- Begins by thanking Jeff Carter and his service.
- Six guys played all 82 games.
- Letang went through a lot this season in playing all 82 games.
- Thanked staff members.
- Goal last summer was to provide a boost and make it back to the playoffs. Started off poorly, struggled Jan to mid-April, and that stretch sunk us.
- Won't provide all details as to future for next season although need to reposition (aka get younger) to attempt to win.
Question time:
- Future of Ned and Jarry? Jarry was scheduled to play but was sick and couldn't play two games so Ned took over after winning. Jarry needs to be better and has massive potential. Exciting for Jarry's response next season. With Ned, great person and great work effort. Nice to see him get rewarded. Won respect of room. Blomqvist pushing for time and he'll be evaluated during AHL playoffs. Decision on goaltending will be made then.
- Changes to staff? It's on me that we didn't perform. Dubas will evaluate staff and meet with Sullivan to go over staff during summer.
- Big Four as mentors and a quick turnaround? Dubas gave examples of quick turnarounds (LA and NYR). Need to get young guys in and have Sid, Letang and Rust mentor.
- Disappointed in response during Guentzel trade timeframe especially with veteran team? Surprised and disappointed. If we had shaken doldrums earlier we would have been in a better spot.
- Young guys who could make it next season? Poulin, St. Ivany, Blomqvist, Pickering, Yager and Ponomarev all mentioned.
- Graves assessment? Great player in Col and NJ. Didn't expect his play to be bad all year. Massive summer for him. Expect him to come back next year and have a great season.
- Sid contract talks? Contract talks will be private. Dubas believes he should finish career with Pens.
- Power play? Execution or strategy and tactics? Have to get power play functioning at a high level. Units kept changing. End of season the power play was giving momentum even if it wasn't scoring. Sullivan and Reirden put in immense amount of time on it. Bunting in bumper spot was giving us momentum. Can't give up SHG. It's on everyone (GM, Coaches and players).
- Elderly core - still play fast? Won't be able to play like Carolina but we can move the puck quicker. Do need to improve team speed.
- GM dual role? - I'll keep doing both. Spezza's been invaluable. Mentioned Wilson and Kostopoulos. Cap and compliance-side guy doing great job. Amanda Kessel is awesome. Minor league and amateur operations is running extremely well. Unless someone moves on, operations side won't change.
- Evaluate other first-year guys? Eller was everything we asked for and was really good. Acciari in defensive role did well. Smith great start and then 2nd line wasn't as good so big adaptation for him. He was better after trade deadline with Eller and Puustinen. Karlsson at end of year showed why you acquire a Karlsson. Still needs to work on defense. Massive summer for him. Wouldn't change anything with him at all. Ned, he was excellent.
- Approach change after way team closed? Playoffs a priority next season? Stark rollercoaster of season results in bubble. Not desirable or conducive to reposition to replenish prospects of team.
- Letang surgery? Nieto update? Letang getting second opinion on all that alls him. Update once he makes decision. Felt bad for Nieto with his multiple injuries. Final opinion next week on surgery or rehab. Ludwig might also need surgery. Graves and Bemstrom had concussions.
penny lane wrote: ↑Fri Apr 19, 2024 10:54 am
I missed it but Lars Eller also had something to say about the Guentzel slide.
Again- where was the Head Coach?
Working on clichés.
EDIT: I'm watching right now. Boy, Dubas sure deflected blame from the coaching staff and fell on the dagger himself. He either didn't want to answer or he's just fine and dandy with where things are with the staff right now.
penny lane wrote: ↑Fri Apr 19, 2024 10:54 am
I missed it but Lars Eller also had something to say about the Guentzel slide.
Again- where was the Head Coach?
Working on clichés.
EDIT: I'm watching right now. Boy, Dubas sure deflected blame from the coaching staff and fell on the dagger himself. He either didn't want to answer or he's just fine and dandy with where things are with the staff right now.
If you have an open player revolt on your hands, this is how you make it clear who’s in charge. Just saying.
Why do people have a hard time with the idea that the players were a large part of why this season went the way it did?
penny lane wrote: ↑Fri Apr 19, 2024 10:54 am
I missed it but Lars Eller also had something to say about the Guentzel slide.
Again- where was the Head Coach?
Working on clichés.
EDIT: I'm watching right now. Boy, Dubas sure deflected blame from the coaching staff and fell on the dagger himself. He either didn't want to answer or he's just fine and dandy with where things are with the staff right now.
