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Matt Vensel's Penguins chat: 01.03.25
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Matt Vensel
11:11
Happy New Year, Penguins fans. Looking forward to chatting with you all today. It has been a while. We will get started at noon. In the meantime, you can submit questions. Already a bunch in the queue.
keith8771
12:03
What is the real reason the Penguins are starting to win or at least be competitive in all their games. Did Coach Sullivan change his game plan or what did he do?
Matt Vensel
12:09
Hey, Keith. The Penguins have been better for sure, though I will put out that they are 6-5-1 since that four-game winning streak. So the results are still spotty. That said, the Penguins are clearly playing a more competitive brand of hockey. Beyond finally getting the players to buy in, there have been tweaks from Sullivan, yes. To sum it up, the Penguins have simplified their game and are playing a more straight-ahead style. Instead of taking chances on the breakout and in the neutral zone that could lead to turnovers and odd-man rushes for the other team, they are quickly getting the puck up the ice and chipping it into the other end, which forces their opponents to try to break out without making mistakes. There have been tweaks to the forecheck, too. The result has been a more defensive and structured approach, though we obviously aren't talking about the 1990s Devils here...
Sunner in Orlando from Lebo
12:09
Where does ownership stand vs where Dubas stands as far as a rebuild vs a retooling of the team? The Pens are a borderline playoff team at the very best.
Matt Vensel
12:11
Fenway Sports Group mostly leaves the hockey decisions to Kyle Dubas. They paid him a boatload of money to run the show and will let him do that. As for Kyle, he has made it pretty clear that he isn't all that interested in making moves that might allow the Penguins to squeak into the playoffs. He wants to build the Pens back up into perennial contenders, so he will continue to take the long view with this team unless they punch it into another gear here in the next few weeks.
Dan N
12:11
Hey Matt…Happy New Year..I saw a recent Wheeling Nailer game and was really impressed by the Russian goalie Murashev…I’m wondering how much of a prospect is he and what is the plan going forward ? I assume if there’s goalie movement later in the year he will be climbing the ladder! By the way that Wheeling team is fun to. Watch
Matt Vensel
12:13
Dan, the Penguins are pretty excited about Sergei Murashov, who was a fourth-round pick under the Ron Hextall regime. He is not at the same level as top goalie prospect Joel Blomqvist, but he has some intriguing tools and the right mentality. That said, his game needs a lot of technical refinement, so we should not expect to see Murashov in Pittsburgh anytime soon. He's split this season between the AHL and the ECHL and probably won't head to the AHL full time until Blomqvist graduates to the NHL. There's only one starter's net in Wilkes.
Sunner in Orlando from Lebo
12:14
What do the Pens do about their goalie situation? Trade Jarry and eat some salary? Trade Alex and bring up Blomqvist? Or go with what they have for the rest of the year?
Matt Vensel
12:16
It's a fluid situation. Blomqvist has been solid in the AHL but not dominant, so there is no need to rush him back to Pittsburgh with Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic (and the guys in front of them) playing better the last few weeks. Eventually, yes, they will need to move one of those two veterans out to open up a full-time spot for Blomqvist. But I don't know that we will see that this spring.
TS
12:17
Matt, Happy New Year!  An above average goalie can make all the difference for a team.  And….It is clear after 4-5 years that Jarry is not an above average goalie nor does he have the grit or fight to make big saves throughout a game.
He will not be a difference maker in tight games or against playoff caliber teams. And it’s unlikely any team is dumb enough to trade for him unless they really need a 2nd string goalie. When will the Penguins face reality?  Are they really willing to
Matt Vensel
12:18
TS, this ain't the NFL. You can't just cut someone. The Penguins are financially committed to Jarry. And as you noted, he does not have trade value right now. So what do you propose they do here?
Sam
12:19
Hi Matt.  It's becoming clear, at least for the time being, that simply being in contention for a playoff spot doesn't mean you're actually a good team in what seems like a VERY thin Eastern Conference.  Does this make having a clear vision for what to do with the roster and then executing it more complex?  Or is it possible that they could sell some pieces without sinking like an anchor in the standings because all the other fringe teams are lousy too?
Matt Vensel
12:24
As I noted earlier, Dubas has been upfront about this. He is not going to make short-term moves to try to just make the playoffs. He is aware there is a wide gap between the Penguins and the upper-echelon teams in the East. So, answering the first question, there is a clear vision with what they want to do here. What will be fascinating to me is what they do with their pending free agents at the trade deadline if they remain in the hunt for one of the wild card spots. Dubas will not want to let Marcus Pettersson potentially walk for nothing when he could get a decent pick or prospect for him in a trade, but Dubas also might feel an obligation to Sidney Crosby and the players if they continue to play hard and play well. I expect Dubas to take it down to the wire, just as he did last season with Jake Guentzel.
Sunner in Orlando from Lebo
12:24
If the Pens are sellers at the deadline who goes? Pettersson, Rust, Rakell?
Matt Vensel
12:27
Way too early to tell how active they will be on the trade market. But obviously Pettersson is one to watch, given that he is a free agent. Rakell has been awesome this year and has built his trade value back up, so maybe another team will give Dubas an offer to think about. I do not see them moving Rust, especially because he has a no-trade clause. Anyway, as I noted in my previous answer, there is still a lot of time between now and the trade deadline. It's impossible to know exactly how all this will play out. If the Penguins continue to play like this, it will at least make Dubas ponder how aggressively he should sell, if at all. But I don't get the sense that anything is cooking now.
12:28
That will do it for today's chat. Thanks for the questions, everyone. We'll do this again next week. In the meantime, enjoy this snow!
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