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Wednesday, 06 October 2010 12:43

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

The Penguins returned defenseman Simon Despres (above) to his junior team, the Saint John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL, for the 2010-11 season.

In four preseason games, Despres, 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, failed to record a point, was a plus-3 and had two penalty minutes.

The Penguins had the option of giving Despres, 19, a nine-game "tryout" at the NHL level before making a decision on whether or not to keep him in the NHL for the season or return him to his junior team.

Despres, the team's first-round pick in 2009, appeared in 63 regular season games last season for Saint John and scored 47 points (nine goals, 38 assists).

In other news:

-Ryan Craig and Andrew Hutchinson were not claimed on waivers and were demoted to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL.

-Dan Blysma was kind of mixed on a health report for Arron Asham who is dealing with an "upper-body" injury. Byslma said, "We're hoping Arron Asham can play. Arron really wants to play. He's going to get further evaluated this afternoon. Our three o'clock roster will depend on if Arron can play and be on our roster tomorrow."

-As of right now, the Penguins' roster still includes "bubble" players like Mark Letestu, Eric Tangradi, Ben Lovejoy and Deryk Engelland. The roster must be finalized by 3 p.m.

-No official word yet if the Penguins plan on placing Jordan Staal on long-term injured reserve in order to save some of his $4 million salary cap hit.

-Casey Pierro-Zabotel (finger) and defenseman Alex Grant (wrist) were officially placed on injured reserve.

-Brooks Orpik and Jordan Staal were named alternate captains and will alternate the designation on home and road games.

-Pascal Dupuis won/loss the "Moustache Boy" shootout for October. He will have to grow a moustache for the rest of the month.

EN Says: We're pretty surprised Despres didn't get the "tryout" at the very least. Dan Bylsma talked about potentially hurting his development by starting him at the NHL level this season, and that's a valid concern, but we're not quite sure how giving him the opportunity to see nine games at this level would do him much harm.

(Photo: Claus Andersen/Getty Images)

Comments (9)

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written by Disgruntled Goat, October 06, 2010 - 02:34 PM

They probably didn't think that any value gained by keeping Depres for nine games outweighed the risk of losing Lovejoy or Engelland on waivers. I'm guessing that if Asham would have gone on IR, then Depres would have stayed.

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written by Strohs58, October 06, 2010 - 03:08 PM

So if Lovejoy and Engelland make the team who's 6 and who's 7?

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written by eman41, October 06, 2010 - 03:41 PM

Plus, if Despres plays 9 games here and then in the World Juniors, he's going to miss a large portion of his season at St. Johns where he's going to play 25+ minutes a game.

I think they know he can play, and they needed the opening day spot. It's good to know that they have a potentially elite defenseman ready to go very soon.

In the battle of Lovejoy vs. Engelland...I think I give the edge to Lovejoy, but Engelland has the "grit" factor that could give him the 6 spot.

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written by Disgruntled Goat, October 06, 2010 - 03:59 PM

Engelland and Godard play against the Flyers, Lovejoy and Letestu against everyone else.

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written by espo33, October 06, 2010 - 04:57 PM

I think you meant to say Zabotel (finger) and defenseman Alex Grant (wrist) were officially placed on IR not waivers.

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written by espo33, October 06, 2010 - 05:00 PM

Disgruntled Goat-even if you play Godard, you need another forward if Asham can't go.

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written by Disgruntled Goat, October 06, 2010 - 05:13 PM

espo - I wasn't referring specifically to Thursday's game. I assume Kennedy replaces Asham on the third line.

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written by Bones, October 06, 2010 - 07:49 PM

Tangradi got sent to WHEELING? Don't get that one...

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written by andrew, October 06, 2010 - 08:03 PM

Yeah, I'm confused too. Hopefully Seth can shed some light on this soon...

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