Tree of Life

14 Jul

A Winger for Sid by Jon Pennline

published in category: Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, July 14th, 2012 – 6:49 pm

The Pittsburgh Penguins missed out on the Zach Parise sweepstakes and, after waiting four days for him to make a decision, missed out on other wingers such as PA Parenteau and Ray Whitney. After ten days of free agency, the Penguins' best remaining options are Alexander Semin; a player with immense talent and equal baggage, or Shane Doan who is approaching retirement.

That means the Penguins will probably look internally, once again, to find a winger for Sidney Crosby. In the Penguins' first day of development camp, Dan Bylsma talked about finding a top six winger to play on Sidney Crosby's line:

"You see the possibility of seeing younger players in the organization get a chance to play as well, whether it's Eric Tangradi in a top-6 role or Beau Bennett getting a chance to play there in exhibition and training camp or Tyler Kennedy." -Dan Bylsma, Penguins.com

Tyler Kennedy is the early favorite to fill that role as a top-6 winger. Two seasons ago, Kennedy scored 21 goals in 80 regular season games while Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were on the shelf. Last season, Kennedy scored 11 goals despite missing 22 games with a concussion. In the final year of his contract, Kennedy will look to put together a bounce-back season but is he really anything more than a third line winger?

Beau Bennett, the Penguins 2010 first round selection, signed an entry-level contract this past April, but still doesn't have any professional hockey experience. The Penguins also can't draw any conclusions from Bennett's experience at the University of Denver where he tallied just 13 points in 10 games during an injury-filled sophomore season. Even if Bennett stars during development camp, the Penguins will probably send him to Wilkes-Baare for seasoning.

That leaves Eric Tangradi.

In 40 career games, Tangradi has one goal and four assists. When Ray Shero traded Ryan Whitney to the Anaheim Ducks, he acquired Chris Kunitz as a top six winger to play with Crosby. Tangradi was brought over as a possible future top-line winger, drawing comparisons to a young Kevin Stevens. Now, Tangradi seems like an afterthought. In two abbreviated seasons, he hasn't shown the ability to play higher than the fourth line. To have a shot on Crosby's line, Tangradi will need to do more than just show his toughness, he'll need to score.

The Penguins need a winger to play with Sidney Crosby. As it stands, their best bet is Tyler Kennedy and that is not very encouraging for a team that hopes to raise Lord Stanley next June. It may take until the trade deadline in February to find someone, but the Penguins need to make a move, one way or another.

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14 Jul

Mark Appel Not Signing is Good for Pirates by Jon Pennline

published in category: Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday, July 14th, 2012 – 6:48 pm

Whether it was a financial issue, a slight against the Pirates, or the draw of graduating from an elite university with a degree, Mark Appel has decided to go back to Standford and not sign with the Pirates.
With this decision, it now makes sense as to why the first seven teams in the draft passed on Appel. Despite receiving a first overall projection, Appel's stock fell dramatically and he ended up with the Pirates at number eight.

His reaction? Bland and somewhat cold. The statement Appel released made no mention of his excitement to be part of a major league organization, much less the team who selected him. Most people, including me, rolled their eyes at the statement, believing this was a negotiating move by Scott Boras.

In the end, however, Appel really didn't want to be here.

Minutes after the signing deadline on Friday, Neal Huntington released a statement:

"We were unable to reach an agreement with first round selection Mark Appel and bring him into our already strong organization. Our final offer exceeded the available bonus pool money and was essentially up to the last dollar we could offer prior to falling into the second tier penalty which would have resulted in the loss of a first round draft selection.While, as we have shown in past years, we are willing to be aggressive with our financial offer, we simply did not feel it was in the best interest of the organization to forfeit our first round selection in the 2013 amateur draft." -Huntington (rumbunter.com)
A stellar move, to say the least, by Huntington. Appel had a solid junior season at Standford, but he is not a "can't miss" talent. Jameson Taillon, Luis Heredia and Gerrit Cole are all head and shoulders above Appel, in my opinion. In fact, you could make a case that the Pirates dodged a bullet with this player.

I'll admit, when the Pirates first selected Mark Appel, I was excited. However, the more I read, and the more video I saw of him, the less attractive he became as an elite arm. By the time the Pirates were in their final week of negotiations, I was almost hoping Appel wouldn't sign.

