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Q: With the Olympics fast approaching and Max Talbot nursing an injury, do you think it makes sense to send him to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for a conditioning assignment? The thought of missing another game or two and then sitting without playing for two weeks doesn't seem to be the best way for him to get back to game shape. However, sitting for a few games, then maybe (having) the first week off but then playing two or three games in Wilkes-Barre before the season resumes seems to make sense.

Chris, Oxford, N.J.

MOLINARI: It's an intriguing concept, sending the guy who scored the Penguins' only two goals in their Stanley Cup-clinching victory last June to the minors. It might, on the surface, strike some as outrageous -- Talbot, after all, has established himself as a valuable and reliable contributor at this level -- but the reality is that Talbot has missed 29 of the Penguins' first 57 games because of injuries and offseason shoulder surgery, and never has gotten his game fully into synch.

Certainly, a case could be made that he would benefit from getting in a little game work while most of the NHL is in its Olympic shutdown, and even generates some secondary issues that might be worth discussing. Would, for example, it be best to have Talbot join the Baby Penguins early in the break, then return to Pittsburgh for the resumption of practices here Feb. 24, or would it be preferable to have him involved in American Hockey League games closer to the end of the break, so that he's in a good rhythm when the stretch drive kicks off with a game against Buffalo March 2?

Alas, the whole issue never will get beyond the theoretical stage because NHL regulations do not allow players to be sent to the AHL for conditioning purposes during the Olympics. That's a tough break for players who might benefit from such an assignment, but presumably was designed to prevent clubs from sending players down for the sole purpose of keeping them active during the break.

Q: How much do you think the Pens are missing Rob Scuderi? My thinking is that yeah, Hal Gill was a big presence in front of the net, but the man just can't skate. I am sure they are missing both, but I really believe (Scuderi) not being there is a big blow.

Matt, Pittsburgh

MOLINARI: About a year ago, the Q&A still was receiving regular missives from people who questioned whether Scuderi was worthy of holding down a spot on an NHL roster (or making it quite clear that they believed he wasn't). Haven't gotten many of those during the past 12 months or so, and if Scuderi's excellent work during the Penguins' Cup drive didn't illustrate his value to the Penguins, his absence since going to Los Angeles as a free agent certainly has.

Scuderi and Gill, who joined Montreal as a free agent, gave the Penguins a solid shutdown pairing on defense that could be deployed against opponents' most dangerous forwards, and were excellent penalty-killers. The things they did don't always make headlines, but they do help to win games.

Barring a major move before the March 3 trade deadline, the Brooks Orpik-Sergei Gonchar pairing probably is the favorite to be matched against other teams' top forwards during the playoffs. Suffice to say, the Scuderi-Gill pairing set the standard for effective work in their own end pretty high (although it has to be noted that Gonchar can generate more offense in one shift than those two could in an entire series).

While the Penguins' chances of repeating as champions would be enhanced if Scuderi and Gill still were on the payroll, keeping successful teams together simply isn't viable in the salary-cap era. There is no way the Penguins could have absorbed the $3.4 million cap hit that Scuderi's four-year contract with the Kings carries, even if they'd been willing to pay that kind of money for someone who fills his role.

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