The Confluence

Next entry: Talbot to have shoulder surgery: Championship DVD released

Previous entry: Fedotenko re-signs with Penguins for one-year deal

Defenseman biggest priority remaining for Shero & Penguins

by Tony on 07/04/09 at 09:57 AM ET
Comments (15)

GM Ray Shero and the Penguins received some welcome news on Day Three of free agency when UFA winger Ruslan Fedotenko not only accepted terms on a new one-year contract, but took a $450K pay cut along with it.

But now with the Pens’ available cap space approximately at the $3M mark now, Shero most likely will have to get a little creative in order to fill the vacancy left by Rob Scuderi’s departure to the Left Coast.

The name most thrown around on the Internets when it comes to Scuderi’s replacement has been Jay McKee, who pretty much a Scuderi clone. A shot blocking defensive defenseman, in a nutshell. The situation with McKee is different than the others in that he was just bought out by the Blues. The thinking is that most likely he may accept less money with that cash already in his pocket. Anyway, several outlets have the Pens talking to him.

If you somehow believe a certain anonymous blogger, he states that the Penguins are involved in trade discussions with the Kings for defenseman and Sidney Crosby buddy Jack Johnson. As always with that guy, take it for what it’s worth.

Other notable available defensemen are Francois Beauchemin, Nick Boynton and Dennis Seidenberg.

Other Pens notes:

- The Pens signed depth defenseman, and Sewickley native Nate Guenin yesterday. Guenin appeared in one game with the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2008-09 season while spending the majority of the year with the Philadelphia Phantoms of the American Hockey League (AHL), posting 14 assists along with 95 penalty minutes in 62 games with the Phantoms this past season.

- Former Pens’ assistant coach Tom Fitzgerald was promoted to the role of Assistant to the General Manager, while Dan Mackinnon was named Director of Player Personnel. And for those of you who are curious, yes, Mike Yeo is still on the coaching staff.

- GMRS mentioned during his press conference yesterday that the Penguins would talk with Petr Sykora next week.

- Tyler Kennedy had his day with the Stanley Cup yesterday in Sault St. Marie, ONTARIO.

Filed in: | The Confluence | Permalink
Tags: NHL-Hockey, Pittsburgh+Penguins,

Comments

What about their goaltending??? John Curry’s turn???

Posted by Aaron from MI from Huron, MI on 07/04/09 at 09:28 AM ET

I think McKee would fit in good with the Pens, Jay is a good shot blocker which they need after losing Scuderi and Gill.

Posted by Aaron from MI from Huron, MI on 07/04/09 at 09:31 AM ET

Fedotenko took a $450K pay cut unless you’re calculating against a projected raise.

The search for defence will be interesting and a bit uncertain, because the future contracts to Gonchar and Letang will be a factor (if they both belong to the future). As will their faith in Lovejoy.

My guess is a reasonably cheap experienced defenceman in the mold of Klee, Hedican, or something similar. A support/mentor for Lovejoy that can still play important minutes.

Posted by Moq from Denmark on 07/04/09 at 09:32 AM ET

Tyler Kennedy had his day with the Stanley Cup yesterday in Sault St. Marie, ONTARIO.

A mere three miles from my house.

Did I go?

LOL!!

Nope, seen the Cup enough times when Paul Boyer brought it back to his hometown. Was that in ‘97, ‘98, ‘02, or ‘08...can’t remember now.

Posted by Red Winger from Sault Ste. Marie on 07/04/09 at 09:41 AM ET

Malkin to Kings for Johnson? *face palm

Posted by Dan from Ann Arbor, MI on 07/04/09 at 10:13 AM ET

@Aaron, Shero has said he still might try to acquire a backup goalie, but it certainly isn’t a higher priority than a defenseman at this point....

@Moq, yup thanks… Thought his salary was a bit higher…

@Winger, aw c’mon, you could’ve worn your Wings jersey and been the life of the party....

