Corrado up, Pouliot sent back to AHL
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Frank Corrado certainly did not expect this. But he’ll take it. After seven games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League, Corrado, acquired in a trade with Toronto March 1, made his Penguins debut Tuesday against the Sabres at KeyBank Center.
When the Penguins got Corrado, he was viewed as a project, someone the organization figured it could fix, Much like it did with fellow defenseman Justin Schultz last season.
Injuries and the continued development of Derrick Pouliot have forced the Penguins to call an audible.
“To get the call was a nice feeling,” Corrado said.
“Good recognition. Very excited about it.”
Corrado skated on a third pairing with veteran Mark Streit.
A big reason why the Penguins promoted Corrado is that he’s a right-handed shot, a commodity for NHL defense like a left-handed pitcher in baseball.
Another could be that coach Mike Sullivan worked with him when he was in Vancouver.
Regardless, the Penguins view Corrado as a solid, twoway defenseman who likely is a better bet to help them win games right now than Pouliot.
“Certainly, he’s another guy who adds to the depth of our defense corps here,” Sullivan said.
“We’ve obviously needed that depth down the stretch to continue to find ways to win games.”
Including his time with Toronto’s AHL affiliate, the Marlies, Corrado has 13 points in 25 AHL games this season and also played two with the Maple Leafs earlier this year.
As a defenseman for the Penguins, Corrado will be counted upon to skate and make quick decisions the puck. He is confident neither will be an issue.
“It’s a team that wants to make the pace of play pretty fast,” Corrado said
“That’s by moving pucks up quick, catching teams in transition. I think that’s one of the things that you have to do when you come here.
“I don’t think it’s anything crazy.”
Defending Pouliot
Corrado’s arrival coincided with the Penguins decision to send Pouliot back to the minors.
Sullivan defended the move during an impassioned answer that lasted 2 minutes, 17 seconds and consumed 318 words following the Tuesday morning skate.
The gist: Pouliot is a young defenseman, he needs to play in games, these sort of developmental speed bumps are normal, and the organization hasn’t given up on the former first-round pick.
“Our injuries have forced us to make decisions to try to help the Pittsburgh Penguins be competitive,” Sullivan said.
“We try as a staff and a management team to walk the line of helping this team win and be competitive because that’s the priority, with the long-term overall development of our young players. I think we have to have our eye on both of those balls.
“We still believe in [Pouliot]. We believe he’s a good player. He’s a talented player. This is just part of the process as a young player. Some players’ learning curves are faster than others. I think playing defense in this league is probably the hardest jump, the hardest position to play. The adjustment for a young defenseman is the most difficult. I think Derrick’s just going through that process.“
Sundqvist up, Sestito hurt
Another roster move the Penguins made Tuesday was promoting Oskar Sundqvist.
It was done, in part, because forward Tom Sestito is day-to-day with an upperbody injury. Sundqvist played in four NHL games earlier this month. He has 17 goals and 40 points in 55 AHL games this year.
Evgeni Malkin (upperbody) is not with the team. He skated in Pittsburgh Tuesday, and Sullivan said he’s “status quo.”
No decision has been made for his availability Thursday in Ottawa.
He missed a second consecutive game Tuesday.
Gold is back
The Penguins announced Tuesday that they will wear their yellow Stadium Series uniforms for two upcoming home games: Sunday against the Philadelphia Flyers and April 2 against the Carolina Hurricanes.