PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – What did Pens GM Kyle Dubas say about a couple of the team's pressing issues? How much of the season is on Mike Sullivan? Who or what is to blame for the second-worst power play in the NHL. A third name in the mix in goal and injury updates.
Coaching staff responsibility
Dubas didn't have a direct answer on how much the coaching staff played into not being in the playoffs again. He said ultimately the responsibility falls on him. He said he will evaluate every staff member from Mike Sullivan to the medical, equipment, player development personnel. He made it reasonably clear Sullivan will be the head coach and said they will meet to talk about all of his assistants.
"So, I think to answer your question about who does the responsibility fall on, it falls on me and it's up to me, (Sullivan) and our whole management group to work to get us back into the spot where everyone here in Pittsburgh wants us to get to," Dubas said.
Power player outage
The fault falls on all, Dubas said for him to find the right players, the coaches to come up with a better scheme and the players for executing. He said they practiced it enough and he believes it started to come together at the end, but admits it was too late. It's something he admitted got better with better play from Erik Karlsson and a boost from Michael Bunting. He said it's something they need to get much, much better at and it was costly for their season.
Not just Jarry and Ned
While the conversation has been about Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic and how that plays in net next season, Dubas there is another name to remember.
Jarry needs to work on his game and bounce back showing more of his 'massive potential'. Dubas said Nedeljkovic, an unrestricted free agent, took the opportunity with Jarry out sick and ran with it. But as the Pens GM said he told Ned, there is another name in the mix for 2024-25.
"We have a situation where we have a young goaltender who is also pushing, in Joel Blomqvist (3rd in the AHL with a 2.14 goals against average and 5th with a .921 save percentage with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton)," Dubas said. "We are going to use this next stretch, the last two games, he will play one game this weekend. Then really the playoffs with Wilkes."
"How does Joel play? Can he assert himself at that level? Then we will have more information with how we want to go ahead with our goaltending."
Fast enough
The Pens can't be Carolina, according to Dubas, they just aren't young enough or fast enough to be able to hunt pucks like the Hurricanes do. Dubas said with the age of their group, it's not the style they can play for 82 games.
"For us, it's playing more deeply connected and moving the puck quicker in possession, that's important," the second-year Pens GM said Friday. "We have the players who can do that. I think you always want to play fast. I look at playing fast as, 'Are we able to quickly make plays to one another in possession?' Rather than how fast can we track things down or how fast can we get on the forecheck."
"I think all those things are important in a game-by-game, but team speed overall, we have to continue to improve that. Because I found in games, other teams played with a ton of pace gave us problems. A lot of those teams are in our division, so we're not going to be able to beat those teams consistently and rise in our division until we improve that.
Sid contract
Sidney Crosby's contract is up after the end of the season. Crosby said he will have meetings with the Pens brass this season, Dubas said he will keep the details private.
"I think it's always been clear, I think he should finish his career with the Pittsburgh Penguins," Dubas said. "How long that is? I'm not going to put any limits on Sidney Crosby (who will turn 37 in August). He's capable of great things and still performing at an extraordinarily high level, not only in games but every single day, his energy level and passion for it doesn't decrease."
Injuries
Dubas confirmed the following:
Kris Letang
· Is getting a second opinion 'on all that ails him, which is significant'. It's likely he will have surgery. It's something Letang dealt with all year
Matt Nieto
· Is getting a final opinion about whether he will go through rehab or another operation for an undisclosed injury
John Ludvig
· Might need an operation to 'alleviate his issues'
Emil Bemstrom
· Close to being better after concusion
Ryan Graves
· Another week or so in dealing with his concussion
