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Matt Vensel's Penguins chat: 04.09.20
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Matt Vensel
12:37
Hey, Pens fans. Hope you're all staying safe and staying sane. Excited to talk hockey today. Submit your questions now and we'll get going around 1 p.m., once I get these crazy toddlers down for a nap.
12:55
I'm ready to rock, folks. Ask me anything. Can be about the 19-20 team, offseason, draft, the Schitt's Creek finale, good beer, etc.
Dan
12:55
Hey Matt looking ahead to the goalie situation down the road..if Matt Murray can’t agree on a contract. Is a trade likely ? If so and Jarry and DeSmith are next years goalies..doesn’t leave much behind them...maybe a college free agent or Goalie from overseas ?
Matt Vensel
12:59
Dan, I've actually been working on a story on the goalie situation. Look for that in a few days. But the Penguins have a lot to figure out whenever this offseason takes place. Both Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry are restricted free agents. Murray, with two Cups on his resume, is surely looking for a long-term contract north of $6 million. The Penguins may be hesitant to do that after another uneven regular season for Matt and knowing they have Tristan in their back pocket. The team must decide if they want to commit to one of these guys long-term and trade the other or kick the can down the road another year. Given that GMJR is always in win-now mode, don't rule out the Pens bringing both back next year for another run at the Cup, unless someone poaches one of them with an RFA offer sheet.
Joe
1:00
Is the NHL really planning to play playoff games in August in front of no fans? How can that be cost effective when they get more than one third of their per game revenue from gate receipts?
Matt Vensel
1:04
Joe, I don't know that "planning" is the right word for it. But, yes, that's one of the many options that the NHL has discussed while waiting for the green light from government and health officials to resume their seasons. By all accounts, the league is nowhere near close to setting into stone a return-to-play plan. Obviously, there isn't going to be a return to normalcy right away, so the league is going to have to get creative if they want to complete this season by the end of August. Sure, they wouldn't be pulling in money from ticket sales and gameday revenue. But getting back some of the financial pie, notably TV broadcast money, is better than losing all of it.
Ron J
1:05
Good afternoon Matt. I enjoy your podcast every Wednesday . Keep up the good work . Thanks
Matt Vensel
1:06
Thanks, Ron. (Is this my father in law?) Appreciate the kind words. Mike DeFabo and I are still talking hockey once a week on the North Shore Drive podcast if any of you want something to listen to while you wash dishes, mow the lawn, run on the treadmill, etc.
DBWenzig
1:06
Should the Pens consider bringing back TK?
Matt Vensel
1:07
Tyler Kennedy or Tom Kostopoulos? Either way, both have retired as players and assist the organization in another capacity.
Joe
1:07
How ready would players be for a playoff series in August if they’ve been working out with limited equipment at home and then only get a two-week training camp after not having been skating for four months or more?
Matt Vensel
1:08
The on-ice product might be ugly, at least in the first round or two. But at least everybody would be on a level playing field, Joe.
Cherry Picar
1:08
Best all time centers? Lemiux, Crosby, Francis or Apps?
Matt Vensel
1:09
If you're asking me to rank the best centers in Penguins history, I would go, in order, Lemieux, Crosby, Geno then Ron Francis. Francis was a heck of a player but Geno, who might be the better of the two player anyways, would get the nod for spending his whole career in Pittsburgh. Teddy Blueger would obviously be fifth on the list.
Bwent N Billy
1:10
Any chance the Pens could trade Murray to Vegas and bring back Flower to finish out his career as a Pen?
Matt Vensel
1:11
I would say that's extremely unlikely, Billy.
Karp
1:11
does Justin Shultz stay w the Pens or will the emergence of Marino make Shultz a good trade candidate to get back something?
Matt Vensel
1:15
Karp, Schultz will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason. So they're not trading him (unless it's sending his negotiating rights for a seventh-round pick or something like that). Before the season, it seemed unlikely that he'd be back given the team's cap situation. The emergence of rookie John Marino, who jumped Schultz on the depth chart, made it even less likely. But I'm not ruling it out because his value on the open market might be low due to the financial fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that the blue-liner was injured or ineffective for most of the past two seasons.
Doug
1:16
Matt: Any speculation on how lost league revenues from TV, advertisers etc. due to the COVID-19 virus could impact the 2021-22 salary cap?
