Pens take blueliner

Pittsburgh drafted Joe Morrow, a 6-foot, 197-pound defenseman from the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League, with the 23rd pick in the NHL Draft Friday night in Minnesota.
I don't know too much on Morrow, except that he won't be laying out big hits any time soon.
The draft is different than football or basketball because it takes time for some of the guys to develop. Unless, of course, they are named Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin or Jordan Staal to name a few on the Penguins' roster.
I guess blueline depth is always needed. I'm sure they made the right choice.

NHL Award tonight in Vegas

For those of you that haven't experienced Sin Las Vegas, you're missing out.
I believe that's why the NHL hosts its annual awards show in Sin City.
The show will air tonight on Versus at 7 p.m. and I'm here to offer my picks.
First off, congratulations to the Boston Bruins for their remarkable run in winning the Stanley Cup. What a finals it was between them and the Vancouver Canucks.
The Hart Memorial Trophy, given to the NHL MVP, will be won by the Canucks' Daniel Sedin. Sedin had 41 goals and 63 assists for 104 this past season. He was also a plus 30 for the Presidents' Trophy winners.
The other finalists are Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis and Anaheim's Corey Perry. Perry led the league in goals with 50. St. Louis led the Lightning with 99 points.
I hate to be a homer, but it's a shame that Sidney Crosby missed all those games with a concussion. If Crosby had played a full season, he would have bettered his career-high of 120 points and may have scored over 50 goals.
The Vezina Trophy, which is awarded to the best goalie, will be won by Boston's Tim Thomas. Thomas won 35 games for the Stanley Cup champions and had a goals against average of 2.00 and a save percentage of .938.
The Canucks' Roberto Luongo and Nashville's Pekka Rinne are the other finalists.
Thomas was exceptional this season, and deserves the award. Keep in mind that the votes are in before the playoffs and I'm trying, even though it's hard, to judge my picks by the regular season. Thomas was the best, though.
The James Norris Trophy (best defensive player) will be won by Boston's Zdeno Chara. The Bruins' captain put up 44 points on 14 goals and 30 assists and was a plus 33. Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom is going for his seventh award, but I believe Chara was more important to his team, defensively. Nashville's Shea Weber, who has a wicked slap shot, is the other finalist. I believe Weber is a future winner of this award.
Carolina center Jeff Skinner will take home the hardware by winning the Calder Memorial Trophy. Skinner had 31 goals and 32 assists for 63 points. San Jose's Logan Couture and New York Islanders' Michael Grabner are the other finlists.
Lidstrom will take home the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy that is given for sportsmanship. Lidstrom is a class act, and so are Dallas' Loui Eriksson and St. Louis, the other finalists, but everyone respects the Red Wings' captain.
The Frank J. Selke Trophy, which is given to the best defensive forward, will be won by Vancouver's Ryan Kesler. Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk and Chicago's Jonathan Toews are the other finalists. Datsyuk is constantly mentioned as the best defensive forward in the game by the national media, however Kesler had a great season.
The Jack Adams Trophy is awarded to the league's best coach, and Pittsbugh's Dan Bylsma will get the honor. And no, I'm not being a homer. Bylsma did a tremendous job of guiding the Penguins to the playoffs with 106 points after losing stars Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
The Canucks' Alain Vigneault and the Predators' Barry Trotz are the other finalists. Trotz is a very close second in my book. Vigneault did lead Vancouver to the Presidents' Trophy, but he had a very talented team to work with. My opinion of the best coach is the guy that deals with the least amount of talent and has success.
The Bill Masterson Memorial Trophy is given to the player who exemplifies sportsmanship, preservance and dedication to hockey. The nominees this year are Anaheim's Ray Emery, Calgary's Daymond Langkow and Philadelphia's Ian Laperriere.
I don't know too much about these guys, so I'll go with Langkow. I don't believe a Flyer deserves this award and I'm not feeling Emery on this one, either.
The Ted Lindsay Award (formely Lester B. Pearson Award) is voted on by the National Hockey League Players' Association to the "most outstanding player."
Up this year for the award are Perry, Sedin and St. Louis.
Sedin will get the nod from his fellow players and I agree with that pick. Perry did score the most goals, but Sedien had the most points, and I believe the guys he plays against will agree.
The Mark Messier Leadership Award is picked by the man himself after suggestions for the nominees are taken from fans, clubs and personnel.
The three finalists are Chara, Phoenix's Shane Doan and Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom.
I believe Messier will pick Lidstrom. I would go with Chara, but what do I know.
The NHL Foundation Award, which is basically the community service award, will be won by Los Angeles' Dustin Brown, although all these guys deserve to be honored for the work they do. The other finalists are both Henrik and Daniel Sedin of the Canucks and Washington's Mike Green.
Daniel Sedin will grab some hardware for scoring the most points and Perry will be awarded his trophy for scoring the most goals in the season.
Awards shows stink, in my opinion, but at least look up the results.

