Nick Kypreos Provides Scouting Report On Daniel Winnik
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) – Sportsnet NHL insider and former NHLer Nick Kypreos joined "The Fan Morning Show" Thursday to discuss where the Penguins stand after acquiring Daniel Winnik in a trade with the Maple Leafs.
Kypreos believes that Winnik's stock is higher than his 2014-15 stat line suggests.
"He's been around," Kypreos said. "He's had a lot of teams in his career, but the year that he had with the Leafs...probably he's had more notoriety for good things on the ice. He was a good solider for the Leafs."
He said Winnik should help get the Pens' penalty kill back on track.
"We know that penalty killing has been his specialty [in Toronto]," Kypreos said. "Although the Penguins have fared well over the course of the year on penalty killing, it hasn't been great the last little while. So, he'll come in and solidify that a little bit."
He explained that Winnik uses his body in a way that works well in today's NHL.
"He's a big man that can skate," Kypreos said. "In my era, you probably needed to impress by knocking a guy into the first six rows of the arena. Now, the game has changed a little bit. It's more skating. You lean on people as opposed to really hitting them these days, and Winnik can do that."
He sees Winnik as a piece that can help fill an important role come playoff time.
"He'll come in and add a little size and some depth in a position of anywhere between the sixth forward up until the tenth forward- and that's what playoff hockey's all about," Kypreos said.
The interview can be heard here: