Agnew added to Coaching Staff
He is no stranger to being behind the NHL bench either. He spent the 2006-2010 seasons as an assistant coach under Ken Hitchcock behind the Columbus bench. He has spent the previous two seasons as an assistant in St. Louis, again under Ken Hitchcock, before being let go following the Blues early playoff exit. Agnew will embark on this new venture in Pittsburgh and it will be his third team in eight years.
Again, Agnew was not the first choice. The Pens hoped to hire the former Winterhawk assistant under Johnston, but he declined to remain the head coach of Vancouver's AHL squad. While with St. Louis, Agnew was in charge of the power play unit, and it's lack of success (2-for-23) in the playoffs was part of the reason for his dismissal. He comes highly regarded from Hitchcock, but I have some questions about him. He has spent the entirety of him NHL career behind Hitchcock's bench, how will he react to being in a new situation without Hitchcock? That, however, is not a major concern for me personally. What I do question is his work with the powerplay. Granted, the St. Louis Blues did not have the likes of Malkin, Crosby, Letang or Kunitz on their PP, but Ott, Oshie, Pietrangelo and Backes are not exactly duds. What I question is can he make the adjustments necessary for the PP to shine? He struggled to do that with the Blues, and as fans there is nothing that gets us frothing at the mouth like a stumbling powerplay.
It's a move that was necessary to fill out the staff. Johnston announced today that next week at Rookie camp he will assign rolls to all of his assistants. I would expect the newly signed Agnew will get a chance to run this powerplay, while Jacques Martin will again build up the penalty kill. There are some questions with the Agnew signing, but only time will tell if those questions are worth worrying about.
Megnatron returns
The undrafted forward out of the University of Nebraska-Omaha made a name for himself in the USHL and a solid freshman campaign at U of N before joining the Pens organization in 2012. During the strike shortened year, he spent the season at Wilkes-Barre and got acclimated to the pro game. Last year, he made his NHL debut in October and went on to play 36 games for the Penguins and 25 with the Baby Pens. His numbers were pretty similar and Megna showed he could perform at both levels. In the AHL, he put up career highs in goals (9), points (15) and plus-minus (+13). At the NHL level he put up five goals and nine total points in his games played. Today, he agreed to a one-year, two-way deal to stay in the organization.
I really like the re-signing of Megna and I would be absolutely shocked if he doesn't make the team out of camp. He is a good sized forward who can play at both ends of the ice. He has scoring touch and I think given fourteen to fifteen minutes of ice time nightly (not nine or ten he was given under Bylsma) he can produce even more. Maybe most importantly, in a pinch, he can skate alongside Malkin, who he found some chemistry with last season. It is a smart move by Jim Rutherford and I think it would be in Mike Johnston's best interest (as well as the team's) if Megna is a consistent member of the lineup.
We finally got a samuelsson!
The 22 year old defenseman made his NHL debut last December when the Pens suffered a rash of devastating injuries on the blue line. He only played five games for the Penguins before returning to Wilkes-Barre, but he did not look out of place among the big guys. At the AHL level, he set career highs in goals (3), assists (19), and points (22) last season in 64 games with the Baby Penguins. He was by far their best defenseman in the Calder Cup Playoffs as well.
Though many want to see Simon Despres, I really want to see this kid get the playing time. This kid is a winner. He is the son of a Stanley Cup Champion, he won the NCAA Championship while at Boston College and he has been part of Wilkes-Barre teams that made deep runs in the Calder Cup Playoffs the last two seasons. He is not the same player his dad was, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. He is defensive minded, like Ulf, but he can move the puck and has decent skating ability. He is intelligent, physical and has good positioning in his end. He was taken the selection after Simon Despres in 2009, and quite frankly, I think he's been the better player since being drafted and will continue to be in the future. He is not Brooks Orpik, but he will fit that mold of a physical defenseman with a brain in his head. I think he should be the guy over Despres, but wouldn't be surprised if he is the guy who sits in the press box as the seventh defenseman.