Penguins/NHL
The Philadelphia Flyers may have the most depth at the forward position in the National Hockey League. They don’t have a Malkin or Crosby but top to bottom they are much deeper than the Penguins.
Sources tell me the Rangers are inching closer to signing Mats Sundin. Rangers GM Glen Sather is aggressively trying to move Petr Prucha who has a cap hit of $1.6 million. Sundin is open to signing for $3.5 – $4 million per season. Vancouver is Sundin’s fall back option.
According to a source, now that Penguins General Manager Ray Shero got a decent look at the top WBS players, he is developing a plan to make some personnel moves/trades. There is some concern in the organization
about the Penguins inability to match up against physical teams like the Philadelphia Flyers.
Bringing up Paul Bissonnette again is being considered.
The Penguins have talked to the Islanders about Bill Guerin and the asking price is way too high at this point.
The team misses Hal Gill more than the Penguins front office expected, according to one source.
This caught me by surprise today but I received a email from one of my most reliable sources who said “Look for the Pens to have a talk with Brendan Shanahan.” It has been internally discussed this week according to another source. I will be keeping a close eye on this throughout the week. At this moment I would be surprised if the Penguins move on him because I’ve heard all summer the Penguins don’t see him as a good fit. Maybe now they do?
There continues to be some dialogue between the Penguins and Jordan Staal’s representatives. Staal only wants a three year deal. The issue remains the amount of money per season. Pittsburgh is reluctant to offer more than $3.25 million per season. I don’t blame them. I wouldn’ t offer more than $3 million per.
Currently the Penguins offer is in the range of $2.75 – $3.25 million per season. Staal’s camp is trying to put the pressure on the Penguins that they know for certain that two or three teams will make a offer to Staal in the off-season exceeding $4 million per season. The Penguins gave in to this approach from Ryan Whitney’s camp a few summers ago.
Penguins taking a wait and see approach with Petr Sykora in regards to a long-term extension.
