Penguins determine this weekend he’s a week or longer from playing, then the Penguins get a little time from making that decision.
Pouliot, though, is pretty much a goner when it comes to his future with the organization.
It’s now just a game of whether the Penguins can get some sort of value, which is the Penguins primary goal.
League sources say the organization has reached the point where they believe Pouliot has showed them everything without making an official trade request that he doesn’t want to be here.
A few teams have kicked some tires, including the Sabres [hide] and Red Wings, but outside of 2-3 teams, Pittsburgh has received few trade calls on Pouliot for a while now.
The lack of offensive development has greatly concerned scouts and the poor body language seen in preseason games has continued from observers around the league that watched Pouliot closely this preseason.
“If Mike Sullivan can’t light a fire under his ass, I don’t To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
