@penguins #Pens GM Ray Shero: Malkin is on his way. Should arrive today. Won't skate today but will tomorrow.
Good to know the exact status of Evgeni Malkin. With 65 points in 37 KHL games so far this season, Malkin is probably the last player out there that needs a training camp, so no harm, no foul there.
@penguins More Shero: Friday you have to have your roster set at 3pm.
An interesting detail to know that things will be wrapped up on Friday, but it just goes to show how little time and chances for guys like Dustin Jeffrey, Eric Tangradi, Simon Despres and Beau Bennett to show they belong. Especially considering that Thursday is an off day.
Will anything change with practices on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday a scrimmage Wednesday night and a practice Friday morning (a day before the opener)? Seems doubtful, but there are only 26 players in camp, so it's not as if there are a ton of different decisions that are needed to be made.
@penguins More Shero: No (injuries). Knock on wood. Everybody is healthy coming into camp
Good news there, to be sure. With this season about to kick up, a quick start will be key and entering the fray with full health is obviously a plus. That's not totally unexpected, as other than Tomas Vokoun (who didn't play at the end of last season with a groin injury) no other players were coming off of any major off-season issues.
@penguins More Shero: Possible we could keep 8 defensemen but not 9
Ok so you got Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik, Paul Martin, Matt Niskanen and Deryk Engelland comfortably in there are five.
Which would leave three roster spots (and just one game lineup spot) between Ben Lovejoy, Simon Despres, Robert Bortuzzo and Brian Strait. Which is four guys.
The odd man out, from a numbers perspective, seems to be Despres - who does not need to clear waivers - unlike the rest. There is also, the option of a trade or even waiving a player exists too. For a while it has seemed like the Pens have always liked and been grooming Strait and Bortuzzo for bigger roles, now we'll see this week if they are ready to become permanent members of the team.