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Matt Vensel's Penguins chat: 02.05.21
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Matt Vensel
11:27
Good morning, Pens fans. Excited to talk hockey with you today. It's been too long. We'll get started at noon. Today's practice at UPMC66 should be over by then. Feel free to submit your questions now.
11:59
Alright, practice is over. Lot of special teams work today. Let's go.
Lord of carson
11:59
Matt , thanks for the chat.  Looking at this D when healthy, Pettersson is likely the man dealt, no ?  And how do you think Letang finishes out his career? With or without the Pens?
Matt Vensel
12:01
As we saw last year, it can be fruitless to play the when-everyone-is-healthy game because more guys can get hurt. But hypothetically, yes, you wonder about Marcus Pettersson's future here. I like Marcus. Good guy. Good player. But they have significant money tied up in him, Brian Dumoulin and Mike Matheson. All lefties. And P.O. Joseph probably shouldn't be coming out of the lineup at this point. So that could leave Pettersson as the odd man out in terms of being able to trade a lefty for something of value. It's going to take some rehab for Matheson to have positive trade value. As for Letang, this will be an interesting offseason for him. Both he and Malkin have a year left on their contracts.
Ron J
12:03
Good morning Matt. U & Mike do a great job . I always enjoy listening to u guys ever Wednesday on the podcast .Why do u think the special teams are so bad ?
Matt Vensel
12:04
Thank you, Ron. Appreciate that. I think the PP and PK are too completely different conversations. The PP appears to be the top players falling back into old habits. Their confidence is down so they're just standing around trying to feather perfect passes to each other. I was actually encouraged by their first five or six games under Todd Reirden with the movement and positional interchangeability. But the players got away from that in a hurry. As for the PK, I think it's a combination of a new scheme being implemented by Mike Vellucci and a few fluky goals through traffic. They've got good personnel.
Scott
12:05
He's clearly troubled, but is there any interest in Tony DeAngelo to help on the blue line?
Matt Vensel
12:06
I can't really see it. He's a hot head who just got exiled from his team, makes $5 million a year and would be their third-string righty. Even if they could fit him under the salary cap, what would be the point?
Tom
12:06
Matt,What will it take for Mike Sullivan to actually change the personnel on the power play?  We’ve seen this movie time after time with the same cast of non shooters.
Matt Vensel
12:08
Tom, I wondered after Monday's loss if Sullivan would do the thing where he splits the talent up into two equal groups. So like Crosby, Guenzel and Letang on one unit and Malkin, Rust and Marino on another. But no dice. We'll see if it gets that point if they continue to struggle, but you know Sullivan will eventually come back to his top guys. And rightfully so I think. I'm bullish on this unit despite this ugly 0-for-19 stretch. If they listen to Reirden and Sullivan and get back to moving their feet, their talent should shine through.
Realist
12:09
I see parallels between the course the Pirates must take and that the Pens should consider taking.  That is to sell some assets at their peak and reconstruct to again contend sooner rather than later.  Some would argue that the clock is ticking and declining values in Geno (my favorite player, by the way) and Letang to name two.  If GMJR was let go for wanting to move in this direction, I think we will rue the day he departed.  What say you?  Add the Steelers with BB and Pouncy and there are parallels galore?  These are all young guys games...and we are stagnating.
Matt Vensel
12:12
I don't think they should do a total teardown. But I do wonder if the proper course of action is to retool for a year if they have another early flame-out this spring. As I noted earlier in the chat, both Malkin and Letang have one more year left on their deals, so the Penguins will have financial flexibility to go in another direction if they want. Is there a way they can take a year to pivot in the hopes of competing a few more years with a younger supporting cast around Crosby? After a few years of going all-in every year under Jim Rutherford, the team's list of GM candidates suggest that option is not off the table.
KJ
12:13
Hi Matt, any feel for how the GM interviews are going?
Matt Vensel
12:14
KJ, it's still early in that process and they cast a pretty wide net. Only a few people have reportedly interviewed with more on the way here in the coming days. It will obviously be telling whom they invite back for the second round of virtual interviews. So stay tuned.
Randy Butternubs
12:14
Hello Matthew. Have you heard of any dark horse GM candidates that haven't really been mentioned yet? And why not go with Allvin?
Matt Vensel
12:23
Hey, Randy. If I knew of a dark horse, I'd mention him or her and then they wouldn't be a dark horse anymore! Anyway, I'll answer this by saying I was intrigued by Chris Drury, who removed his name from consideration, and am still interested in Chris MacFarland and Mike Futa and the idea of taking a year to retool and start to transition into a new era of Penguins hockey while still trying to win with Sidney Crosby. I like Patrik Allvin an he obviously has an eye for talent or the Penguins wouldn't be in the position he is today. But you wonder if is ready to handle all the responsibilities to go with the gig.
Kevin
12:24
Do you believe Malkin is just in a deep slump or is this what we’re going to get from here on out. Kudos to Bryan Rust who gives 110% every game, hopefully the puck will start going in the net a bit more.
