Pittsburgh Penguins: Three Questions After This Bye Week
The NHL’s bye week is coming to the end and the Pittsburgh Penguins will be ready to play against the Detroit Red Wings once again on Saturday.
This signals an important time for the Pittsburgh Penguins. We have a lot to accomplish to get back to the top of the league and we have to use this second half of the season to get there.
This bye week has given us a lot of time to think about this season, and yet, some questions remain. Let’s take a look at a few of the questions I have concerning the Penguins moving now and moving forward.
Is Letang Really Deserving of an All Star Spot?
Kris Letang made the All-Star Game. Both him and Sidney Crosby beat out Phil Kessel and even Evgeni Malkin as the team’s representatives. Crosby I understand, but Letang?
Now this is nothing against Letang. He is our number-one defenceman and he is essential to our team. However, anyone can see that he is having an off year, did he really deserve the spot over someone like Phil Kessel?
Pittsburgh Penguins
He is currently 14th in the league in points among defenceman. Could another defenceman, like Shayne Gostisbehere, who’s fourth in scoring among defenceman, be more deserving of the spot?
Nothing against Letang, but maybe this should be a reminder to him for our team. If he’s an all-star, he should step it up and play as good as those who were arguably snubbed.
Are We Still Hunting for a Third-Line Centre?
The addition of Riley Sheahan was supposed o fix our third-line centre problem after Nick Bonino walked in free agency, but that hasn’t worked out how we planned.
Sheahan hasn’t been playing up to expectations and has been demoted to the fourth line, causing our lines to be mismatched.
We still have until the deadline. If I was Jim Rutherford, I would explore some options to make a move on a legitimate third-line centre.
Will Our Goaltending Be OK?
Our goaltending has been shaky this season. Matt Murray has been struggling to play like has before and Tristan Jerry isn’t exactly ready to split the time in net with him.
On top of that, Murray will be out for their game on Saturday because of family reasons. Although this is a very valid reason to be out and you can’t blame the guy, we just have to hope that he returns to form as soon as possible.