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Sam Werner's Penguins chat: 8.17.17
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Sam Werner
12:47
OK, we'll get started in about 10-15 minutes, but leave your questions now for this week's Penguins chat.
1:02
And away we go...
ChrisinAZ
1:02
Seems our Pens have an overabundance of Right Wingers and a dire shortage of Left. How hard of a transition is it for players to switch sides and do you see a trade for a LW such as Mikkael Boedeker for Sheary? Thanks for the chat!
Sam Werner
1:07
I actually disagree a bit with the premise there. The only guys on the roster I'd say are *exclusively* right wingers are Patric Hornqvist and Phil Kessel.  Sheary, Guentzel and Bryan Rust (among others) have all played both sides in the past, and done so pretty effectively. Mike Sullivan is not a strict righty/lefty adherent, so I don't think this is a big issue for them.
W. Butcher
1:08
I am coming to the 'burg, yes? Buffalo, Jersey, Vegas?  Get real....
Sam Werner
1:11
The path to NHL playing time is probably a bit clearer elsewhere, but the Penguins will be very much in the mix here. I imagine their pitch will have to be a bit more nuanced than the one they made to Zach Aston-Reese and Thomas Di Pauli ("Hey, come here, prove you can skate and in two or three years you can play with Sid or Geno.") but the Penguins have to represent an awfully appealing option for Butcher. They have most of their defensemen locked up long-term, but Ian Cole's contract expires after this year, and Matt Hunwick is still a bit of an unknown from a Penguins perspective. Realistically, Butcher would have to come in and beat out the likes of Derrick Pouliot and Chad Ruhwedel (not at all impossible) to be in the mix for NHL playing time.
And oh by the way, that's NHL playing time on the back-to-back Stanley Cup champs. Not for the Devils or an expansion team.
Steven
1:11
Is there a plan to add another NHL C on a PTO to compete with Rowney, McKegg and Bluegers if no 3C trade materialises by training camp?
Sam Werner
1:13
I would have to think so. Part of me thinks Jim Rutherford is just posturing a little bit when he says he's OK with the 3C search going into the season. If he says "We need one before training camp," other GMs will know they have him over a barrel. But, if somehow that does materialize, one of the options would probably be bringing in a bunch of cheap guys with at least some NHL experience and hoping that one clicks in that role, at least temporarily.
Guest
1:13
Sam, you are cool, but where is Jason? I like Mackey. He still with the PG?
Sam Werner
1:13
THANKS GUEST. SO NICE OF YOU.
Just kidding. Jason is out in Boston right now covering Mike Sullivan's day with the Cup. Follow along on Twitter @JMackeyPG.
John
1:14
Your thoughts on using Guentzal as a 3C option?
Sam Werner
1:16
Doesn't seem likely at this point. It's worth mentioning only because Guentzel has played center before (one game in Boston last season), but I definitely get the sense the Penguins much prefer him at wing and, more specifically, on Sidney Crosby's wing. That duo was so 🔥 in the playoffs, that keeping them together takes precedent over putting Guentzel at 3C.
PENS 4 EVER
1:16
What is the deal with Kessel and hot dogs? I saw him eating hot dogs out of the dang Stanley Cup!
Sam Werner
1:17
The meme originates from a newspaper column towards the end of Kessel's time in Toronto, alleging he ate too many hot dogs. It's really great to see Phil leaning into it.
2017
1:17
The 2017-18 schedule is brutal! A gauntlet that includes every good team in the NHL. How can the Pens survive and how will they fair when LV comes to town for the first time ever and with MAF?
Sam Werner
1:19
Not just every good team, but the bad ones too! Really, though, the Penguins did get a brutal schedule, especially for a team coming off 213 games over the past two seasons. They lead the league with 19 back-to-backs, including a home-road one to start the season.
1:20
As for the game against Vegas, it's tough to say this far out, but the Golden Knights don't figure to be very competitive in their first season. The Penguins should be heavily favored in that one, unless Fleury puts on a show. Which would also be fun.
Elbs
1:22
A few questions. I am new to the sport (less than 5 years watching) so some of my questions might be 'dumb'. First, after we resign Shultz & dumo...is it normal for team to have 4 Defensemen making 4 million plus?
Sam Werner
1:26
No apologies necessary. Everyone's gotta start somewhere. So a quick scan of CapFriendly.com (a great website for salary cap needs) shows that the Penguins are one of four teams (Detroit, Rangers and Jets) that have four defensemen making at least $4 million a year. Most teams, though, have two or three. It's a bit unusual, but it's also the cost of doing business for NHL defensemen these days, and I suspect the number will rise over the next few years. The other benefit is it gives the Penguins some cost certainty on their blue line moving forward. Letang, Dumoulin, Schultz and Maatta are all signed through 2020, meaning that until then, the Penguins (ideally) won't have to go shopping for any more high-priced defenseman, and can build their blue line around that core.
