“Rebuilding the Penguins: Challenges and Opportunities for the New GM under Fenway Sports Group Ownership”

2023-04-17 14:49:43

Unsurprisingly, Mathieu Darche is already among the main favorites to succeed Ron Hextall, who was fired by the Penguins a few days ago. He had been one of the last candidates standing in Chicago. As much as we wish him a first general manager position in the NHL, it is nevertheless a poisoned gift.

Posted at 10:49 a.m.

Pittsburgh is by far the oldest club in the NHL, with an average age of 31.5. Evgeni Malkin, 36, is under contract until 2026, Kris Letang, 35, and Bryan Rust, soon to be 31, until 2028 and Sidney Crosby and Jeff Petry, 35, have two more contract years left every year. two.

The prospect pool is obviously empty with just two first-round picks in eight vintages since 2015, and six of eight second-round picks traded, retired or lost for good in Europe.

PHOTO CHARLES LECLAIRE, USA TODAY SPORTS ARCHIVES

Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang

In this context, a reconstruction appears extremely complex. And so is the status quo, as the Penguins missed the playoffs this spring following four first-round (or earlier) eliminations in previous years with the same core.

Change of ownership, change of philosophy

The colleague Pierre Lebrun does not budge: Ron Hextall would have been hired by the former owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle to rejuvenate the team, but he was ordered by his new bosses to keep the core intact, hence the extensions of contract to Malkin and Letang last summer. Hextall listened to them and he paid his post today.

Hextall also has its faults, it did not know how to surround its core properly. Goaltenders fell short and trades for Jeff Petry and Ty Smith were dismal failures.

Let’s see where the members of the Fenway Sports Group will be in their thinking. Do they still dream of a possible Stanley Cup with leaders aged 36 and over, if they are better supported? Where are they open to a rejuvenation phase?

The new bosses in place should learn from the experience in Chicago. Stan Bowman wanted to expand the favorable window of success by acquiring defender Seth Jones in July 2021 and delaying trading his stars.

PHOTO SERGEI BELSKI, ARCHIVES USA TODAY SPORTS

Seth Jones

The acquisition cost him right-handed defenseman Adam Boqvist, 22, eighth overall pick in 2018, 24 points in 46 games at Columbus this winter, 43 prorated points from a full season, center Cole Sillinger, 19, drafted twelfth overall in 2021 and 19-year-old right-handed defenseman David Jiricek, sixth overall pick in 2022, smoking in the American League with 38 points in 55 games.

In the context of the reconstruction finally begun in Chicago, Jones, 29 when the next season begins, no longer fits.

What did the Blackhawks get for their three legends Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith? Caleb Jones, a supporting defenseman, two second-round picks (one of those two picks can turn into a first-round pick if Rangers reach the conference finals) and a fourth-round pick…

Toews and Kane’s sky-high salary, and their no-move clause, nevertheless made a trade more difficult, and Toews’ illness before the trade deadline killed the project in the bud.

With an annual salary of 6.1 million for the two, and given their interesting production, the new general manager might undoubtedly find a market for Letang and Malkin, although the contract of the former extends for five more seasons, once morest three for Malkin.

But if the new director general really wants to speed up the reconstruction process, he may need, with the approval of his bosses, to touch the monument, even if it means having rocks thrown at him.

But it would take a lot of audacity and courage to dare to send Sidney Crosby elsewhere…

A statement… daring!

After six consecutive eliminations in the first round of the playoffs or before, one would have expected a lot of humility from the Toronto Maple Leafs, especially since they face the Tampa Bay Lightning from the start.

PHOTO BOB DECHIARA, USA TODAY SPORTS

Ilya Samsonov

Goaltender Ilya Samsonov, 26, eight career games in the playoffs, but only one victory, chose the card of recklessness. “We have an elite club. We have the best doctors, the best therapists, the best fitness managers, the best coaches, the best players. »

There was no bluster in Samsonov’s tone, rather candor, say our Toronto colleagues.

But Samsonov’s words will no doubt serve as motivation in the Lightning locker room. Within ten days, the young man might pass for a hero… or a zero.

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