First of all, throw out the numbers. I don't care if Appel was facing the toughest conference in the nation, there are still college kids in each lineup that are planning life without baseball. You have to look at the individual and ignore the results because professional players won't miss on pitches college kids are missing.

This past April, Kyle Boddy did a breakdown of Appel's biomechanics during his start against Washington. Boddy concluded that while Appel's mechanics didn't throw up any major red flags, they were far from perfect.

Appel has a tendency to over stride which makes the front leg deny the upper body from getting full extension through the pitch. The result means a lot of pitches up in the zone. It also eliminates the downward plane Appel could use from his 6'5 frame and forces his back leg to drag more than usual. I.E. he is slowing himself down.

Despite having the capability to throw a 96-98 mph fastball, Appel has had to slow it down to 92-94 to throw strikes. Also, you have to consider that his four seam fastball shows little movement. When you compare that to Gerrit Cole -who throws 100 on a regular basis with some boring action on the fastball- it is easy to see who has the higher ceiling.

Another question is his durability. While Appel is 6'5, he is 200 pounds, giving up 25 pounds to Gerrit Cole who is one inch shorter. He appeared to have a healthy season at Stanford this year, however, he still threw 130 innings in 16 starts including a 149 pitch game against Oregon. When you consider his breaking pitch is the slider -more violent on the arm than the curveball- there has to be some worry about how he will hold up for a full season his senior year.

Appel will be going back to Stanford for a number of reasons, but if money is one of them, he made the wrong decision. There is no way he gets selected higher than 8th next June. The risk of injury and repeated success are too high to think otherwise.

The Pirates weren't able to sign one of the top pitchers in this year's draft class. But they gained the ninth overall pick for next year which should be a slightly better class overall. Signing Appel would've given them another talented arm in the system, but losing his rights isn't as big of a deal as people might think. His mechanics and heavy workload at Stanford are big enough risks that it may end up working out for the better in Pittsburgh.

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Posted in Pittsburgh Pirates

 

09 Jul

How Does the HR Derby Affect its Participants in the Second Half? by Jon Anderson

published in category: Uncategorized on Monday, July 9th, 2012 – 11:07 am

Andrew McCutchen was named to the home run derby tonight. Immediately after the announcement, Pirate fans began reacting. Some were extremely excited to watch their favorite Pirate get a national spotlight, and others less than thrilled about the idea because of the belief that participants in the derby have worse second halves than first halves. So for the last couple hours I've been collecting data to try and figure out if that rumor is true.

I used the last five home run derbies. I took all of the contestants and compared their first half numbers (in average, slugging percentage, and home runs per at-bat) and compared them to their second half numbers. Not only that, but I compared them to their numbers from 10 games after the derby and 30 games after the derby. This way we'll be able to tell if the players suffer a short term or long term drop off in numbers; if there is a drop off at all.

What I found was that the average home run derby participant over the last five years experiences the following changes in their stats.

10 games after the derby

BA -.019

SLG -.072

AB/HR +6.49

30 games after the derby

BA -.013

SLG -.045

AB/HR +8.02

2nd half of the season

BA -.008

SLG -.037

AB/HR +4.26

You can see that the derby has definitely had an effect on its participants. In terms of batting average and slugging percentage, hitters experience a temporary decline in performance. They hit 19 points lower in the first ten games after the derby, 13 points lower in the first 30, and only eight points lower in the second half as a whole. Only 14 of 40 hitters had a better batting average in the second half than the first half. In slugging percentage, 15 hitters had better averages in the second half. That means that more than half the derby participants had worse second halves in terms of batting average and slugging percentage.

In terms of at-bats per home run, the effect isn't on the same curve. However, it does take batters significantly more at bats to get home runs after they participate in the derby. Only 10 of the 40 participants in the study hit hit home runs at a better rate in the second half than in the first half. On average, it took batters 6.5 more at bats to hit a home run in the first ten games after the derby, 8 more at bats in the first 30 games after the derby, and 4.3 more at bats in the second half as a whole. Only 8 of 40 hitters hit home runs at a faster pace in the second half than the first half.

