Ray Shero's Magic Touch Will Yield Results for Pittsburgh Penguins

Ray Shero, Pittsburgh's wizardly General Manager, said on March 1 following the acquisition of Jordan Leopold from the Florida Panthers, "I'm not really that interested in trading players off our team because I'm trying to strengthen it, not weaken it."

This has been Shero's mentality and when the Olympic "trade-freeze" was lifted Sunday at midnight, he waved his wand.

63 hours later, Jordan Leopold from Florida and Alexei Ponikarovsky from Toronto were turning in their jerseys to don the black and gold until, at least, the end of the season.  Toronto also sent over a 2010 sixth-round draft pick.

And what did Pittsburgh lose?

Not much, actually.

To be more specific, a 2010 second-round draft pick in the Leopold deal, Chris Peluso for the draft pick, and Martin Skoula and Luca Caputi in the Ponikarovsky deal.

Skoula went from sitting in the press box to top two defensemen when 90 percent of the Penguins defense was injured.  I would be lying if I said he didn't contribute to the team, but with a healthy blue line in tow, he would be useless. 

Overall, Skoula was invisible; no glaring mistakes or plays come to mind when I think of him.

Caputi only played four games in the NHL this season and is easily the biggest loss of the bunch.  With 23 goals and 47 points, he was second on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in scoring and impressed many when injuries forced him to be called up to the NHL.

The talent Caputi has shown in the AHL and NHL level made this deal tough for Shero, I'm sure, but other talent continues to brew in WB/S in Eric Tangradi, Dustin Jeffrey, Mark Letestu, and Nick Johnson.

Lastly, there was Peluso.  Peluso who, you ask?  Enough said, but for the record, he's a senior defenseman at Bemidji State of College Hockey America.

These deals weren't easy for Shero, but more importantly, no current Penguins had to move from the roster in order for the deals to take place.  On a team that has been successful so far in the season, that's huge.  Looking back at the quote, any move that involved Penguins leaving would have weakened the roster.

In the end, Shero sacrificed a so-so defenseman and possible top six forward (if he develops as planned) for a solid, big-bodied scorer and an above-average defenseman. 

I definitely can't complain with the result.  At least for now.

I've watched Leopold in two games as a Penguin and while he's made me hold my breath a few times against Buffalo, he hasn't screwed up and he's made very smart plays in his end and the offensive zone.

I'll have to wait until Saturday to make any assessment about Ponikarovsky.  So far, I've been pleased every time I saw him in Toronto.  He ended last season with 23 goals and 61 points and a very impressive +6 on a team swimming in the negatives.

Before the trade, Ponikarovsky was one of three Leafs with a positive +/-.  Again, very impressive.

Both Leopold and Ponikarovsky are going to need time to adjust to Dan Bylsma's system, but I don't forsee any problems in that department.  Bylsma's system is one that keeps on giving if all players are working hard and doing their jobs.

It has worked miracles on players like Mike Rupp, Pascal Dupuis, and Jordan Staal, who have either reached or are en route to having record seasons.

If all goes as planned, these new Penguins should help the team make another deep run into the playoffs.

Prior to the trades, the Penguins had the same offensive squad that won the Stanley Cup last June save the loss of Petr Sykora and Miroslav Satan and the addition of Mike Rupp. 

Adding Ponikarovsky, a big winger with good hands who can score will only help the Pens, especially if he can find some chemistry with hometown buddy Ruslan Fedotenko while on Malkin's line. 

I expect Ponikarovsky to really benefit from Bylsma's system and hopefully learn it quickly with the help of his new linemates.

The team's defense is another story.

The Penguins were dealt a major blow with the loss of shutdown defensemen Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill in the off season.  To stop the bleeding, Shero signed defensive defenseman Jay McKee and brought up Alex Goligoski from the Baby Penguins.

However, their performances overall have been slightly disappointing after very solid starts of the season.

With the Pens sitting 21st in the NHL with 2.88 goals against per game average, it became clear that something needed to be done with the defense.

It's premature to assume that Leopold will be unable to do the job Scuderi did in the playoffs, but I feel that Leopold's assignments in Florida against top forwards like Alex Ovechkin can only help the Penguins. 

If Leopold can ensure that he will play smart hockey in his own end, then he'll be in good shape.  He doesn't need to worry about jumping in the offense rush, but these past two games have shown me that he's more than capable of doing that without becoming a defensive liability.

Overall, another fabulous job by Shero to show how to make a team better without trading away more talent than receiving.  Although any implications of the trade have yet to show, I have no reason to doubt Shero's wizardly ways.

Why, you ask?

A look at the picture is all that is necessary.  He built a Stanley Cup-winning team last season and finalist the season before.  He knows what he's doing.

In Shero I trust.