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| Janne Pesonen has been sent down to AHL Wilkes-Barre by the Penguins, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. |
Our View: Pesonen was a star in the Finnish Elite League, but is not quite ready for the NHL, and needs to spend some time in the minors before he can make an impact with Pittsburgh. |
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| Jeff Taffe has been waived by the Penguins, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. |
Our View: If no other club claims him by noon today, Taffe will be assigned to Wilkes-Barre. He had five goals and seven assists over 45 contests with the Penguins last season.
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| Kris Beech has been placed on unconditional waivers by the Penguins after refusing to report to AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. |
Our View: If he goes unclaimed and does not report to Wlkes-Barre within two weeks, the Penguins will exercise their option to terminate the one-year contract he signed this summer. He has coveted a job in Europe since being demoted by Pittsburgh.
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| Petr Sykora missed the season-opening games in Sweden because of a groin injury, and will apparently sit out at least one more, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
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Our View: Sykora did not practice Wednesday, and is not expected to play when New Jersey visits Mellon Arena Saturday. Sykora, who scored 63 points in 2007, had been penciled in to start the season on the No. 2 line with Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal.
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| Ryan Stone has cleared waivers with Pittsburgh and will be assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. |
Our View: Stone only appeared in six games with the Penguins in 2007, and will hold no fantasy value if promoted at some point this season. |
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| Sidney Crosby picked up an assist on Sunday and now has two of them two games into the 2009 campaign. |
Our View: Not many players can produce two assists in two games and be considered mildly disappointing. Crosby will no doubt have a his fair share of average performances, but when this kid gets hot there are few players more capable of racking up prodigious point totals. |
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| Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 24 of 27 shots on Sunday as he picked up the loss to fall to 1-1 on the year. |
Our View: Through two games Fleury has allowed six goals while posting a save percentage of .903 in a just fair start to his campaign. Look for this type of average performance to be surpassed on most nights by this talented youngster. |
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| Evgeni Malkin notched a goal in Saturday's 4-3 win over the Senators. The goal was unassisted. |
Our View: He is off to a solid start and should once again challenge 50 goals in 2008. |
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| Tyler Kennedy blasted two goals in Saturday's 4-3 win over Ottawa. Both scores came on a wrist shot. |
Our View: The 22-year-old center has a future in the NHL, but the Penguins are too deep at the position right now for him to make an impact. |
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| Alex Goligoski is expected to be scratched from the lineup today in favor of Darryl Sydor, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. |
Our View: I guess coach Michel Therrien doesn't trust Goligoski to fill in for Sergei Gonchar after all. Goligoski is a talented on offense, but his defensive skills are lacking. |
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| Petr Sykora will not play in the team's season opener tonight and will likely miss tomorrow's game, as well, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Sykora returned to practice earlier this week after missing five days because of a respiratory illness, but he is now out with a groin ailment. |
Our View: Bummer for Sykora's owners. He'll be back next weekend when the team returns to the states. |
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| Jordan Staal appears likely to take over the spot of departed winger Ryan Malone on the Penguins top power-play alongside Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "It's a big opportunity for (me). I want to take advantage of it." |
Our View: That's the understatement of the year. If Staal can flash his offensive talents, he is in line for one whopper of a season. Already slated to skate on a line with Malkin at even strength, if he spends any time on the first power-play unit his odds of scoring 30-goals for the first time seem very favorable (he scored 29 as a rookie). |
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| Petr Sykora returned to the ice after being out since Friday due to a respiratory illness, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He said, "It wasn't easy out there, but I'm glad I'm back."
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Our View: The Penguins start the regular season on Saturday, and it remains to be seen if he will be ready to play. Even if he gets off to a slow start, he could still challenge 25-30 goals. |
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| Sidney Crosby registered three assists in Thursday's 4-1 win over Jokerit of the Finnish Elite League. |
Our View: He is off a good start as the Penguins head into their regular season opener against the Senators on Saturday (in Sweden). |
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