EDMONTON — When the Pittsburgh Penguins come West, it’s always been that once-in-a-season chance to see Sidney Crosby with our own eyes. Out here, a chance to see Crosby skate alongside Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang was a scalper’s dream, year after year. Still is, to a lesser extent.
Today, with the flagging Penguins ageing out of Stanley Cup contention, interest in Pittsburgh has become about everyone else. As in, all the guys that Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas is/will be taking calls on heading into next Friday’s NHL trade deadline.
A team that pledged itself to the veteran trio of Crosby (36 years old), Malkin (37) and Letang (36) out of sheer loyalty, added Erik Erik Karlsson (33) and his bloated, $10 million AAV (for three years after this one). It was not one of Dubas’ finest moments.
Today, it is crystal clear to the former Maple Leafs GM and everyone else: “We need to get younger,” Dubas told the Pittsburgh media, heading into the Trade Deadline. “We have a lot of guys in their 30s signed. Some of them are the best players in the history of the franchise.
“We have to have a way to continue to have those solid veteran guys but continue to get younger at the same time.”
Translation: Dubas will talk to opposing GMs about anyone on his roster not named Crosby, Malkin or Letang.
That has left winger Jake Guentzel as the top prize at this year’s deadline, among forwards. Each of Vegas, Edmonton, Vancouver, Florida and Colorado have inquired, as well as others no doubt.
Guentzel is on LTIR until March 10 with what is suspected to be a hand injury. He’s on the current trip, which takes the Penguins through Calgary (Saturday night) and Edmonton on a weekend back-to-back, and he’s coming to grips with the fact that — as a pending Unrestricted Free Agent — he’s likely going to be moved.
“It’s a business, and I think every player realizes that at some point,” Guentzel told Rob Rossi at The Athletic. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s a hard part of the business — like, you kind of grow up with an organization, and then you don’t know what’s next. That’s not fun for anyone.
“I think you tell yourself to focus on what you can control. That’s what I’m trying to do. But, yeah, that’s not always easy to do, right? Like, it’s not just about you and playing hockey. There’s your family. People become friends. There’s a community, you know?”
Guentzel is a 29-year-old pending UFA who is coming off 40- and 36-goal seasons the last two years. He shoots left but plays either side.
You name a team with a good, distributing centreman — like Leon Draisaitl in Edmonton, Elias Pettersson in Vancouver or Nathan MacKinnon in Colorado — and we’ll show you a place where Guentzel could lead the NHL playoffs in goals if his team plays four rounds.
Dubas should have enough competition for his player to extract a first-round pick and a better-than-decent prospect in return. In his wildest dreams, he directs a sign and trade — unlikely, but a scenario that would buttress the Penguins haul in this transaction.
With Guentzel and his Penguins on a swing through the Pacific Division, the half-joke is about whether Guentzel gets on the Penguins’ charter out of Edmonton on Sunday night? Or does he walk down the hall to Connor McDavid’s dressing room, then pick up the rest of his clothes when the Oilers roll through Pittsburgh a week from Sunday?
Yes, there’s a matter of Guentzel’s modified no-trade clause which includes a 12-team no-trade list. But let’s face it: any pending UFA of his quality would waive to join a genuine Cup contender. If he wouldn’t, you have to wonder about the player.
It’s over in Pittsburgh as far as the short term is concerned, and Guentzel no doubt realizes that.
This was once a fast team that skated its way to three Stanley Cups between 2009 and 2017. Today they’re eight points back of the second wildcard spot out East (with five games in hand on Tampa), but they are not quick at all anymore. They’re slow.
“I wasn’t here for those [Cup runs], but I have obviously watched some of those games,” defenceman Marcus Pettersson recently told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “It [was striking] how much faster the Penguins were compared to every other team. Now every team is so fast.”
Reilly Smith, Rickard Rackell and Ryan Graves can all be had off this roster, though none have had strong seasons and there are contract issues. Lars Eller — 34, with another year at $2.45 million — may intrigue, as would goalie Tristan Jarry, for that rare team that has found itself in a playoff position without reliable goaltending.
Once a good rush team, the Penguins now rank in the mid-20s in the NHL in goals scored off the rush. Today they score more often off the cycle, which of course is Sidney Crosby’s specialty.
“The way that our whole strategy plays out in the next two and half weeks — how our team continues to play — will dictate the short-term answer at the trade deadline,” Dubas said on Feb. 21.
Since then, Pittsburgh has gone 3-1.
That shouldn’t fool anyone, however. Pittsburgh will be a seller this week.
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