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Wednesday, 28 September 2011 13:04

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

The Penguins demoted forwards Ryan Craig, Nick Johnson, Colin McDonald, Eric Tangradi (right), goaltenders Brad Thiessen and Scott Munroe to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL. Defenseman Scott Harrington was returned to London of the OHL.

Johnson, McDonald, Craig and Munroe must clear waivers.

EN Says: Tangradi is the biggest name but his demotion is hardly a surprise. He has had an average training camp and hardly stood out among those competing for the last roster spots.

Tangradi still needs to develop his game, specifically his skating. Injuries have derailed much of that in his first two professional seasons.

Johnson and McDonald each had a pretty solid training camp and were pretty notable players during preseason games. Each got some time on the Penguins' top lines and did a solid job near the net.

Thiessen is an NHL-caliber backup. He's just stuck behind a franchise NHL goaltender and a top NHL backup in Marc-Andre Fleury and Brent Johnson respectively.

Munroe is an AHL journeyman.

Harrington has looked solid in the team's offseason prospect camp as well as this training camp. He's still years away from reaching the NHL.

(Photos: Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

Comments (7)

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written by Louder_Is_Best, September 28, 2011 - 01:35 PM

Even if Tangradi turns into a bust (and he's trending that way, despite the injuries and his youth), the Whitney deal is a win alone for Kunitz.

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written by Disgruntled Goat, September 28, 2011 - 01:40 PM

The bottom line with Tangradi is that it was a long shot for him to make the team out of camp. When you consider the fact that he could be demoted without clearing waivers, he would have had to beat out an established NHL regular and by all accounts, he did not do that. Never the less, it is time for him to step up and prove that he wants to be a NHL power forward. He needs to dominate at the AHL level.

Nick Johnson is a guy that might have some value to another NHL team. It will be interesting to see if he clears waivers.

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written by GenoSid, September 28, 2011 - 02:40 PM

I have no idea what other people are seeing in Nick Johnson. He looks average for an AHL player to me.

I have been harping on Tangradi's skating for a while now. I keep comparing him to Brian Boyle. Boyle only got his game together last season and has 4 years on Tangradi..so I wouldn't give up hope yet.

But I am beginning to think Eric is the next Mike Rupp, not the next Kevin Stevens.

The Whitney deal was a win for getting rid of Whitney alone.

Nice player. If you aren't going to make the playoffs anyway, no reason not to have him. But he's the kind of player (like Mike Green) that you don't win with...unless he's a #6 like Tomas Kaberle was last year in Boston.

I love Chris Kunitz. I hope we can get him resigned closer to $2.5 million a year next season, though.

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written by Disgruntled Goat, September 28, 2011 - 03:32 PM

I'm a Kunitz fan too, his physicality was key during the cup run. I will point out however, he has a grand total of six goals in 43 playoff games with the Pens. That combined with a $3.75M cap hit isn't going to get it done. Neal took a lot of heat for his one playoff goal last year. Kunitz had only one too, an empty netter, and stupidly got himself suspended for a game as well. Maybe he needs a little criticism too. If Tangradi washes out, I'd call that trade a push at best.

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written by jameshutton, September 28, 2011 - 08:43 PM

I always kind of liked Whitney - we don't have any defensemen currently with his shot and he certainly put in a lot of minutes - although yes he was a tad slow afoot. Anyhow, given that he didn't last very long with SJ, I think Kunitz alone was worth the trade. It's starting to become apparent why SJ was willing to throw Tangradi in the deal, but I'm not quite willing to write him off to permanent AHL status.

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written by Bones, September 29, 2011 - 08:57 AM

Shero might be able to convince Kunitz to re-sign for a moderate raise, but there is no way he is going to take a $1.25 million reduction in salary. He's still a young guy and athletes do have egos. Kunitz is probably overpaid at $3.75 million, but I'm sure he and his agent don't see it that way.

If you can't skate in today's NHL you are going to struggle. Hopefully that is something that can be corrected. But if a guy with Tangradi's supposed upside can't absolutely dominant the AHL at some point this year then he probably isn't going to realize his full potential.

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written by GenoSid, September 29, 2011 - 12:06 PM

Kunitz is on the wrong side of 30.

And while he would have gotten $5 million a year this summer...the cap went up so much more this year than normal teams HAD to spend. I don't think next summer's FA's will get that payday.

If I had to put money down on what Kunitz's next deal would be, I'd go...3 years, $8 million.

Also, while Kunitz's goal totals are sometimes disappointing...that's because the stereotype of a power forward, crash and bang winger is goalscorer.

Kunitz is a unique player...he's really more a playmaking power forward. His vision is really underrated.

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