FanPost

Room for Improvement: LW or D?

The question is whether you think the Penguins need, or would like for them, to improve their defense or their left wing this off-season.

Personally, I'm in the defense crowd. I feel like I'm in the minority though, and I can certainly understand why someone might argue for left wing.. It's long been a position of concern for the Penguins. Chris Kunitz isn't exactly the spring chicken any longer. Sure, there's Carl Hagelin, but we could still argue about whether or not he's a 1st line winger. After that, there's some good young players (Scott Wilson, Connor Sheary) and some depth (Eric Fehr), but no future superstars. I can understand why someone would say that defense isn't as important too. Pittsburgh just ran through a litany of good, young defensemen. Harrington, Despres, Pouliot, Maatta, Dumoulin. That's from the top of my head. Unless Pouliot gets his act together though, there aren't any superstars in the defensive prospect pool either. At least the offense can look forward to Daniel Sprong.

Of course, you have to let players play so that they can prove themselves, but I'm not willing to bet another Stanley Cup on Jeff Schultz and Ian Cole as my third pairing. I'm also unwilling to bet on the injury history of Kris Letang or Olli Maatta. I do not particularly follow which Penguin players have contracts coming up when, so I'm not certain how trading for say.... Kevin Shattenkirk and his expiring contract .... would effect other players resigning. And, I admit that left wing could use some improvement. But, I believe the superstar caliber of our centers and the depth of the team elevates the status of any LW on the team. So, I can live with rotating between Sheary, Wilson, Rust, Fehr, or even the HBK line, being the top line LW.

But, before I go cooking up trade scenarios, I want to know what the majority is most interested or concerned with. Am I completely off track? Maybe you think goaltending is a big issue for some reason. Explain why. Maybe you just want to stand pat with the team that won the Cup. Tell me about it.

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