Hockey Notes (Crosby still not able to work out, Jagr Shines at Worlds, Red Wings/Sharks ready for game 7)

*Shelly Anderson of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that Pittsburgh Penguin Captain Sidney Crosby has yet to resume workouts after suffering a setback in his recovery from a concussion suffered in early January. Crosby was skating and practicing with the team up until the reoccurrence of symptoms, which occurred on April 20th.
This is a major concern for both the Penguins, and the NHL as a whole, as the future of one of hockey’s greatest young stars, just coming into the prime of his career, is in serious peril, dealing with a brain injury that we are only beginning to fully understand the long term impact of now in the 21st Century sports world. Hopefully Crosby is able to make a full recovery with rest and begin next season at the same level he was at December 31st, 2010, but with brain matters like this, there are no guarantees.

*Jaromir Jagr’s contract status is unknown for the coming season. He made a statement yesterday at the Hockey World Championships to anyone who was wondering if he had enough left in the tank for a possible NHL return after 3 seasons in the Russian KHL. Jagr scored a hat trick for his Czech squad in eliminating the United States and NHL caliber goalie Ty Conklin 4-0.
One thing I will say for Jagr, he has always been a conditioning freak from when he first came to Pittsburgh in the early 90s and has been a pretty durable player throughout his career. I think even at age 39 he has some game left in the tank, and if rested strategically during some soft spots on the schedule, could really crank it up to another level for a team in the playoffs.
My guess is that it makes sense for #68 to stay in the KHL, the money over there is more than any NHL team would be willing to commit to under the Salary Cap, and is tax free to boot. Money can be a very important thing to the talented Czech winger, who has been verified to have run up at least $1 Million in gambling debts over the course of his career, and for all we it could very well be higher than that.
There is absolutely no logical reason why Jags should want to come back to the NHL for what would most likely be a highly publicized tryout, but the rule of Jagr states that he is just crazy enough that there is about a 2% chance that he will do pretty much anything. And his offensive talents and numbers alone will certainly draw interested suitors, should his whims take him back to North American soil this offseason. It will at least be something interesting to keep track of over the summer.

*Fans of the San Jose Sharks or Detroit Redwings will get an unwanted early start on such offseason speculation after tonight’s game 7 in San Jose. I never remember a series in my lifetime of watching hockey where the clearly better team went down 3 games to Nil in 3 consecutive one goal games, and then stormed back to even the series. I will chalk this one up to the experience and poise of the veteran Detroit squad, but anything can happen in game 7, and often does. Antti Niemi will have to be very good if the Sharks have any chance to pull through and shed the epic choke label that must feel like an anchor around their necks. San Jose has to feel pretty tight right now, and if the bounces don’t go their way early it could easily get out of hand. In any case, it should be a real fun game to watch starting at 9 PM tonight. We will check in tomorrow morning with reaction and hopefully some video highlights from NHL.com.

