Ekman, Petro, Kiwi, Cairns expected to be let go

Post by **schreibdog** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 1:20 am

The Penguins apparently will not offer contracts to forwards Nils Ekman and Ronald Petrovicky and defensemen Eric Cairns and Joel Kwiatkowski, all of whom will go on the open market July 1.

They seem to have varying degrees of interest in retaining goalie Jocelyn Thibault and defensemen Rob Scuderi, Alain Nasreddine and Josef Melichar, although it is entirely possible none will be back.
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http://www.postgazette.com/pg/07172/795908-61.stm

I'm bummed about Petro. I liked him on our 4th line much more than BGL.

mikey287 · Post by **mikey287** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 1:34 am

schreibdog wrote:
I'm bummed about Petro. I liked him on our 4th line much more than BGL.

Agreed.

I'd also like to give Kiwi a chance, if he's willing to be a 7th, he's one of the better 7th d-men in the league if that makes any sense...I guess Scuds will be 7, which will be a sign of some improvement I hope...

Idoit40fans · Post by **Idoit40fans** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 4:19 am

mikey287 wrote:
schreibdog wrote:
I'm bummed about Petro. I liked him on our 4th line much more than BGL.
Agreed.

I'd also like to give Kiwi a chance, if he's willing to be a 7th, he's one of the better 7th d-men in the league if that makes any sense...I guess Scuds will be 7, which will be a sign of some improvement I hope...

Laraque is fine on the 4th, no one complained about him until the playoffs, and really it was obvious there wouldn't be a place for him then even before we got to the playoffs. I like Petro too, but I won't complain seeing Laraque.

Cairns was a no brainer though, and Ekman isn't that much of a surprise, though I expect him to go have success somewhere else.

Samuelsson · Post by **Samuelsson** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 5:42 am

Idoit40fans wrote:
mikey287 wrote:
schreibdog wrote:

Cairns was a no brainer though, and Ekman isn't that much of a surprise, though I expect him to go have success somewhere else.

I'm not so sure about Ekman having success somewhere else. The only place he really has had good numbers in the NHL is San JosÃƒÂ©. And after last year's performance, even though he was injured a lot, it's easy to see that Big Joe probably had a lot to do with it.

stefanh · Post by **stefanh** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 6:00 am

Samuelsson wrote:
Idoit40fans wrote:
mikey287 wrote:
schreibdog wrote:

Cairns was a no brainer though, and Ekman isn't that much of a surprise, though I expect him to go have success somewhere else.
I'm not so sure about Ekman having success somewhere else. The only place he really has had good numbers in the NHL is San JosÃƒÂ©. And after last year's performance, even though he was injured a lot, it's easy to see that Big Joe probably had a lot to do with it.

Not if you consider that Ekman did as well in San JosÃƒÂ© without Thornton as with.

Post by **Jim** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 7:22 am

schreibdog wrote:
The Penguins apparently will not offer contracts to forwards Nils Ekman and Ronald Petrovicky and defensemen Eric Cairns and Joel Kwiatkowski, all of whom will go on the open market July 1.

They seem to have varying degrees of interest in retaining goalie Jocelyn Thibault and defensemen Rob Scuderi, Alain Nasreddine and Josef Melichar, although it is entirely possible none will be back.

Ekman bombed big time. He was decent in SJ even without Thornton, but just never got it going here.

Petrovicky is a loss, but we have a couple guys of that mold. While they are nice to have, you don't want to have too many good grinding relative non-scorers on the roster. You just don't need, or want, two full lines of those.

Cairns is expendable because of Laraque.

Kwiatkowski would be a good reserve guy, but #7's are not that hard to come by.

Thibault is only necessary if they think MAF still needs him. Otherwise he will be too expensive as a rarely used backup.

Scuderi/Melichar are what they are. I am fine with them being the #7, MAYBE a #6 if necessary.

Nasreddine see Kwiatkowski. Frankly, all of Kwiatkowski, Melichar, Nasreddine and Scuderi are the exact same thing.

bh · Post by bh » Thu Jun 21, 2007 7:30 am

Sounds like Filewich and Kennedy will get a real shot at making the club this year. It also sounds like Shero isn't going to pull any blockbusters. He also states that he isn't looking to spend 4-5 million on a top pairing defesnman so I guess that probably rules out Hannan as well as a few others. Sounds like he's talking like Letang is on the team already.

Post by **pfim** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 7:47 am

I guess the only somewhat suprising one is Petrovicky, although I don't think it's much of a loss.

Penspal · Post by **Penspal** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 8:06 am

And I hate to think of him turboing and and hammering our dmen on another team.

I really don't unserstand this move to be honest. I'm going to guess that Laraque is the guy replacing him, but I sure hope he speeds up considerably.

Good Luck Petro wherever you land, and take it easy on our Pens.

NJ5934 · Post by **NJ5934** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 8:10 am

I'm going to guess the veteran targeted to play alongside Letang is Andy Sutton.

Rocco · Post by **Rocco** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 8:14 am

Shero will rue the day he let The Answer walk.

evilpens · Post by **evilpens** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 8:14 am

NJ5934 wrote:
I'm going to guess the veteran targeted to play alongside Letang is Andy Sutton.

I sure as hell hope not

Post by **eastonpensfan** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 8:24 am

bh wrote:
Sounds like he's talking like Letang is on the team already.

I noticed the same thing and that surprised me. Especially since the Q is such an offensive-minded league and defensive play is Letang's weak spot (as we all saw in his 7 games), I would have thought that RS would at least give him a half-season in the AHL, otherwise he may develop as another Gonchar, completely one-dimensional.

