This morning as the roster freeze ended in the NHL the Penguins wasted no time in going in and making a trade. Surprising? No. Who they got was however. The Pens acquired 29-year-old Jordan Leopold from the Panthers for a 2nd round draft pick. Leopold is joining an already stacked blue line of the Penguins. Which leads me to believe that someone will be seeing their way out of Pittsburgh off that blue line for a much needed winger. When most look at the Penguins they always see the players like Crosby, Malkin, and Staal, however they do not notice how deep the Pens are on defense. Gonchar, Orpik, Letang, Golo, Eaton, Leopold now, and don’t forget the very impressive youngsters on the Baby Pens. Pittsburgh has the depth, and the reason to go make a move for someone like Whitney, Ponikarovsky, Kariya, ect… There are good players available, but I am fairly sure the Pens do not want to “rent” a player. They are going to want someone for more than 2 years. The good thing is, giving up one of those defenseman should spark interest in teams that players really haven’t been mentioned to be traded (like Leopold). Pens got a top 4 defenseman in Leopold. He would be very good working with either Gonch or Letang. To me right now, it looks like it might be Alex Gologoski the man with the short straw at this point for the 
Pens. His ice time has been shrinking, and I feel that Letang is the better rounded blue liner. Two other names to watch for would be Mark Eaton, he would be a compliment to another player in the deal, and maybe, just MAYBE Gonchar. That’s right I said it, maybe Gonchar. Lets look at facts. He is getting old, the Pens would like to stay young at blue line, they are not talking contract anymore at this point with the Russian. He has been great for the Penguins, and vise versa. But I would not be totally shocked if he went at the deadline, with that said I wouldn’t be surprised if he stayed. I haven’t heard anything through my grapevines, I am merely saying that it is a viable option. Back to Leopold, good, physical defensive who can get some points too. He is an experienced defenseman, and will be a very good defenseman with the black and gold. I also feel he has something to prove in Pittsburgh. He has been traded the past two seasons (went from Calgery to Florida, now from Florida to Pittsburgh) and is sure to want to make his mark here, like he did in Coloardo. With that said, the Pens will make another move before the deadline, and it will be big, mark my words.
The Voice of Point Park