Posted: Sunday, January 8, 2012 11:30 pm | Updated: 11:30 pm, Sun Jan 8, 2012.
The Penguins need a shakeup.
The Penguins have lost four straight. Their record against the Eastern Conference’s top three teams is 0-5. They sit eighth in the East, one point above ninth.
Ninth place, you may know, is OUT OF THE PLAYOFFS.
I’m certainly not suggesting a coaching change. Dan Bylsma remains among the top tacticians in the league, and in club history â€" though things get a lot less precise when the injury list is crowded. Witness three New Jersey breakaways in one period Saturday.
Sure, it would be nice if Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang return. But that might not happen. James Neal and Jordan Staal are out, too. The objective remains: Win.
The Penguins, incidentally, are 5-7 since Crosby again went out of the lineup. Crosby’s return was a carrot dangled for almost a year. When his comeback fizzled, the Penguins seemed to hit an emotional wall.
So, make a trade. You want their attention, shoot a hostage.
That’s easier proposed than done.
Penguins management likes to promote players on a preconceived timetable. But hockey is a liquid situation. Circumstances intercede. Circumstances like injuries. Circumstances like four straight losses and eighth place.
So, accelerate the timetable and make this move:
Trade defenseman Paul Martin for help up front and promote defenseman Simon Despres from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Problem is, Martin is having a subpar season and carries a big ticket ($5 million per through 2014-15). Martin has a limited no-movement clause that would have to be dealt with. Return for Martin might be relatively skimpy.
But there would be a market. Martin is a skilled, puck-smart defenseman who can eat lots of minutes. A team near the floor of the cap that has a weak defensive corps might do well by taking Martin, like Florida did by acquiring Brian Campbell ($7.14 million through 2015-16) from Chicago.
Despres, 20, impressed during his 13-game stay with the Penguins earlier this season. His physicality occasionally let him down, but his 6-foot-4 reach helped. Despres’ play at the NHL level this season was often superior to Martin’s.
Despres is ready. Shopping Martin seems logical. Trading Martin might open up cap room, which would abet the Penguins re-signing some stars.
If GM Ray Shero can’t approximate proper return for Martin, shop another defenseman. But trading Letang is unthinkable, swapping Zbynek Michalek or Brooks Orpik is unlikely, and no other defenseman on the big-league roster would fetch much.
The Penguins love their top two picks from the 2011 draft, defensemen Joe Morrow and Scott Harrington. If Despres isn’t good enough to ultimately crack the team’s top four on defense, one of those two will. I bet Despres, Morrow and Harrington all play regularly in Pittsburgh, and play well.
What’s currently happening can’t be allowed to continue. The Penguins too often play lazy, uninspired hockey. There’s a degree of complacency.
If the forward acquired is a character guy, so much the better. It should be embarrassing for the Penguins to realize, but in a locker room full of talented players that have accomplished so much together, morale is often low and accountability non-existent.
If the Penguins deal Martin and all those injured return, great. Nothing wrong with depth up front, and the Pens would still have more quality D than most.
If the Penguins don’t make that trade â€" or shake things up somehow â€" and what’s currently happening continues, the Penguins might pay for it. Literally. The last time the Pens missed the playoffs after having made them the campaign prior, 3,000 season-ticket holders bailed during the subsequent off-season.
Moves can’t logically be made, however, until the Penguins know more about the status of Crosby and Letang. What are the expectations? Who’s making the decision? Is either medically cleared to play? If so, why aren’t they playing? Concussions are an inexact science. But somebody must know something.
Mark Madden hosts a radio show 3-6 p.m. on WXDX-FM (105.9).
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