Penguins lay egg on Easter eve

The NHL doesn't use aggregate scoring in the Stanley Cup playoffs, which is very fortunate for Pittsburgh.
The Penguins got blown out in Game 5 by Tampa Bay, 8-2, and have been outscored 13-3 in two losses to the Lightning.
On the other hand, their wins have been by scores of 3-0, 3-2 and 3-2 in double OT for a 17-9 advantage for Tampa Bay.
If you asked any Penguin player or coach, they would tell you none of that matters. All they are concerned with is going to the St. Petersburg Times Forum and closing it out Monday.
I would agree with that, and Pittsburgh is still in the driver's seat with a 3-2 lead, but Saturday's loss has to be a tad concerning.
For starters, why can't the Penguins close out playoff series on their home ice? I would say it's just coincidence, but not closing out a series is troubling. Cup-winning teams put series away when their opponents are down.
Also, they have to stay out of the box, or do a better job of killing penalties. The Lightning are very dangerous with the man advantage.
Pittsburgh's power play, on the other hand, has been on life support. I won't say dead because it scored in Game 4.
The Penguins have played great five-on-five, but in tight games, low-scoring games they need to take advantage of their PP opportunities.
Pittsburgh will not beat Tampa Bay in a track meet, or any team for that matter.
Not having Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin takes away a great deal of offense form the Penguins. Crosby and Malkin also play as decoys that allow players like Chris Kunitz and Jordan Staal to get more opportunities.
Malkin will not be back for the season and Crosby's return is in question, so they will have to win without the superstars.
Marc-Andre Fleury was pulled after the Lightning went up 4-0 in the second period. Brent Johnson relieved Fleury.
Fleury gave up four goals in a short period of time, but when Steven Stamkos and Vincent Lecavalier are getting point-blank shots from the slot, a few are bound to go in. Stamkos came to play. He had two goals and an assist. Good timing for him. The Penguins are hoping it was a one-game incident.
The defense can't give up chances like that. I believe Fleury will come back strong in Game 6. He always does.
Pittsburgh will win Game 6, and close out another series on the road. Penguins 4, Lightning 2.
NOTES: Youtube it, go on the Ducks' website or watch ESPN. Bobby Ryan's goal in the Anaheim's OT loss to Nashville was incredible. One of the tops of the year.

Stanley Cup playoff updates

As of 6:29 p.m. EST on April 22, the Stanley Cup playoffs are playing out with some intriguing storylines.
In the West, Detroit dominated Phoenix in the 3-6 matchup, taking all four games. The Coyotes could very well play in another city next season.
The Red Wings, who will never leave the Motor City, look very strong. Winning early gives them the opportunity to sit back, have a mineral water and watch the rest of the teams knock each other senseless. A rested Detroit squad is very scary. I wouldn't want to play them.
Vancouver jumped all over Chicago in winning the first three games, but the defending champs have shown true character in responding in Games 4 and 5.
The Blackhawks won both games in routs, and chased Roberto Luongo in the process. Luongo receives all the accolades, although he is a career underachiever in the playoffs.
Game 6 will be in Chicago and the place will be jumping. I don't think Luongo will have three bad games in a row, and the Canucks will grind out a 3-2 victory to take the series.
The Anaheim-Nashville series has been quite intriguing. Chippy play, trash talk in the media and some good games have made this a series to watch. Not to mention it is tied at 2-2.
Unfortunately, I have yet to catch one of these games. That is going to change tonight. I will park myself in front of the tube at 10 p.m. and watch Game 5 in its entirety.
If the Ducks can stay out of the box and be disciplined in their own zone, they should be able to light the lamp just enough to win this one.
The Predators are strong defensively, have a great goalie and Shea Weber is a beast, although I give Anaheim the edge.
I will delve more into this series after tonight's game.
What Pittsburgh has done without Sidney Crosby is remarkable.
It has pushed Tampa Bay to the brink of elimination and won Game 4 without the services of Chris Kunitz.
Dan Bylsma should win the Jack Adams award for the coach of the year, although I'm sure he would rather raise the Stanley Cup for the second time in three years.
There is no timetable for Crosby's return, although Matt Cooke will be back if the Penguins can advance to the second round.
Game 5 will be tomorrow at noon in Pittsburgh. I believe the Lightning will win that game, 4-3. I like the Penguins to come back in Game 6 to take the series, 4-2.
Montreal and Boston are in a dogfight with the series tied at two. Neither team has won on home ice.
The Bruins will grab a win on home ice in Game 5 before taking the series in six games. These teams don't like each other, and they're not afraid to show it.
Tim Thomas has stepped up his play, and Carey Price can't take the Habs to the promised land, which is all Montreal fans want.
Washington is up 3-1 on the New York Rangers and will close it out at home in Game 5.
The Rangers showed some heart, but gave up a lead going into the third period for the first time all season, and doesn't have enough offense to get by the Capitals.
Washington has been playing well, but these aren't the Mark Messier-led Rangers.
Ryan Miller has had to stand on his head two times for Buffalo to salvage a 2-2 split with Philadelphia after two games.
They play tonight in Game 5 at Philadelphia.
I love Mr. USA and I would love him even more if the Flyers got bounced, although I don't think Miller can do it again.
Philadelphia wins tonight, 4-2, before taking Game 6 for a 4-2 series win.

