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Matt Vensel's Penguins chat: 05.19.22
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Matt Vensel
10:16
Hello, Pens fans. Happy to talk hockey with you all again today. Guessing we will get a question or two about the offseason. Any topic is fair game. We'll start at noon. But feel free to fire away before then!
12:00
All right. I've got a fresh cup of Cummings coffee, brewed here in my hometown of Butler, and I'm ready to rock. I'll go 45 minutes.
The Real TP Hunter
12:01
Hi Matt. Thanks so much for your excellent coverage this season. My take on the Penguins lack of recent playoff success is that this falls squarely on the shoulders of Jim Rutherford. He made disastrous move after disastrous move in the wake of the Stanley Cup victories and some of those high level draft picks he gave away would now be arriving in Pittsburgh to help the core push through, the way Guentzel and Rust did a few years ago. Is this valid?
Matt Vensel
12:03
First off, thank you for the kind words and for reading. Happy to have gone alone for the ride with all of you. As for your point about GMJR, sure, he made some poor choices late in his Penguins tenure that put them in a tough spot today. But I also agreed with his overall approach to go all in as long as Sidney Crosby, and to a lesser degree Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, are here. The current front office must be more aggressive if they opt to keep Malkin and/or Letang around this summer. If not, then what's the point of bringing those players back?
Cody
12:04
I love Letang, great player, but if he is so tough to play with and his partner/ like dumo gets hurt it throws the entire defense into disarray. If they move on from Letang and play a more traditional defense wouldn't that eliminate that problem, there can be more plug and play defensemen and not have to rely on perfect partner pairings.
Matt Vensel
12:06
You make a fair point about needing the right partner to minimize some of Kris Letang's weaknesses. They had no choice but to play Mike Matheson when Brian Dumoulin got hurt. Matheson was not a good fit but no one else made any sense at all. But if it's up to me, I'm keeping Letang and living with the rollercoaster moments. He was a top-10 defenseman in my eyes last season and given how he takes care of himself I'd feel pretty good about him not experiencing a big decline in performance in the next two years. It's easier to find another guy who could play with Letang than it is to find another Letang.
The Real TP Hunter
12:08
If the Penguins get by the Rangers and get healthier, do they reach the conference finals? Stanley Cup finals?
Matt Vensel
12:09
I don't believe so. My take on that series is that, yes, they would have beaten the Rangers with better health, specifically Sid and Tristan Jarry. However, their collapse, specifically their inability to win Game 6 at home despite leading 2-0, told me that they were missing the required resolve or the sheer talent to get to the Finals. That's my two cents. You may feel otherwise. Neither of us can be proved wrong at this point anyways. Ha.
Sam
12:10
Hi Matt....What are your best projected numbers for what Rust and Rakell will get?  We know what Rust does on this team, but we'd be projecting long term production on Rakell.  That said, if you had to pick between Rust at something like $6M per year or Rakell at something like $4.5, which would you think is best for the franchise?
Matt Vensel
12:13
Sam, good question here, because I do have a hard time seeing Rickard Rakell returning if they re-sign Bryan Rust. I think you're bang-on with Rust's value. He might need to accept something around $5 million to remain here in Pittsburgh, with some tough talks about the term. But he could command $6 million on the open market. I think he is a significantly better player than Rakell. But if they don't want to pay that kind of money to a 30-year-old winger who dealt with injuries this season, Rakell would make a lot of sense as a backup plan. I actually think Rakell will cost less than $4.5 million because his scoring prowess is not the same as it was a few years back.
Kris
12:15
Matt, please explain to me why everyone thinks Letang is gone?  Who exactly is going to replace his quality minutes?  So we have to move on because of his "age"?  This is by far the silliest argument going on right now.  Don't you think if they move on from just Geno, they can do a mini rebuild on the fly?  If they had any talent in WB then maybe we move on for the sake of age, but come on, are we really going to bottom out for the sake of bottoming out with Sid and Jake on the team?  Don't think so, you?
Matt Vensel
12:17
Wait, is this...? Is this Kris... Letang? Hey, Kris! Anyway, I agree that you are the most valuable of the big three free agents and the toughest to replace. John Marino is not ready for a top-pair role, that's for sure, and there's nothing else in the system right now. But to your point, it's hard to imagine the Penguins getting better in the short term if they let both Letang and Malkin walk. If they want to win next year, they have to keep at least one of them, IMO. My pick would be Letang.
Clark from Virginia
12:17
Any truth to the rumor that the NHL is changing its name to the NHE and challenging the WWE for the title of Best in Sports Entertainment? Now that forearms to the head are legal, can suplexes be far behind? Does The Rock know how to skate?
Matt Vensel
12:19
Enough with the injury stuff and complaining about head shots, guys. To paraphrase Gunnar Stahl from Mighty Ducks 2, they lost it for themselves. Injuries be damned, they had this series locked up and gave it away with mental mistakes in Games 5 and 6. Plus, they had Crosby, Rakell and Jarry all back for Game 7. Enough already.
Joe
12:20
Hey Matt
Matt Vensel
12:21
Hey, Joe!
Joe
12:21
I don’t see anyone in free agency worth pursuing over Malkin because players like Trocheck and Kadri will get way overpaid and the latter had a career year last season. Why can’t the front office and Geno work out a 3 year extension worth about $20 million? Fair for both sides
Matt Vensel
12:24
Joe, that seems like a reasonable compromise on a contract for Malkin, and you make a great point about the free agent options. This is not a strong class, IMO. I do like the two centers you mentioned if the Penguins want to use the money they have earmarked for Malkin on, say, Trocheck and a $2 million winger. You can make the case that they should focus on being deeper up front going forward. Hard to see it happening if Malkin is back.
jwheaney
12:24
Disappointed in the ending for sure!!! Do you believe, save Letang, that we have over invested in our defense corps?
