Behind The Net
Tantalizing Talent

By Bob Grove

As Penguins' general manager Ray Shero restructures his roster this summer, an intriguing part of the puzzle does not show up on the NHL's list of unrestricted free agents. Power forward Eric Tangradi is under contract for two more seasons and a restricted free agent after that, but at 21 has yet to show he is ready for a promotion from the AHL.

He gets another chance this fall, and he said last month he's trying to make it count.

"Especially with how the salary cap is, every young kid should have an opportunity at camp. That's my attitude," says Tangradi. "Instead of being happy to just blend in, I'm going to try and make the hockey team."

Shero and the Penguins would like nothing more than to see Tangradi, a 6-4, 221-pound left wing acquired from Anaheim in the Chris Kunitz trade 17 months ago, play so well in camp and the preseason that leaving him off the NHL roster is not prudent. For all teams like the Penguins who spend to the limit of the league's salary cap, players who earn less than $1 million per season but contribute on a nightly basis are worth their weight in gold.

The key phrase there is not "less than $1 million per season."

It's "contribute on a nightly basis."

No one disputes Tangradi's promise. He's a former 38-goal scorer in junior at Belleville, where he put up 148 points in 111 games over his last two seasons and contributed 56 points in 52 career OHL playoff games – impressive numbers. In his first full pro season, Tangradi scored 17 goals (including eight on the power play) and 39 points in 65 AHL games, missing 15 games due to an early shoulder injury and a concussion later – all after his training time was cut short last summer while he rehabilitated from a severed tendon just below his thumb suffered during the 2009 OHL playoffs.

But what the Philadelphia native got out of last season can't be measured in numbers. "It was the most I've learned in a hockey season in my entire career," says Tangradi, whose strong second half was spent mostly with center Joe Vitale and right wing Tim Wallace. He pointed to his shoulder injury as an example, saying he was hurt by Bridgeport defenseman Mark Wotton's check only because I "let my guard down."

Just as was the case while playing with Sidney Crosby in a preseason game last fall, Tangradi didn't look out of place when recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to join the Penguins for their last regular-season game on Long Island this spring.

"I think I had a tough start, getting used to the speed, but in the second and third periods I was a lot more comfortable and I left with the attitude that, 'Hey, I think I can play here if I keep working hard."

And he is working hard this summer at Endeavor Fitness in Sewell, N.J., where his training mentor Jared Beach opened a gym two years ago and this season put Tangradi under the watchful eye of athletic development coach Kevin Neeld, who played at the University of Delaware and holds a Master's degree in Kinesiology with a concentration in Exercise Neuroscience.

"Three weeks in, I'm already reaching goals I didn't think I could reach this early in the summer," said Tangradi, who also trained on a skating treadmill before returning to the ice during the last week of June.

All signs point to Tangradi becoming a regular contributor at the NHL level in the near future. While fans are anxious to plug Tangradi's name into their own 2010-11 rosters, the Penguins won't do so until he's ready. That may or may not be this season. It's up to Tangradi, who isn't necessarily thinking long-term.

"I'm comfortable here, and now it's time to do something," he says.