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Matt Vensel's Penguins chat: 05.19.22
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Philip
12:50
It’s crazy to think about but Sid has almost literally spent half his life playing hockey with 71 and 58!!!
personally I think of the three including rusty Letang is most likely back. Malkin is the oldest and has had the worst injury luck of late. I think bringing 58 back on a reasonablish 3 year deal would be good business.
unfortunately this is Rusty’s one chance to get paid and I think he will get a 5 year deal with a well deserved raise from someone else.
enough of my opinions. What’s your thoughts?
Matt Vensel
12:51
Philip, all this is reasonable. Could play out that way.
Jason
12:52
Why do NHL players refer to their team mates as Rusty or Tanger the flower etc I think it’s one of the few if any do this. Is it a Canadian thing?
Matt Vensel
12:53
Jason, it certainly seems like hockey guys are not very creative. But my guess is part of that is you need to keep the nickname simple so it's easy to get it out when you are out of breath and calling for the puck. "Hey! Russian bear!" would be a challenge late in your shift.
Depressed Penguin
12:55
Why do players stay on the ice when they lose their stick? Wouldn’t it be better to immediately go grab a stick from the bench, especially in the 1st and 3rd period?
Matt Vensel
12:57
This absolutely drives me nuts, too. If depends on the situation, of course. But there are so many times when I'm thinking, "Just go to the bench!" Obviously, the counterpoint to that is the Pettersson helmet play in Game 7. Anyway, I actually asked guys about the stick thing a few years back that ran in a piece in my old newsletter. Maybe I will revisit that next season.
Kris
12:57
Are NHL contracts for players +35 fully guaranteed? If true it makes it a scary concept to bring either 58 or 71 back, especially with term greater than 2 years. Personally I’d rather bring 71 back because when healthy there isn’t much better 2nd line center. Rust deserves a raise and I hope it’s here. We need to get some grit in our lineup, we take too many hits with no fear of consequence imho.
Matt Vensel
12:58
Yes, the contracts are guaranteed and the 35-plus rule was implemented to prevent teams from back-loading contracts for players who could potentially retire before the contract expires. That is certainly relevant here.
Justin
12:58
If you had to bet on the team's path if Malkin, Letang, and Rust go to other teams, would you bet that the team would re-invest that cap space on new players and make a full attempt to win in 2022/23, or that theyll take a step back in 2022/23 with an eye on buying some starpower for 2023/24?  Something else?
Matt Vensel
1:01
Justin, this is a smart question. You would want to make sure Sidney Crosby is on board with the approach. But the best way to truly keep Crosby's window open may just be taking a step back this season in the hopes of taking three big steps forward in 2023-24. Some superstars, starting with Nathan MacKinnon, could hit free agency at that point. Definitely an interesting thought exercise.
Jason
1:01
Do you see a Colorado/Tampa finals this year?
Matt Vensel
1:02
Jason, Colorado was my Cup pick before the regular season and I doubled down before the playoffs. So I'll stick with MacKinnon, Cale Makar and the Avs. The East is wide open. I think it will be either Tampa or Carolina in the Finals. Not ruling out Florida, though.
Matt Vensel
1:03
Wow, we've been going for more than an hour now! Where did the time go? My laptop is about to run out of juice here so I'm going to call it quits. So many good, thoughtful questions today and I couldn't get to all of them. We will have to do this again soon.
1:04
In the meantime, feel free to shoot me an email with any questions at mvensel@post-gazette.com. Always happy to talk hockey.
Have a great day and enjoy the weather coming this weekend.
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