In today's
1:26
In today's political climate, can the NHL live on? With all of the hate out there, do people have time or energy to put into a fun pastime like watching hockey? Will the league fold within the next say 10-15 years?
Sam Werner
1:26
Good point. We should all just stay inside lamenting how bad things are and never do anything fun or enjoyable.
Elbs
1:27
Second, question. Since Cullen is now in Minnesota do you see the pens being more aggressive in getting a top 3rd center? Now that Cullen is gone wouldn't we replace him in house opening up more money for 3C?
Sam Werner
1:29
I don't think Cullen's decision played a major role in Rutherford's search for a third center. If Cullen came back, he'd be the 4C. If not, it'd be Rowney. They'd need a third center either way. Rutherford also didn't sound like the extra million they saved by not signing Cullen will be much of a factor. When I asked him about it, he talked about it more as a cushion during the season, and saving money on Cullen's performance bonuses against the 18-19 cap.
Kevin
1:29
I'm really concerned about our third line center situation and JR's seemingly lax attitude about filling the position. I don't think we can go into the season with the team constructed as is without a third line center...thoughts?
Sam Werner
1:32
I don't think it'd be ideal, but it's not the end of the world. As long as everyone else is healthy (i.e. 87 and 71) the Penguins should be able to tread water with a stop-gap solution for the first few weeks while things get sorted out. With this organization, the only thing that really matters is how things look around March and April. As long as they don't flounder so much that they're in danger of missing the playoffs (which I don't see happening), they can take their time to make sure they're good to go when the games really matter.
Guest
1:32
Per the question earlier about RightWingers, I don't know that the team has too many rightwingers. If anything, maybe too many leftwingers. I heard a lot of liberal talk out of that lockerroom especially in November. Thoughts?
Sam Werner
1:32
Heyoooooooooo. We're topical here in Penguins chat.
hi sam
1:32
Are you any relation to Hippler Werner who played in the old NFL Europe? He had a colorful career and I believe he even acted in one or two movies after his football career ended.
Sam Werner
1:34
I don't believe so, though was once Harold Hill in seventh-grade production of The Music Man.
Kevin
1:34
still don't get the Ryan Reaves pickup...Pens want to add muscle and send a message, but these players in the past for the Pens have done little, if anything, to help the team. The physicality of the sport is always going to be there regardless of whoever the Pens "enforcer" will be.  Also, F.O. must not have been very high on Sundqvist when he was seemingly slotted to be the new third line center down the road.
Sam Werner
1:38
It's certainly a pickup worth questioning. They just won back-to-back Stanley Cups with out a typical enforcer, so why the need now? I can't tell you now whether it's going to work out or not (we'll know that next spring), but I think I can explain the team's mindset. It wasn't about getting an enforcer just for the sake of having one. They saw a player in Reaves who could provide that physicality, but also, by all accounts, has really developed as an all-around player over the past year or two. The physicality will always be there, yes, but it's different when you have a player who embraces that as part of his role like Reaves does. Again, I think it's certainly fair to be critical or skeptical of the move, but the Penguins see this as a way to add an element to their game without sacrificing the overall system.
1:39
As for Sundqvist, I definitely get the sense he wasn't developing offensively the way the organization hoped he would. He didn't show anywhere close to enough last year to put him in the mix for the 3C job. He probably could've competed for 4C, but they already had a more known quantity in Carter Rowney there, which made Sundqvist a bit more expendable.
JEO
1:39
Outside of a center or two, what else do the Penguins need this season, on there roster?
Sam Werner
1:40
I'd say that's it for right now. I'd expect Daniel Sprong and Zach Aston-Reese to make a push for NHL playing time out of the gate, but as far as external additions, come back to me after a couple of injuries hit.
JEO
1:41
How many roster spots will be open if everyone is healthy?
Sam Werner
1:42
If they add a third center, that would put them right at 23 (14F, 7D, 2G) with Archibald, Kuhnhackl and Ruhwedel being the last guys to make it. That doesn't include Sprong, Aston-Reese or Pouliot (among others) who obviously will try to bump someone out in training camp.
Kevin
1:43
Plus/minus on Pens three-peating with all the departures and the lineup constructed as is?
Sam Werner
1:44
With the lineup constructed as is? Not very high. They will need a third center if they want to win a Stanley Cup. But assuming they get someone passable there, sure they've got a shot. It's tough to fathom a team playing 100+ games three seasons in a row, and the playoffs can be a crapshoot, but you'd be foolish to count this team out after the last two seasons.
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