If you have an open player revolt on your hands, this is how you make it clear who’s in charge. Just saying.
Why do people have a hard time with the idea that the players were a large part of why this season went the way it did?
If a large quantity of players aren't playing well and are even "revolting", that's a huge issue with the coaching staff. Not saying the players aren't part of the failure, but the coaches aren't finding ways to make this team successful. Be that not making changes to a system to adapt to the current roster makeup, the failure to give younger guys a chance with more playing time, and not having the cajones to call some players on the carpet who aren't producing.
--Starts off with congratulations for Jeff Carter on a great career.
--Six players played all 82 MP, EK, Letang, Eller, Malkin, and Crosby.
--Praises the equipment staff for operating at a high level, praises Jen Ridgley (PR person). Says even though we didn't perform as we wanted on the ice, those people behind the scenes did an incredible job that the public doesn't often see.
--Goal last summer was to provide a boost after missing the playoffs. The trades made were to add elements missing and get us back to a playoff team. Started off poorly, dug a hole, started to dig out of it, then mid-January to April we struggled. Says the Jan to April stretch was really the key weak point.
--As to where we go in the future, this press conference likely isn't going to give you that. I use this time to finish exit interviews, meetings with coaches, meeting with department heads...all that used to make informative decisions on where we go from here.
--Can see from what we did at the trade deadline, we need to reposition where the team has been for the past couple of years. Basically saying need to stop trading away futures is what he seemed to allude to.
Open for questions:
Q (Dejan): Final 14 games, Ned was in goal with season on the line. What does this say about Ned and Tristan's future with the organization?
A: Circumstances by which Alex came into net...Tristan was scheduled to play and he and several others were "violently ill." Ned won and played great, and kept winning, so at that point we kept going with the hot goalie. What does that say about Tristan? He would be the first to tell you he wanted to be and has to be better. He has massive potential. We were near top of the league for most of the year as a tandem. Tristan is at an inflection point and he has to decide how he is going to respond next year. Excited to see how Tristan responds. With Ned, very happy he competed his butt off all year, got rewarded, won the respect of the room. He's a UFA and been vocal of his views (Ned publicly said he wants to stay here), but we do have a young goalie in Blomqvist in the minors who is pushing for NHL time. They've got 2 games left, where Joel should get at least 1 game. But we really want to see how he does in the upcoming playoffs, the results, how he asserts himself, and then we'll make a decision.
Q (Molinari): How much responsibility does the coaching staff bear for the results this season, and will you give any serious considerations to changes on that staff?
A: The way I look at the year, in the end the responsibility falls on me. Everyone is here because I brought them here or because I decided to keep them here. That falls on the person in my spot. I take the responsibility for not making the playoffs. Having said that, it is my job to evaluate all systems from coaching, medical, etc, etc. Sully and I will meet and evaluate whether the coaching staff is the right fit for what we want to do here, go through each staff member, and then evaluate whether we want to make any changes. I will say the amount of work all of them have put in throughout the year put in an unrelenting amount of work. Up to me and Sully and the management team to evaluate and review what changes need to be made.
Q (Rossi): Long question that basically asks, why do you think this team can have a quick turnaround/retool when there aren't really good examples of that in the cap era?
A: Disagrees that there are no examples. LA wasn't contending, won twice, missed playoffs, now a contender again. Rangers were contending when Penguins were contending, went through their own pivot, now just won President's Trophy. When people say rebuild, I think of full on scorched earth, project out who the top pick is in 2025 and hope they can get those players. Easy answer is to rip it all the way down, and there have been successful examples. I think it would be easier to get those younger players and surround the players we have with those guys. But, I need evaluate where other teams are at, where can we can get with that method, can we get where we want, etc. So, needs to be some more evaluation to really decide what path we take.
Q (Tim Benz?): Spoke with Eller about why the team play didn't pickup sooner. He spoke about the low points were too low for too long. One example was before and after the Guentzel trade. Given veteran influence, are you disappointed and surprised at the play around that time.
A: Fair to say both disappointed and surprised. Reason is, once we got out of that period of games, we got back to it, showed who we were, and played well. Thought we started to turnaround at Colorado, even though we didn't win. If we "shook the doldrums" a bit sooner, we might be in a different positions.
Q (Haase): Which prospects or young guys are you looking at genuinely pushing for a spot next year?