Game 2 is key for Lightning

For Tampa Bay to make this a series, it must win Game 2 tonight at the CONSOL Energy Center. Usually, the experts don't go for must wins until a team is down 0-2 heading into Game 3, but the Lightning need this game. They played a solid game Wednesday, but Marc-Andre Fleury was too good. The Penguins play very well on the road, and should have a majority of fans at the St. Pete Times Forum, so it is very important for Tampa Bay to steal this one. If they do, I see a seven-game series. If Pittsburgh wins, this one may only go five. For the Penguins to win the series early would be in its favor. I predict at least one of the other series will go six or seven games, and Matt Cooke could get on the ice for practice after his suspension. It is also possible that Sidney Crosby could return. Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay will come away with a 3-2 victory tonight. Steve Stamkos, who was basically nonexistant in Game 1 after Brook Oprik lit him up, will net the game winner. Enjoy the weekend.

A few notes

Thursday night's 5-2 loss to the Flyers was a tough one for the Penguins. Even though the games have to be played out, Philadelphia has a four-point advantage and all the tiebreaker scenario's are in the Flyers' favor with six games to go. The Penguins have five games remaining. The second period proved how quick momentum can turn in an NHL game. Pittsburgh was up 2-1, and on the verge of going up 3-1 when the Flyers scored two goals in 47 seconds. A few questionable calls could be the answer, but I am not one to complain about officiating. The Penguins played hard, although a lapse in focus cost them. Bad bounces or not. If they had taken that 3-1 lead, it would have been a whole different situation. It's great to see that Sidney Crosby can practice with the team. It's all a question of what happens when he gets hit. I think we will have to worry about that when it comes to game time. The season is not over, yet. Maybe the Flyers will stumble. I doubt it, though. Pittsburgh needs to beat Tampa Bay Thursday, lock up the fourth seed and get ready for the post season, hopefully with No. 87 on board.

