Pens retool the top 6
The Pittsburgh Penguins made some moves that will hopefully address their struggling top 6 that has lacked chemistry all season. The moves were costly as the Pens paid big prices to add the pieces they wanted, but in order to build a roster that wins that is what it takes.
Deal 1:
To Colorado
Ilya Kovalchuk
Mathew Dumba
2013 1st (col)
To Pittsburgh
Nicklas Backstrom
2013 2nd (col)
2014 2nd (col)
I really like Backstrom and wanted to add his all around game, I feel he is the perfect complement to Datsyuk in the lineup and hopefully he can find some chemistry with AO. Kovy is a personal favorite but he wasn’t hitting the score sheet this year and although I think Dumba will be good I think he will take a few years to improve his defensive game before he is an impact NHLer.
Deal 2:
To Anaheim
Joe Thornton
2013 1st (NJ)
2014 3rd (PIT)
To Pittsburgh
Patrice Bergeron
2014 2nd (ana)
As dominant a center big Joe is he is not as well rounded as Bergy. We get younger and add a great 2 way guy who should add some grit and hustle to the lineup. Adding a 1st was tough but I feel this deal will help our team this year and into the future.
Deal 3:
To Columbus:
Bobby Ryan
To Pittsburgh:
Chris Kreider
2013 1st (TB)
I looked at this as not an ideal return on Ryan, but one that we are very happy with all the same. I decided to gain some assets that I really liked and remove a player that wasn’t fitting in at all. Ryan is a great young player, but I think Kreider will be really good and I am extremely happy to add a potential top 5 pick before the asking price goes insane.
This changes the look of our top 6 a lot, Nik Antropov reunites with Ovechkin on the 2nd line, they really clicked and put up big numbers and I hope they do again.
New look forward lines:
Backstrom-Datsyuk-Stamkos
Ovechkin-Bergeron-Antropov
Kane-Koivu-Pacioretty
Bourque-Desharnais-Armstrong/Eller
If Antropov can’t get the job done up front; Kreider will be packaged up with Butler to bring in another top 6 guy. All in all I know I paid the price in these deals but hope it is the price of victory.
|
