Q: How long do you expect Janne Pesonen to be in Wilkes-Barre? Do the Penguins expect that he will play in the NHL this year?

Vince, State College

MOLINARI: A lot of variables will influence precisely how long Pesonen remains with the Baby Penguins.

The most important is how Pesonen performs in the American Hockey League, since the onus is on him to prove that he can reasonably be expected to be productive at the NHL. Assuming he does that - and it doesn't seem like a reach, given the ability and hockey sense he flashed during training camp in his first exposure to North American hockey - other factors that will come into play include whether the Penguins have injuries that would necessitate a recall, and whether any of the wingers now on their major-league roster play their way out of the lineup.

Pesonen was the final player cut to get the Penguins down to the league maximum before their season-opening games against Ottawa in Stockholm last weekend, and it's conceivable that the fact that he could be sent to the AHL without clearing waivers - an option that didn't exist with, say, Jeff Taffe or Bill Thomas - played a role in the decision. A case could be made that Pesonen also will benefit from additional exposure to the North American game, and that he'll get more ice time and responsibilities in Wilkes-Barre than he would have with the Penguins.

In any case, there's no reason to believe that the front office expects Pesonen to be marooned in the AHL for the entire season. And when he does get to the NHL, it's certainly possible that he'll move into a fairly prominent role, assuming there is such a void to be filled.

Q: In assessing the trade for Marian Hossa last season, I was curious about the progress of Angelo Esposito and the significance of his loss to the organization, especially given the Pens' current problems on the power play and the injury to Sergei Gonchar.

Matt Sixsmith, Portland, Ore.

MOLINARI: Esposito, sent to Atlanta with forwards Colby Armstrong and Erik Christensen and a first-round draft choice at the trade deadline for Hossa, is back in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, where he has two goals and five assists in three games with Montreal, which acquired him from Rimouski during the offseason.

Some in the Penguins' hockey department soured on Esposito's potential as last season unfolded - obviously, general manager Ray Shero didn't seriously balk at including him in the Hossa trade - and the fact that he couldn't claim a job in Atlanta, which does not suffer from a surplus of talented forwards, does nothing to undermine such thinking.

Still, it is far, far too early to write off Esposito as a candidate to be a significant contributor in the NHL at some point in the future. He clearly has talent - remember, there was a time when he was considered the top prospect available in the 2007 draft - and even though the consensus is, and has been, that he is at his best when he is not expected to be the go-to guy on his team, there's a place in the league for good complementary players, too.

Still, even if the Penguins had held onto Esposito, and if he had somehow managed to crack their lineup this fall, he would not - and should not - have even been considered as a potential replacement for Gonchar on the power play. Playing any forward on the point is risky; doing it with a guy who had never played at this level would be well beyond ridiculous.