This offseason has so far expressed its share of goodbyes along with a few new hellos. I stumbled across an article by CBS sports that graded the Pens' offseason moves so far. Flattering enough, it's the best in the division.
Sure, the Pens lost muscle from guys like Georges Laraque and Jarkko Ruutu, but they added similar interests from Eric Godard and Matt Cooke.
Hossa's departure really wasn't a surprise, but Detroit sure as hell was. But Pitt rebounded to fill that void with a proven Finnish star and potential breakthrough player like Janne Pesonen.
Ryan Malone, Gary Roberts and Adam Hall left for Tampa but Ruslan Fedotenko and Miroslav Satan may even be an upgrade in that department.
Plus, Evgeni Malkin, Marc-Andre Fleury and Brooks Orpik all got extensions that will keep them in Pitt past 2012.
Is the grade here too kind, or does Goldstein hit it right on the head?
Pittsburgh Penguins: It was understood Pittsburgh wouldn't be able to keep its talented lineup intact because of the salary cap, so the vultures started circling soon after the Penguins lost the Stanley Cup Final to Detroit. The result was the loss of several key players including Marian Hossa, Ryan Malone, Gary Roberts and backup goalie Ty Conklin. But in the grand scheme of things, all of the departures other than Hossa, who turned out to be a worthwhile trade deadline rental, were peripheral in Pittsburgh. It would have been nice to hang on to some of them, but more important for the Penguins, they retained core players Evgeni Malkin, Brooks Oprik and starting goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. All signed long-term deals that should ensure the Sidney Crosby-led team will remain among the elites for years to come. In the meantime, the Penguins did an impressive job filling their other voids with forwards Miroslav Satan, Ruslan Fedotenko and Matt Cooke, and they saved themselves a fair amount of money as well. Grade: A-
It's been one heck of an offseason so far but the Pens have kept the core in tact. How do you rate their moves so far?