Malkin Suspended, Penguins Recall Koivunen

As expected, the NHL has suspended Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin for his head-high slash on Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin Thursday night. The length of the suspension…five games.

Obviously, the ruling couldn’t have come at a worse time, with captain and top scorer Sidney Crosby still on the mend from an injury sustained during the Olympics and the Pens in the thick of a playoff chase.

In addition to adding hulking Swedish forward Elmer Söderblom at yesterday’s trade deadline, the team has recalled forward Ville Koivunen from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on an emergency basis. The 22-year-old Finn opened the season with the Pens and served two tours of duty, sandwiched around trips to the minors.

With 11 goals and 33 points in 28 games, Koivunen’s been uber-productive for the Baby Pens. He was especially hot, not to mention consistent, in February, tallying six goals and 16 points in 11 games to garner AHL Player of the Month honors.

Unfortunately, Koivunen struggled to produce during his stints with the Pens, managing just two goals and five points in 27 games. This on the heels of a dazzling, stretch-run cameo last season that saw him pile up seven assists in eight games.

In particular, the speed of the NHL game seemed to be an issue. Let’s hope Ville can find ways to compensate, because the skill is definitely there.

A little more on Söderblom, straight from Kyle Dubas himself.

“…I think the thing that has stood out throughout this year is the (his) ability to forecheck, get in on the forecheck, disrupt pucks, win pucks back. And I think for us, that’s one thing that we’d identified…having a little bit more of that throughout the lineup would be good.”

Dubas also cited Söderblom’s improved skating.

In other business, Dubas signed goalie Taylor Gauthier to an NHL deal (AAV $775K) for the remainder of the season. A little bit of an odd play, given that our POHO/GM didn’t move any of our top four goalies at the deadline.

A silly-sider (catches right), Gauthier has been a standout for several seasons with the Wheeling Nailers, but has gotten little opportunity above the ECHL.

Last and certainly not least, it appears contract talks with Malkin have been tabled till this summer. Perhaps tipping Dubas’s hand on re-upping the Pens’ legend.

Just one man’s opinion, but I don’t think this serves either the player or team well. Frankly, it has the potential to create a distraction when we need one the least, to say nothing of the possible negative affect on Geno’s attitude and level of play.