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Matt Vensel's Penguins chat: 04.11.25
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Matt Vensel
10:24
Happy Friday, Penguins fans. I look forward to chatting with you one last time before the end of the season. Despite the poor record, there is still plenty for us to discuss today. We will get started at noon. Talk soon.
12:04
Time to chat. I plan to go for about a half hour today because I'm working on a story on Tristan Jarry that you will want to check out tomorrow morning. You can submit a question at any time.
Arnold Slick
12:05
Obviously a down year, but what positives did you like about watching them? I think watching the top line play was special this year. Also, the anti points race between Pit, Sea, Phi, Buffalo, is surprisingly fun.
Matt Vensel
12:10
I will be honest. There were not a ton of positives with the NHL club this year. You mentioned the top line. That would be first on my list. Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust are still going strong, and Rickard Rakell deserves credit for the way he has bounced back this year. The power play, led by David Quinn, is another bright spot. A few role players deserve shout-outs. Matt Grzelcyk has been very good in 2025 and should be re-signed. Kevin Hayes was not bad for a guy the Blues literally paid to get rid of. Boko Imama! But, yeah, it was pretty bleak beyond that. The good news is there is much to feel good about beyond Pittsburgh with the development of prospects and the work Kyle Dubas has done to accumulate picks and build out his hockey operations staff. That's the most important thing right now.
Pensburgh
12:10
No matter how bad the Pens are, you still have to watch just to see what Sid is going to do, eh?
Matt Vensel
12:12
Couldn't agree more. The Penguins will remain relevant as long as Sidney Crosby is wearing black and gold. I think it is a stretch to say that he has been the NHL's best player these last two months. After all, there are a ton of talented players in this league. But no doubt he has been great and uber-productive since the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Bill
12:12
What meeting was Sullivan in after the game or was it just a chance to get the assistant some experience with the press?
Matt Vensel
12:13
He might have just been getting in a workout on the exercise bike.
Jason
12:13
Hi Matt. Do you see the front office going after a Veteran goalie next season or will they stick with what they have minus Jarry? Is there any draft pic coming out that may also help the team in the not so distance future?
Matt Vensel
12:16
As I wrote a week or so ago, the Penguins have a complicated goalie situation. There is no doubt they need to upgrade in net if they want to make the playoffs next season. But I am not sure they are ready to hit the gas pedal this summer. They might want to go through another year of development and asset accumulation. If so, do they just stick with the status quo? As for the prospects, they have two you should be keeping tabs on. You know Joel Blomqvist, I assume. He struggled in his most recent NHL stint but is still young. And the Pens are excited about Sergei Murashov, a 21-year-old who is in his first pro season in North America. However, they can't bank on either one of them being ready to become an NHL regular next year. Still some uncertainty there as they adjust to a big-league workload and elite shooters.
Sunner in Orlando from Lebo
12:18
Hi Matt, thanks for the chats! For the last 12 games or so the Pens are playing some decent hockey. If they would have played like this all year, they would have been in the playoffs easily. I think a lot has to do with Jarry and the young kids playing well. Do the Pens give Jarry one more chance next year or cut bait and move on and go with one of our youngsters down on the farm?
Matt Vensel
12:21
Sunner, do not let the last dozen games fool you with the talent level of this team. There is zero pressure on them right now, so that can lead to some deceiving results. Yes, Jarry has been a big factor in their success over the last month. As I noted above, what they do with Jarry this summer will likely depend on their aspirations for next season. I do not think the Penguins can count on Jarry to take them where they ultimately want to go. That said, stick taps for him for sitting up like the Undertaker meme when many folks around these parts were leaving him for dead after he was sent to the AHL in January.
GPT
12:22
Does Crosby's continued excellence and the hope that McGroarty and Koivunen stick in the top 6 perhaps push Dubas to accelerate the rebuild to this summer?
Matt Vensel
12:25
I don't think so. I believe Kyle Dubas will continue to take the long view with the Penguins, and I think that is the right call. Remember, there is a bigger track record over the last two years of poor and at times uninspired play. This team is nowhere near a Stanley Cup contender right now, and I assume Dubas still sees it the same way.
Jim
12:25
Matt, We know that Rutger and Ville will more than likely be with the team next year. Out of Tomasino, Novak, Ponomarev,  Koppanen. Who do you think are legit options for them in 25-26?
Matt Vensel
12:28
Jim, we can probably pencil Philip Tomasino and Tommy Novak onto the third line for next season. Vasily Ponomarev will be in the mix for an NHL spot out of camp. Honestly, at his age and experience level, it should be time for him to make the team, but that will be up to him. I do not see Joona Koppanen as anything more than what he is right now, and that's a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency depth forward.
charlie don’t surf
12:29
anyone the Pens might offer sheet this summer? Matthew Knies is a gamer… hard to see him wanting to leave Toronto but Halloway and Broberg left EDM after making it to the SCF. thnx
Matt Vensel
12:30
I do not have any specific names for you, but I do think the Penguins will be sniffing around restricted free agents. Dubas basically said as much a few weeks ago. That said, I would be very surprised if they dropped an offer sheet at the price point of a 2026 first. In a strong draft headlined by Gavin McKenna, that would be an incredibly, to put it politely, risky decision. But a second-rounder? Sure.
Sam
12:31
Hi Matt,  I don't know how closely you look at things like this before Pens season is actually over, but if feels a bit like the Rangers discontent might lead a tear down and that the pick the Pens acquired might be better next year than if they had gotten it this year somewhere in the 15-20th pick range.  In terms of utilizing all these picks in the rebuild, whether by actually picking or by flipping them for assets, do you think it's better to have it next year than this year?
Matt Vensel
12:33
Sam, based on the reporting about the protections on the draft pick they will receive from the Rangers, it looks as if the Rangers will be able to decide whether they send it to the Penguins this year or next. I honestly have no idea what they will do. Could depend on whether their general manager, Chris Drury, keeps his job. If he sticks around, they are pretty pot-committed to the veteran group they have. They just traded for J.T. Miller. So it's hard to see them tearing it down this summer. But when James Dolan is your owner, you never know...
JVPG
12:34
As a Pens goalie I am pretty sure they feel like they have to stop every shot wih such a poor defense. Why the continued odd man rushes? Why won't Karlson/Letang play a bit more conservative in certain situations? Why can't the coach get them to play more responsibly?
Matt Vensel
12:35
I do not have great answers for you but obviously that was one of the biggest problems for them this season, especially early on, when they dug themselves into that hole. This is a veteran team and should know how to manage the puck and situations and games. But alas...
Jason
12:36
Do you think Dubas will sign more free agents next year or trade some pics to get the team in contention again? We seem to mention the core players running out of time and if he only focuses on drafting players they are usually a few years away from joining the big leagues. With that in mind if he trades Jarry and Mr brain freeze defensive guy how much cap space will he have to put talented vets around the core of the team?
Matt Vensel
12:39
Jason, I touched on this earlier, but I don't think the Penguins are going to try to quickly accelerate their rebuild this summer, at least not through free agency. They do have ample cap space already. Somewhere around $25 million, I believe. Maybe the Penguins will devote a chunk of that to a good player in their mid-20s who can help them over the long haul. But I would be stunned if we saw an offseason like two summers ago, when Dubas and the Pens traded for Erik Karlsson and handed out big contracts to Jarry and Ryan Graves.
12:40
And that will do it for today's chat. I plan on doing this again next Friday at the same time as a way to put a bow on the season. But that will depend on when the players have exit meetings and all that jazz.
Either way, we will chat again soon. In the meantime, feel free to shoot me a question at mvensel@post-gazette.com. Have a great weekend!
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