http://aol.sportingnews.com/nhl/stor...hoenix-coyotes
Zbynek Michalek is the first domino to fall in the Pittsburgh Penguins' defensive rebuild. He's not likely to be the last.
Pittsburgh, with a first-round meltdown against the Philadelphia Flyers not far in the rearview mirror, sent Michalek back to the Phoenix Coyotes for two prospects in defenseman Harrison Ruopp, and goalie Marc Cheverie, and a third-round pick on Saturday. Michalek played five seasons with Phoenix before signing with the Penguins in July 2010.
Earlier in the night, the Penguins sent center Jordan Staal to the Carolina Hurricanes for center Brandon Sutter, defenseman Brian Dumoulin and Carolina's No. 8 pick in the draft, which they used to select defenseman Derrick Pouliot.
Michalek's play fell off in 2011-12 after a solid first season with the Penguins. Defensive partner Paul Martin, like Michalek a 2010 offseason signing, also could find himself on the move. The Penguins allowed 26 goals in six games against the Flyers. There are plenty of reasons for that—terrible play from the penalty kill and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was to blame for a good portion. But it continued a trend that had started during the regular season—the defense, flat-out, wasn't good enough.
Pittsburgh's endgame for the moves is likely two-pronged. With Dumoulin, Roupp and Pouliot added to the fold, they have an almost bizarre amount of high-end defense prospects at various points in the system. If they turn into legitimate contributors to Pittsburgh's success—Simon Despres and Robert Bortuzzo could start the season in the NHL—great for the Penguins. If not, they could be useful as trading chips in the future.
Beyond that, though, the Staal and Michalek trades leave them with more than $14 million in cap space. A Martin trade would shave $5 million more off the payroll. At that point, they'd become major players for defenseman Ryan Suter and winger Zach Parise, the hands-down top-two free agents on the July 1 market. That, obviously, will continue shaking out over the next week or so.
As far as the non cap-space return for Michalek, though, Roupp is a 6-2, 200-pounder with a physical, defense-first style. He was the No. 84 pick in the 2011 Draft and spent last season with Prince Albert of the Western Hockey League. Cheverie, 24, split 2011-12 between the AHL and ECHL and is a borderline prospect.
Phoenix GM Don Maloney, meanwhile, adds a player he never wanted to lose back to the mix on a team that made it to the 2011 Western Conference finals.
"He was a very important player with us in regards our culture, how we wanted to play," Maloney told reporters in Pittsburgh. "We look at Z playing with a player like (young star) Oliver Ekman-Larsson as being a terrific combo matchup against the best players in the West and we’re just thrilled to have him back."
Maloney added that he stayed in contact with Shero about Michalek and summed up the less-than-ideal fit between team and player.
"Pittsburgh is a real uptempo style," Maloney said. "Get pucks up to the forwards in a hurry. Z is more of that defensive guy."