PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – He’s been covering hockey since Ronald Reagan was President. He’s done it globally with USA Today and now as a part of the Hockey Now franchise run out of Pittsburgh. Kevin Allen discusses the failing of GM Ron Hextall and President of Hockey Operations Brian Burke with the Penguins.
Following the abrupt exit by Jim Rutherford 25 months ago, the two were brought in to get the Pens over the hump and a factor in the playoffs again. Burke was keen on discussing how they would get bigger and tougher to help them in the post-season and Hextall would then keep them good.
Allen said he thought initially that Burke and Hextall would be a nice duo because Burke would be aggressive with the present and Hextall would build for the future. Allen says Hexall is really good at projecting ahead, figuring out draft picks and bringing players into the fold. He also says Hextall is patient, which is not easy.
“But I don’t think he’s been good at understanding that the Penguins are a different team,” Allen told Ron Cook and Joe Starkey on 93.7 The Fan. “You’ve got to constantly work around the edges of that roster to make sure that Malkin, Crosby and Letang have the proper players to work with. I think that’s been his failing.”
It’s difficult for Allen to believe that Burke is not involved right now. He said he’s known Burke too long and he’s not the type of person who sits back. This being said, he’s not sure what they are doing as an organization.
“It’s hard on Penguins fans because of their history,” Allen told the Cook and Joe Show. “They had Craig Patrick in the golden era. He was a very aggressive general manager. He made bold trades. He brought in superstars in trades. Ray Shero was aggressive as well. Jim Rutherford was one of the greatest traders in NHL history. Then they hire Ron Hextall, who wants to build through the draft.”
“Unfortunately for Ron, that’s not what the team decided to do. When you are in the situation where you are fully committed to three players long term who are older, you got to be aggressive. You have to supplement that. You have to go get some guys.”
What have they done? Here is a list of the transactions since they were hired in February 2021
• Claimed Mark Friedman off waivers
• Traded two, third-round picks for Jeff Carter
• Signed Teddy Blueger, two years, $4.4 million
• Traded Jared McCann to Toronto for Filip Hallander and seventh-round pick (were going to leave him unprotected in expansion draft)
• Lost Brandon Tanev in the expansion draft
• Signed Brock McGinn, four years, $11 million
• Signed Brian Boyle to one-year contract
• Traded Sam Lafferty to Chicago for Alexander Nylander
• Traded Zach Aston-Reeese, Dominik Simon and Calle Clang to Anaheim for Rickard Rakell-later signed Rakell to six-year, $30 million contract
• Signed Bryan Rust, six-years, $30.75
• Signed Casey DeSmith, two-years, $3.6 million
• Signed Kris Letang, six-years, $36.6 million
• Signed PO Joseph, two-years, $1.65 million
• Signed Evgeni Malkin, four-years, $24.4 million
• Signed Jan Rutta, three-years, $8.25 million
• Traded John Marino to New Jersey for Ty Smith and third-round pick
• Traded Mike Matheson and fourth-round pick to Montreal for Jeff Petry and Ryan Poehling
• Signed Kasperi Kapanen, two-years, $6.4 million
• Signed Danton Heinen, one-year, $1 million
• Waived McGinn, Friedman and Kapanen
• Traded Blueger to Las Vegas for Peter DiLiberatore and third-round pick
• Traded second-round pick to Nashville for Mikael Granlund
Forget good enough to move on in the playoffs, the question now is if the 2022-23 roster is good enough just to reach the playoffs? As Allen notes, they’ve committed to now, but where is that all-in approach we’ve seen in the past?
It’s really hard as an older team, and they have 13 players over 30, to win now and in the future in a salary cap league. Instead of focused on one, it appears they are failing at both.