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Press Box Nachos: Riikola, Dumoulin, Hornqvist (PHN+)
The waters are calming around PPG Paints Arena. Some of the angst and worry which was growing with the Pittsburgh Penguins increasingly disjointed play have subsided after the team acquired winger Jason Zucker. The mood changed.
The team has changed. They were good, but not great against Tampa Bay on Tuesday and they were solid against Montreal on Friday.
It was a very predictable outcome, though it is impressive that General Manager Jim Rutheford can snag his target, time and time again. And usually, he is spot-on.
As lonely eyes have turned from the NHL trade market to the Penguins locker room, Pittsburgh Hockey Now has been doing some digging with sources and league sources to get a big picture look at the Penguins. Some of the info has been a little surprising, such as views on spare defenseman Juuso Riikola.
Perhaps more surprising to some will be the accuracy of PHN’s analysis of Riikola, as our critique closely mirrors some in the Penguins organization.