Pittsburgh Restocks the Cupboard

A year ago, GM Mat Fargas saw a window opening for a championship. Despite bowing out in the final four last year, it appeared that window would stay open for at least another season. After loading up with veterans Devan Dubnyk and Tomas Plekanec in the summer, all signs pointed to an 'all-in' mentality en route to another deep playoff run.

That was then, this is now.

The Penguins season has been somewhat of a disappointment. Stuck in perhaps the toughest division in the NHL, they've struggled to maintain long periods of success. Even now, amidst an 8-2 run in their last 10, the Penguins find themselves tied for 5th in the division and merely in the mix for a wildcard spot.

"Well, I take the blame for the construction of the roster. I believed in what we had, but it's clear to me now that we had too many passengers on the roster. We haven't had enough contributions from our supporting cast, and now it's time to look at our future- and make sure we have reinforcements coming."

GM Mat Fargas made a shocking move earlier this weekend, dealing leading scorer Kris Letang for Alex Goligoski and a 1st Round Pick. He didn't stop dealing there, shipping out veterans Jordie Benn and Kevin Connauton for a trio of late picks. Soon after, Justin Abdelkader and Tomas Plekanec were dealt for 4th round picks.

"We've restocked the cupboard. Another 1st round pick goes a long way for a franchise.  Obviously it hurts to lose Kris, who was playing great hockey for us. But we feel we acquired a similarly talented player in Alex, and we know he's going to play his ass off for us and log big minutes. We wish Kris well on his quest for a cup."

A puzzling move made during the weekend saw Pittsburgh trade young forward Mattias Janmark and a 4th Round pick to Minnesota for D Mattias Ekholm.

"We will miss Janmark. He's a very gifted young player, but we love what Ekholm can do. He's still fairly young himself. He slots in nicely on our 2nd pairing, and we feel we have a deep blueline heading in to next season. With expansion looming, we're likely to lose a defenseman so building up a group of 3-4 that can truly anchor our top pairings is important."

It's been rumoured that the Penguins may opt to protect 4 forwards and 4 defensemen, as opposed to the 7-3-1 protection scheme that most franchises employ.

"Obviously, our forward group was not good enough this year. It's just been torn down, and expansion may tear it down further- we shall see. It will certainly be a focal point in free agency this upcoming summer."

-AP-