Comrie signs cheap with Penguins

By Jeff

Forward Mike Comrie-Duff signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins today for $500,000. Comrie took quite a pay cut to join the Pens and Sidney Crosby apparently has already reached out to welcome his new teammate.

I'm going to be honest, I've never really paid attention to Comrie-Duff before. His numbers look OK, but he's only played 80 or more games twice in his nine-year career. He's not a big guy, so injuries could be a problem.

The signing certainly puts multiple players on notice, though. Comrie-Duff can play all over the ice, so Max Talbot, Tyler Kennedy and Craig Adams could find themselves watching games from the box more often this year if they don't pick up their games.

The signing could also confirm that Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal are going to be playing on the same line more often this season. Comrie-Duff can play multiple forward positions, but he is listed as a center. I'm thinking he is going to center the third line, allowing Staal to jump up to Malkin's line.

Durability worries me, but this could turn into an excellent signing for the Pens. If he gets significant time with Crosby or Malkin, he could return to being a 20-goal scorer and making Ray Shero look very smart for letting Bill Guerin walk.

Psycho Killer - The  Talking Heads.