My next question was if hitters that took more swings in the derby suffered a worse drop off. To figure this out, I took the numbers from just the top two finishers in each derby. Here are those results:

10 games after the derby

BA -.032

SLG -.098

AB/HR +4.48

30 games after the derby

BA -.021

SLG -.039

AB/HR +13.55

2nd half of the season

BA -.011

SLG -.035

AB/HR +2.58

In average and slugging percentage, there is a noticeably bigger difference for the top two participants (the two guys that go an extra round or extra two rounds than everyone else) compared to the rest of the participants. For the second half, it took the top two participants 2.6 more at bats to hit a home run than it did in the first half. They struggle a bunch in the first 30 games, taking an extra 13.6 at bats to hit home runs. Granted, this is only looking at 10 batters over the last five years.

Now a possible explanation to some of these number declines is that players that make the home run derby have had huge first halves to the season, and they are due for natural regression anyway. You could compare these same trends to all-star players that aren't in the home run derby and see if their numbers changed in the same way. I'd rather not spend all night in front of an Excel spreadsheet though, so this is going to have to go unanswered for right now. The one thing that does kind of argue against these points is that the players seem to be the worst in the two weeks right after the derby. The players are well worse than their first halves right after the derby, and then they start to get better as they get further and further away from it. Is it because they haven't been in a game situation for a few days over the break? Could be, again, there's no way real way to know for sure. However, the information is interesting nonetheless.

So, in conclusion, there is a significant drop-off in performance for players that participate in the home run derby. On average, their average and slugging percentage both drop in the second half, and they also hit less home runs per at bat. It might not be fully because of the derby, but the data shows that there is definitely something going on.

Let's hope that Andrew McCutchen is an exception to what we've found here, because the home run derby has not been kind to its participants in the last five years. If McCutchen doesn't have as good a second half as he had first half, it's probably not going to be because he was in the home run derby – it's probably just because it's really, really hard to do what he's done so far this year.

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06 Jul

Pirates Poised to Strike Thanks to Easy Schedule by Jon Pennline

published in category: Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday, July 6th, 2012 – 9:41 am

Heading into this season, the greatest challenge for the Pittsburgh Pirates appeared to be surviving their first forty games. When the schedule was released, the Pirates -on paper- were believed to have the toughest first third of the season. On the outset, it seemed unfair to have the least successful sports franchise over the last two decades start the season against NL contenders such as San Fransisco, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Washington, Philadelphia, and St. Louis.

As predicted, the Pirates stumbled out of the gate going 12-16 in their first 28 games. The pitching was excellent while the hitting was bad at a historic level. Every night the offense tried to bleed runs out of a stone hoping to give their pitchers just enough support to squeak out a win. There was a lot of frustration over the level of underachievement by Pedro Alvarez, Casey Mcgehee, Clint Barmes, Jose Tabata, Rod Barajas, and Garrett Jones. On many nights, the offense weren't able to produce enough.

And yet, the Pirates were able to stay around .500, winning series against the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros. During their first forty games, the Pirates had plenty of chances to collapse; losing 2 out of 3 against the Cardinals, then losing the following series against the Cincinnati Reds. That type of losing stretch would normally sink the Pirates' season, but instead, they held on.

The Pirates entered June with what looked to be their toughest stretch of the season, playing 18 of 27 games on the road with three series against teams leading their respective divisions at the time. Most fans, including me, expected a 12-15 record in June. The Pirates, however, put forth their best effort, going 17-10 winning 8 of 9 series in the process.

The success carried over in July where the Pirates started this month with a 4-1 record, including their first four game series sweep over Houston since 1979. After fighting through the first three months of the season, facing Cy Young pitcher after Cy Young pitcher, road series after road series, the Pirates are now in a position to strike the NL and make a possible run at the playoffs.

Yes, I said playoffs, Mr. Mora.

After a three game home series against the San Francisco Giants, the Pirates will not face a winning team until August 3rd against the Reds. Between now and August 3rd, the Pirates have 13 games against teams that are at least 15 games under .500 including another four game series against the Houston Astros.

The time is now for the 2012 Pittsburgh Pirates. They have a chance to extend their record to 15-20 games over 500 by the end of the month. Playoff teams take advantage of these opportunities and with the trade deadline rapidly approaching, the Pirates have a chance to put themselves in an excellent position for a playoff spot.

Obviously the season doesn't end in July. But the final two months aren't nearly as tumultuous on paper, as the first three months of the season. Last year, the Pirates collapsed due to faulty pitching, and an unbearable schedule in August. This year, the Pirates don't have quite as many challenges in the final third of the regular season.

