By Jeff
While Pens fans are constantly debating whether to bring back Jaromir Jagr and resign Tyler Kennedy, Pens general manager Ray Shero quietly resigned Pascal Dupuis to a 2-year, $3 million deal.
The move is a great one for the Pens. They retain a versatile winger who has 35 goals combined in the past two seasons and was a vital part of the league's best penalty killing unit.
Dupuis certainly isn't a skill guy or a young guy (He's 32). He skates hard and fast, forechecks wells and doesn't take a game off. If he could hit the net more often with his slap shot he'd be a threat for 30 goals, but to say he has no control of it would be a bit of an understatement.
He clearly isn't a superstar, so why am I so excited to see him back? It's because the man works his ass off in every game. It doesn't matter what the score is, or what line who he's playing with; Dupuis is always going full throttle.
While some players would complain about being tossed around from line to line, like Dupuis did last year after Sidney Crosby got hurt, Dupuis went out and played hockey without any complaint. Whether he was on the first line or fourth, he went about his business with the same no surrender attitude.
He could have got more money on the open market (See Armstrong, Colby), but he stayed where he has won a Stanley Cup and likes the locker room. Maybe the Pens could have picked up a very similar player on the open market, or someone with more goal-scoring pedigree. And that player could have sucked and not played up to his potential like a few recent Pens pickups. With Dupuis they got a guy at a discount and they know what to expect from him.
Regardless of whether the team signs Jagr or Kennedy, fans can be happy No. 9 will be coming back for two more years.
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Not all fans are happy. Just saying.
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