Sergei Gonchar's Return Might Be 'Sooner Than We Expected'

Perhaps the best news coming from the Penguins on Thursday isn't the fact they pulled off a somewhat improbable come-from-behind win on Wednesday night, but the news that Sergei Gonchar may be closer to returning to the lineup than originally believed.

On Monday, Gonchar was cleared to take part in contact drills in practice, and according to Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, his workout went quite well. So well, in fact, he described his return as being possibly "sooner than we expected."

Honestly, this could be bigger than any trade general manager Ray Shero can make between now and the NHL's trade deadline on March 4.

The 34-year old Gonchar suffered a dislocated shoulder in a preseason game against Tampa Bay and has missed every game since, putting a significant dent in the Penguins' once dynamic power play unit. How much have they missed him?

Well, currently the Penguins are tied for 23rd in the NHL with the man advantage, down from the No. 4 spot they held a season ago. In the three years Gonchar has quarterbacked the team's power play unit, they've never finished lower than sixth in the league with the man advantage.

Beyond the dismal ranking, Penguins defensemen have combined for only 19 points on the power play this season. By comparison, Gonchar, by himself, has averaged 44 power play points per season since joining the team prior to the 2005-06 season.

Of course, before Penguins fans get too excited about this it's worth pointing out that Gonchar still won't be 100% when he does return to the lineup.

Gonchar said he does not expect to be pain-free when he resumes playing but that "hopefully, it's not going to be major pain, or a major problem."

Yeah. Hopefully. Still, anyone that has had the displeasure of watching the Penguins power play this season might be willing to argue that a one-armed Gonchar could still make a positive impact.