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Matt Vensel's Penguins chat: 05.07.20
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Matt Vensel
12:03
Good afternoon, Pens fans. Hope everyone is hanging in there OK. Happy to talk hockey with you today, and it's not just because I have nothing else to do, though that last part is accurate. Send over your questions now and we'll get started in a couple of minutes.
Guest
12:04
Matt, just my gut opinion but I really question whether there will be a conclusion to the 2019-20 NHL season. Too many moving parts, variables if you will,  for a league-wide consensus on safe reopening.Your thoughts sir.
Matt Vensel
12:08
While optimism around the NHL has increased in recent weeks, I, too, remain skeptical that we will see hockey any time soon. I think Joe Starkey's column today summed up the sentiment well. It's fun and exciting to think about hockey returning and maybe the NHL getting creative with the playoff format this year, but don't get your hopes up too much because so much of this remains out of the NHL's hands. As you accurately noted, there are a lot of moving parts here. Health officials and local government authorities easing restrictions. Testing becoming readily available. Logistical solutions that make sense from a health, competition and financial standpoint. And, let's not forget, the NHLPA signing off the plan, too. So much to work out still.
Joe
12:09
Any chance the boys are going to be back on ice this month and practicing at Cranberry?
Matt Vensel
12:11
Last we heard from the NHL, which was in late April, was that they were hopeful that maybe players could return to team facilities and skate in small groups sometime in the second half of May. Since then, I've seen nothing that suggests it is now imminent. But maybe in late May or early June? After that, it appears there will still be many more hurdles for the NHL to clear before actual games are played.
James
12:13
Hey Matt, I haven’t heard if Mike Lange will be returning to his radio announcing position. I know he has had health concerns.  He is truly one of the best play by play announcers in NHL history and not just for his clever sayings.  Can you confirm his return and possibly give any health updates?
Matt Vensel
12:14
I'll put it this way: I haven't heard that he isn't returning. This season, he only did home games with Josh Getzoff, an excellent play-by-play guy in his own right, traveling to do all the road games.
Joe
12:15
On the Murray-Jarry debate, why couldn’t Rutherford under the circumstances convince Murray to take a one year deal at, say, $4.5 mil to take him to free agency next year and increase his value, and then re-sign Jarry for two years at about $2.5 mil AAV? Seems reasonable and affordable for the Pens
Theo
12:15
Hi Matt.  It’s my understanding that the shutdown may negatively affect next year’s salary cap.  Does this mean the Pens won’t be able to keep Murray and Jarry?  If so, which one would you retain?  Thanks.
Pat
12:15
Hey Matt. Hope you are staying safe. You will probably get this a lot but I am sure you have seen Dan Kingerski saying the Pens-Avs held goalie talks at deadline and Jonathan Willis said that Murray would likely be dealt this offseason and can fetch a solid return. Who do you think should be dealt between the two? They obviously need cap, and GMJR said it might be inevitable. Some returns could be Mittelstadt (BUF), Nylander (CHI), Tierney (OTT) or Labanc (SJ). Which one would you deal right now?
Matt Vensel
12:16
Got a few questions about the goalie situation. There is a lot to it, and I covered it all in a 2,000-word story last month. Please give it a read. https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/penguins/2020/04/13/pittsburgh-pen...
12:20
To answer Pat's question, it's not as simple as just picking one guy or the other. The cost is factored in. All things equal financially, I would probably stick with Matt Murray, a proven playoff performer, and I suspect that's what the Penguins would do, too. But all things are not equally financially. Murray understandably would like to land a lucrative long-term deal. Given his uneven play the past three regular seasons and injury history, I can understand why the Penguins have proceeded with caution over the past 12 months. If the Pens don't give him a big deal, you have to figure another team will if he reaches unrestricted free agency next summer. Meanwhile, Jarry is a year younger, did some good things this season and will come much cheaper the next couple of years. So it's a complicated decision, one that will probably come down to whether Murray is willing to leave money on the table to stick around in Pittsburgh for the long haul.
Dave
12:21
Any word on Guentzel's rehab?
Matt Vensel
12:23
Nothing new to report, Dave. Last we heard, Jake was on track in his recovery. Not sure if he is cleared to skate yet (players rehabbing major injuries are actually allowed to skate right now). But given that timeline of 4-to-6 months the Penguins initially shared and the state of the world in this pandemic, I'd say there is a good chance Jake will be ready to rock if and when the 2020 playoffs go down.