Posted by Tony F from Virginia Beach, VA on 07/04/09 at 10:14 AM ET

The Wings had a party yesterday to celebrate the arrival of their Social Security checks. Wooooooooo!!!!!!

Posted by cs6687 on 07/04/09 at 10:29 AM ET

@Winger, aw c’mon, you could’ve worn your Wings jersey and been the life of the party....

I thought of it, seriously.

Posted by Red Winger from Sault Ste. Marie on 07/04/09 at 10:40 AM ET

@winger - who’s trollling now loser?…

just checking in to see what a site from the City of Champions looks like? must be depressing seeing your team get dismantled...dont know how i’d feel with Ozzie and Howard as my goalies either, no wonder players are bolting. Maybe if you guys are lucky though, you can try and do what the pens did after their players left...although pens still had strong goaltending, so might be a bit much to wish for…

Posted by Greg on 07/04/09 at 11:10 AM ET

Curry has respectable numbers and should be able to spot Fleury from time to time. And, God forbid, if M-AF should be out for any extended period E.J. could come down and suit up like he nearly did back in the 1990’s (when he was only in his late sixties!)

Posted by Moebius on 07/04/09 at 01:19 PM ET

Nittymakki will be too expensive. At training camp in September, it’ll be Curry trying to earn a spot against the likes of a Dany Sabourin, Joey McDonald, Kevin Weekes, e.g..

Posted by cs6687 on 07/04/09 at 01:41 PM ET

@winger - who’s trollling now loser?…

Wow, can’t even be happy on your own board?

Posted by Garth on 07/04/09 at 02:03 PM ET

@winger - who’s trollling now loser?…

Jagoff response.

Posted by Puckhead from Jersey! on 07/05/09 at 03:11 AM ET

If they are able to trade Godard ($750,000 for 2 more years) and add that to the roughly $3M cap cushion they have ($3.75M). Should be able to sign a back-up goalie and defensive defenseman for $1.75-2.25M total, leaving at least $1.5M left over. It would be nice to have a cushion so Shero can work his magic at trading deadline time for the 4th straight year. It could be for injury reasons or to add a missing piece. Future looks bright in Pittsburgh: solid line-up, young core, new arena, and oh yea DEFENDING STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS!!!!! Can’t comment on brightness elsewhere. Let’s Go Pens!

Posted by Pens Fan in DC on 07/06/09 at 03:44 PM ET

Add a Comment

Please limit embedded image or media size to 575 pixels wide.

Add your own avatar by joining Kukla's Korner, or logging in and uploading one in your member control panel.

Captchas bug you? Join KK or log in and you won't have to bother.

Most Recent Blog Posts

Penguins bounce back with 3-2 win over Thrashers

Penguins re-assign defenseman Nate Guenin

Orpik plans to return Saturday vs. Thrashers

Penguins re-assign defenseman Chris Lee

Passive Penguins downed by Senators, 6-2

Jay McKee out 2-4 weeks with upper-body injury

Crosby carries Olympic Torch today in Halifax

Penguins to launch “NHL in Russian” show on HD Radio

Penguins’ Letestu reassigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

‘Will to win’ drove Penguins fan’s recovery

About The Confluence

Welcome to The Confluence, a Pittsburgh Penguins blog since 2006. Originally at Blogspot, then at MVN, The Confluence has over 1000 articles reporting Penguins news as well as jumping on my soapbox to opine constructive Penguins criticism. My posts are regularly linked by hockey websites such as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Empty Netters and Yahoo!’s Puck Daddy, and I’ve done guest blogger spots on such websites as the New York Times. I invite you to spend a little time and peruse the archives at all of the sites for some of my better work. I am a retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer, but don’t confuse me with my fellow Chief at A2Y.

Please feel free to send any comments to me at . If you’d like to befriend me on Facebook, click here. If you’d like to join The Confluence page on Facebook, click here. If you’d like to follow me on Twitter, click here.