Simon Despres has made his case to be the Pens No. 6 defenseman this season.  And the Pens have taken notice as no one else has stepped up to fill that role.  But are they going to be more interested in playing salary and contract games or fielding the best team possible come this Thursday when they christen the Consol Energy Center?

Reports are that the Penguins are giving Despres a hard look for the open day roster.  But those reports also say that his spot on the roster would be for a limited time as the Pens want to send him back to his Juniors team before he would trigger the NHL’s arbitration clock on his entry contract.  That would be a limited engagement of not more than 9 games if the Pens go this route.

Ok, I can understand the Pens not wanting to start the clock ticking on having to give this 19 year old a new contract but seriously the NHL is about winning not about playing contract games.  If Despres is good enough to win the No. 6 spot then he should be rewarded with that spot.  Sure, no one else has stepped up, but Despres is not going to be awarded the No. 6 spot because he is the best of some pretty bad options thus far.  He has played better than anyone could expect for a 19 year old defenseman and has earned the spot outright.

The Penguins should put him on the roster and put their faith in him.  If he proves incapable then you decided what to do with him afterwards.  However as of right now he is our best option.

Simon Despres, Pittsburgh’s first round pick (and 30th overall) in 2009, finally got some game ice time last night against Columbus.  During his just over seventeen minutes of playing time which included 3:35 of penalty killing work, Despres made a good case that he should be on the Penguins roster come opening day as their seventh defenseman.  The problem is, in all likelihood, is that he will not be.

At age 19 he will likely be sent back to the minors for some more honing and considering the other defensemen in camp likely to make the roster even putting him on the team as the seventh defenseman seems like a long shot.

Orpik, Goligoski, Letang, Michalek and Martin are locks for the starting roster.  The inside track for the sixth and seventh slots goes to Lovejoy, Brian Strait, veteran Andrew Hutchinson and Corey Potter.  So back to the minors it is most likely for Despres unless he can beat out three of those four.  And frankly unless he is going to be the sixth defenseman on the roster sending him down makes the most sense.

He needs playing time to further hone his talents and as a seventh defenseman he will not get it often enough if he stays in Pittsburgh.

Against a Columbus team stacked with young first round picks with worlds of talent Despres stood his ground with a mix of physical and smart play at both ends of the ice.  He faltered at times as any young defenseman would but his performance was solid and he was one the ice for two of Pittsburgh’s three goals (earning a +2) and had four shots.

If the Penguins want to make a splash Despres perhaps should get his shot to play full time but there are other players ahead of him that will get that chance instead.  Only if they falter does it look likely that Despres will get the chance he seems to be earning.

Blue liners were on the Penguins menu in this year’s NHL entry draft taking four defensemen with their seven picks.

30th overall the Penguins nabbed Saint John’s defenseman Simon Despres who was fairly highly ranked as a skater coming in (8th among North Americans) and is a big presence on the blue line.

Then in the second round and with the 61st pick the Penguins tapped the son of former Penguins defenseman Ulf Samuelson in a move that probably stunned a lot of people. Samuelson according to what I have been told and even read in comments from the Ulfster himself did not think his son would go so high. Most people seemed to have Philip slated as a late third or fourth rounder. Philip will be attending Boston College next year so he is some time away from ever seeing NHL ice.

In the third round the Penguins nabbed Ben Hanowski, a Right Winger out of Little Falls Minnesota.

In the fourth it was a another Right Winger named Nick Petersen who plays for Shawinigan. But then it was back to defense taking Alex Velischek in the fifth. If that last name sounds familiar, it should. He is the son of Randy Velischek who played ten years in the NHL for teams including New Jersey. Randy was never known for his offense, putting up Hal Gill like numbers but his son is definitely more offensive minded.

With their second pick in the fifth round the Penguins selected center Andy Bathgate out of the OHL who is the grandson of Andy Bathgate who played for the Penguins in 1967.

To round out the picks the Penguins took Viktor Ekbom, a defenseman from Sweeden.

Almost all of these guys have some rounding out to do before the Penguins will even think about tapping them for NHL experience.