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Penguins icing their best against Buffalo |
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The roster is taking shape as we gear up towards the regular season beginning. Jim Rutherford and Mike Sullivan made some roster cuts yesterday and two names stick out more than the others. The team has sent Daniel Sprong and Zach Aston-Reese to the AHL.
People have been hopeful that these two players would be able to make the big club and be difference makers this year. This “demotion” does not close the door on that. My guess on the team’s thought process to send them down is identical to the approach they had with Jake Guentzel last year. They weren’t going to throw these players in the top six right at the beginning of the season and would rather they play huge minutes in the AHL instead of low minutes in the NHL. If those two players can put up around a point per game in the AHL the chances will be high that they will eventually find their way back to the big club. I don’t have any problem with this approach.
The big club is back in action tonight against the Buffalo Sabres. They appear to be playing their regular season roster
As it stands that is pretty much the team that will be going for their third straight Stanley Cup sans Patric Hornqvist who is still nursing his hand injury. This lineup really puts the bottom in bottom six
Wilson McKegg Rust
Kuhnhackl Rowney Reaves
Those may not be the exact lines, but that is the general picture. Bryan Rust and Scott Wilson are fine. The other four aren’t going to make that much of a positive difference. When four of your six bottom six forwards are of this caliber you are wading back into the waters of the later Bylsma years. If you add Riley Sheahan and Patric Hornqvist things will get better, but for right now, not so hot.
Preseason results don’t matter, but if Pittsburgh can’t control the flow of play tonight regardless of who Buffalo puts on the ice that would be something worth paying attention to.
Thanks for reading!
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
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