POINT SHOTS
The NHL trade deadline is a little over two weeks away, and it is difficult to see how the Penguins could pull off something seismic. One potential trade chip is Marcus Pettersson, pictured above. But even if another team was willing to take on his long-term cap hit of $4,025,175, the Penguins might be playing whack-a-mole by moving on from him. He has quietly played well in March, with an expected goals percentage of 56.2 as of Friday, per Natural Stat Trick. Given how solidly the Penguins have been playing defensively, does it make sense to destabilize their third pair to bring in a better bottom-six forward? Let’s not forget how much a shaky third defensive pair cost them in last year’s playoff loss to the Canadiens.
The latest longerterm injury, this one to Kasperi Kapanen, will mean that the Penguins will have more than $22 million in forward firepower in street clothes, per CapFriendly. Ouch. One silver lining is that Jason Zucker is back on the ice and apparently ahead of schedule. Expectations should be tempered for any player returning from a long-term, lower-body injury. But if he quickly finds his stride, he will give the Penguins a boost. And if they ever get healthy — big if, I know — Mike Sullivan should give Zucker a long look on the third line. Zucker just never clicked with Evgeni Malkin but could be a potential play-driver in the bottom six.
Stick tap to assistant coach Todd Reirden for a job well done. The power play is on the rise. Kris Letang has cut down on the giveaways and is playing great. Plus, reclamation projects Cody Ceci and Mike Matheson are off to a solid start.
I like what I’m seeing from Freddy Gaudreau. He is certainly bringing more to the table right now than Sam Lafferty, Colton Sceviour and Mark Jankowski.
It was cool to see how legitimately excited Sullivan, Sidney Crosby and the rest of the Penguins were after Radim Zohorna scored in his NHL debut Thursday. The big lug is intriguing. He skates well for his size and clearly has some skill.
Boy, do the Sabres stink? The Penguins extended their losing streak to 16 games, the NHL’s longest since the 2003-04 Penguins. That “X Generation” team was built to be bad. These Sabres entered the season with playoff aspirations.