Fleury outduels Brodeur

Marc-Andre Fleury is the Pittsburgh Penguins' most valuable player, and made a case to the league Friday night in outdueling New Jersey's Martin Brodeur at the Consol Energy Center.
Fleury stopped 21 shots for his third shutout this season, and James Neal scored in the shootout for a 1-0 Penguins' win.
The scored was 0-0 after regulation and overtime.
Brodeur turned aside 26 shots, but couldn't stop Neal in the shootout. Brodeur did pick up 116th career shutout, even though he lost, 1-0. The shootout goal doesn't count against Brodeur's record.
The Penguins will hand out their team awards Sunday before their game against the Florida Panthers, and Fleury should grab team MVP. Not bad for a guy that was supposed to be a liability. Fleury is underappreciated and underrated.
He deserves most of the credit for Pittsburgh's success after Sidney Crosby went down with a concussion.
I was glad to see the Penguins beat the Devils at their own game.
Crosby had a 45-minute workout Friday, and the coaching staff is hinting at the superstar making a comeback before the end of the season. To not have Crosby is not only tough for the Penguins, but for the league as well.
Sometimes you question professional athletes' determination, but there is no doubting Crosby. I have always been impressed with his work ethic. He doesn't take his abilities for granted.
The Penguins are two points back of the Philadelphia Flyers, who play the New York Islanders tonight. The Flyers also have two games in hand.
Brooks Orpik is supposed to play against the Panthers.
Mike Comrie made his return to the Penguins' lineup Friday.

NHL Injury Updates and thoughts on NATO

The Washington Capitals announced today that Captain Alex Ovechkin will be out 7-10 days with an undisclosed injury. The team has also been missing Mike Green with a concussion, but he should be back within the week.
Brooks Orpik should be returning to Penguins practice soon from a hand injury. The huge news for the Pens is that Sidney Crosby has been skating and working out with no return of symptoms from his concussion. There are also whispers in the Burgh that Evgeni Malkin is making 'amazing' progress rehabing from his knee surgery.
The Conference leading Flyers will be missing chief pugilist Chris Pronger with a broken hand till early April. Jody Shelley also went hard into the boards and is suffering with facial injuries.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are missing foward Ryan Malone who hopes to get back at some point in the playoffs.
The Detroit Redwings have been dinged up for months, but the vet heavy squad expects to have pretty much all hands on deck come playoff time.
The Wings primary rival, The Chicago Blackhawks, lost leading scorer Patrick Sharp to a 'lower-body' injury for the next two weeks.
The Vancouver Canucks lost Center Manny Malhotra for the rest of the year with an eye injury that required surgery. The Nucks have also has a boatload of blueliners go down.
Finally: The Edmonton Oilers have lost Ryan Whitney for the season with an ankle injury. But the last place squads loss has been the world's gain as @ryanwhitney6 has officially surpassed @BizNasty2point0 as the most amusing hockey player to follow on twitter.


NATO was set up as a defense pact by Western Nations during the Cold War in order to coordinate and provide symmetry for the defense strategies of Western Europe and the United States. Its mission was very clear: to keep the West safe despite its disadvantage in conventional forces by leveraging its members advanced weapon systems in a unified manner. Now the Cold War is over two decades gone, and the once elite status of NATO membership has given way to a sprawling bureaucratic nightmare of cross purposed nations. It is a relic that has outlasted its political usefullness and is only strategically valuable for the command stucture it gives its member nations in joint military operations. If the combat in Libya has proven one thing, its that NATO has become unruly and redundant and needs to be consigned to the dustbin of history next to the Warsaw Pact.

Monday Morning Notebook (03.14.V2-4)

*The devastation in Japan over the weekend once again shows us, as humans, that no matter how complex and advanced we build our societies, that there are forces of nature much more powerful then we can ever control. What we do and say here in the long run may prove quite insignificant, but it is all we have so we continue on in the face of this harrowing tragedy.

*Right now, no news is bad news for the Pittsburgh Penguins in regards to Sidney Crosby's health. With him still suffering symptoms this long from a concussion that occurred in early January, I now have significant doubts we will see him play again this year. You can't rush back a franchise guy for this year’s playoffs; it’s too risky long term for his health. Without Crosby, or fellow superstar Evgeni Malkin, the Pens should be an easy first round out for the Bruins, Capitals, or Lightning.
***BIG UPDATE***
Crosby did skate today for the first time since early January, a sign that off ice work has been going well for at least a week. If he continues to progress with no setback of symptoms you can expect him to practice with no contact in about another week.

