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The Pittsburgh Penguins defense has been crushed by injuries through the first three months of the season, as they've been without their top two defenders -- and power play quarterbacks -- in Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney. A couple of weeks ago, they also lost Hal Gill to a shoulder injury, meaning the Penguins have been skating the past three weeks without their top three defenders from last season's playoff run. Factor in the month that No. 1 goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury missed with a groin injury, and the various other injuries suffered by Tyler Kennedy, Mike Zigomanis and Max Talbot throughout season, and, well, it's been crazy. Actually, it's not that different from a year ago.
Good news, however, as Whitney will be making his return to the lineup tonight when the Penguins take on Tampa Bay at Mellon Arena. Whitney's been out all season after undergoing foot surgery over the summer.
Whitney certainly has his critics among Penguins fans -- myself included, sometimes -- he's still going to be a welcome addition to the lineup with his puck-moving skills, which will hopefully help what has been a mind-numbingly inconsistent power play unit.
While Whitney's return will help, it's still going to create a logjam of sorts along the Penguins blue line. With Whitney back in the picture, and Gill close to returning to the lineup as well, the Penguins defense will look something like this:
Ryan Whitney
Kris Letang
Alex Goligoski
Brooks Orpik
Hal Gill
Rob Scuderi
Philippe Boucher
Mark Eaton
And this list, obviously, doesn't include Gonchar. That's nine NHL defensemen (including Gonchar) for what has been six spots for games. Something has to give. For the short-term, anyway, Letang will be out of the lineup tonight with an "undisclosed injury" and is listed as day-to-day.
A trade following the holiday roster freeze would seem to make some degree of sense, especially if they can land somebody -- anybody! --capable of playing on a first or second line. Though, to land such a player I'm guessing they would have to be willing to part with a Letang or Goligoski, something I'd be very hesitant to do.
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