Penguins' Pick-ups

The Pittsburgh Penguins have tried to replace gritty forward Ryan Malone and superstar Marion Hossa. This off-season, the Penguins lost both players to free agency. To fill the void of toughness and finesse lost with the departure of those players the organization went out and poached players from the Isles. Miroslav Satan was signed in hopes of providing more scoring power for the already high powered offense of the Penguins. Ruslan Fedetenko was added to the squad to provide toughness while still being able to put the puck in the net. Satan,s reputation isn’t exactly an ideal match for coach Michelle Therien. Satan sometimes has a bit of the Kovalev-itus. He tends to pick and choose when he is going to give maximum effort on the ice. I expect the work ethic, of both the players, starting with captain Sydney Crosby, and coach, will have Satan playing with a stronger desire than we have seen in recent years. Satan has the ability to have a career year playing alongside Crosby or Evgeni Malkin. It is easy to say any player who ends up playing with either of these guys has the potential for a career year and the same holds true for Fedetenko. Last year, Ryan Malone had a career year playing on the power play and doing the dirty work for Crosby and Malkin while playing the wing. Fedetenko is another strong physical player who will use the body and create room for his linemates. Don’t be surprised to see him flanking center Jordan Staal on the wing. Staal had gone through his sophomore slump last year, not coming close to matching his rookie numbers. However, in the playoffs he bounced back and showed he has the ability to have a real impact in this league. I expect Staal to be an asset for fantasy owners this year. Staying healthy is always the key and if the Penguins stay healthy Satan will be a great steal for fantasy owners in the third or fourth rounds.