The Confluence

Fedotenko re-signs with Penguins for one-year deal

by Tony F on 07/03/09 at 02:11 PM ET
Comments (5)

Reportedly terms are for one year, $1.8M dollars.

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The Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins have agreed to terms with forward Ruslan Fedotenko to a one-year contract through the 2009-2010 season, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Ray Shero.

Fedotenko, 30, scored 39 points (16 goals, 23 assists) and ranked second on the team with a plus-18 rating in 65 games with the Penguins this season. It marked the seventh time that he recorded 30-plus points in a single season. He appeared in 24 games for Pittsburgh during the post-season, recording seven goals and 14 points.

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In Shero We Trust (but hurry up, m’kay ?)

by Tony F on 07/03/09 at 10:00 AM ET
Comments (33)

Tough, but not totally unexpected day for the Penguins and their fans on Day Two of the free agency period, losing defensive stalwart Rob Scuderi to Los Angeles.

The tally so far has the Pens losing Scuderi, Hal Gill and Mathieu Garon, while retaining Craig Adams and Bill Guerin and signing Mike Rupp.

The question now becomes, with only ~$4.7M available, how does GM Ray Shero spend it ??

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Tags: NHL-Hockey, Pittsburgh+Penguins,

Lots of feelers still out there for Shero and Penguins after Day One

by Tony F on 07/02/09 at 10:54 AM ET
Comments (1)

I guess that we as Penguins fans have gotten used to being patient when it comes to Free Agency under GM Ray Shero. You must resist the urge to exclaim “Huh ??” when the first free agent signing of the period for the Pens is, Mike Rupp ??

Like last July 1st, when Shero’s only signing was, Eric Godard.

It was on July 2nd a year ago when Hossa-gate happened, resulting in GMRS scrambling to sign Ruslan Fedotenko and Miro Satan the next day.

Fast forward to present day, and Rob Scuderi and Fedotenko are still negotiating with several teams, Hal Gill has to start learning French and Mathieu Garon is next up to Dot the “I” at the Horseshoe.

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Zigomanis will not return to Penguins

by Tony F on 06/30/09 at 01:47 PM ET
Comments (12)

Well, if you’re looking for a right-handed faceoff specialist this Free Agency period, it looks like one of the best will be available at noon tomorrow.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Mike Zigomanis’ agent states that “I think it’s a fait accompli” that he won’t have any more discussions with the Penguins, after the Pens re-signed Craig Adams with a two-year contract.

Zigomanis was leading the NHL in faceoff percentage at the time of his shoulder surgery in December.

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It’s the calm before the Free Agency storm for Penguins

by Tony F on 06/30/09 at 10:26 AM ET
Comments (13)

Well, maybe it’ll just be some scattered showers for the Pens.

Or, knowing Ray Shero, maybe not.

As I mentioned on Twitter, now that the Pens have re-signed Craig Adams and Bill Guerin, leaving them with ~$5.5M of cap space, something just tells me that it’s not going to be as simple as attempting to sign Ruslan Fedotenko and Rob Scuderi, then pack up and call it a summer.

I think we should expect the unexpected in the coming days from Shero and the Penguins.

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Penguins re-sign Adams to two-year deal

by Tony F on 06/29/09 at 04:21 PM ET
Comments (11)

From the Penguins:

The Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins have signed forward Craig Adams to a two-year contract, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Ray Shero. Financial terms were not disclosed. Adams, 32, was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. The gritty Adams played a key support role in the Penguins’ drive to the Stanley Cup, chipping in three goals and two assists for five points in 24 playoff games. After being claimed on waivers from the Chicago Blackhawks on March 4, he played nine regular-season games for the Penguins and recorded one assist.

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Penguins complete ‘09 Draft with a couple of “Legacy’s”

by Tony F on 06/27/09 at 07:04 PM ET
Comments (1)

OK, real quick.... Flash back to Animal House. The Delta’s are reviewing the pledges’ pictures on the beer-soaked projector screen and Kent Dorfman’s pudgy face is shown to a showering of beer cans.

Hoover tries to call the Delta’s down, explaining ”This is Kent Dorfman. He’s a Legacy from Harrisburg” (His brother, Fred, was a ‘59 Delta, if you recall).

Sorry, just felt like that trip down memory lane. That, possibly unconsciously, maybe not, was one of the themes of the Penguins’ recently completed draft. Two of the seven Penguins’ picks are Legacy’s, so to speak, as they are related to two of more notable Penguins of the past.

A rundown of the Pens’ Day Two picks:

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Tags: NHL-Hockey, Pittsburgh+Penguins,

Penguins select D-man Simon Despres with #1 pick

by Tony F on 06/26/09 at 11:09 PM ET
Comments (0)

It was a long wait, but the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins, with the #30 pick in the first round, selected defenseman Simon Despres from Saint John of the QMJHL.

In the final Central Scouting Rankings Despres was ranked eighth among North American skaters.

Scouting reports: NHL Central Scouting’s Chris Bordeleau - “I think for a potential pro player, he’s got the size and mobility. I’ve seen him many games, and he never seems to make a bad play. He’s never going to get 100 points, but definitely, when you want a guy to play defense, he’s your guy. He does it all, he’ll block shots and he moves the puck at the right time.” Saint John Sea Dogs head coach Jacques Beaulieu -
“Simon is a very good skater with and without the puck. He has good hands for a big man and he has outstanding vision as well as hockey sense. To make it to the next level he will need to improve his upper body strength and his shot, but overall Simon is an outstanding person on and off the ice. He loves the game. He is without a doubt an NHL prospect.”

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Penguins’ #1 pick is a crapshoot, a glance at Mock Draft’s #1 Pens Picks

by Tony F on 06/25/09 at 09:31 AM ET
Comments (9)

Picking last in the first round, obviously, isn’t as bad as it may seem. After all, it does mean that your team won the Cup (unless it’s a traded pick, naturally).

But that also means that your #1 pick is really anyone’s guess, including the teams themselves. They might have a handful of players they have their eye on, but they could very well be gone by the time it’s your turn to pick.

So with the Penguins at #30 this year, the wild guesses that you see on all of these Mock Drafts are just all over the place. Some of the Penguins’ picks I see on one person’s mock draft at #30 are on another’s at #7. Again, just all over the place.

So, for your entertaiment pleasure, I’ve compiled a small list of websites’ 1st round Mock Drafts, along with their respective Central Scouting Rankings.

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Tags: NHL-Hockey, Pittsburgh+Penguins,

My .02 on Twittering and hockey blogging

by Tony F on 06/23/09 at 01:36 PM ET
Comments (11)

The Confluence has “officially” been on Twitter for several months now, here’s my account. Up until maybe a month ago, I solely used that account to feed my blog entries.

Then, during one of the slow periods in the playoffs, I decided to download TwInbox, an application that allows me to send and receive my Tweets within my Outlook.

So now, after some streamlining of the people that I follow, and monitoring the Tweets that I still get, I have a few thoughts. Bear with me.

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About The Confluence

Welcome to The Confluence, a Pittsburgh Penguins blog since 2006. Originally at Blogspot, then at MVN, The Confluence has over 1000 articles reporting Penguins news as well as jumping on my soapbox to opine constructive Penguins criticism. My posts are regularly linked by hockey websites such as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Empty Netters and Yahoo!’s Puck Daddy, and I’ve done guest blogger spots on such websites as the New York Times. I invite you to spend a little time and peruse the archives at all of the sites for some of my better work. I am a retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer, but don’t confuse me with my fellow Chief at A2Y.

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