Beau Bennett Will Make His NHL Debut Tonight with Pittsburgh Penguins

With the recent trade of former Pittsburgh Penguins forward Eric Tangradi to the Winnipeg Jets, it left an opening on the Penguins NHL roster and questions as to who would fill the space.

It wasn’t long afterwards that Beau Bennett was recalled by the Penguins from their AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre Scranton and that question was quickly answered.  However, the question remained as to where Bennett would fit into the lineup.  Speculation was that he would resume the role Tangradi originally had on the second line with Evgeni Malkin and James Neal.  Reports today have been that he will be playing alongside Brandon Sutter and Tyler Kennedy on the third line.

At the start of the season, prior to Bennett being reassigned to Wilkes-Barre Scranton, both he and Tangradi were given the chance to play alongside Malkin and Neal and Tangradi won out with the hopes that he would finally make the most of his opportunity with Pittsburgh.  Again, it didn’t pan out, he was a healthy scratch for most of his remaining stay with the team and now it’s Bennett’s chance to prove his worth to the Penguins organization.

That chance is coming sooner rather than later as it was recently announced that Bennett will be in the Penguins lineup tonight making his NHL debut.  He is still unsure of his role or where he’ll be in the lineup but it sure will be fun to watch it play out tonight when the Penguins take on the Jets.

Stephanie Lewark is a featured Pittsburgh Penguins writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow her on Twitter (@steelcitysports), check out her Facebook page, or add her to your Google+ circle.