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Some responses to locker room clean out quotes |
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The Penguins had their locker clean out day today. Earlier than it has been for quite some time. You’ll get your boilerplate answers about needing to do better and being more consistent. The answers are mostly tempered. Sidney Crosby isn’t going to give juicy sound bites. The interesting information usually comes from the players who might be on the move for one reason or another. Let’s dive in
Brian Dumoulin was a steady set it and forget it player for many years. A true bright spot from the Jordan Staal trade eleven years ago. He and Letang were among the game’s best pairings for a number of years. Those days are over. I can’t forsee a situation where I would want to bring him back. Even at the league minimum the allure for Sullivan to play him in the lineup over other players is too great. They can find an upgrade and it wouldn’t be overly difficult to do so. Dumoulin is 32 years old and is on the decline. This is a situation where a serious team will make the proper decisions about its depth players. Dumoulin was a great Penguin, but the time has come to part ways.
Tristan Jarry was not dependable this year. I don’t think he has ever quite been dependable for the Penguins whether it be because of injuries or performance. He’s certainly had stretches of great play. This year it seems like injuries were holding him back. This quote isn’t exactly the most reassuring. If I were a UFA and was talking about my health I would confidently say I’ll be 100% this upcoming season. The fact he tempered his answer is cause for some concern. Perhaps this isn’t a popular opinion, but I would bring him back, just not with Casey DeSmith. The goaltender market isn’t terrific. Jarry’s injury riddled underperforming season might keep his contract demands where the risk reward of rolling the dice on him in a 1a 1b situation makes sense. I wish the Penguins had more flexibility than they do. Would a one-year 3M contract be the worst thing to take a risk on? Beggars can’t be choosers.
I thought Jason Zucker had a tremendous season and really showed his potential after some rough injury riddled seasons. The path of least resistance would be to extend Jason Zucker. I guess it depends on how bad he wants to remain a Penguin. He can't be brought back for a 5.5M cap hit. He can't be given a lot of term. He is coming off a great season and would certainly have interest around the league in his services. Would a 3x4.5M contract be enough? It would be tough to lose the goal scoring he brought this year. There's no prospect coming to fill the void if Zucker were to leave. You'd be left navigating free agency and trades. I think it is in the Penguins best interests to try and strike a deal in the range I posed.
This really sucks, not that Guentzel was invited to play for Team USA, that it is the first time. It is absolutely ridiculous we haven’t gotten a best on best international tournament in what feels like forever. Connor McDavid hasn’t played with Sidney Crosby for Canada. Auston Matthews and Jack Eichel have never joined forces for Team USA (they did for the legendary Team North America). The World Championships don't quench the desire for best on best international hockey. How could it when the Stanley Cup playoffs are going on? Guentzel scored another 36 goals this season. He is a terrific top six winger. He only has one more year on his contract at 6M. He will be 29 years old when the season starts. We talk about the window for the Penguins to compete in terms of Crosby and Malkin, but Guentzel’s contract situation is another huge variable in the equation. He scores a ton of goals. There will be a lot of interest in him. You might be looking at something like five years for 8M per season. There is a lot of time before that bridge is crossed and we have to see how things play out. Next season might be the last best look the team has. It is a shame this offseason will be spent trying to clean up Hextall’s mess instead of building upon competent decisions.
The Fenway Sports Group did address the media yesterday afternoon after cleaning out the front office. They weren’t very forthcoming on details other than they want Sidney Crosby to wear a Penguins jersey for every single game of his NHL career. They were pretty non-committal on the structure moving forward. They didn’t confirm if there would be a team president or what the overall structure would be. They did mention it isn’t a one person job and it takes a group to run a franchise. They also said no matter the structure things would run the John Henry, the big dog at FSG. The other thing of note is they expressed their interest in bringing Mario Lemieux back into the fold after he took a very hands-off role this past season.
That’s what we know for now. I’m sure there will be plenty more to come in the following weeks.
Thanks for reading!
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