If there are any worries about the team looking ahead, forget about it. While they are young, the Pirates haven't forgotten the quick collapse of their promising season last year. Since Spring Training, the team's mantra has been "finish", a reminder to build off the successes of last season while showing the focus and determination to avoid the failures.

Ten games over .500 is exciting, winning baseball in Pittsburgh is exciting, but it pales in comparison to what this team is capable of doing, especially if they add a bat/arm at the deadline and call up an electric prospect in Starling Marte. The league handed them a big challenge in the first half of the season and now it's time for the Pirates to take advantage of a weak second half.

Get ready Pittsburgh, the best is yet to come.

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Posted in Pittsburgh Pirates

 

03 Jul

Free Agency Freezy by Michelle Methot

published in category: Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012 – 10:09 am

It's Christmas in July for hockey fans when you sit by your television waiting to hear the news that your favorite National Hockey League team has signed the most sought after free agent. It's the excitement that you only felt as a kid when you woke up to find that Santa had brought you exactly what you had wanted. For Pittsburgh Penguins fans the top of the wish list included unrestricted free agents Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. As the free agent market opened at noon on July 1st, a slow day of free agent signings was as deflating as receiving an ugly sweater as a Christmas present.

Penguins GM Ray Shero didn't just sit back as he waited anxiously for a decision on whether the Penguins would finally sign a winger for Sidney Crosby or whether the Penguins would significantly upgrade their defense. The Penguins made some significant minor league signings for their AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to solidify a team that could be playing hockey well into June of 2013 and into the Calder Cup Finals.

The Pittsburgh Penguins were the most active in the first 24 hours of free agency adding depth in the signing of multiple two-way contracts. After re-signing WBS starting goaltender Brad Thiessen on June 30th, the Penguins signed UFA Jeff Zatkoff out of the Los Angeles Kings organization. With the AHL affiliate Manchester Monarchs, Zatkoff recorded a 21-17-1 record with a goals against average of 2.49 and a save percentage of .920. Zatkoff will assist Thiessen with the goaltending work load and will be a solid starter if Thiessen is ever called up to backup in Pittsburgh.

An unexpected move by Ray Shero was re-signing veteran enforcer Steve MacIntyre, who split time in both Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre this season. Playing just 12 games at the NHL level and 24 in the AHL, Shero must have been impressed by MacIntyre's locker room presence. Arguably the era of the enforcer is slowly coming to an end in the NHL, but MacIntyre is still a valuable presence at the AHL level especially in terms of mentoring and teaching teammates to protect themselves.

Dylan Reese, an Upper St. Clair native has joined his hometown team singing a one year two-way contract. Reese had a strong season playing a shutdown defensive role in the New York Islanders organization playing 28 games at the NHL level and recording 7 points.

Upgrading at the forward position the Penguins added Riley Holzapfel, who recorded 37 points in 57 games split between the Syracuse Crunch and the St. John's IceCaps. Holzapfel is an original second round draft pick of the Atlanta Thrashers in 2006. The Penguins also added some veteran experience with Trevor Smith, a center who recorded 69 points with the Norfolk Admirals on their way to winning the Calder Cup Championship. Smith knows what it takes to win at the AHL level and will lead as an example as well as being a solid option as a call up in the risk of injuries to forwards in Pittsburgh. Warren Peters who played with the Minnesota Wild at the NHL level was signed to a one year two-way contract recording 5 points in 58 games with 54 PIM. Peters has relatively good faceoff numbers and could be competitive in contending for a four line role in Pittsburgh.
The biggest move made by the Penguins with the opening of the free agency market was singing Tanner Glass to a two-year contract worth an average annual value of $1.1 million. The twenty-eight year old Glass will fill the role left by former Penguin Arron Asham who signed with the New York Rangers to complete a journey through all five Atlantic Division teams. Glass spent the 2011-2012 season with the Winnipeg Jets setting a personal high recording 16 points in 78 games played. Glass ranked 10th in the NHL with 246 hits and spent a significant amount of time on the penalty kill averaging 1:46 minutes of shorthanded ice time. Glass will be a great presence playing a third or fourth line role alongside the likes of Penguins forwards Joe Vitale and Craig Adams.

