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Penguins Plans for Stastney; Solovyov on Waivers
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- Penguins Plans for Stastney; Solovyov on Waivers
USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect
COLUMBUS, OH —One left-handed defenseman out as another arrives. The Pittsburgh Penguins met Spencer Stastney Friday but waived big D-man Ilya Solovyov .
Stastney made his first appearance with the team Friday at the morning skate in Columbus, where the Penguins face the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena Friday night. For coach and player, it was more of a get-to-know-you moment, rather than a substantive practice.
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"He's a really good skater. I think a lot of his game is driven off of that. I think (he has) really good hockey sense as well," coach Dan Muse said. "He puts himself in good spots. You know, I think that leads to–whether it's in plays, in transition breakouts–the ability to make reads, little subtle reads. So those are all things that we've seen in his game."
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Muse has typically held new players out of the lineup until they're settled and acclimated both to the team and the system. However, the Penguins do not have a practice until Monday and are back in game action Tuesday in Chicago.
So, Stastney's debut remains a question mark, though assistant general manager Jason Spezza seemed to indicate the Penguins acquired him to be more than press box depth.
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"Stastney is a great skating defenseman that is at his best when he is asserting himself defensively and offensively, using his legs, retrieving pucks, and moving pucks into the forwards' hands," Spezza wrote to beat writers in an email exchange Wednesday. "Stastney adds to our depth as a left-shot defenseman who has experience playing on the left or right side, and he will be competing with our existing defensemen for ice time."
Stastney, 26, set a career high with 66 games played last season, split between the Nashville Predators and Edmonton Oilers. The 5-foot-10, 183-pound left-handed defenseman spent parts of the previous four seasons as a depth defender in the Nashville organization.
EDIT: Several player sites now list Stastney at 5-foot-11, 196 pounds.
After posting one goal and eight assists in 30 games for Nashville, Stastney had only one goal and no assists in 36 games for Edmonton last season. He's on a one-year, $1.575 million deal.
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"You know, in terms of Day One, I told him, this is the first time meeting some of the coaches, first time meeting some of the players, most of the players, and so it's a new group. I think (the first step) is to get acclimated," said Muse. "He's not going to be in tonight. He'll just be watching from up top. We gave him a couple of things to look for that might be a little bit different, but you don't want to overwhelm anybody with too much too soon. I think you want to get just your feet underneath you, get acclimated there with the group, and that's the priority right now."
To make room for the eventual activation of winger Andrei Kuzmenko , the Penguins waived Solovyov, whom they acquired last season from the Colorado Avalanche for Valtteri Puustinen . Solovyov had a strong training camp and preseason, noticeably losing weight, but stumbled in the final preseason game.
Stastney is coming to the team with a new outlook on the game and life. He recently opened up about mental health struggles. He's put those in the past, and it might hearten some to know that he found out about the trade while having breakfast with his Edmonton teammates in Anaheim, so he went to Disneyland. After all, he had an afternoon to spare.
"Yeah, pretty crazy, especially for myself, my fiancé, our animals back in Edmonton. But you know, it's exciting. I'm really happy to be here. Got a good skate in," Stastney said Friday. "It's a second trade for me in about a year, so I'm getting used to it, but I'm just really excited to get going with this group. They seem awesome — coaches, staff, players. I'm just ready to go and happy to help wherever I can."
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