You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
Matt Vensel's Penguins chat: 07.08.22
powered byJotCast
Matt Vensel
11:09
Good morning, Penguins fans. Excited to talk hockey with you all again. Lots to discuss. Please submit your questions now. See a few in the queue already. We will get going here in a few minutes.
Joe
11:14
Happy they signed Letang and who cares about the term. This team is going to be terrible in three years anyway. Same thing with Malkin: Hextall should just sign him and give him an extra year or two than what he wants to keep the cap hit down. Do you think this will happen before the 13th?
Matt Vensel
11:18
Joe, I have believed since the start of the offseason that the Penguins would bring back both Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin, and what has happened here over the last few days certainly hasn't changed my mind. You're right about Letang taking term over a higher salary. That helps them bolster the roster today. They can worry about the consequences in a few years when they are rebuilding. They remain in win-now mode. And the fact that Letang signed for so little leaves more room for them to get something done with Malkin. Considering that the Penguins gave ground in negotiations with both Letang and Bryan Rust, you have to think they will bend some to try to re-sign Malkin, too. Plenty of time left.
Joe
11:19
The front office has a glut of overpaid left defensemen and Zucker on the payroll. I don’t think this off-season will be a success, no matter who they re-sign, if they don’t move one of these guys to open up more cap space. Will we see the Penguins make a much needed trade at the draft today?
Matt Vensel
11:22
I believe the Penguins are open to moving Jason Zucker or Marcus Pettersson. In my opinion, they definitely need to move one of those left-handed defensemen to make room for P.O. Joseph and clear cap space. So this will be something to watch before the start of free agency, especially if Malkin re-signs. If they are bringing back Malkin, Letang and Rust, they have to do something to alter the makeup of the rest of roster, don't they?
Mikey
11:23
Why hasn't Hextall done more to add to the # of draft picks they have? Seems to me trading some vets to restock the farms is the right way to go for the future. Yet Hex'y has done next to nothing.
Matt Vensel
11:25
Mikey, the Penguins are obviously still trying to compete for a Cup. That's why they signed Letang and Rust and are still working on Malkin. So I'm not sure which vets you want them to trade away. I mentioned Pettersson and Zucker in my previous answer, but I'm not sure either of them has much trade value. I did think there was a decent chance they would trade down last night to pick up an additional pick today. But they stood pat and took the big blue-liner, Owen Pickering.
ev
11:25
Hi Matt.  Were the Pens considering the Capitals first round pick (Miroshnichenko)?
Matt Vensel
11:27
I don't have an answer to this, but I'm sure they did their due diligence. For those unfamiliar, Ivan Miroshnichenko was viewed as a potential top-five pick before he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma this winter. The Capitals took him one pick before the Penguins.
bring back Hanratty
11:28
Hi Matt, I read something recently that indicated the Pens might try to move right handed Marino since Letang has returned.  Do you see this as a possibility, or is it more likely left handed Pettersson is the candidate?  Or neither?  Please do these chats more often!  Thanks!
Matt Vensel
11:31
I don't really see that happening, unless there is the proverbial "hockey trade" out there that blows them away. Right-shot defenders are valuable commodities, which is why you keep seeing Marino mentioned in trade speculation. But trading him away, even with Letang back, would leave a massive hole on the depth chart that would have to be plugged with an external option.
David Thomas
11:31
Do you think 3 years at 6 AAV gets Geno done?
Matt Vensel
11:34
Maybe three years at $7 million or four at $6.1 million gets it done? I don't know if there's another team out there in free agency that would go higher than that for a 35-year-old a year removed from major knee surgery.
Martin K
11:34
Hi Matt, do you see the pens giving Alex Nylander or Valerie P (not gonna try to type is last name) a shot next season or do they go outside in free agency for help on the wings?
Matt Vensel
11:36
They have a few young wingers who could compete for roster spots in training camp, including Sam Poulin, Filip Hallander, Valterri Puustinen and Drew O'Connor. Maybe Alex Nylander or Nathan Legare get into the mix, too. But the Pens will also need to make sure they have veteran options in case those players aren't ready to seize regular roles. They did pretty well in that regard last year, getting Evan Rodrigues and Danton Heinen on the cheap.
Dave Schultz
11:37
Terrible draft pick. Should've got an enforcer like me
Matt Vensel
11:38
Would definitely be smart to draft a pure enforcer in the first round in... [checks calendar] ... the year 2022. grimacing
Joe
11:38
Havent been impressed with Hextall. I don’t think the Pens should have made that first round pick if they were going to select someone who’s going to need until the Pens are already rebuilding to play for the team. If they weren’t going to select a skilled forward who could play in a couple years, then Hextall was better off moving this pick, like Toronto did, and packaging it with a bad contract to move lower in the draft to help clear some cap space. Thought?
Matt Vensel
11:41
Joe, I am of the belief that they need to be all-in if they are keeping the band together, which looks to be the plan. But there is nothing wrong with them picking a player in the first round every once in a while. If they hit on that pick, he can still be a future trade chip. That said, I did think about the Penguins and those aforementioned contracts last night when I saw that Toronto dropped only 15 spots or so to dump a contract.
Matthew Radican
11:42
Why the big love for P.O. Joseph?  I see him as a huge bust. Why do the Penguins gravitate towards these non-physical Dmen?
Matt Vensel
11:45
Matthew, I don't think Joseph is going to be a star or anything like that. You never know, but most experts don't see him as an elite prospect. That said, he showed this past season that he is ready to be an NHL regular and he is still on his entry-level contract. Having young, cheap players in tertiary roles is essential for capped-out contenders. And if he proves not to be ready, the Pens do have Mark Friedman under contract as a fall-back plan.
Justin
11:45
Any free agency predictions if they were to re-sign geno/clear cap space?
Matt Vensel
11:47
Justin, I don't have specific names for you right now. Sorry. But if they keep Malkin, the obvious next phase would be reshaping the rest of the forward group with the little bit of cap space they have left. They appear to be pretty set on the blue line and in goal, barring something unexpected here the next few days.
Guest
11:48
The Letang signing got me thinking...who has been his best D partner during his tenure here? Oripik? Domoulin? I'll hang up and wait for your answer. Cheers!
Matt Vensel
11:51
That's a tough one. Maybe it's recency bias, but I lean toward Brian Dumoulin. Those two have had just such a great feel for each other and their skill sets have meshed so well. And even though Dumoulin has had rough patches the last two years, Letang has been excellent next to him anyway.

And since you asked about Letang's past partners, I'm going to plug one of my favorite pieces from last season, when I quizzed Letang about all the guys he has played with over the years. It was a fun chat. Give it a read while you wait for the Penguins to pick this afternoon. https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/penguins/2022/01/21/Kris-Letang-Pi...
Matt Vensel
11:53
All right, folks. That's going to do it for today's chat. We will do this again sometime soon. Next week is going to be interesting. Should be plenty for us to discuss. Have a great weekend, everyone!
Connecting…