*Fridays "Day of Rage" in Saudi Arabia passed by without so much as a whimper. "There were so many police in the streets you could not even think of protesting," said one anonymous dissident. Security forces got way out in front of this one in the Oil Kingdom, but the question remains, how deep is the bottled up rage in the world's leading oil producer?

*The New Jersey Devils won yet two more overtime games over the Thrashers and Islanders over the weekend, proving my law of averages predetermined downfall theory for them off once again. They have climbed back to .500 for the year and are within definite striking distance of the 8 seed in the East with 14 games left. I still predict they fall short of getting in, but only because the also hot Maple Leafs do...

*The massive triple disaster earthquake/tsunami/nuclear meltdown in Japan pulled all attention away from the crisis in the Arab world. Absolute total destruction from nature has all humanity feeling for the Japanese, but the stock market was up on Friday with hopes of $$$ from reconstruction efforts. Ladies and Gentleman: Market Capitalism at its finest.

*The 4-12 spots in the Western Conference are so tightly packed that there is no way of telling how it will shake out. The only thing we can do is wait, watch, and enjoy the race.

*It looks like the showdown over funding the Federal Budget for the rest of this fiscal year will continue to drag on in a week to week mode. Both long term plans failed to even come close to garnering the needed 60 votes in the Senate, so another 3 week short term plan has been floated to keep the government running. Who knows what it will take to find a middle ground between the GOP house, White House, and something 60 Senators can agree on. Right now they aren't even touching the vast majority of the budget and haggling to death over domestic discretionary funds, which is like an argument over the change jar while the fiscal house burns down around them.

Six Times Steckel

With the trade between the New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals that sent Dave Steckel to the Pine Barrens for Jason Arnott, the Penguins will now see the man who injured Sidney Crosby six times a year. In case you have been living on Mars or in the Charlie Sheen Porn Family for the last 2 months, Steckel may well have ended Crosby's season when he hit lowered his shoulder and blindsided him in the head while the puck was the other end of the ice during the waning moments of the Winter Classic's second period. Crosby, slow to get up, would continue in this game and also play the following tilt against Tampa Bay but suffered another cheap head shot via Victor Hedman ( who received a boarding minor for his troubles) and has been missing from the lineup since.

According to a DC sportswriter being interviewed by Mark Madden last Monday, Capitals bench boss and resident NHL whiner Bruce Boudreau apparently gets hot under the collar anytime a reporter merely mentions the Steckel hit. Of course, there is not shortage of subjectsthat raises Boudreau's blood pressure; standing up is probably a daunting task for him. But my misguided point in this post is whether or not the Penguins will seek any further retribution against Steckel now that they will see him six times a year?

My guess is NO. The shorthanded Pens have already met the Caps twice since the Winter Classic and while the Penguins tough guys continued to challenge Steckel to a fight during the first matchup( Much to the ire of Boudreau of course), he did finally drop the gloves against the much smaller Tim Wallace. That would seem to settle the score if there is such thing as a finite hockey code, but as we learned last month on Long Island, enough is not enough for some people. The Bruins haven't gotten enough of Matt Cooke still challenge and target him every chance they get so what's to say the Pens don't call up Ogie Ogilthorpe and have him take a Flying Gillies at Steckel before pummelling the back of his head while he is unconscious on the ice? the answer to that would be simple : organizational class.

Welcome back, Alex

The Penguins have acquired Alex Kovalev for a conditional seventh round draft pick, the team's website said Thursday.

I like the move by Ray Shero. Kovalev may not been what he was the first go around, but he can put the puck in the net. The Penguins need some offense, and he will be a good fit.

Hopefully, Sidney Crosby will return to center a line with Kovalev.

Another Penguin injured

As I'm sure you all know, Brooks Orpik was injured last night after taking a Patrick Marleau shot off his hand late in the first period in the Penguins' 3-2 OT loss to the Sharks. It is another injury to a star player, and one, according to Ray Shero via the FAN, that could keep the blue liner out a long time.

