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Matt Vensel's Penguins chat: 07.25.24
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Matt Vensel
10:50
Hey, Penguins fans. Excited to talk hockey with you all today. It's been a while! (Sorry, was at the beach.) Anyway, we will get going at noon and I plan to go for a while. You can submit questions anytime.
12:01
OK, let's get started. If possible, would love more questions about the 2024-25 team, as unexciting as it might be to some. Let's forge some new ground instead of rehashing old topics and grievances!
Andrew
12:01
At this point, should we just assume that Crosby's extension will be signed and announced on August 7th?  I can't imagine it not getting done and wonder now if he just wants to wait until 8/7.
Matt Vensel
12:03
I am a little surprised that a deal has not been announced, especially after the Athletic reported 17 days ago that a deal was close. As far as I know, there's still nothing for fans to be concerned about there. Heck, maybe Andrew is right and it's another Sid superstition!
Black and Gold Forever
12:03
Hi Matt and thanks. The Pens seem to be relying on their aging core surrounded by support players to get to another Cup. Can you think of another time and team where this model was successful?
Matt Vensel
12:05
Good question. This is actually something I looked into for an analysis piece I wrote in early July that summed up the offseason. I'll copy and paste some of what I wrote here to keep the chat moving.
There are no perfect parallels for what the Penguins are trying to do. But how about the San Jose Sharks of recent past or today’s Dallas Stars as aspirations? The Sharks in 2015 missed the playoffs as they started to build a “younger, more aggressive team.” (Sound familiar?) They quickly regrouped and had the last gasp of the Joe Thornton-Patrick Marleau era, losing to the Penguins in the Stanley Cup Final in 2016. They had another good run after Marleau departed. Dallas, meanwhile, had two down years, absolutely smashed the 2017 draft with three star selections, made a Cup Final and is now a perennial powerhouse. Dubas obviously would prefer the latter, but either outcome would be worth it.
12:06
Anyway, yeah, it will be difficult to pull off. But I think it's better they take this path then doing the same thing over and over and over again as Crosby and the other core guys inch towards 40.
J D
12:06
Matt, who will Sullivan pick as the starting goalie this year and who do you think it should be?
Matt Vensel
12:10
JD, while I do think Mike Sullivan and the Penguins will make more of an effort to base playing time on performance, I don't necessarily view it as an "open competition" between the pipes. My assumption is that Tristan Jarry, with his pedigree and his contract, will have the inside track to starting the season as the No. 1. From there, it will be up to him to keep it from being a true timeshare. It's worth nothing that historically Tristan has performed better in the first 2-3 months of the season before fading. That's how he has two All-Star nods.
pozone
12:10
Have the Pens added any grit or toughness this offseason? Can you see any coming or is Dubas like Sullivan?
Matt Vensel
12:14
Not really. Sullivan and Kyle Dubas see roster building similarly in that regard, that at least in theory they covet skill and speed over physicality and fisticuffs. Blake Lizotte will only throw his body around a little bit. Anthony Beauvillier was a pest on the forecheck early in his career, when he was with the Islanders, but isn't a heavy hitter. Despite his mammoth frame, Kevin Hayes is not known for rattling the glass either. And Matt Grzelyck has 310 hits in 445 career games. Stylistically speaking, the Penguins should basically look the same.
Sunner in Orlando from Lebo
12:15
Don't see the Pens being any better than last year with the lack of players being dealt or acquired. Any rumors about Jarry being dealt or are they running it back with basically the same team?
Matt Vensel
12:18
Sunner, most of the NHL's offseason business is over and done with, so I don't anticipate the Penguins making any major additions or subtractions. This might be the team. As for Jarry, the trade chatter surrounding him quieted down after the NHL draft. His value can't be high right now. You don't need me to tell you that he got benched last season as the Penguins pushed for a playoff spot. But the hope internally is that he returns to All-Star form. That would obviously help the team in its efforts to get back to the postseason, but it would also make a valuable trade chip if the Pens are sellers at the deadline.
Sunner in Orlando from Lebo
12:18
I know the big 4 (Karlsson being included) have no trade clauses but do you think Malkin and Letang would want to get moved to a contender to finish their careers with a possible cup if the season spirals out of control? Pens need to rebuild asap.
Matt Vensel
12:19
I think things would have to get really bad for that to happen, including Crosby changing his mind about remaining in Pittsburgh. Like it or not, it seems those three are in it together for the long haul.
TS
12:20
Matt, thanks for the chat. Over the years, I’ve been bothered by Sullivan’s reluctance to have a player or two on the roster that can protect Crosby, Letang, etc. All to often, it’s Crosby or
Matt Vensel
12:23
Respectfully, the lack of an enforcer type is so far down the list of issues for this team right now. I would even argue it's not one at all. Don't get me wrong... if they can find a tough guy who can actually play the game, that would be awesome. That doesn't need to be a player who fights 10 times a season. Just someone who is a threat to chuck the gloves if things get out of hand. But the Penguins have bigger fish to fry as they try to get back to contention.
