Penguins Never Should Have Cut Depth Forward
The Pittsburgh Penguins made the wrong decision in cutting Radim Zohorna before the season.
Radim Zohorna put together an impressive training camp in his return to the Pittsburgh Penguins organization and looked like a lock to make the roster.
That was until the Penguins claimed Jansen Harkins off of waivers and pushed guys like Zohorna and Alex Nylander into a bigger fight for a spot.
Harkins played in a couple of preseason games and earned his role with the team, but it wouldn’t last long.
After four games, the Penguins had seen enough of Harkins and sent him to the AHL; in his place, Zohorna was recalled.
In his season debut against the St. Louis Blues, Zohorna showed why he never should have been cut from the lineup in the first place.
Zohorna was noticeable all over the ice against the Blues and his third line proved to be one of the very few bright spots in the 4-2 loss.
The Penguins’ bottom six forward group has struggled to start the season, especially on offense; through the first four games, they combined only for a single point.
That one point was a secondary assist for Lars Eller, but Zohorna finally broke through and provided some offense for the Penguins depth.
It was a late-game goal that didn’t have much meaning, but Zohorna tried to make things interesting in the final minutes.
In a game full of duds, a furious Mike Sullivan noted that the third line played well.
“I thought Z played really well,” Sullivan said. “I thought that line played hard.”
Sullivan didn’t have his normal long-winded answers following the game, but that seemed to be the lone bright spot in his eyes.
Zohorna proved in just one game, he really never should have been taken out of the lineup for any reason.
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