Clark from Virginia
12:24
In the NFL the good players are all taken in the draft, but that isn’t the case in the NHL.  Some players start with a minor league team and get drafted and some choose the college route and there are good players in both. How does the NHL determine who gets drafted?
Matt Vensel
12:29
Clark, interesting question. First, let me point out that plenty of good and some great NFL players went undrafted. Does the name James Harrison ring a bell? Anyway, to your point, yeah, the NHL is interesting that you have a few different pipelines to the league whereas in football the vast majority of players come straight from college. In the case of the 2020 NHL draft class, scouts have had their eyes on many of these kids for years, whether it is at high-level junior tournaments or simply while scouting teammates. Alexis Lafrenière, who plays in the Q, has been projected to be the top pick in this class for 2-3 years now. Meanwhile, you have prospects who are playing against grown men in European leagues, college kids and teenagers who are playing in the CHL or USHL. Yes, kids fall through the cracks or are late bloomers. Take rookie blue-liner John Marino for example. He was a sixth-round pick and wasn't even viewed as the best defenseman on this college team when the Pens acquired him.
12:30
His story, at a macro level, isn't that different than James Harrison in that he was passed over in the draft and blossomed late, though let's not put John in the Hall of Fame just yet. (Next year, maybe.)
Sergei
12:32
Matt, how do rate the Penguins minor league system?   Who are their top three prospects?  Thank you.
Matt Vensel
12:35
Sergei, it's not a particularly strong or deep system due to moves like the Jason Zucker trade, which saw the Pens give up previous top prospect Calen Addison and their first-round pick. Samuel Poulin and Nathan Legare, their top two picks last June, would land in most people's top three right now. Some folks are really high on Filip Hallander. Pierre-Olivier Joseph, the defenseman who came over in the Phil Kessel trade, is kind of a polarizing prospect when it comes to projecting his upside. Drew O'Connor, signed as a college free agent a couple of months ago, will be someone to watch, too.
MT
12:36
Can any of the young guys make the team next year. The likes of PO Joseph, Will Reilly or Cam Lee on D or Drew O'Connor, Nathan Legare or Sam Poulin at F?
Matt Vensel
12:40
MT, I think Poulin and Legare will get a chance to make the team in camp next preseason, assuming there is a next preseason. Those two really impressed Penguins higher-ups last summer. Like I said, Drew O'Connor will be a guy to watch as a prospect who may be close to NHL-ready, though we felt the same way about Kasper Bjorkqvist last year and he had an underwhelming camp then battled injuries all year. I'm not sure about P.O. Joseph. I'm sure if he has a strong camp and preseason they will think about keeping him in Pittsburgh to start the season, but he will have to show that he can hold up against NHL players and mitigate the fact that he has such a thin physique.
Donna
12:41
Who do you see succeeding Jim Rutherford as GM?  Do you think it will be an in-house hire, someone with Penguin ties such as Bill Gudrun or someone completely outside the organization?
Matt Vensel
12:45
Donna, I don't seem Jim Rutherford stepping down anytime soon. In Nov. 2018, the Hall-of-Famer signed a contract extension through the 2021-22 season. To answer your question, there was a lot of talk previously about whether Jason Botterill or Bill Guerin would succeed Rutherford and he outlasted them here. Jason Karmanos is now the assistant GM in Pittsburgh and he has his hands in a little bit of everything, so I suppose he would be the top internal option. But, yeah, I think they would also give consideration to others outside the organization if GMJR were to unexpectedly move on.
Sunner in the sunshine
12:46
Hi Matt! Thanks for the chats! Would the Pens be better off in the long run going straight to the playoffs or playing 5-10 games before the playoffs to shake off the rust IF and when the season resumes?
Matt Vensel
12:51
Good question, and we'll end today's chat with this one. For the Pens, the only objective is winning another Stanley Cup, right? That's it. So with that mind, they should probably be more worried about keeping their older stars from wearing down during what figures to be a condensed playoff schedule, instead of worrying about a little rust, which, of course, every team will be dealing with. So I think it would be beneficial for the Penguins to go right into the playoffs, trust Mike Sullivan and the coaching staff to minimize the effects of the long layoff and hopefully over the long haul the Pens would be able to outlast other NHL teams will many more young legs.
12:53
Awesome questions today, everyone, and apologies for not getting around to all of them. We'll do this again soon. So if I didn't get to your today, fire it at me next time and I'll make sure I get to it.
12:54
Thanks again, Pens fans. Stay safe and stay sane. Keep doing what you've been doing and hopefully hockey returns relatively soon.
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