It is back to business for the Pittsburgh Penguins. They held practice today a day after the All Star game. They will be hosting the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday. Ron Hextall also spoke to the media today. To nobody’s surprise many of the questions centered around the trade deadline and what the plans are going to be for the Penguins. Hextall has been under fire due to the lack of moves despite multiple long losing streaks this season. Here are some of the comments
Ron Hextall: "We would like to get better... When I look at our team on paper, I like our team. When I look at some of our games and the results, I don't like it as much." Said the Penguins will continue to look to upgrade, keeping in mind the cap constraints.
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) February 5, 2023
While keeping in mind a general manager, well most general managers, aren’t going to go scorched earth even if they were angry with their team’s performance. This is a pretty stock response. He did talk about the problematic bottom six.
When asked if the bottom-six would be a target area, Hextall responded, "I think it's fair to say. The chemistry there hasn't been like we hoped it would be... over the course of the year, it hasn't been that great. That's somewhere we can look to hopefully improve."
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) February 5, 2023
This is how the bottom six was always going to look. It was a neglected area and the idea that somehow this bottom six forward group was going to be sufficient was at best hopeful thinking and at worst a complete inability to assess talent and needs for the roster.
Hextall on the upcoming trade deadline and if he feels pressure to make a deal: "It's really dangerous to feel like you have to make a deal... We're only going to make a deal if we think someone will fit better with our group. I'd like to make a deal to make our team better."
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) February 5, 2023
Yeah, when you have huge holes on your roster and you don’t do anything about it the results on the ice are going to be sporadic and not ideal. This has certainly been the case for the Penguins in 2022-23. He waited for the bottom six to find “chemistry… they were never going to find. They never were going to be good enough. The longer you wait to do something to address issues the more the pressure mounts. This is obvious stuff and comes with the job. The job Hextall signed up for.
What’s the deal with the Penguins first round pick in 2023?
Ron Hextall said trading the Penguins' first-round pick in the upcoming draft in order to shed salary is off the table at this point.
— Danny Shirey (@DannyShireyPGH) February 5, 2023
While this doesn’t flat out reject the premise of using the first round pick in a trade I also don’t like the idea of shutting down different paths to use it. The Penguins should not be using their first round pick to take a prospect. They shouldn’t have last year, either. They need to be aggressively shopping the pick. When the team signed all of their extensions with the veteran players this summer it should have also come with the understanding they would use their futures to improve the current roster. You have to own the situation. There’s no building the now and the future. There’s only one or the other. Worry about the current product. They’ll come a day where this team stinks and that’s a good thing. Go bottom out again. The time for that is not 2022-23 or even next year. Give Crosby, Malkin, and Letang the best possible rosters while they are still good. Will it be Cup worthy? Most likely, not. They could however build a roster capable of winning a round or two on merit. Throw in some PDO luck at the right time and you never know.
Ultimately, Ron Hextall is not going to be evaluated on what he said today at a press conference. He will definitely be assessed on the things he either does or does not do in the next month. For many Penguins fan inaction is unacceptable.
Thanks for reading!