Penguins Q&A: The Trade Talk
Anger. The primary emotion from the team and fans on Saturday was the same basic human reflex, but in a far different context after the Pittsburgh Penguins again face-planted Friday, this time against the Colorado Avalanche.
As PHN opened the doors for this week’s Q&A from Las Vegas (now Salt Lake City), the questions from readers ranged from when the Penguins will start trading veterans to why they haven’t already traded those veterans, and what general manager Kyle Dubas is doing.
Kindness or curiosity weren’t necessarily on the menu after the Penguins were pasted by the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 Friday. And then flattened by the Vegas Golden Knights 6-2 Saturday.
Most of the questions were submitted before Elliotte Friedman turned the conversation upside down with his report on Hockey Night in Canada Saturday that Dubas had pivoted to trading veterans for picks and prospects.
The idea certainly tracks with reality, though it won’t be made easier by his offseason acquisitions of largely veteran players. And yes, it does feel like trying to turn the ship around just as it is leaving the dock.
So, as the schism between the voluminous fans who demanded the team re-sign Evgeni Malkin and now a great volume who are eager to separate from veteran players, we’re entering turbulent times, but at least—if the report is true—there is a defined direction.
It would seem that unless the Penguins undergo a Lazarus-style resurrection, fans have indeed turned. However, the important context is that it’s just nine games into the season.
Penguins Q&A
Q: As a journalist, what makes the latest report by Friedman regarding Dubas’ interest in moving vets appear more significant/credible to you than prior ones? I feel like we’ve been hearing similar speculation for close to two years now, and nothing has come of it yet.— Liam.
Thanks, Liam. This writer has seen some people taking shots at those of us who wrote up the story, but the difference between then and now is profound. When Dubas dangled Rust and Rakell on the trade market two years ago, and admitted so, he wanted premium younger players in return to change the face of the franchise’s future.
Remember the “sky-high price” quote?
Now, Dubas is willing to entertain picks and prospects, which is a vastly different return, and he’s doing so with an extraordinarily different purpose: to clear space for his prospects.
Those are the significant and fundamental differences that made this news, and any attempt to minimize it is more about getting to take shots at Dubas or the media than it is about genuine discourse.
Q: How much of the mess we’re seeing on the ice tracks back to such a short training camp? It just seems that this team is playing as if it isn’t sure what its game is supposed to be. –Tim King.
A: Good question. I’ve asked several players and coach Dan Muse. To a man, they’re adamant that the lack of lengthy camp has nothing to do with it.
Q: Dan, realistically, how much could Rakell fetch in a trade? I would think it’d be quite a bit less than Rusty. — The Confluence
A: Looking at the last three seasons, trades for 20-goal scorers over 31 years old are rather sparse. None fetched a first-round pick, though the New York Rangers traded Artemi Panarin to the LA Kings for high-end prospect Liam Greentree and conditional third- and fourth-round picks.
Last season, Minnesota acquired Blake Coleman and Olli Maatta for Jake Middleton, a 2027 third-round pick, a 2028 fourth-round pick, and a 2029 second-round pick.
Rakell isn’t on the same level as Panarin, who had 57 points (19-38-57) in 52 games at the time of the trade, so we’re looking at something like a B prospect and a second-round pick. And at that price, there is no urgency to sacrifice Rakell.
Q: Should veterans be traded regardless of the return to give youth the opportunity to compete against each other for NHL roster spots? — Jim Stripsky
That’s a fire sale, and it’s not the position the Penguins find themselves in. Remember, it is only nine games into the season (Game 10 is Monday night), and the season isn’t yet lost. The more nuanced and realistic position is that a few of the younger players, especially Rutger McGroarty and Avery Hayes, have accepted the organization’s challenge to force their way to the NHL. Both of those prospects have nine points in six AHL games, and it’s just their time. So, no, you will not see Dubas start chopping veterans for whatever he can get, but he might relax the price in some cases to advance the cause.
Q: Do you see any non-trade moves to open spots for the young guys? — Bill Whitfield
Elmer Soderblom has value, but he also has limitations. Dubas could choose to gamble and put him through waivers to bring up McGroarty or Hayes, both of whom would be more complete fourth-line contributors. And before anyone recoils at the thought of either prospect playing on the fourth line, coach Dan Muse has been giving his fourth line more ice time than most other lines when they warrant it.
Doing the same with Hendrix Lapierre seems unlikely, as he is the team’s center depth and his past production is much greater than Soderblom’s.
Down the road, the Penguins will need a certain level of production from Andrei Kuzmenko, but that conversation seems quite inhumane for the foreseeable future.
Q: How can a strong team like Vegas draft a player 19th in the first round (Trevor Connelly) and he somehow makes their roster, but the Penguins draft picks are supposedly “blocked” by an entire roster of mediocre or past-their-prime players? — FranklinGR
A: Sarcasm noted, but your context is flawed, and your question has a straight answer. Vegas specifically chose not to block Connelly but instead put him in a position to make the team. The forwards who didn’t make the final cut out of VGK camp were Alexander Holtz, Jonas Rondbjerg, and Tanner Laczynski.
That’s quite a difference from Malkin, Kuzmenko, Lapierre, and the rest of the Penguins crew. So, indeed, one team created a situation in which the prospect was supposed to make the team, and the other created a situation in which they weren’t. That’s “how.”
Q: Who likely ends up being traded first? – Pens Road Warrior
Wellllllllllllll, my gut feeling is that Dubas will start small to open a spot or two before going big close to the trade deadline or next summer. If he can wedge McGroarty and Hayes into the lineup, and it works, perhaps the Penguins season will take on a new tone.
Related stray thoughts: Ben Kindel deserves to move up in the lineup. Don’t assume Connor Dewar is untouchable.
Q: 1. Why did Dubas hire a U18 development coach and then stack his team with fringe 28-year-olds? 2. What was Muse told the team would consist of when he took the job? 3. Why were Mathna, Skinner, and Rakell not sold at deadline?— Brian Andrews
A: Yikes. Brian was trying to troll many of you (and me) and show off on social media. But since he does represent some of the anger, we’ll treat the question fairly even as the basic premises are wrong.
Categorizing Muse as a U18 coach would be to ignore his laud
Source: sports.yahoo.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.