The Penguins get thrown a bone.

PITTSBURGH, Pa – The Pittsburgh Penguins have the 2012 NHL Entry Draft in their own backyard from June 22-23 and would have liked to have brought a certain famous trophy along with them to the Consol Energy Center. The best laid plans of mine and men of course don’t always go according to plan. That said the Penguins will look to go into Friday’s draft with an eye on the future and their blueline. The Penguins led the league in offense, 17^th in defense, 5^th on the power play, and 3^rd on the penalty kill. The scary part from the Penguins standpoint is that they led the league in offense without Sidney Crosby for the most part of the season. He only played in 22 games but they did get an MVP type season out of Evgeni Malkin who led the league in points with 109. With Crosby assumingly back for all of next season it will be scary to think just how good the offense will be next season.
The Penguins will however want to address the future of Crosby and Jordan Staal since both are slated to become UFA’s after next season. The rumor mill is that Staal could become trade bait for a defenseman and Crosby will be signed to a multi-year deal but his concussion issues might deter the Penguins to making him a career long deal. Still, with both in the lineup next season Pittsburgh the Penguins will once again be devastating on offense.
Malkin hit the 50 goal mark and James Neal had a breakout year scoring 40 goals. His career high was 27 previously. The penguins had three other players with over 20 goals and four more with 10 or more. Most of the teams points came from left wingers. Adding depth down the middle of the ice would be a nice need to fill in the draft but will most likely come in the later rounds. Pittsburgh does not have a blue chip center in their system and if Staal gets moved the pens might want a third line face-off man as part of the package.  
The defense was led offensively by Kris Letang despite playing in only 51 games. He led the Penguins blueliners with 10 goals and 32 assists and in plus/minus (+21). In fact the Pens had only one defensemen (Brian Strait) as a negative (-2). Still, Pittsburgh only has one blueliner who is a free agent in Matt Niskanen who recently rejected Pittsburgh’s last offer to him but rumor is they are confident the two sides will get something done.
In goal Marc-Andre Fleury is signed on for the next three seasons but Brent Johnson is an UFA and could use a backup for Fluery. The Penguins top two prospects are defenseman in Joe morrow and Simon Despree and one of them could crack the lineup next season but with a potential cup run next season that could put things on the backburner. Still, things are a good as it gets from Pittsburgh’s perspective these days.
Heading into the draft the penguins have very few holes to fill and could throw the hometown fans a bone or two by selecting a couple of Pittsburgh natives. Right winger Henrik Samuelsson is the son of former Penguin Ulf Samuelsson.   He is not projected to go until at least the third round.   Goaltender Michael Houser is in the same boat and might get taken even further down in the draft.
Pittsburgh will most likely take a defenseman since this draft is considered a very good one for blueliners. In PHN’s mock draft several are left on the board for the taking. Two that stand out are Dalton Thrower who played with Saskatoon (WHL) and Slater Koekkoek from Peterborough (OHL).
Pittsburgh does not have a defensemen listed under 6 foot tall but Thrower is listed at 5’ 11” while Koekkoek is listed at 6’ 2” so Koekkoek fits the Penguins mold but run the risk of being too big for its own good. This time around look for Pittsburgh to go for the smaller, more offensive minded of the two.
“The Pittsburgh Penguins are proud to select, from the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League, defenseman Dalton Thrower.”
To learn more about Dalton Thrower click here .
Contact the author at Brian.Jennings@prohockeynews.com
Contact the photographer at Lewis.Bleiman@prohockeynews.com