TVC15
12:23
I am optimistic about the Penguins at least making the playoffs next season. If they can improve at all on their historically, monumentally bad power play that is. What one piece would be most important to add? Another grit player like Bunting? A tough guy on either offense or defense? A speed demon? More youth? Some combo of all that?
Matt Vensel
12:27
TVC, I think you are on the right track when you talk about the need and the potential for internal improvement. I don't see reinforcements coming in anytime soon (if they are in the mix at the deadline, that may change). The power play is one of the two obvious areas, with the other being goaltending. If the Penguins are in the top 10 in both those areas, that is worth, what, an extra 8-10 wins? Their 5-on-5 play was mostly OK last season. I think other areas where there could be internal improvement is Erik Karlsson and Ryan Graves being more impactful, and young guys such as Sam Poulin or Vasily Ponomarev or maybe even Brayden Yager coming in and giving the team some real juice. That's the recipe for success this season (and giving Dubas a reason to think about adding instead of hoarding future assets).
12:28
That said, things can flip in the other direction. One big example: Crosby and other 30-somethings getting injured or declining.
J D
12:28
Matt, the Pens are getting into a rut by not making the playoffs for the past 2 years.  Other than a solid goalie, what other position do the Pens need to get back to the playoffs?
Matt Vensel
12:31
JD, I touched on this in a previous answer. But this question made me think this: Do the Penguins have a top-12 group at any of the three primary positions? Up front, Crosby is awesome and they have other quality contributors (such as Bryan Rust), but their depth there remains a major worry. Their blue line group definitely has the potential to perform at that level, given the starpower they have, but not if there are 2-3 weak links. And their goaltending was at best average over the full 82 last year. Just something to think about as we start to think about how they project in a tough Metro Division.
12:32
Running out of questions here. So if you got one, chime in now!
Guest
12:32
sense any trades are forthcoming for a top six winger?
Matt Vensel
12:34
I do not. Maybe they find a way to add a youngster who projects to be that down the road, but I don't see them going out and paying to get an established scoring winger between now and Game 1. That means that Drew O'Connor is likely a top-six winger, along with Rust, Michael Bunting and Rickard Rakell. Two others to watch heading into camp and the preseason are Valtteri Puustinen and Anthony Beauvillier.
Spaceman
12:36
Which forwards do you see making up the fourth line, as it seems we have a whole bunch of candidates (young and old)……
Matt Vensel
12:40
You are right that there are a lot of options there. I think we can pencil in Kevin Hayes and Noel Acciari onto that line, with Dubas remarking on July 1 that they could move Acciari to the wing to accommodate Hayes. That would seemingly leave Beauvillier or Blake Lizotte as the likely LW on the line. Matt Nieto is still under contract but could start the season on LTIR. And then there are the youngsters such as Poulin and Ponomarev and Jonathan Gruden. Perhaps Dubas will still deal someone such as Lars Eller to create more opportunity for young players. Regardless, whoever is the LW on that line will certainly not score fewer goals than poor Jansen Harkins did last season.
MikeZ
12:41
Does Puustinen remind you of Dominick Simon?
Matt Vensel
12:47
Not really. To me, Dominik Simon was a smart, pass-first player who could make little plays as the third wheel of a line, as long as he wasn't the primary creator. He obviously had limitations that led to him being out of the NHL, starting with his inability to put the puck in an ocean. Puustinen is hardly established either. But I haven't yet seen that type of playmaking, though he has a much better shot than Simon, which the Penguins hope will show up on the scoresheet this year. Anyway, I don't see them being too similar in terms of skill sets, but they do both fall into the bucket of undersized "skill players" who might not have quite enough of said skill to stick in the NHL, given they don't bring much else to the table as bottom-six players. Obviously, the verdict is not yet out on Puustinen, who recently turned 25.
TVC15
12:48
With 27 goals / 40 assists / 67 points Evgeni Malkin did not have a horrible season but everyone seems to be down on him. What does he have to do to be a legitimate asset on the second line year? Less turnovers? Less penalties?
Matt Vensel
12:53
Geno simply has to show up regularly. His numbers last season, both in the box scores and the publicly-available advanced stats, suggest he was actually a solid second line center. But if you watched the games, you saw that too often he disappeared at 5-on-5, or killed the Penguins with his plodding pace and predictability on the PP, or took a bad penalty or made a mental mistake in a key spot. (And if you watched that game in Arizona, well, at least he was creative with his most costly gaffe.) I really don't want to pile on Malkin. He's had a tremendous career and was far from the only veteran who was sleepwalking for stretches. But the last 18 years or whatever have showed us how valuable he is to the team's overall success. When Malkin is going, the Penguins are often unstoppable. And when he's not invested, it's asking too much of Sid to lug them to where they want to go.
12:56
That will do it for today's Penguins chat. Several awesome questions today. Thank you for giving me some fresh topics to discuss. Let's plan on doing this again in a couple of weeks. And once the season gets going, I plan to make this a regular weekly thing. The demand from you guys is definitely there. Have a great weekend!
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