Matt Vensel
12:27
That's undeniable. To circle back to some of GMJR's last moves, handing out those contracts to John Marino and Marcus Pettersson are definitely worth scrutinizing. He saw ascending players and hoped to lock in a long-term value. But the development of both players has plateaued (I still think Marino can make a leap). Now you've got four guys making between $4-5 million a season. Not ideal. With Pierre-Olivier Joseph ready for the NHL, I would look to clear the LHD logjam by moving either Dumoulin or Pettersson if I was running the Penguins (I'm not).
The Real TP Hunter
12:29
Will Burke and Hextall make the offseason decisions, or will Fenway Management go in another direction?
Matt Vensel
12:32
There's obviously been a lot of speculation about those two since the season ended. I would be a bit surprised if Fenway Sports Group moved on from Ron Hextall now, though it's not out of the question since they just spent about a billion bucks to buy the team and may eventually want to bring in their guys. We've heard that Brian Burke is one to watch, though it has clearly been Hextall's show the last 15 months anyway. This sort of thing happens when ownership changes occur. Just ask Burke, who's gone through something similar in two of his previous stops. I'll say this: Our jobs will be a lot less entertaining if Burke is let go. He cracks me up with his candor.
Joe
12:33
When is Hextall speaking to the media?
Matt Vensel
12:33
I have not heard, Joe. But for reference, he did not speak to the media last year until a week or so after they lost.
Joe
12:34
If the Pens are going to do a rebuild, why not trade your best assets with term and value and get some excellent young players and first round picks in return? Our two best assets are Sid and Jake. In my opinion, if you’re not bringing Malkin and Letang, just start the rebuild and trade off Sid and Jake. I’m sure Sid would be fine leaving with none of his friends playing with him
Matt Vensel
12:35
Fair points about avoiding half measures. But I don't think the Penguins have the stomach for that. FSG didn't buy the team to immediately pivot into a long rebuild. They're here to win and make money off of it.
Kurt from California
12:36
How do you see the goaltending shaping up next season?  Jarry DeSmith again?
Matt Vensel
12:38
Kurt, I've enjoyed covering Casey over the years and would hate to see him go from a personal standpoint. But I don't think you can count on him going forward. He was a big problem for much of the season and Tristan might have gotten overtaxed as a result. And then Casey missed the last two postseasons due to injury. You definitely feel for the guy, but your No. 2 needs to be reliable. I think they should and will head into next season with Jarry as the starter (not sure he gets extended this summer). And I would look to bring in a "1B" type to pair with him.
Clark from Virginia
12:39
A 100+ point season and outplaying a team that dominated them in the regular season.  Unfortunate injuries at an unfortunate time along with some goon tactics by the Rangers.  Even without a deep cup run, can’t we call this a good season?
Matt Vensel
12:40
Sure, but it was still another disappointing postseason. These are the Pens were are talking about, not the Sabres or the Senators. The standard is sky high.
Jim D
12:40
Matt..I'm astonished no players or coaches push back on the headhunting..crickets from Hextall or even Sid..the goons that do this stuff should stay out at least as long as the injured player..your thoughts
Matt Vensel
12:41
What would you have wanted to see? Guys taking more costly penalties like Evan Rodrigues did in Game 6? They needed to make the Rangers pay on the scoreboard.
Mick
12:41
Are either of the contracts for Petterson and Marino even tradeable?
Matt Vensel
12:43
Marino's contract is definitely an asset that would have value. But let me be crystal clear: I'm not advocating they trade Marino unless there is a hockey trade that makes sense. As for Pettersson, I think they would either need to incentivize a team to take his contract or they would need to take another burdensome contract back in return, like they did when Rutherford traded Patric Hornqvist for Mike Matheson (turned out to be a good move).
ElCid97
12:44
Sullivan is pretty universally lauded as one of the best coaches in the game. You have to give him his due with how often the Pens were short-handed this year. But... don't you have to question the coaching when this team so often failed to play complete games? Being ahead after the first period and blowing leads in the second?
Matt Vensel
12:45
Absolutely. Great coach, no doubt. One of the NHL's best six or seven. But the recent record speaks for itself. The Penguins are 6-15 over their last four postseasons.
Jason
12:45
Do you think the pawns have any interest in bringing back Marc or Murray for a 1a 1b like they use to have or are they going to bring up the prospect from the minors?
Matt Vensel
12:47
I'm not really seeing either happening, definitely not Matt Murray. His contract is massive and he's had a rough go of it in Ottawa, in part due to injuries. As for Marc-Andre Fleury, even if Fleury was willing to take a huge pay cut to come home to Pittsburgh, I'm not sure it would happen. I was told last year that all of the buzz about the Penguins having interest in Fleury was way overblown.
Chance
12:48
Hi Matt……concerning players in the system …..is their a possibility of any of them moving up to the big club to bring more youth and energy in the next season?
Matt Vensel
12:50
Chance, good question. The obvious one is Pierre-Olivier Joseph. He's ready. And he would work cheap. They need to find a regular role for him next season and see if he sinks or swims. Up front, there are a few guys to watch, including Drew O'Connor, Sam Poulin and Valtteri Puustinen. They will all get a chance to make the NHL club, but nothing will be handed to them. There are no goalies knocking on the door, not with Filip Lindberg missing most of this past season due to injury.
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