Projecting past drafts to what the Penguins might look like in 2012

by Hooks Orpik on Jun 28, 2009 10:39 PM EDT in Pittsburgh Penguins Prospects

Genius doesn't borrow, it steals. So when I see an advanced look at what the Washington Capitals lineup down the line, it makes me wonder what the Penguins might look like.

The first group is players actually under contract at the beginning of the 2012-13 season and the second group is mainly prospects (with a mix of some young current day NHL players) that ought to be in the sort for NHL jobs, barring of course trades/injury/odd developments.

As you can tell, veteran guys like Ruslan Fedotenko, Rob Scuderi and Chris Kunitz -- guys that may or may not be around in three years were omitted. This is basically a list of the past couple drafts sprinkled in with the odd Talbot, Goligoski or Kennedy that may or may not be around.

But that's what the future looks like for Pittsburgh....As long as there's Crosby, Malkin and Fleury in the mix, things are looking good. The development of guys like Caputi, Tangradi, Veilleux and CPZ is going to make a huge difference as to whether the future Penguins can surrond their top guns with the talent to make consistent deep playoff runs.

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I would like to think Letang and Gogo will be around as well as Strait and Sneap. That would be a very solid group of 5. The other I would hope pans out would be Despres with his size.

I would expect Tangradi, Caputi and CPZ to all be on the team with at least 2 being top 6 forwards and one being a legitimate goal scorer.

I think Talbot and Kennedy will be around as well(hopefully at least giving one of them an extension this offseason).

Barring a total disaster, we should be a dominate team.

by lovedempens on Jun 29, 2009 12:18 AM EDT reply actions

Does anyone think that within a few years Jordan Staal will be bumped to the 2nd line center and Malkin be put on the wing?

by lovedempens on Jun 29, 2009 12:21 AM EDT up reply actions

interesting… why do you say that?

The Pittsburgh Penguins are your Stanley Cup Champions!!

by jetpen89 on Jun 29, 2009 12:42 AM EDT up reply actions

Hmmm if anything I think it would be the other way around. I don’t think you can really take a guy like Malkin out of his comfort zone and just expect him to play better. I think I knnow where you’re coming from though because Malkin is a great goal scorer and centers nowadays don’t really put up ridiculous goal numbers. But I think moving him around later in his career would be a bit risky.

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by FrankD on Jun 29, 2009 1:50 AM EDT up reply actions

I think Despres will need some work but I really feel like he’ll crack the lineup in the future. He admitted the other day that he has to start shooting more. At least he knows the areas that need work. Guys like Gogo and Letang had the same issue. Like I’ve considered in the past, maybe it’s a offensive-defenseman thing.

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by FrankD on Jun 29, 2009 12:22 AM EDT reply actions

I've played against Hanowski

you guys are getting an absolute steal with this pick.

by Tony_O on Jun 29, 2009 12:51 AM EDT reply actions

When/where did you play against him?

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by FrankD on Jun 29, 2009 1:50 AM EDT up reply actions

2 years ago...High School...

by Tony_O on Jun 30, 2009 12:56 AM EDT up reply actions

Pens 2012

Does anyone see Janne Pesonen playing regularly with the grown-up Pens in the future?

by UnclecoolD on Jun 29, 2009 6:26 AM EDT reply actions

I’d like to be wrong and see Pesonen as a contributing NHL’er, but there’s no indications that Pittsburgh sees him as such….And even if he got a contract offer, who knows if he’d accept from the Pens or maybe look to join another team with possibly a better shot at surely sticking in the NHL.

If Pesonen re-signs with the Pens this summer then he’d be added to this list, but as of now I think he shouldn’t be considered a part of the future of the team.

Pensburgh.com -- it's like the Max Talbot of blogs*

*not just because we only work for 12 minutes a night

by Hooks Orpik on Jun 29, 2009 9:12 AM EDT reply actions

i could not agree more with your last paragraph Hooks. I don’t think we’ll be big players in the FA market for the forseeable future, so we are counting on those 4 players to develop into NHL quality players.

by AronV on Jun 29, 2009 10:46 AM EDT reply actions