Pens Don't Need Iginla

bluechipprospect

This past weekend I wrote that the Pittsburgh Penguins should trade for someone like Brenden Morrow instead of Jarome Ignila. After this weekend's games, I would like to think that everyone should share that sentiment. After a 5-4 win over of the Toronto Maple Leafs, that took a shootout, and a 6-1 dominating win over the New York Islanders, the Pens are rolling right now, winners of five straight games. 

Not only are the Pens on a five-game win streak, they are scoring tons of goals. In fact right now they are the highest scoring team in the NHL, damn near averaging four goals a game(3.65 to be exact). The Pens also have three of the top 11 scorers in the NHL, with Sidney Crosby(1st, 45 points), Chris Kunitz (3rd, 36points), and James Neal (11th, 28 points). The Pens also have Kris Letang who leads ALL defensemen in points with 26, which is also good enough for Letang to be tied for 15th in the NHL in scoring. Not to mention Evgeni Malkin who is still in the top 25 in scoring despite being currently injured. 

Pascal Dupuis has more goals than Jarome Iginla this year. 

The Pens are in first place of the Atlantic division and second overall in the Eastern Conference. They score goals like there's no tomorrow. During this five-game winning streak, the Pens have scored a total  27 goals! That's averaging over five goals per game during that span. Yikes! That's f*cking incredible. Why on earth would they need to get Jarome Ignila? Why do they need any top line winger, especially one who cost over $7 million a year? They don't need more offense. They don't need a glorified winger who, sorry to say, is past his prime. 

Consider this, as good as the Pen's offense has been, the defense, goaltending, and penalty kill has almost been as bad.The Pens have allowed the 10th most goals in the NHL and only EIGHT teams have a worst penalty kill percentage than the Pens. I mean every time the Pens take a penalty I assume the other team is going to score. Goaltending has been leaky but they're not going to trade Marc-Andre Fleury nor should they. 

The Pens need a shutdown, defensively responsible defensman who can help kill penalties. The guy I like is Ron Hainsey from the Winnipeg Jets. Hainsey does make a good bit, $4.5 million, but his contract is up after this year, and the Pens have plenty of cap room. Hainsey is tenth in the NHL in blocked shots, is gritty, and is very responsible defensively. He would be a huge upgrade over Deryk Engelland. Hainsey is also very good on the penalty kill which would be a lot of help. 

Ronald Martinez

The other guy I like is a forward and that's 34-year old winger Brenden Morrow of the Dallas Stars. Morrow has been an NHL captain, and is a winger that can play on both sides of the ice. Morrow has 42 career postseason points and 237 career goals. Although on the decline, I think Morrow would be a huge upgrade at wing for the Pens over everyone not named Pascal Dupuis, Chris Kunitz, and James Neal. The Pens could then get rid of Tyler Kennedy and everyone gonna make a Harlem Shake video in his honor. 

I don't know if the Pens are really going to go after these two guys, especially Morrow considering he has a no-trade clause. But I don't think two moves similar to these guys would be a much better option than getting Iginla. Saying that I love Iginla, I think he's been one of the best forwards in the past 15 years, but I just don't think he's needed in Pittsburgh. 

The Pens don't need more scoring, they need guys that are going to bust their ass, while hitting people, and playing good defense. They need grit and depth. They already have a lot of superstars, they need more character. In order to win the cup this year the Pens need to fix their defensive play and their penalty-kill. Not sure Ignila would help in either of those areas.