Cook: Shero has problems to solve
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Maybe it's just as well the Penguins were bounced out of the Stanley Cup playoffs in the first round last week. General manager Ray Shero was able to turn his attention immediately to the construction of next season's roster. He's going to need every second.
So many questions ...
Will Sidney Crosby be ready for the start of the season? Will he be the same player? Will he and we spend the rest of his career wondering if the next hit he takes will finish him as a world-class athlete? The news Friday that Crosby had a setback 3 1/2 months after his concussion was disheartening and alarming. All bets for his future are off at the moment.
If Crosby is healthy, who will be his linemates? James Neal came in a trade deadline deal in February for that reason but was an enormous disappointment down the stretch and in the playoffs this season. He was a big reason the Penguins' power(less) play went 1 for 35 in their playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Do the Penguins consider playing Crosby with Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis again? Crosby was having a terrific season with those wingers before his concussion. Reuniting the three would mean re-signing Dupuis as a free agent.
Who plays with Evgeni Malkin? The plan for this season called for Jordan Staal in that role, but injuries to him and then to Malkin sabotaged that strategy. Do the Penguins start that way again in October? Or do they put Neal with Malkin and drop Staal to third-line center with Matt Cooke and Tyler Kennedy, a unit that has been highly successful? That can happen only if Kennedy, who was the one player on the team to exceed all expectations after the injuries to Crosby and Malkin, doesn't wind up on one of the top two lines.
First Published May 2, 2011 12:00 am
