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| Mark Letestu has been falling out of favor under coach Dan Bylsma for months, now |
The Pittsburgh Penguins have traded young centerman Mark Letestu to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a 4th round draft pick. Letestu, a player who has been plummeting out of favor in the ‘Burgh since last spring, was given a 2-year, $1,250,000 contract extension by Penguins’ GM Ray Shero back in January. In addition to the Pens shipping out Letestu, the team also distributed a press release earlier today stating that Dustin Jeffrey and enforcer Steve MacIntyre had been sent to the Penguins’ AHL farm team in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a “conditioning” stint. No players were recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
So the question must be asked, what’s the cause for a successful team’s sudden creation of roster openings in Pittsburgh? Allow me to jump to the fairly obvious conclusion. Sidney Crosby is (almost) ready to play hockey again.
Crosby, who has not played a game since January 5th, 2011, sent the hockey world into a frenzy when he didn’t rule out this Friday’s game against Dallas as his possible return date. After all, 11/11 was the day many people predicted he would see NHL ice again, but to the same token, we cannot take his quote regarding the specific game in which he’d play again, “Anyone’s guess is as good as mine,” as insincere.
Tyler Kennedy, who has been suffering from concussion symptoms since mid-October, started skating again last week. So these roster moves could foreshadow his return just as much as they may hint at Crosby’s. The one word that best describes #87’s concussion is “unpredictable”. These moves do not point to the immediate reemergence of Sidney Crosby into Pittsburgh’s daily line-up. No one should get discouraged all of a sudden if 11/11 rolls around and Sid isn’t on the ice in a game. No one should get discouraged if 11/15 is Crosby-less, either. These moves only point to three things that we can say for certain: Letestu had underperformed to the point where the Penguins had to deal him, Pittsburgh’s injured players in general have been improving, and even if 11/11, 11/12, 11/15, or whenever comes and doesn’t have Sidney Crosby with a game played, rest assured we will see him before 12/1.
And you can run and tell that, homeboy.
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| The Pens' sudden roster moves point to Sidney Crosby, Tyler Kennedy, and most of their injured players' improving health. |
