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Q: When will Dan Bylsma realize that Tyler Kennedy is the best winger on the team? He is stuck on the third line and doesn't play on the power play or kill penalties. Although Pascal Dupuis is a very good skater with a hard slap shot, he does not have the hands to be a top-six forward and Chris Bourque looks lost out there. At the very least, don't you think that Kennedy should be on the second power-play unit?

Rick Huff, Pleasant Hills

MOLINARI: There's no question that the Penguins could use a few more top-six wingers, and Kennedy looked very good on Evgeni Malkin's right side when he was used there during the preseason.

However, as has been noted in this space many times, teams are pretty much guaranteed to have at least one or two soft spots in their lineups in the salary-cap era. In the case of the Penguins, management has decided to invest big money in centers like Sidney Crosby, Jordan Staal and Malkin and less in the wingers who play with them. For those who embrace the axiom that strength down the middle is of paramount importance, that is a logical approach.

The coaching staff also seems reluctant, with good reason, to break up the Matt Cooke-Staal-Kennedy line unless it's absolutely necessary, because that unit has a synergy and is regarded by many as the finest No. 3 line in the NHL. (Even Staal, who hardly is given to making brash statements, said a few days ago that, "I think our line is just as good as any second line.")

Given the way the Penguins' power play has sputtered, especially since defenseman Sergei Gonchar's wrist was broken, it's hard to argue with any personnel move proposed for that unit. That includes giving Kennedy, who was averaging just 10 seconds of power-play time per game before the Penguins visited Los Angeles last night, more of a shot when they have the extra man.

They do not, however, have a shortage of capable penalty-killing forwards, as evidenced by the success rate of 82.5 percent that they took into the Kings game, and Kennedy has done little to force the coaching staff to give him an audition for that role.

Although he is defensively responsible, Kennedy entered last night's game as the only player on the team -- including little-used forwards Chris Conner and Eric Godard -- who had not blocked at least one shot this season. (For the record, Kennedy was credited with 10 blocks in 67 games in 2008-09. That's fewer than penalty-killers like Craig Adams (17), Cooke (12) and Dupuis (12) recorded during the first month of this season.)

Q: What are the eligibility requirements for the Calder Trophy. Is Alex Goligoski eligible to win this year?

Brian Glaister, Seattle

MOLINARI: There are two criteria for a player to be eligible for the Calder, which goes to the NHL's top rookie. The player is question must be no older than 26 bY Sept. 15 of the season in question. What's more, he can have appeared in no more than 25 NHL games during any preceding season, or in more than five games during each of the previous two.

Although Goligoski's age (24) is OK, he played in 45 games in 2008-09, so he won't be involved in the Calder balloting.

The good news for Goligoski is that he is eligible for the Norris Trophy, which goes to the NHL's top defenseman. Not that he will -- or necessarily should -- win it this season, but Goligoski has owned the league's best plus-minus rating (plus-13) before last night's games and was tied for third in scoring among defensemen, with six goals and seven assists in 15 games.

The most impressive part of his game, though, has been the progress Goligoski has made in his own zone. He always has had excellent offensive skills and instincts, but has significantly upgraded his performance in the defensive end. And while no one's going to confuse Goligoski with Rod Langway anytime soon, Langway never was good for nearly a point per game, either.

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