The 2012 free agency market hasn't had the high intensity and frenzy of years past with the biggest names still without a contract. For hockey fans it's like waiting for your parents to wake up on Christmas morning and waiting for the moment when you get to open the biggest gift under the tree. We're still waiting to see if Santa has delivered to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

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30 Jun

Pittsburgh Penguins "All in" with Sidney Crosby by Jon Pennline

published in category: Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, June 30th, 2012 – 7:00 pm

When noon strikes tomorrow, Sidney Crosby will sign a 12 year, $104.4 million deal to remain a Pittsburgh Penguin for the rest of his career. Staying true to his superstitious nature, Crosby's cap hit will remain $8.7 million despite the player cap increasing by $4 million since Crosby signed his first contract extension in 2007.

In a world shared by Latrell Sprewell and his ridiculous "I have to feed my family" statement in response to turning down a $20 million offer, Crosby's decision to stay with the Penguins for the same amount of money (theoretically a pay cut) is admirable. Obviously, $104.4 million won't force Sid into collecting welfare, however, by leaving $60 million on the table, Crosby has given significant financial flexibility to the Penguins in hopes of acquiring players to win another Stanley Cup. Everything you've heard about Sidney Crosby making winning a top priority is now indisputably confirmed.

For the Pittsburgh Penguins, the deal clearly shows commitment to the world's best hockey talent. Despite Crosby's history of concussions, the Penguins are prepared to win and lose with 87 as their captain for the next dozen years. Furthermore, with the contract not being insured, the Penguins have invested all hope on Sidney Crosby. If the Penguins win the Stanley Cup, Sidney Crosby will be the first one to lift it. If Crosby's career ends premature, the Penguins will lose $104.4 million. Even for a franchise that is playing in a new arena, with an astronomical amount of revenue, that's a big hit to take.

Similar deals have failed to work out for other clubs. Rick DiPietro is the biggest example of what can go wrong with heavily investing in one player. DiPietro signed a 15 year contract in 2006 and, since then, has played in only 172 of 492 games due to numerous injuries.

The Washington Capitals are facing a different problem with their captain. In 2008, Ovechkin signed a 13 year, $124 million contract, the highest in NHL history. After scoring 65 goals and tallying 112 points in 2007, Ovechkin's production has fallen off dramatically. In 2011, he finished with a career low 65 points and saw limited ice time in the closing minutes of a close game. I.E. the Capitals were trying to find ways to win without their captain and highest paid employee.

The Pittsburgh Penguins see a great deal with Sidney Crosby. The dollar figure is a bargain compared to what a player of his talent typically commands. In return, Crosby has to continue to produce as everyone hopes the concussion issues have subsided.

The only person possibly hurt by this -other than the 29 other teams- is Evgeni Malkin; the current individual king of the hockey world. Malkin signed the same contract as Sidney Crosby in 2009. However, it would not be absurd for Malkin to command more money due to his brilliant play this past season. It certainly helps that Pat Brisson (Crosby's agent) and J.P. Barry (Malkin's agent) are co-founders of the Creative Artists Agency.

The Penguins will certainly look for a proper deal for Evgeni Malkin around this time next year. Will Malkin make more than Crosby? Will he ask for top dollar, forcing the Penguins to move him in a similar fashion to Jordan Staal? For now, it is impossible to tell.

One thing is certain: Sidney Crosby is not going anywhere.

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Posted in Pittsburgh Penguins

 

29 Jun

Pittsburgh Power @ Iowa Barnstormers Preview by Dominic Errico

published in category: College Sports on Friday, June 29th, 2012 – 11:11 am

The disappointment express that is the Pittsburgh Power season continues to rumble down the tracks towards the end of the season.

The Power now sit at 3-11 on the season, and will try to end what is essentially an 8-game losing streak against the Iowa Barnstormers (5-9) Saturday night. Pittsburgh's only win in the last two months came via forfeit from the Cleveland Gladiators.

Iowa is experiencing their own disappointment this year. They may have contended in the American conference, but with the strong play of teams in San Jose, San Antonio, Arizona, Chicago and Spokane, they have no chance of making the playoffs this year. It's a shame because they possess some solid talent on their squad.

The two teams squared off earlier in the year in Pittsburgh, with the Barnstormers coming away with a 55-42 victory. The major plays in the Iowa victory were two net recovery touchdowns by linebacker John Mohring and two interceptions by Jason Simpson.

