GMRS admitted to the Tribune that Malkin could be the highest Penguin player even above Crosby. This could very well mean the avg/yr is higher than Crosby but it will be interesting to see how Shero can pull this off especially considering he wants to keep Letang as well. "Shero did not say the Penguins would spare no expense to keep both players, but he confirmed that he and Crosby discussed the likelihood that Malkin might become the Penguins‘ highest paid player in terms of yearly salary."

I'm not sure how I feel about this (mostly because to have any effect boycotts need a level of organization and commitment not seen in such a disparate group as hockey fans). It is an interestin idea, though.

Skip to the last ten seconds of the video for the excitement. (Also, if you were curious at all as to the wherabouts of John Curry...well, here you go. The DEL didn't suit him, I suppose.)

Pretty please, with sugar on top, let this lead to a new CBA ASAP!!! I want hockey!!!!

Robert Vollman takes a look at Goals Versus Salary for the 2011-2012 season. Not that it's a surprise to anyone here, but it turns out that Pascal Dupuis was one of the biggest bargain players in the league, second only to Ottawa's Erik Karlsson. I'll have a report up in the next couple of days about how the Pens stack up in general, although there aren't many surprises.

NHL.com did a Best of the NHL list in alphabetical order. It goes from all time, to runners up, to current best in the NHL. The usual suspects are on there for both past and present. Of course, my only real problem is that they have Fleury as the best current player filed under the letter F. Crosby and Malkin are represented, of course,

My last post argued that the Penguins would need another winger to truly be a contender next season, but most of the responses I got were in dissent. And this is completely understandable given the Penguin's powerful offense last season. So, here's a post on how important James Neal is to the Penguins top-6. Both, in terms of his own production (40-goal scorer last season) and in terms of his ability to finish when the opposition is focused on defending Crosby or Malkin. What do you think? Could Crosby and Malkin handle the glut of offensive duties without secondary stars on their wings? Or does James Neal need to continue to score 30-40 goals and put up point-per-game numbers to keep the Pen's offense as strong as it has been in recent years?