A: Been a bright spot for me, we've had guys that were thought of as depth that have stepped up really well, specifically DOC and POJ. Also, Sam (Poulin) got caught up in the same thing that Tristan did, he got really sick. That was supposed to be Sam's run of games, because he played really well for WBS, but then he got sick and that wiped that out. St. Ivany came up and play welled. Told him to go down, dominate, help WBS win. I expect Jack to be in the mix, expect Sam to push and make the roster. We talked Blomqvist. Yager and Pickering are playing each other. Whoever gets knocked out will go to WBS. So, all these guys, their chance to show is playing well in the playoffs for WBS. That will help them push for next year. Ponomarev, unfortunately, was playing really well and then got a really bad injury (bad high ankle sprain). He's already played in NHL and played well, but we expect him to push as well. I would expect Yager and Pickering to push...assert yourself and you can have a shot here.
Q (Rorabaugh): Ryan Graves, your biggest acquisition this summer aside from EK, what was your assessment of his play, does he need to still adjust to the system, anything you see that he can do to get better?
A: With Ryan, there's no dancing around it. He was a very good player in Colorado and New Jersey, who were very good teams. He came in and from the beginning, I thought it happens. I didn't expect it to go the whole year. It's on us and it's on Ryan. Ryan needs the whole summer to work on the things he needs to, and we need to arm him with the right tools and guidance. But it's up to Ryan to put in the work, change in the summer, change your training, make the changes that you need to have a big impact. I expect him to come back and have a great year next year. I don't think it's system related. As a pro athlete, you have to be able to adjust quicker.
Q (unknown, Jack/Jeff?): Sid coming off great year, final year of his contract. What's the mindset on contract talks, and would you like to do it before season starts?
A: Imperative that those contract discussions are kept private. I think he should finish his career here. How long that is, I'm not putting limits on that. He is still competing at a high level, not only in games. He's not just maintaining either...he's out there trying to learn new things.
Q (Justin): PP never really got off the ground. Did you feel the issues were more execution with personnel, or more strategy and tactics?
A: We have to get the PP to a point where it is functioning at a high level. To me the units changes continually to try and find the mix. I thought at the end of the season the PP was giving us momentum. Even if it wasn't scoring it was still giving us the momentum needed. I don't think it is deep rooted. The coaching staff, Sully & Todd, put in an immense amount of work. I felt it was better with Bunting in the bumper spot, and that helped a lot of the other spots on the PP get more effective. In the end it comes down to the execution, borne by the systems, have the players, have the proper coaching staff. Needs to be better.
Q (Madden): Already started bringing in youth, but with the contracts you have it shows you are still going to have an aging core. Given that, does the methodology need to change, or are you still fast enough to play the way you want?
A: There's playing fast that gets confused with overall speed. Do you have guys that can move the puck to one another quickly, versus a team like Carolina that has fast guys that can chase the pucks down continually. For me, can we quickly make plays when we have possession, not necessarily how quickly we can chase down pucks. But I do think we need to improve the team speed, as there are a lot of young teams that do have the speed, and a lot of them are in our division. We aren't going to be able to beat those teams consistently until we are able to do that.
Q (Matt Vensel I think): How did you think the dynamic was with hockey ops, people you brought in mixed with people you kept here, and will you keep the POHO and GM roles.
A: I'll keep the dual role. Doug Wilson added a lot of knowledge, Spezz(a), Tom Kostopoulous in player development, Vukie, Amanda Kessel. I think Amanda, Vukie, Jason, and even Andy Saucier could all be GMs in this league. Eric Heasly on the minor league side...it's been no maintenance for me, he's handled it all well. Unless someone moves on with a promotion, I think the group we have here is great.
Q (unknown): Outside of Graves,
A: Lars Eller was everything we asked for when signed, not the sexiest role in hockey. Did it consistently and reliably. Noel, even less sexier role than Lars, started more defensive starts than anyone so I get offended when people talk about his lack of production with the heavy defensive role he played. If we gave him more offensive positions he would produce more. Reilly Smith, great start to the year, from mid-November on Raks was hurt and Geno was struggling, so it was a big adaptation from the players he was used to playing with. I thought Reilly with Lars and Puusty was a better fit. Talking to Reilly, he knows he wasn't as good as he should have been. EK, I thought at the end of the year he showed exactly why we acquired him. Skated and shot the puck instead of trying to slap pass through 5 guys. A massive summer for him to maintain and improve his level. Ned was excellent
Q (Yohe): You've said team needs to get younger and faster, but the way this team finished, does that change your approach? Are the playoffs a priority next season?
