After Malkin got hurt -- and Crosby was still out and everyone else seemed to be dropping like flies -- I was almost thinking that the Pens shouldn't try to trade for anyone and should try to lose out so they could get a better draft pick.
I certainly didn't think that they should try to trade for anyone in order to improve the team, because that would only waste precious resources and squander future draft picks.
Well, Ray Shero proved himself to be awesome and proved me to be short-sighted.
I really like Alex Goligoski, but you can't get around the fact that the Pens got a talented winger and a defenseman of about the same caliber for what amounted to their fifth defenseman. There were no draft picks involved. At some point, you need to trade Goligoski's potential for someone that has already realized their potential, since this is a team that can win now. That point was the Goligoski trade and I think the Pens made out like bandits.
They have a ton of talented centers and they don't have the same kind of depth at wing -- which makes sense, because there are two wings and one center, but it's still a problem -- and they didn't have any wingers waiting in the... uh, wings... so they needed to go out and get one. Even without all the injuries, this is a team that can always use -- and can still use -- as many talented wingers as it can acquire at a reasonable price.
That's why the Kovalev trade made so much sense and was such a great move. Even if trading for Kovy means that the Pens have to give up a sixth round pick, it's worth it. Kovy still has enough left in the tank to make this team better. He's always been a head case, but veteran leadership is not something that this team needed. They needed a gifted scater and goal scorer at the wing position and that's what Kovalev brings. I don't care if he shows up to practice in a bunny suit. If he scores goals and sets up goals, he adds value to the team, especially since points have been in such short supply the last few weeks... and will be in short supply until everyone is back in the line-up, especially Crosby (if Crosby comes back this season).
The icing on the cake is that Neal and Neskanen aren't rental players. Even though the Pens are still hell-bent on winning the Cup, they didn't mortgage an important part of their future and trade someone with Goligoski's potential for guys whose contracts expire at the end of the season. Sure, their contracts expire at the end of next season, but that means that the Pens still get them for another year and Neal and Neskanen have plenty of time to drink the Koolaid, realize that this is a stacked roster, soak in the new arena, and get to know Dan Bylsma, which is always a recruiting edge for the Pens.
If Neal and Neskanen look like they'll be a valuable part of the team's future, I think Shero will be able to re-sign them, which only makes the team stronger in the long term.
For the balance of this season, I think it all depends on Sid's return.
The team has not given up on the season and the players, coaches, and front office have all emphatically proven that they want to make a Cup run this year. The problem there is that, without Crosby, they're just a very good team. Very good teams don't win the Stanley Cup. Great teams win the Stanley Cup.
They have a 13 point lead over the #9 seed in the Eastern conference and they've stayed pretty steady at #4 for a while now, so I think it's safe to speculate that they'll make the playoffs with 17 games left to play. It's highly unlikely that they'll beat out the Flyers and win the division. Even though they're only five points off the division lead, they don't have even a very good team at this point (still too many injuries and no Crosby) and Philly has two games in hand.
So, they'll enter the playoffs as a low seed without their team captain. I think this team has a lot of heart -- and they showed it on Saturday's shoot-out win over the Leafs -- but they also don't have enough talent to hang with a team that is also putting it all on the line to win, as they showed in the overtime loss to the Leafs on Wednesday.
They're a better, more focused team right now than they were before the trade deadline, but I still don't think they're good enough to hoist the Cup. But, hey, who knows? Last season, the #7 seed hosted the #8 seed in the Eastern Conference final, so maybe the Pens will be able to get by on clutch goals, good defense, and great goaltending. I doubt it, but it's possible.
The only thing that will turn the tide -- in my mind -- is if Sid comes back. The issue there is that I don't think he's coming back this season. My guess is that he suffered a concussion, didn't realize it, and then got another one shortly thereafter.
Two concussions right in a row like that is a very, very bad. If he hurt his knee or tweaked his ankle or something, he could play through it, win another Cup, and get it replaced when he got older. You only get one brain, so the Pens are being very careful with the injury, and rightfully so.
They don't want him to turn into another Eric Lindros, where he's too addled by brain issues to take the ice. I'm sure we can all agree as Penguins fans that the team should take any steps necessary in order to avoid any eventuality where Sidney Crosby would be compared to Eric Lindros in any context. Man, I hate that guy.
If holding him out this season means there's a better chance that he's OK in the future, I say hold him out. Even if there was a 100% chance that the Pens would win the Cup if he came back, but there was a 20% chance that they could lose him forever, I would say hold him out. He's too important to the future of this team.
The Penguins have a ton of young talent, a good deal of experienced, veteran leadership, a great coaching staff and a very competent front office. All those things point towards a number of Cup runs in this team's future... but only if 87 is in there.
Note that I haven't said much about Malkin. I think he's an extremely talented player, but he doesn't have Crosby's drive. He's Jagr to Crosby's Lemieux, even Kovalev to Crosby's Jagr, since Jagr definitely had more drive and purpose and raised the level of his game when he became captain. It could be that Malkin would need to be named captain in order to have the right kind of motivation, but I wouldn't want to take that risk. This is Crosby's team.
When Malkin is on, he's amazing, as he was during the championship run in 2009. When he's not on, he's just good. For what the Pens are paying him and the talent he has, he should be better than good. This isn't even necessarily a knock on Malkin. In order to be world-class at anything, you need to have uncommon talent, but you also need to have uncommon drive. Malkin has the talent. Crosby has the talent and the drive.
Bylsma and the players are locked in. Shero improved the team through trades. Maybe Crosby comes back, maybe he doesn't. It will be interesting to see how far guile and determination can take this team. We'll know more as guys start to come back and guys start to head back to Wilkes Barre. At this point, it's good to know that the franchise is in capable hands and, if nothing else, the team will be much stronger next season.
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