East Notes: Penguins Goalies, Wideman, Maple Leafs, Brooks

Pittsburgh’s start to the season hasn’t gone as well as they’ve hoped but there have been some positives along the way.  One of those is goaltender Casey DeSmith who not only won the backup job in training camp but has started to take starts away from Matt Murray.  Accordingly, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette suggests that it’s time to change the question when it comes to the netminder from whether he’s good enough to hold down an NHL spot to whether or not the Penguins can afford to keep him as an unrestricted free agent next summer.

The answer to that question may ultimately determine what they decide to do with youngster Tristan Jarry who has shown some signs of upside over his first four professional seasons.  If the Penguins believe they can re-sign DeSmith, then it frees them up to move Jarry if they can get someone that can help their roster now.  If not, they may be wise to hold off on moving him as they don’t have another goalie prospect that’s close to NHL ready at this time.

Elsewhere in the East:

• Senators defenseman Chris Wideman is dealing with a lower-body injury, the team announced on Twitter. While his offensive numbers have dipped a bit this season – he still has five points in 17 games – his playing time has gone up by nearly two minutes a night to 13:22.  There’s no word on how long he’ll be out but with Ottawa only carrying six other blueliners on their roster, they will likely look to bring someone up from AHL Belleville if Wideman is expected to miss more than a couple of days.
• The Maple Leafs are likely to bring a forward up from the AHL’s Marlies, notes Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun. Toronto is currently carrying the minimum 12 forwards and are set to embark on a three-game Western road trip that kicks off on Tuesday.  Winger Trevor Moore was up with the team briefly earlier this month and could very well be the one who gets the nod here.
• From that same column, Koshan reports that center prospect Adam Brooks is dealing with some issues with his heart rate and will be held out of the lineup for a while. The Maple Leafs selected him in the fourth round back in 2016 and he has two points in as many games so far in his sophomore professional campaign.