Matt Vensel
12:26
Kevin, once again, the big Russian is an enigma. Through 10 games Malkin has too often looked listless. And in the games he has played with energy and heart, he hasn't always used his brain. You'd like to think he will round into form and look like the top-10 NHL forward we saw last season, but there are no guarantees, certainly not at 34. I did find it noteworthy that Malkin remarked the other day that he had trouble finding places to train back in Russia in the offseason. That gives hope that this slow start is just a conditioning thing.
Bert
12:27
In your opinion, what could the Pens realistically expect to get in a Malkin trade?
Matt Vensel
12:29
Even if the Penguins were looking to trade Malkin, and they're not, it wouldn't make sense to do it now. Wouldn't exactly be selling high. Now, say they wanted to explore moving him this summer (and he waived his no-trade clause), I'm not sure how much he would fetch given his age and that he has one year left on his deal. I certainly wouldn't expect a massive haul of picks or prospects, that's for sure. Anyway, it's kind of a Catch 22. If he gets back to an elite level, they won't want to trade him. And if he doesn't, would the compensation be enough to make it worth their while to trade a franchise icon?
Cliff
12:32
Looks to me like Malkin looks a lot like Ben R. They just play the game they want to play. Malkin loves to take the puck, go on a skate, and dish ... then a turnover. Ben picks his receiver on each play and throws there without looking at the others ... and often a turnover. Aging players, former shining stars. They want to be better and help. They are just past their primes. Their teams are hanging with them out of loyalty and false hope. What do you think?
Matt Vensel
12:34
I'm not ready to declare that Geno is past his prime. It's been a rough start and he was quiet in the bubble. But he was very good last season, one of the top five or six centers in the league. I need to watch some more games before I consider drawing that conclusion.
Surfer
12:35
Matt, don't you think our 4th line has been weak and we don't have an energy line nor a great checking line? The rookie Drew O is underwhelming thus far but POJ has been really impressive.
Matt Vensel
12:37
I have no problems with how the bottom six has played so far, especially knowing that there have been a lot of moving parts and Zach Aston-Reese hasn't been available. I bet he gets cleared in the coming days. But, to your point, I do think we are still waiting for those two lines to establish an identity. It's early. Give it some time.
Guest
12:38
Is Matt Cullen still a part of the organization ?
Matt Vensel
12:39
Yes, Matt Cullen is still a player development coach. I'm assuming that he has not been around much due to COVID protocols that limit how many people can be around the team on a day-to-day basis.
Guest
12:39
I think malkin has earned the right to work out of his funk and finish his career with the pens if he chooses .  He could have made more money but took less and has brought us three cups not to mention you can tell he truly cares about the team .  What do you think ?
Matt Vensel
12:40
I, too, am of the belief that he should get more than 10 games to work out of a funk before a chunk of the fan base trades him away.
GPT
12:40
Kind of amazing that the Pens fall into Marino and POJ (admittedly a 1st round pick, so not an unknown), but deal Hornqvist away for a 3rd pairing defenseman with an incredibly onerous contract.  Should the Pens have just rolled the dice with Riikola and seen what POJ could do before saddling themselves with that deal?
Matt Vensel
12:42
I had no issue with them moving on from Hornqvist and still don't even after seeing his hot start in Florida. However, I probably wouldn't have traded for Mike Matheson. Nothing personal against him. It's just that the Penguins already have significant money tied up in Dumoulin and Pettersson and they said this fall that Joseph was "knocking on the door." Adding him theoretically caused a logjam that injuries have temporarily cleared. All that said, Matheson is here now and deserves a chance to turn his career around. I'm not going to bury the guy after two games, that's for sure.
Your Brother Marvin
12:43
Chad Rhuwedal shoots the puck almost immediately every time he enters the offensive zone - time to put him on the power play - problem solved... I'll hang up and listen
Matt Vensel
12:43
I see someone took their lunch break at the bar today! Power move.
Guest
12:43
Do you think Rutherford abruptly leaving the team puts a little tarnish on his tenure here ?  It seems he left them in a bad spot with this abbreviated season .
Matt Vensel
12:45
I really don't think that that 10-20 years from now most folk will look back on his tenure and hold that against him. He did put the team in a tough spot this season. But the dude built a pair of Cup teams at a point in the Crosby-Malkin era where many we wondering if they would ever win another one again. He is an important figure in franchise history and should be ultimately remembered as such.
Jay Daven
12:46
Will the Penguins go on a run now that they have more players coming back from injuries?  Will the goal tending get better and better will each game? Your thoughts?
Matt Vensel
12:47
Jay, if I knew the answer to that, I'd be at the casino and not in this chat. I think regardless of health there are a number of questions about this team, including goaltending. I felt that way heading into training camp and still feel that way today. This is a talented but flawed team that's probably going to be battling for a playoff spot until the final days of the season. The East is tough, man.
12:50
Alright, folks. I've got to bow out of the chat. Mike Sullivan is about to do his virtual press conference for the day. Apologies if I didn't get to your question. We'll do this again soon. Thanks for stopping by.
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