Peril in Pittsburgh: Penguins Face Challenging Decisions

On Monday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins won their first game after losing five straight and winning only five of the past 14 games.

While many speculated that the Penugins would dominate, they too have felt the Stanley Cup hangover that has plagued a handful of teams since the lockout.

One reason could be that this isn't exactly the same team that went to the Stanley Cup finals. Gone are power forward Ryan Malone and right winger Marian Hossa, which had huge impacts on the team last postseason. 

In Hossa's case, the Penguins should have just excepted him as a rental skater and not someone they were going to get to sign a multi-year deal. Many are surprised that he left Pittsburgh to join the Red Wings for a one year deal involving simliar money instead of the multi-year deal and play alongside Sidney Crosby, who he had great chemistry with in the playoffs.

Sadly, Malone and Hossa aren't even the beginning of the team's problems. Instead, the loss of role players have hurt the younger players on the team.

Center Tyler Kennedy is young and could become a 20-30 goal scorer in the near future, while center Jordan Staal looks to replicate the season he had as a rookie. Pittsburgh's biggest loss was gritty leadership from Gary Roberts. While he is 42-years old and isn't having that great of a season in Tampa Bay, his leadership was priceless.

He isn't the offensive power he once was that made him a star in Calgary in the late '80s and early '90s, but the leadership he had was a major boost for a young Penguin squad.

Other meaningful losses were Adam Hall, a good defensive forward, an enforcer in forward George Laraque, and an agitator/biter in forward Jarrko Ruutu. If Laraque and Ruutu were still in Penguin jerseys, the little "fights" that Crosby were involved in recently would not exist.

Those four players were important role players and shut down players for the Penguins, along with Malone, who with Staal, formed a very potent penalty kill that was among the best down the stretch and in the playoffs.

To add insult to injury, a preseason injuries to defensemen Segrei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney have hurt the Penguins on the blue line. While it should hurt, the Penguins are deep in defensemen.

To fill that void, young defenseman Kris Letang fought his way and earned a roster spot on the team and has played very well for them. There's also defenseman Hal Gill, who Jaromir Jagr has personally described as "one of the best shut down defensemen in the game."

There was defenseman Daryl Sydor before he was traded for fellow defenseman Philip Boucher, who was an immediate upgrade. Robert Scuderi and Brooks Orpik are great defensemen as well, but there has been another answer. While injuries have plagued Whitney and Gonchar, a rookie by the name of Alex Goligoski currently leads all Penugin defensemen in points and plus/minus.

Another loss to the Penguins was last year's surprising savior, goaltender Ty Conklin. Conklin helped the Penguins stay competitive and in the hunt for the Atlantic Division title while Marc-Andre Fluery was out with a high ankle sprain.

Conklin also left for the Red Wings, but the Penguins still have one of the best goaltenders in Fluery. He was phenomenal down the stretch and in the playoffs. He has struggled this year, but all of that isn't his fault as the Penguins did lose a lot of defensive help. Not to mention, their penalty killing isn't what it used to be.

Many point that the signings of wingers Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko were bad signings. Yet, many overlook the fact that they're really not replacing Hossa and Malone.

Hossa only played 12 games in Pittsburgh during the regular season and had three goals, while Malone scored 27 goals and 51 points during his tenure. Currently, Satan is on pace to get 24 goals and 52 points, which is very comparable to Malone.

Fedotenko arguably was a bad signing because he was never an offensive threat before and he isn't now. He seems to be more of a replacement for the defensive side to Malone's game as Satan is the offensive replacement. Nonetheless, he is on pace for 22 goals and 42 points, which would be a career season if he can hit those marks.

When looking at the Eastern Conference, the Penguins are outside looking in, currently in ninth place as they are one point behind Buffalo for a playoff seed. While leadership has been lost this season, there is no reason why leaders on the team could fill that void and get the team some much needed wins.

Center Evgeni Malkin is first in the league with 63 points and 48 assists, while center Sidney Crosby sits in third place with 51 points while he leads his team with 16 goals. Why can't they help the Penguins become victorious?

Last season, the Penguins did better in the overall standings with Crosby out of the lineup than they did with both Crosby and Malkin in it. When Crosby was injured last season and missed 29 games, Malkin carried the team.

He finished second in points in the league behind Alexander Ovechkin as well as score 47 goals. With his help, the Penguins captured the Atlantic Division crown without the help of Crosby.

Both Crosby and Malkin should currently have more than 16 and 15 goals. Crosby, believe it or not, has a better shooting percentage than Ovechkin does, so why doesn't he just shoot more? Why does Malkin only have 15 goals when last year he finished with 47? It's these questions that need to be answered if the Penguins hope to have any chance in the offseason.

