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Matt Vensel's Penguins chat: 05.30.25
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Matt Vensel
10:42
Happy Friday, Penguins fans. I am looking forward to discussing the Penguins' coaching search and anything else today. We will get started at noon. In the meantime, feel free to submit a question if you got one. I plan to chat for about 30-40 minutes. Talk to you soon!
12:00
OK, let's get started. Could use a few more questions, folks. Fire away!
Jeff M
12:00
Do you think they will prioritize getting better linemates for Malkin in his final season? He is far from what he used to be, but they haven't done him any favors with below average guys playing along side him.
Matt Vensel
12:03
Jeff, every question that I'll answer about the 2025-26 season must come with the disclaimer that the Penguins are rebuilding. Kyle Dubas uses the word "transition" instead. But this is a rebuild. So, sure, it would be nice if Evgeni Malkin had more to work with in the final year of his contract (and maybe NHL career), but I don't believe that adding a veteran scoring winger to play with him is a priority. Best-case scenario may be that someone like Rutger McGroarty, Ville Koivunen or Tristan Broz establishes himself as an NHL regular and finds chemistry with Geno.
Alan
12:04
Does rust get traded this summer and what do you think they can get in return or would trade him for?
Matt Vensel
12:07
Hey, Alan. For the first time since he signed his contract extension three years ago, Bryan Rust will not have no-trade protection on his contract. So there is nothing, contractually speaking at least, that can prevent Kyle Dubas from trading him. Now, I do believe Dubas and the Penguins highly value Rust as a player and as a leader. So I don't think they will be actively looking to move him this summer. But they will surely listen if other teams call. It would take a strong offer for them to move Rust, who hit 30 goals last year and has great chemistry with Sidney Crosby.
FirstTimeLongTime
12:08
Matt -  what free agents say under 27 would the pens consider adding this offseason.  Also shouldn't they be looking for a 2nd Line Center?
Matt Vensel
12:09
I don't have any specific names for you at this point in the offseason, but your suggestion that they should or will not target older free agents is on point. The thing with free agents under the age of 27 is that most of the good ones are restricted free agents, not unrestricted, which brings us to our next question...
FirstTimeLongTime
12:10
Hey Matt - We know the moves the team would like to make regarding unloading contracts but is it reasonable to think they could snag 2 or 3 RFA's to push this team to the future? Rossi. Peterka,  Byram?
Matt Vensel
12:13
... and it was you that asked it! I think this is the type of player we could see the Penguins target. A few months ago, it looked as if the Pens could try to poach one or two of these players with an offer sheet like the Blues did last summer with Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway. But when the salary cap spiked considerably, it gave the rest of the league much more salary cap room to fend off a team wielding an offer sheet. Perhaps we will see a few teams paint themselves into a corner early in the offseason and leave themselves vulnerable to an offer sheet. But it looks as if the Penguins will need to target a player like Marco Rossi and Bowen Byram via trade if those players are not going to be re-signed by their current teams.
John Constantine
12:14
Hey Matt, do you think the Pens are looking at Isaac Howard? Seems like a move that would make sense, especially considering the trade for Rutger last year.
Matt Vensel
12:16
I don't know how the Penguins feel about this player in particular, but this is fine example of the type of moves that Kyle Dubas will look to make. Howard is in a very similar situation to what Rutger McGroarty was in last summer in Winnipeg. Howard has signaled to Tampa Bay that he is probably not signing with the Lightning and will instead return to college. So the Lightning could look to move the NCAA standout this summer. Howard fits the timeline of the players that Dubas has targeted in trades, who include Koivunen and Vasily Ponomarev, as well.
John Constantine
12:17
Do you think the Rangers give us their first round pick this year, or do they hold onto it and give us their 2026 first round pick?
Matt Vensel
12:17
I have no idea, but that's a fascinating question. Let me text Mike Sullivan and see if he gets back to me before the end of this chat.
jwheaney
12:18
I root for a team that has won five Stanley Cups! There are two players who belong on the Mount Rushmore of hockey! Given the unqualified historical success of the Pittsburgh Penguins franchise... Why is it that folks are singing the blues about this team?
Matt Vensel
12:21
I can't answer for the paying customers. That's their opinion. But I do appreciate your sentiment that hockey fans here have been incredibly spoiled over the years. Since 1990, the Penguins have had almost as many seasons end with a Cup parade (five) than they did without a playoff appearance (seven). I know the last three years have been frustrating with the team falling apart around Crosby. But nothing lasts forever and the need to eventually rebuild was inevitable.
Jason
12:21
Hi Matt! Do you think this rebuilding should focus on speed or size? I look at the panthers and how the physically punish other teams and they don’t seem like they are hurting their style of play which doesn’t seem slow to say the least.
Matt Vensel
12:23
All of the above. The Panthers are a perennial force because most of their players check a lot of boxes, and because GM Bill Zito and his pro scouting staff have done an outstanding job of bringing in reclamation projects and churning the supporting cast around their stars, keeping the team hungry and uber-competitive.
Mark
12:23
Hey Matt!  Watching the semifinals, those teams appear soooo far ahead of the Pens in every category: size, speed, skill, defense, goalie reliability, structure, decision-making, toughness...am I missing anything?

One would think that the coach needs to focus on one or two fundamental (i.e., "identity") aspects, and then shape the personnel, the approach, and the tactics in support of them.  It seems the only way to build and sustain a strategic  multi-year "campaign" that ends with the Cup.

Those who apply band-aids--even the Caps--find themselves overwhelmed by the sheer weight of teams such as Florida where wave after wave of four almost-identical lines keep coming at them.
Matt Vensel
12:25
Mark, none of what you said here is wrong, but priority No. 1 for the next Penguins coach will be developing the wave of young players who will arrive in Pittsburgh over the next few seasons. That's why Mitch Love and D.J. Smith, in particular, are among the candidates still in the mix for the head coach opening. They both have past successes in player development that they can point to.
Marc M
12:27
With the direction the team is headed, do you realistically foresee the Pens being competitive before 87 retires? Would it even be a good idea to try and be competitive while 87 is here? I’d rather make sure this “transition” is done the right way so that we can get back to being competitive for a long time. Everyone has their own opinion, especially when it comes to 87, what’s your take on this?
Matt Vensel
12:33
Our last question today comes from Marc. I will never say never with Sidney Crosby, who was outstanding this past season at age 37 and could still be a very good NHL player into his early 40s. But I think it's incredibly unlikely that we see the Penguins go on another deep Cup run while Crosby is still in Pittsburgh. My thinking on that has changed over the last couple of months after Dubas signaled with both his words and the dismissal of Mike Sullivan that he is in no rush to get the Penguins back to the playoffs. This will be another "transition" year as the Penguins see what McGroarty and Koivunen have at the NHL level and continue to position themselves for the future. Maybe Dubas will go for it heading into 2026-27, but unfortunately I am skeptical that it's all going to line up, and I'm less convinced that Dubas actually feels urgency to put another contending supporting cast around Crosby. I believe both his eyes are on the future now. Not knocking him for that. That's just my read on the situation.
12:35
That will do it for today's chat. We will do another one of these after the Penguins pick a coach, which I expect will happen in the next week or so. I don't get the sense that an announcement is imminent, but of course these things can escalate quickly. In the meantime, you can shoot me an email at mvensel@post-gazette.com if you have a question. Happy to answer it there. Have a great weekend!
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