- Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette: The Penguins made major changes last offseason after their second round loss to the Rangers – replacing Ray Shero and Dan Bylsma, and overhauling their roster. It won’t happen this time around. GM Jim Rutherford and coach Mike Johnston will be back. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin won’t be going anywhere either.
“We will start next season with two of the best players in the game, one of the best goaltenders and a defenseman who was the best in the league before he was injured,” Morehouse said of Crosby, Malkin, Marc-Andre Fleury and Kris Letang.
“That’s a pretty good place to start. We want to add speed and youth, but we like where we’re at. We’re still in good shape.”
The Penguins expect Kris Letang and Olli Maatta to be healthy for next season. The Penguins problem will be finding goal-scorers. Trading Malkin would be hard due to his no-trade clause and getting fair value for him, plus ownership said they have “no interest” in breaking Crosby and Malkin up. The Penguins will get some salary cap space when Christian Ehrhoff and Paul Martin leave via free agency.
- Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The Penguins lineup is top heavy in talent and price, limiting what they can do with the bottom part of their roster. Trading draft picks for short-term fixes or to patch holes has hurt their organizational depth. Pascal Dupuis hopes to be able to return next season, but he’ll be 36-years old. Chris Kunitz is only a few months younger than Dupuis. Unlikely the Penguins will be able to find a top-six winger or two in free agency. Trade market for Kunitz or David Perron likely won’t be big. Trading one of their young defensemen could be an option. If Paul Martin and Christian Ehrhoff leave in free agency, their depth would be lessened.
- Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Rossi thinks the Penguins should re-sign pending UFA defenseman Paul Martin. Martin likes coach Johnston’s system and enjoys Pittsburgh. GM Jim Rutherford hasn’t spoken with Martin’s camp. Martin is 34-years old and his would likely be looking for a raise from his current $5 million.