If I was running the team, it would be my concern that the amount of injuries will start to take their toll on the Penguins. I do believe they will make the playoffs, but how will they fare with the injuries, especially with Evgeni Malkin out for the season and with Sidney Crosby's fate to be determined?

Can Pens win Cup without Malkin?

The Pittsburgh Penguins title hopes were dealt a severe blow when Star Forward Evgeni Malkin went down with a season ending knee injury Feb. 4th against the Buffalo Sabres. Without their former Conn Smythe winner, are the Pens still a legit threat to win the cup?
Obviously the most important part of that question relies on the health of their other star forward, Sidney Crosby, who is battling back from a concussion suffered in early January. Sid must be able to not only come back this spring, but also be able to get his game back to the level it was at before he went down with the injury for his team to have any chance of a long playoff run. The thinking here is that if he can’t get back on the ice at least practicing by early March that it will be very difficult for him to build back up his strength and conditioning to the point where he can get through the playoffs carrying the team offensively. I’m not saying this in hopes that the Pens rush him back, just the opposite in fact. If the calendar is winding into March and his symptoms haven’t subsided, what is the drop-dead date for the team just shutting him down for the season and telling him to go relax at some secluded beach resort until he absolutely feels 100% better? Too much of the teams future is tied into Crosby, and with Malkin already down they have to put a deadline on bringing him back and risking further complications.

But let’s assume that they can get Crosby back and project that his game will be at least around 90-95% of what it was on December 31st come playoff time? At that point they have the game’s biggest offensive weapon, a pretty well proven big game playoff goaltender, a good cast of role-player forwards, and a very solid, if slightly under-experienced blueline.

IF GM Ray Shero thinks he can get Crosby back and healthy, I would say this team is two players away from a cup run. A veteran blueline lunch-pail guy to fill the 7th spot on the roster, and the elusive scoring winger unicorn for Sid to play with. One dude who fits that scoring winger role is going up against the Pens today, Feb. 16th, Milan Hejduk of the Colorado Avalanche. Hejduk would have to waive the no-movement clause in his contract to be out the door to Pittsburgh or anywhere else, but he is an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season and can choose to play wherever he likes at that point anyway. The Avs are struggling mightily, Peter Forsberg's comeback lasted all of two games, and the team has dropped 8 in a row, the latest being a 9-1 drubbing at the hands of the Calgary Flames on Feb. 14th, and are now a full 10 points out of the last playoff spot in the very tough Western Conference. Although he has spent his entire career with the Colorado organization, it’s hard to speculate that Hejduk would object to being dealt to a contender this spring to put up some numbers and get a chance to shine in the playoff spotlight once again. The Czech winger is 35 years old and this most likely will be his last chance to cash in on a high dollar multi-year contract this summer.

He would slot in very nicely with Crosby and Pascal Dupuis on the Pens top line, which would allow Chris Kunitz to play with Jordan Staal on the 2nd line and provide some quality depth scoring. It also leaves the door open for a 3rd line that clicked earlier in the season for the team of Chris Conner, Mark Letestu and Tyler Kennedy, and a 4th line would be loaded with tons of playoff proven sandpaper.

Dupuis-Crosby-Hejduk
Cooke-Staal-Kunitz
Conner-Letestu-Kennedy
Asham/Rupp-Talbot-Adams

I think with the emergence of Letestu as a capable 3rd line center, they can definitely afford to move versatile prospect Dustin Jeffrey at the deadline along with a high draft pick to acquire a top wing rental for Sid, again with the caveat that Crosby is getting some quality symptom free days in his recovery process come the 2/28 trade deadline.
According to Tim Benz of WXDX in Pittsburgh, Crosby is still going through a very frustrating good day/bad day routine right now where he was still experiencing headaches as recently as Saturday, Feb. 13th.