Post by **pfim** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 8:41 am

And I hate to think of him turboing and and hammering our dmen on another team.

The problem with him is that he doesn't do it consistently.

As far as Letang goes, I am pretty shocked at Shero's comment. I really don't know what to say, I hope he has improved dramatically since last season.

Post by **Mad City Mike** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 8:50 am

By far the worst news to come out fo this article was this quote from Shero that was kind of buried amongst everything else:

"It's hard to say we're going to get a top-two guy to play with [Sergei] Gonchar, unless you're spending $4 million or $5 million dollars and giving [a long-term deal].

That pretty much implies Gonchar will be back, that Shero either has not shopped him or shopped him and found no takers. Yo, Ray, this is not a good way to stay on my good side

.

Post by **penny lane** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 9:04 am

Mad City Mike wrote:
By far the worst news to come out fo this article was this quote from Shero that was kind of buried amongst everything else:

"It's hard to say we're going to get a top-two guy to play with [Sergei] Gonchar, unless you're spending $4 million or $5 million dollars and giving [a long-term deal].
That pretty much implies Gonchar will be back, that Shero either has not shopped him or shopped him and found no takers. Yo, Ray, this is not a good way to stay on my good side .

Implies...but keep hope, maybe he wanted to say:
"hard to say whether I will find a more suitable home
for Sergei." "Which then would free up some monies
for the top two defenseman."

Post by **Jasmine** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 9:05 am

http://www.yardbarker.com/nhl/articles/ ... emen/13555
There are some great defensemen at the top of this list for sure, but Gonchar is not the worst dman you could have. What's with the constant Sergei bashing?

Post by **Ginger** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 9:10 am

Penspal wrote:
And I hate to think of him turboing and and hammering our dmen on another team.

I really don't unserstand this move to be honest. I'm going to guess that Laraque is the guy replacing him, but I sure hope he speeds up considerably.

Good Luck Petro wherever you land, and take it easy on our Pens.

I was thinking the same thing. It's not so much their loss to our roster as it is what they can do to our roster of players on another team.

I still have kinda mixed feelings about Laraque too so I'm not sure I like relying on him so much.

Post by **Jim** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 9:24 am

Jasmine wrote:
http://www.yardbarker.com/nhl/articles/ ... emen/13555
There are some great defensemen at the top of this list for sure, but Gonchar is not the worst dman you could have. What's with the constant Sergei bashing?

Everyone get's bashed. EVERYONE. Well, maybe not Talbot, but everyone else. Crosby, Malkin, Gonchar, MAF, Whitney, everyone.

Post by **Mad City Mike** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 9:33 am

Jasmine wrote:
http://www.yardbarker.com/nhl/articles/ ... emen/13555
There are some great defensemen at the top of this list for sure, but Gonchar is not the worst dman you could have. What's with the constant Sergei bashing?

Sergei Gonchar (Pittsburgh)
- Has size, speed and a wicked shot from the point. Makes crisp passes to get out of the defensive zone or lugs the puck up ice with speed.

That has to be one of the worst scouting reports I have seen. It should read:

- Has good size, but fails to use it effectively. Has strong shot from point, but often takes far too long to release it. Very slow at moving puck out of zone. Not a good outlet passer. Refuses to take a hit to make a play. Gutless.

Does that answer your question about Sergei bashing?

demondg1 · Post by **demondg1** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 9:51 am

I'll miss Petro. But hopefully this gives more ice time to Thorburn. Which I think is a good thing.

I wouldn't have minded Kiwi sticking around as a 6th/7th d-man.

Loaf31 · Post by **Loaf31** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:07 am

demondg1 wrote:
I'll miss Petro. But hopefully this gives more ice time to Thorburn. Which I think is a good thing.

I wouldn't have minded Kiwi sticking around as a 6th/7th d-man.

I agree with both points here, I think Thorburn is a younger version of Petro, with more of an upside.

Kiwi we hardly knew ye

peterleefan · Post by **peterleefan** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:13 am

pfim wrote:
I guess the only somewhat suprising one is Petrovicky, although I don't think it's much of a loss.

Thorburn could replace him........

stefanh · Post by **stefanh** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:18 am

eastonpensfan wrote:
bh wrote:
Sounds like he's talking like Letang is on the team already.
I noticed the same thing and that surprised me. Especially since the Q is such an offensive-minded league and defensive play is Letang's weak spot (as we all saw in his 7 games), I would have thought that RS would at least give him a half-season in the AHL, otherwise he may develop as another Gonchar, completely one-dimensional.

The talk is though that Letang really improved his D this season.

These awards perhaps doesnÃ‚Â´t say everything but should say something.

2007-04-04 * 2006-07 Season - Trophy Butch Bouchard (best defenseman)
Kristopher Letang, Val-d'Or

2007-04-04 * 2006-07 Season - Trophy Kevin Lowe (best defensive defenseman)
Kristopher Letang, Val-d'Or

2007-04-04 * 2006-07 Season - Trophy Paul Dumont (Personnality of the year)
Kristopher Letang, Val-d'Or

Still I agree that Letang shouldnÃ‚Â´t be rushed and itÃ‚Â´s a huge step to take for a 20 year old defenseman. Definitly one of the more interesting guys to watch in the camp.

pcm · Post by **pcm** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:29 am

Teppo Numminen would make a great #5 to play with / mentor Letang.

Ekman, Petro, Kiwi, Cairns expected to be let go

Ekman, Petro, Kiwi, Cairns expected to be let go

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I'll miss Petro

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