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Question: What's the status of winger Eric Tangradi? I read about his hand laceration last month and was wondering about his progress. Also, if Ruslan Fedotenko, Bill Guerin, Miro Satan and Petr Sykora all depart this offseason, can we assume Tangradi will be in a Pens uniform in 2009-10?

Steve Grazier, Cortez, Colo.

MOLINARI: Tangradi had surgery a few weeks ago to repair the damage caused by what team officials described as a "complete tendon laceration" in his left hand when he was cut during a collision in an Ontario Hockey League playoff game last month.

It's a little early for any significant update on his recovery, but Tangradi was feeling good enough that he was able to travel in from his hometown of Philadelphia to attend Game 2 of the Penguins-Carolina series Thursday at Mellon Arena.

Regardless of which, if any, of the wingers you listed is re-signed, the Penguins won't be looking to fast-track Tangradi to the NHL this fall, and almost certainly wouldn't have been even if he hadn't suffered such a significant injury.

The thinking among people inside the organization -- and among those who watched him extensively in the OHL -- is that, like many bigger players, Tangradi will need a little more time to fully develop than other guys might. Few question, though, that he should mature into an effective power forward in coming seasons, becoming what one person who has seen him play quite a few times described as "a poor man's Kevin Stevens."

Question: Do you think the Pens will have a little extra motivation if they play Detroit in the playoffs not only to avenge last year's loss but also to prove to Marian Hossa that Detroit wasn't the best team to go to in order to win the Stanley Cup?

Jeff Sabatine, Dayton, Ohio

MOLINARI: Assuming the Penguins and Red Wings return to the Stanley Cup final -- not guaranteed yet, obviously, but a pretty reasonable possibility at this point -- Hossa vs. his old team is sure to be one of the major storylines during the series. Especially when Hossa signed with Detroit as a free agent last summer because he said he wanted to have the best possible chance of winning a championship.

As has been discussed in this space numerous times, there is a vocal segment of the Penguins' fan base that seems to have much more of a problem with what Hossa did that his former teammates do. They accept that he did something he had every right to under the league's labor agreement -- something some of them likely will do at some point, for whatever reason they choose.

And as noted again in an excellent story by Dejan Kovacevic in Monday's Post-Gazette, Hossa doesn't have any hard feelings about his time with the Penguins, and even professes to understand why he was treated so harshly by the crowd when he returned to Mellon Arena in Feburary.

The bottom line: If playing for a Stanley Cup wouldn't be enough to motivate the Penguins (or Hossa, for that matter), they ought to seriously reconsider their choice of a profession.