Matt Vensel
1:19
Doug, just to clarify, you're asking about the salary cap two seasons from now? Or did you mean next season? Regarding next season's cap, all that is going to have to be negotiated between the NHL and the NHLPA once all this is over with. But it's hard to imagine the cap ceiling going up significantly, if at all, that's for sure.
Joe
1:20
Is there any further update on Jake’s progress? I’d love the old Jake back for a playoff run if it happens, but, after not skating since December and having had a serious shoulder injury, will he really be back to his old level? Gotta be skeptical, don’t you think?
Matt Vensel
1:22
Joe, there's nothing new to report beyond what Jim Rutherford and Mike Sullivan said a couple of weeks ago, and that's that Jake is on track in his recovery and the team is optimistic that he could play in the playoffs if the season resumes. That probably says more about the outlook for when the season might resume than it does Jake's rehab. Beyond that, yeah, there should be a little concern that Jake might not be as effective going forward. These guys are human beings and shoulder surgery is a serious deal.
GPT
1:22
What was it about Dom Kahun that the Pens soured on, or at least deemed him expendable?  I had relatively high hopes for him at the start of the season.
Matt Vensel
1:27
GPT, I don't know if it's fair to say that they soured on Dominik Kahun. It could just be that they simply made that trade because they felt Conor Sheary and Evan Rodrigues would help them more this postseason. Kahun has had an interesting career, though. He had a 40-point season in Chicago as a rookie and they traded him to the Penguins for Olli Maatta. The Penguins largely did that deal to get Maatta's contract off the books. Getting something from Kahun was a bonus. After a slow start, in part due to the 24-year-old having a hard time getting used to his new life off the ice in Pittsburgh, he started to produce. But he was one of those guys where you'd look at the box score and say, "Kahun had two points tonight?" There's certainly something to be said for players like that who quietly contribute to winning. But obviously the Pens weren't sold on him being able to hang on Crosby's wing or Geno's wing during the playoffs, so they did the deal. We'll see if it's one they regret down the road.
Rain
1:30
Sid did a couple of videos and a video chat so far during the pause: ya think this is what it’ll take to get him on social media (and not on a Twitter burner account - though at times I wonder if he still has one)? Also how is he surviving a life with no hockey right now?
Matt Vensel
1:32
Rain, I would be very surprised, almost as surprised as I would be if Billy in the chat's wish came true and the Penguins traded Murray to get back Fleury. Now, I could see Crosby getting an official Twitter account for promotional and charity stuff, something that a PR person ran for him. But him logging on and giving his thoughts on his favorite TV shows and tweeting out emojis and hashtags and stuff? I can't see that happening, at least not while he's still chasing Cups. But, hey, I'm wrong all the time so you never know.
Bill
1:33
Matt, hope you’re staying safe. Do you have any UFA’s that would realistically look good on the Pens roster next season?
Matt Vensel
1:35
Bill, I can't say I've thought that far ahead. Sorry. It's just hard to project who is going to be available and how much cap room the Penguins will have to sign players given all the uncertainty about the salary cap and financial landscape amid the pandemic. Either way, they aren't going to have that much space unless they shed a large salary. Jason Zucker, in a way, was their big free-agent addition for next season. They might be able to add a notable name or two like they did with Brandon Tanev. But they'll probably be more focused on their young RFAs and sorting out the goalie situation.
Anne
1:36
We’ve had a solid more 13 years of Sid and Geno together, and from the outside, it looks like such a strong and idyllic relationship between the two and they seem to respect and admire each other - and I’m glad - but with two stars in one franchise has there ever been any tension or bad blood between the two? Or do they  really get along as well as they seem to, and balance each other out like I’ve always thought they do?
Matt Vensel
1:42
Anne, as far as I know, it's all as advertised. And you're right, that's something special. They genuinely seem to like each other and obviously there's a lot of respect there. It also doesn't hurt that they more or less came into the league together, grew up together, won three Cups together and all the while both of them have still put up a ton of points and filled up their trophy cases. Each guy has been a league MVP, won the scoring title and took home the Conn Smythe. Again, that's special. They're both team-first guys but there have still been plenty of accolades and attention to go around here. Anyway, be sure not to take that for granted as Sid and Geno both skate into the twilight of their respective Hall-of-Fame careers.
1:48
That's it for today. Big stick tap to you guys for some good questions today. We'll do this again soon. In the meantime, please stay safe.
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