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Are the Penguins shopping players around in advance of Crosby’s return?

Mark Letestu

With Sidney Crosby likely coming back sooner than not to the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup and a host of other injured forwards also getting back to the ice in short order (Tyler Kennedy for instance) the Pens are swimming in depth up the middle. When you’ve got a surplus of players you’re either going to make your farm team get really good really fast or you’re going to take advantage of that.

According to Andy Strickland of TrueHockey.com, Pens GM Ray Shero is busy working the phones and one Pens center in particular is being shopped around. With Crosby, Kennedy, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, and Richard Park all spending time playing at times up the middle, Mark Letestu is the man out in the cold and the Penguins are trying to unload him.

The trick there is that Letestu, even in spite of the Pens injury woes, has not carved a spot out for himself this season scoring no goals and adding just one assist this season. Last season, Letestu was looking like a breakout star until he too was bitten by the injury bug scoring 14 goals and adding 13 assists. Now he’s just a spare part that isn’t producing and being surpassed by other players like Joe Vitale.

If Shero can get anything worthwhile in return for him, say a cure to the voodoo curse that’s overtaken the Penguins, it’s worth a shot.