PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Several face big summers to show improvement to Pens GM Kyle Dubas. They include the biggest trade add from last year. The biggest free agent signing and the biggest contract signed last year.
While Dubas left a lot to be interpreted or incomplete during his season recap with reporters, he made it clear there are several players who need to be better.
Erik Karlsson
Dubas said you saw at the end of the year why you acquire Erik Karlsson.
“He skated, took charge, shot the puck rather than try to slap pass it through five people every time – which he and I have had many discussions about, and became awfully effective because he kept the defense off balance, defended harder,” Dubas said Friday. “Still needs to come in that way. He's going to be in his mid-30s, massive summer to maintain his level and improve it and next year rolling. But I think he got on his way, like the rest of the group overall at the same time, and a little bit too late.”
Ryan Graves
Optimism when Ryan Graves was signed from division-foe New Jersey that he would be the physical partner with Kris Letang. Not only physical, but responsible so Letang could explore and make plays on the blue line. It started at the beginning of the season and lasted all year for the 28-year-old who signed a six-year, $27 million contract.
Dubas said Graves needs to add strength and be more physical. Make more defensive stops and he’s going to have to improve his mobility. He also said this is not a system issue, he’s a pro athlete and he never adapted after 70 games. The system isn’t an excuse.
“We have to arm him with the path to get there,” Dubas said. “He has to execute it relentlessly. If he can do that, he's going to get back to being the player that he was when we signed him. But it's going to be up to him in the summer to execute that and come into camp and be ready to roll.
“He's a great person, great character. I know how proud he is. And I fully expect him to come back in next year and have a great year."
Reilly Smith
There were several reports early in the season that Reilly Smith wasn’t thrilled to be traded to the Penguins. Dubas said Smith was really affected by Rickard Rakell’s injury and Evgeni Malkin not playing well. Then he was hurt himself, it wasn’t until he was moved to the third line with Lars Eller and Vlatteri Puustinen that it started to come together.
“Yesterday in talking to him, he knows he wasn't as good as he was last year,” Dubas said. “Certainly, he was an excellent player on a Stanley Cup-winning team. But I think if you look at his history, I would expect a big bounce back from him next season.
Tristan Jarry
The stats backed how inconsistent Jarry’s season was in 2023-24, he led the NHL in shutouts, but also was 30th in goals against average.
“What I’m most excited about for Tristan is every player that gets in these spots at these points in their career can be a real inflection point,” Dubas said. “He has to make the decision of how he wants to respond.”
Dubas said there are questions about next season not as much because of his play, but out Alex Nedeljkovic ran with the opportunity he was given. When Jarry was sick, Ned didn’t let him back in net, according to the Pens GM.
“I’m excited to see how Tristan responds because this is really what it’s all about,” Dubas said. “How guys like that are able to push back when things don’t go their way.”
You could say all, except Sidney Crosby, have areas to improve. If they only work as hard as their captain will the next five months.