For a bit, the start of the season was looking promising. The Pittsburgh Penguins added a bit more depth to their roster and even made a change in the goalie coach. Things were starting to look up. However, nothing is certain in professional sports. With a recent bombshell making waves in the hockey world, the Penguins are already looking forward to a rough start to the new season.
To put things bluntly, the Penguins are suffering from what they’ve suffered from for years upon years. Injuries continue to plague the team. This time, the face of the franchise is the victim. Superstar Sidney Crosby is going to be sidelined for at least six weeks following a successful surgery on his wrist. Oddly enough, this is not a new injury for the star.
Image Courtesy of the Pittsburgh Penguins
General manager Ron Hextall said that the surgery was a result of trial and error in regard to Crosby’s wrist. Apparently, Crosby’s wrist has been injured for the past few years, and the organization tried everything that was as minimally invasive as possible. Hextall said that when all of these options were exhausted with no result, surgery was the only way to go.
To make matters even worse, Evgeni Malkin is still questionable for the start of the season. About halfway through last season, Malkin suffered an injury and missed 23 games. The injuries didn’t stop there as Malkin suffered a knee injury in the playoffs. Chances are quite good that Malkin will still be recovering by opening night and won’t be able to play. Considering the franchise’s top centers are going to be injured for the start of the season, what’s going to happen?
Hextall said that there’s no way that the organization is going to look to replace Crosby or Malkin, simply due to the fact that both of them are going to be back in the lineup. He also said that centers Jeff Carter and Teddy Blueger are going to be given more responsibilities as the two most tenured centers other than Crosby and Malkin. So, there are some players that the organization is going to experiment with.
First up and most likely is Evan Rodrigues. Since the Penguins acquired him in 2020, he’s been a regular in the lineup. Normally, he has played as a wing, but now as the need arises the odds of him playing a center role are pretty good. Rodrigues will likely center the second or third line, that is if the organization keep Blueger’s line on the fourth. So there’s one more center role, and there are two likely candidates.
Image Courtesy of the Pittsburgh Penguins
The two likeliest candidates for the last center spot is Radim Zohorna and Brian Boyle. Zohorna played in only eight games last season, but boy did he make an impact. He potted four points and was a fairly consistent performer. Then, there’s Boyle. His veteran presence in the absence of Malkin and Crosby could prove to be paramount to the morale of the team. Don’t be surprised if Zohorna and Boyle split time in the lineup.
Of course, there’s nothing worse than starting the season without two future hall-of-famers. However, this could be an interesting experiment. Both the organization and fans can get a good idea of who could be long-term Penguins due to how they step up without the stars. It certainly will be an interesting time when the puck drops.
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