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The Pittsburgh Penguins signed a 3-year deal on Friday with Coach Michel Therrien reportedly worth $1M annually.  The contract, which runs through the 2010-2011 season, replaces his existing contract that would have run out in 2009 and would have paid him $750K next season.  The 33% raise and 3-year term signify the organization’s confidence in Therrien after he coached the very talented young team to an exceptional 94-51-19 record over the past 2 seasons. 

Coach Therrien’s strength lies in his ability to shape and motivate young players, something that the Penguins have an ample supply of.  Therrien got his start in hockey as a defenseman in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, where he played under Coach Jacques Lemaire for the Longueuil Chevaliers.  Therrien was a solid player, putting up 51-points in 64-games in 1982-83.  Therrien hung up his skates in 1989 and went to work for Bell Canada.  A year later, he took a brief side-job as part-time assistant to Laval coach Jean-Maurice Cool.  After Cool was fired, Therrien was picked up again as an assitant under Bob Hartley, and they went on to win the QMJHL title in 1993.  When Hartley left before the 1993-94 season, Therrien was promoted to head coach.  Therrien won over 70-percent of his games in junior, where players range in age from 16 to 20.  Therrien then left Laval for Granby and coached the team to the 1996 Memorial Cup.  After a successful rise through the minors, Therrien won his dream job on 20 November 2000 when he was hired by the Montreal Canadiens to replace Alain Vigneault.  In his first full season he led a mediocre Canadiens team past the top-seeded Boston Bruins in the first round.  However, in the second round against Carolina, Therrien drew a bench minor for arguing a penalty call by referee Kerry Fraser and it turned the series around.  The Canadiens, who were leading the series 2-1 and were ahead 3-0 early in the third period when the penalty was called, lost the game and then were soundly defeated in the next two games.  Therrien was let go in the following season, and re-entered the minors where he coached the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton team for 2.5-years, where they went to the Calder Cup finals twice. 

In 2006-07, Therrien led the Penguins to the fourth-biggest turnaround in NHL history and their first playoff berth in years.  After losing to the Ottawa Senators in game 5 of the first round, the Penguins came back in 2007-08, finished 2nd in the Eastern Conference, and swept the Senators in round 1 by outscoring them 16-5.  The Penguins went on to their first Stanley Cup Finals since 1993.  Coach Therrien has a record of demanding a lot from his young players, and for rewarding performance.  In the process, he has created some rifts with more veteran players on the team, including John LeClair who was stripped of his alternate Captaincy and ultimately requested his contract with the team be dissolved.  A similar falling out happened with Mark Recchi after his performance fell off.  But nobody can argue the results that the team has produced under his tenure, particularly this past season when the team overcame the adversity of extended injuries to several of its top players. 

The lingering question remains whether Therrien, who some felt was outcoached in the Stanley Cup Finals, has the coaching skills to bring the Cup home.  He certainly has given the management and owners of the Penguins organization no reasons to doubt his ability to produce results.  They have responded by giving Therrien a nice raise and extension of his tenure in Pittsburgh.  In fact, if Therrien makes it through all of next season, he will become the longest-tenured coach in franchise history with 297 games.  

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Now that the 2008 NHL Entry Draft is behind us and the initial Free Agency activity has occurred, it is time to step back and take a closer look at the Pittsburgh Penguins 2008 draft picks.  While much of the reporting focused in on Patrick Killeen and Nathan Moon, the Penguins actually acquired a total of four players through the late June draft.  This included two goaltenders, a defenseman and a center, all of whom the Penguins will likely allow to develop over the next two seasons in Juniors/College.  As a result of previous trades involving Marian Hossa, Hal Gil and Georges Laraque, the Penguins didn’t have a first, second, or third round pick to exercise.  Despite an attempt to get an earlier draft pick through a pre-draft trade of Ryan Malone, the Penguins came up empty. 

The first pick-up came in the 4th round of the draft, as the Penguins announced the selection of Nathan Moon.  The 5-foot-11, 179-pound, right-handed center from Belleville, Ontario, had 35 goals and 77 points in 68 games with the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs last season.  He posted those impressive numbers while playing on a team that only won 25-games.  The 120th pick overall, he was rated the 134th best prospect available by International Scouting Services.  Moon, who was born 1 April 1990, is a talented puck-handler and is great in the face-off circle.  He also has good vision for a young hockey player and takes advantage of that vision by being able to find lanes and connect on good passes to his teammates.  In an interview with Penguins’ Joe Sager, Moon expressed his excitement at being selected and his desire to improve his performance as he heads into Juniors.  It is expected that Moon will play 1-2 more seasons in the OHL before moving up into ther NHL.  

Image details: 2008 NHL Entry Draft Portraits served by picapp.com

In the 5th round, the Penguins picked up goaltender Alexander Pechurski as the 150th overall pick.  The 6-foot, 187-pounder is a native of Magnitogorsk, Russia.  Ranked 10th among international goaltenders by the NHL’s Central Scouting, he posted a 2.07 GAA in 26 games in 2007-08 for Magnitogorsk.  He went on to help team Russia to a silver medal in the U-18 tournament by going 4-1 and posting a 3.06 GAA and 0.885 save percentage.  Born 4 June 1990, Pechurski catches left.  While his future in North America remains uncertain due to the lack of a transfer agreement, the Penguins hope Pechurski will help them regain some organizational depth in goal within their system. 

On to the 6th round, where the Penguins took goalie Patrick Killeen from Brampton (OHL), the 180th overall pick.  A native of Almonte, Ontario, the 6-foot-4, 194-pound goaltender catches left.  Killeen went 20-9-2 with a 2.76 GAA in 34 games with Brampton last season.  Born 15 April 1990, Killeen is large goaltender that covers the bottom half of the net very well.  Like Pechurski, Killeen was brought into the organization to add depth in net.  Key to his development over the next couple of years in the OHL will be improvements in shot recovery, rebound control, and glove control. 

Image details: 2008 NHL Entry Draft Portraits served by picapp.com
Finally, in the 7th round, the Penguins added defenseman Nicholas D’Agostino from St. Michael’s Buzzers (OPJHL), selected 210th overall.  The 6-foot-1, 177-pound defenseman is a native of Bolton, Ontario, was born on 24 June 1990 and shoots left.  D’Agostino is slated to play for Cornell beginning in 2009.  Playing for St. Michaels, he scored 5-goals and 18-points in 46 games.  Unranked by most scouting services, D’Agostino has been effective in man-up, man-down and even strength play.  He has a hard slap shot and is defensively effective by keeping his feet and stick active at all times.  In an interview with Penguins’ Joe Sager at the Penguins Rookie Conditioning Camp, D’Agostino described himself as a two-way player who likes to jump into the play, albeit not a big offensive scorer.  He will continue to develop physically and as a player as he heads off to Cornell in the fall.

It is good to see that the Penguins made the best of their later round draft picks and picked up some good prospects for the future of the club.  Be sure to check back soon as I will be posting more in-depth player spotlights on each of the Penguins’ pick-ups in free agency. 

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