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Mike Comrie and Alex Kovalev won’t be Penguins next season

Pittsburgh Penguins v Philadelphia Flyers

of the Pittsburgh Penguins of he Philadelphia Flyers during a game on March 24, 2011 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Lou Capozzola

If you’re a Penguins fan and you were left feeling empty by the end of the season that’s understandable. After all a first round playoff loss stinks and leaves you feeling like it all came to an end too soon. The Penguins are looking ahead to next season, however, and they’re already making choices about who’s staying and who’s coming back.

A pair of names that won’t be donning the Penguins sweater next season are a pair of more famous names. Penguins GM Ray Shero said today that while he’s looking ahead and working on deals with some potential free agents in house, he won’t be bringing back either Mike Comrie or Alex Kovalev next season.

Shelly Anderson of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette gets the details from Shero about why Comrie and Kovalev won’t be back.

Shero said he isn’t sure what Comrie’s future holds but that it’s possible the hip surgery Comrie had in December will hinder his prospects of playing in the NHL again. Comrie, 30, was signed as a free agent last summer but after a strong preseason got hurt. He had a goal and five assists in 21 games and did not appear in the playoffs after he had been cleared to return.

Kovalev, 38, was obtained in March from Ottawa but never recaptured the magic he had during his first tour with the Penguins He had two goals, seven points in 20 regular-season games and one goal, two points in seven playoff games.

It’s not shocking that either of these guys won’t be back but both players offered different brands of disappointment. Comrie’s injury obviously made things more difficult for him and knocking him out for the better part of the year made life harder for him and the Pens given the other injuries they had to deal with during the year. Comrie was signed as an inexpensive option for the Penguins in that if he was able to find the form he had previously in his career and having him play alongside Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin would’ve netted great results. Instead injuries conspired against all of them to make their season more difficult.

Kovalev was acquired midseason to try and give the Penguins an older, but familiar, lift while they were without Malkin and Crosby. Instead, Kovalev couldn’t get quite rejuvenated and couldn’t produce the offense the Pens hoped for. Given how old Kovalev is now, you have to wonder if this is perhaps the end of the road for him as his production has fallen off in each of the last three seasons.

How the Penguins opt to fill ranks in the offseason with Malkin looking to come back from knee surgery ready for training camp and a watchful eye on Sidney Crosby’s continued rehab from a January concussion continuing will make free agent season worthwhile for the Penguins. When it comes to Ray Shero, always expect the savvy move to be made rather than the big splash.