Penguin News And Notes 6/24/09

Matt Bodenschatz | Pittsburgh Penguins

Jun 24, 10:36 AM | Hype this story!

Guerin’s A Good Fit

Kevin Allen of the USAToday has a great piece today on why the Penguins need to retain veteran Bill Guerin.

“Guerin has been through every possible dressing room drama and he can be a very valuable asset to Crosby going forward. forward. Although Crosby has an impressive hockey resume, including a Stanley Cup, he is still young enough that he can benefit from Guerin’s presence.” ... “The Penguins don’t have much room under the cap — roughly $8 million — and they have Rob Scuderi, Hal Gill, Fuslan Fedotenko as unrestricted free agents. Guerin earned $4 million last season, and they can’t pay him that. They also be reluctant to give him a multiple-year deal. But I suspect that both the Penguins and Guerin both realize this a a good fit, and this deal should get done.”

Lyle Richardson of Spector’s Hockey, an expert on hockey transaction analysis, agrees that Guerin likely will be retained, saying: “Guerin might be willing to accept a one-year contract worth between $2-$2.5 million.”

Strait Out Of College

The Daily News Tribune has a great story on Penguins prospect Brian Strait’s decision to leave college early and turn pro.

“I remember in the middle of the year my agent contacted me, and told me he thought Pittsburgh would make me an offer after the season, and asked me what I thought of that,’‘ Strait recalled. “I told him I thought it would depend on how we finished the year. If we hadn’t won, I would have thought about what we could have done differently to win it the next year.

“But with the way it went – we won everything. How could you go out any better?”

Per the Daily News article, Strait was originally asked by the Penguins to join their AHL squad immediately following the NCAA Finals, but he chose to ponder his decision. He later decided to turn pro.

“Faced with that realization, the 21-year-old Strait decided to forgo his senior year at BU and signed a three-year contract with the Penguins shortly before they upset the Detroit Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup.”

Strait remains unsigned, but as "reported here at FF on June
4":http://www.faceoff-factor.com/pittsburgh-penguins/2969/report-pens-to-sign-top-defense-prospect,
he is expected to ink a deal in the coming weeks.

Penguins Set Sales Record

According to The Sports Business Journal, the Reebok acheived a new record in NHL merchandise sales fueld by the Penguins’ Stanley Cup victory. (An SBJ subscription is required to read the full story)

Comments

  1. DigitalGypsy66

    Jun 24, 11:39 AM

    The article says Strait signed a three year contract during the playoffs.

  2. Chris Pope

    Jun 24, 11:48 AM

    Hey guys…

    Just thought I would pass this on to you with the big draft coming up on Friday and I just finished a one-on-one with Matt Duchene…often the forgotten of the big three set to go in the draft.

    He talked about his trips to NY, TB and Rado as well as the Sakic comparisons, being cut from the World Junior team, going number one and how the draft can be annoying.

    http://www.thegoodpoint.com/hockey/jun09/matt-duchene-flirting-with-first.html

    Check it out.

  3. Matt Bodenschatz

    Jun 24, 12:03 PM

    @Digital, thanks. I misread that the first time.

    “Faced with that realization, the 21-year-old Strait decided to forgo his senior year at BU and signed a three-year contract with the Penguins shortly before they upset the Detroit Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup.”

  4. DigitalGypsy66

    Jun 24, 01:35 PM

    I was able to read the entire Sports Business Journal article and they really feel the “color” promotions helped sales a great deal this season. White outs, rocking the red and so on.

    I also didn’t know Dick’s Sporting Goods was based in Pittsburgh.

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