When I heard that the Pens had acquired Dan Hamhuis from Philadelphia for a 2011 draft pick, I naturally assumed they were going to sign him and part ways with Sergei Gonchar. But signing Hamhuis isn’t a given – just ask the Flyers. And, apparently, saying good-bye to Gonchar isn’t a foregone conclusion either.
It looks like the Pens are going to attempt to sign both players by July 1. Can they pull it off? If so, it would be a small miracle. For the sake of this blog, let’s say they do. The Pens defense would look like this: Gonchar, Hamhuis, Brooks Orpik, Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski. That’s pretty damn impressive, no matter who the sixth man is (Ben Lovejoy?). Although I’m a Mark Eaton fan, Hamhuis is an upgrade. Letang and Goligoski are both improving. I’d venture to say the Pens would have one of the strongest defensive units in the league.
Let’s also look at this another way. If the Pens do manage to sign both players, there’s virtually no chance the team could afford to sign a first- or second-line wing to play alongside either Crosby or Malkin. Is that a big deal? I think so. But when you look at the available wingers in free agency, no one after Ilya Kovalchuk really jumps out at you. (And Kovalchuk is an impossibility cap-wise.) Ray Whitney, Paul Kariya or Teemu Selanne? Way too old. Alexander Frolov, Maxim Afinogenov or Raffi Torres? No thank you. Alexei Ponikarovsky, Miroslav Satan or Ruslan Fedotenko? You get my point.
Perhaps Ray Shero has the right mind-set here. Build the defense and simply let your superstars carry the offense. It’s not like they haven’t done it before. The Pens can always re-sign Bill Guerin. Pascal Dupuis is coming off a great season. Heck, Colby Armstrong and Petr Sykora are both available. Yeah, maybe Shero is on to something. Sign Hamhuis and Gonchar…please just don’t break the bank doing so.
Original Story:
http://penslabyrinth.com/2010/06/28/h...
