The season is around the corner and the Penguins general manager and coach have spoken to the media for the first time in a while. Coach Mike Sullivan spoke about the roster makeup while Jim Rutherford complained about how people perceive his team.
Many of Sullivan’s comments were generic and talking about preparing for the upcoming season by focusing on inter-squad scrimmaging at 5v5 and how the team has depth to fill out the roster and there will be competition for those spots.
Coach Sullivan on no preseason games: "That's going to be one of the challenges. I know 5-on-5 play is going to be a priority as far as what we're going to do in training camp. We're going to prioritize inter-squad scrimmages. We have a game day simulation built in."
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) December 29, 2020
That’s about the best they can do leading into the season. There are no exhibition games. The only way to get authentic game action is to hold a lot of 5v5 situations in practice. All teams are going to have this issue and my prediction is it will lead to some fun and less structured games to open the season before everybody is sharp and adhering to their systems with precision.
Rutherford was more combative with his comments. He defended his team and their status as a Stanley Cup contender.
I talked with GMJR today. He knows many believe the Penguins’ window is closed. And he’s not having any of it. Check out what he had to say here: https://t.co/J6tnyO8Vjf
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_PGH) December 30, 2020
“It’s a pretty standard thing for people to say,… Rutherford said. “To be honest, that’s what I would expect people to say. Those people don’t follow us very closely, though. They aren’t close to our team. So they don’t know as much about our team. We are still Stanley Cup contenders.…
He then added
Here’s the thing,… he said. “I think some of the comments … when a team like us has a lot of success, these are just negative and jealous things that are said. I see it in all sports. For whatever reason, some people can’t wait — assuming you’re not a fan of a certain team — to take joy when that team takes a step backwards. That’s how I view those comments. Some people just don’t like the Penguins and are waiting to see us fail.…
The reality of the situation is that the Penguins are 1-9 in their last ten playoff games and have come nowhere close to contending after the drastic changes made after the 2017 championship. The speed/skill blend was blown up for the “being harder to play against… route. The results have been what they were. You can’t dispute it. They haven’t come close to a Conference Final, they haven’t even come close to winning a round the past two years. People are absolutely correct to question the direction of the team. These comments come off a lot like the Jack Johnson remarks of knowing the real reason why the Blue Jackets had scratched Jack Johnson and in the coming years how people were unfair to Johnson despite all the evidence pointing to one of the worst players in the league. The “I know more than you, but everything I am saying contradicts what is happening… defense. Fans have never been more informed with all the public information out there. You can’t gaslight them like you used to.
This is probably as close of an admission for the mistakes made in the summer of 2017 and beyond.
“I still wanted us to get better,… he said. “To do that, I believe we had to get younger and faster, and we’ve certainly done that. I think people will notice the difference. We’re going to get back, style-wise, to the way we played the game in 2016. The speed game. It’s who we are. You still have to find ways to beat great goaltending and we still have to be better, and I think we will be. I’m not giving up on this group.…
Speed is great, but it has to come with some skill, which the 2016 had a lot of. The 2020-21 Penguins should have foot speed, but I don’t see the skill akin to the 2016 team. The McCann-Jankowski-Rodrigues line is a far cry from HBK.
Calling out people making basic criticisms and then coming to this conclusion about the past two playoff series sounds like somebody in denial
“I’d say this about the Montreal series and the Islanders series,… he said. “We lost to goaltenders (Carey Price and Robin Lehner, respectively) who played absolutely terrific hockey. That was the biggest thing in both of those series.…
Yeah, those goalies played good. It isn’t like the Penguins made their jobs hard. Internal roster choices sapped the team’s ability to mount a proper attack. The problems went a lot deeper than running into a hot goaltender. Hell, the Penguins couldn’t even get their own goaltender decisions correct in August. The last two playoff rounds aren’t a situation where you use the shrugging emoji and say welp it was just goaltending. Roster construction was flawed and as a result limited the teams’ ability to overcome a goaltender playing well.
Rutherford added additional information about the on-ice roster. While Zach Aston-Reese could be back in a month he believes it will be closer to two months. He says the fourth line will be Tanev-Blueger-Sceviour.
He added that he has confidence in Casey DeSmith backing up.
Lastly, he remarks that the likelihood of any trades right now is small
“I would say it’s highly unlikely,… he said. “I’m to a point right now where I like our team, but you don’t really know what you have until you see them on the ice. So, I want to see them play and see what we have. Trading will be more complicated this season because there’s going to be a period of time before new players can join a team.…
Other than moving someone like Marcus Pettersson for scoring depth I don’t really see too many trade avenues at the moment and even that one is low probability of happening.
Not among the topics discussed were the sexual assault allegations against former WB/S coach Clark Donatelli. This was the first time Rutherford had spoken to the press. We will have to wait for comments from him on that important topic.
Thanks for reading!