If the Penguins want to make it into the playoffs and compete for the Atlantic Divison title against the Flyers, Rangers, and the Devils, these two leaders have to score more goals. Don't let them blame injuries—Montreal and Washington have had more injuries to more important players and the Capitals are second in points while Montreal is in third place.

I honestly believe Crosby isn't ready to be a captain. He is one of the best in the game, which is evident in what he has accomplished the past three seasons. He was the youngest player to win an MVP award as well as an award for most points in any sport. He is also the youngest player to be named captain of his team. Don't get me wrong, Crosby will one day be a great captain, but right now he isn't ready for the responsibility.

Red Wings great Steve Yzerman was named captain of his squad at a young age but he had more than two years of playing under his belt. Many people also complain of Crosby being a cry baby, which he has proven on the ice.

When you look at past great captains in the past like Mark Messier, Steve Yzerman or Scott Stevens, they never whined or complained if something didn't go their way. Instead, they'd overcome it by scoring a clutch goal or a smart defensive play.

Don't get me wrong—I'm not taking anything from Crosby. He is a class act, but he has to hide his frustrations better and instead of complaining to an official or whining, silent the opposition with a highlight goal or a play.

Many players know they can get under Crosby's skin easily and that doesn't bode well for him. He has to hide it better. Don't get me wrong Crosby, is might be classy, but being known as a "whiner" or a "diver" isn't a label a captain should have.

There's a lot of trade rumors involving trading Jordan Staal for a scoring winger, who the Pens do desperately need. Yet, General Manager Ray Shero has expressed on how much he wants to keep Staal and sign him to a multi-year deal. I agree, but have another idea.

I think a trade that can be very controversial but could either pay off big or back fire terribly would be to trade Crosby instead. Here are my reasons:

1) You would get a huge package in return of at least one high profile scoring winger, a couple role players, which the Penguins desperately need. They would also get draft picks.

2) Malkin plays better without Crosby in the lineup and is a more well-rounded player. That in itself is also controversial, but Malkin has 12 points more than Crosby. I honestly believe if Malkin was the one to go down instead of Crosby last season, the Penguins wouldn't have won the Atlantic Division title as well.

3) As it could really hurt ticket sales because team marketing relies on Crosby, it shouldn't hurt because the trade would hopefully help the Penguins win. Take the Capitals, for example. Fans were not going to games while the team lost even with Ovechkin, arguably one of the best players in the league, on the ice every night. Now that they are winning and are a Stanley Cup contender, all of their games are sellouts.

One trade proposition that could really be considered a pay off would be to trade Crosby to Atlanta for Ilya Kovalchuk, Bryan Little or Slava Kozlov and tough guy Eric Boulton. I think this trade could work for many reasons:

1) The Thrashers know they're going to lose Kovalchuk at the end of the 2009-2010 season when his contract is up. There's no reason he'd stay there any longer. He is not having a quality season by his standards and shouldn't pick it up not because he isn't a great player or isn't a great scorer, but because he's miserable in Atlanta.

He has been there for eight seasons now and has only played in for playoff games. He has carried the team and has been one of the most dangerous goal scorers in the league since he broke out. A change of scenery will do him good for him and his career.

He is a future 500 or even 600-goal scorer. He has had two 50 goal seasons, has won the Rocket Richard Trophy and has a career of 238 goals. He's only 25 and has yet to have a stable elite center to play with in his career. Playing alongside Malkin, the Russian duo could tear up the score sheets.

2) The Thrashers might do without sophmore player Bryan Little, who is their leading goal scorer if they were to get Crosby. Crosby will drive fans to Atlanta, gauranteed. People will buy tickets to see him play. He's getting an even better center in Crosby than Little will ever become, so it's a win-win for both teams involved.

3) Slava Kozlov is at the end of his career but he'd be great at secondary scoring for the Penguins. If Atlanta wouldn't give up Little, they'd certainly give up a 36-year old. He is still a good scorer and can pile in nearly 30 goals.

4) Eric Boulton would add the grit and checking forward Pittsburgh desperately needs. He has 76 minutes in penalties and is only minus one on an awful team. The Penguins need a player who will rough it up for them.

In all honestly, I believe this is a win-win for both teams. Crosby could save hockey in Atlanta like he did in Pittsburgh and the Penguins would be getting a dangerous scorer in Kovalchuk, a good second-line center or scorer with Little or Kozlov and grit and toughness in Boulton.

Nonetheless, this will never happen. Crosby will most likely finish his career in a Penguins jersey and will win the cup once or perhaps twice. You have to believe that, if this is the case, Malkin will walk away once his contract is up.

Sadly, they will lose the better player.