Quarterback J.J. Raterink, in his third season, ranks amongst the AFL's best in passing. He's thrown for 3919 yards, 73 TD's and 10 INT's this year, plus scrambled for 90 yards and 7 scores on the ground.

His favorite target, Jesse Schmidt, is tops in the AFl in rfeceptions and receiving yards, and ranks second in touchdowns. The only game this year in which he failed to score was that earlier meeting against Pittsburgh, so perhaps the Power have his number.

Pittsburgh quarterback Bryan Randall continues to have moments of greatness this year, but he's also had his share of struggles. The turnovers have come down in recent weeks, but the offense has stalled out a few more times than one would like. This might be attributed to the transition from Chris Siegfried's offense, over to Mike Tomczak via Derek Stingley.

The Power activated wide receiver A.J. Jackson for last weeks game against Philly and he responded with a pair of touchdowns. He could be another strong weapon for the Power offense to go along with Oderick Turner, Mike Washington and P.J. Berry. His emergence could signal a reduction in playing time for Randy Hymes.

Chris LeFlore hauled in his 8th interception of the season last week and remains one of the few bright spots on defense for the Power in 2012. Conversely, Bryan Williams still has zero interceptions this year, and ranks behind P.J. Berry (one interception) in that department.

The Barnstormers have a pair of dangerous defensive backs in Simpson and Cameron McGlenn, both of whom have six interceptions.

Neither team generates a lot of pressure via their defensive line, so both quarterbacks should have time to make their reads.

Overall as we look back at that first game for a blueprint for what to expect, I think a few bad bounces on kickoffs gave the Barnstormers the edge, although four interceptions by Andrico Hines didn't help the cause. I like Randall a lot better than Hines, and I think the Power have better depth at WR overall than just Schmidt and Marco Thomas (112 catches, 1241 yards, 15 TD's).

If Randall and company can continue their recent play with fewer turnovers I think they stand an excellent chance of bringing home a victory from Des Moines.

THE VOICE SAYS….Pittsburgh 58, Iowa 52

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Posted in College Sports

 

28 Jun

NHL Free Agency: Christmas in July by Jarred Treshock

published in category: Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday, June 28th, 2012 – 3:54 pm

The 2012 NHL Free Agency period is set to start on Sunday, July 1st and for most people in the city of Pittsburgh it is like Christmas in July. Fans go crazy at this time and cannot wait to see what big addition Ray Shero will add to the Penguins.

And the fans and the city of Pittsburgh have every reason to be excited this year. Ray Shero is just fueling the fire with each step. He first starts out last Thursday by announcing he offered Jordan Staal a ten-year deal. Staal later rejected the offer and made Shero furious. Shero then dealt Staal to Carolina and his current contract. He also saved money because he never spent it on Staal. The deal was done right before the draft and announced during the draft. That just fueled the fire of what is to come.

The next move for Shero and The Pens was the trade of Zbynek Michalek later on the first day of the draft back to the Phoenix Coyotes. That unloaded even more money and just made fans wonder: what is that money going to be spent on?

The final piece of the puzzle came when Shero signed Sidney Crosby to a long term deal. Crosby will now be here for the duration of his career and prime. But announcing it three days before free agency starts is just pure genius.

So now the fans and the city of Pittsburgh can only speculate of what is going on in Ray Shero's mind right now. Fans can only guess who will be signed. The obvious guess is winger Zach Parise. He is a prime candidate. Shero saved money by trading Staal and Michalek and are shopping Paul Martin, trying to unload his large contract. The Penguins can afford him and another top free agent easily if that happens. Parise and Crosby are close friends. And Crosby signing a long term deal, just gives even more of a reason for Parise to sign a deal in Pittsburgh, because he is pretty much guaranteed to play with Crosby for the duration in Pittsburgh.

The other big signing that all signs are pointing to that Shero will go after is Defenseman Ryan Suter. Suter is the top defenseman in the free agent pool this year and will demand a huge contract. Shero has the money for the big deal with Suter and a deal for Parise if he can get rid of Martin's huge contract. He has also stressed how he wants a top D-man partner to go along with Kris Letang. So why not Suter?

Ray Shero is the only one who actually knows what will happen when July 1st hits. For the rest of us, it will just be like Christmas. Have a safe holiday everyone.

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Posted in Pittsburgh Penguins

 



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