A: I will not get too caught up in the start or middle portion, through that stretch. From mid-Jan to March was not a playoff caliber team, early on we were a good team, and in April we played contender level hockey. We kind of touched it all this season, poor start, really bad stretch, really good stretch. Not desirable or the end goal of ours, missing playoffs 2 years in a row. Need to replenish draft capital and prospects. We can quickly get it there for a short stretch, but want to look at a long stretch. Right or wrong, I only concentrate on our division, and we were 5th best. Rangers and Carolina probably aren't going any
Q (Seth): Letang said surgery may be an option for him. Can you give an update on some of the injuries, Letang, Nieto, etc?
A: Letang getting a 2nd opinion on all his ailments that he played through (says he played through multiple injuries all year). Not sure I've felt as bad for someone as Nieto, had injury, rehabbed, setback, another surgery, etc. Ludvig also is getting a 2nd opinion as he has an injury that may need surgery. Graves and Bemstrom have concussions.
penny lane wrote: ↑Fri Apr 19, 2024 10:54 am
I missed it but Lars Eller also had something to say about the Guentzel slide.
Again- where was the Head Coach?
Working on clichés.
EDIT: I'm watching right now. Boy, Dubas sure deflected blame from the coaching staff and fell on the dagger himself. He either didn't want to answer or he's just fine and dandy with where things are with the staff right now.
If you have an open player revolt on your hands, this is how you make it clear who’s in charge. Just saying.
Why do people have a hard time with the idea that the players were a large part of why this season went the way it did?
If a large quantity of players aren't playing well and are even "revolting", that's a huge issue with the coaching staff. Not saying the players aren't part of the failure, but the coaches aren't finding ways to make this team successful. Be that not making changes to a system to adapt to the current roster makeup, the failure to give younger guys a chance with more playing time, and not having the cajones to call some players on the carpet who aren't producing.
Yes, it is an issue with the coaching staff, but how much coaching should 4 future hall of famers need to not play like they did? We have no idea what the interactions were between the big four and the coach.
The thing is, the coaches did make changes to the system and they did play young players. The one thing they didn’t do until now is call out the players publicly. That’s the kind of thing that makes fans excited but runs the risk of alienating your players.
penny lane wrote: ↑Fri Apr 19, 2024 10:54 am
I missed it but Lars Eller also had something to say about the Guentzel slide.
Again- where was the Head Coach?
Working on clichés.
EDIT: I'm watching right now. Boy, Dubas sure deflected blame from the coaching staff and fell on the dagger himself. He either didn't want to answer or he's just fine and dandy with where things are with the staff right now.
If you have an open player revolt on your hands, this is how you make it clear who’s in charge. Just saying.
Why do people have a hard time with the idea that the players were a large part of why this season went the way it did?
If a large quantity of players aren't playing well and are even "revolting", that's a huge issue with the coaching staff. Not saying the players aren't part of the failure, but the coaches aren't finding ways to make this team successful. Be that not making changes to a system to adapt to the current roster makeup, the failure to give younger guys a chance with more playing time, and not having the cajones to call some players on the carpet who aren't producing.
Yes, it is an issue with the coaching staff, but how much coaching should 4 future hall of famers need to not play like they did? We have no idea what the interactions were between the big four and the coach.
The thing is, the coaches did make changes to the system and they did play young players. The one thing they didn’t do until now is call out the players publicly. That’s the kind of thing that makes fans excited but runs the risk of alienating your players.
I didn't see any serious system changes with this team and younger players getting playing time until it was too late. And some of that was out of necessity. When a ham and egger like Jansen Harkins gets a helmet for 45 out of 82 games over younger guys, there's something amiss.
Quite frankly, I'm not real happy with how Dubas reacted to the results of this season. He's like a college professor (and looks like one). I think a little more anger and emotion and showing his own disappointment in the outcome would be nice. It's almost like, "oh well we had a roller coaster of a season, oh well we'll try better next year. We'll work harder in the off season". I would have liked to hear something like "This performance is totally unacceptable, and we will get it corrected. Changes will be made after we evaluate everything."
Sounds like Sully is safe but new assistants will most likely be brought in. I'm pretty sure both of our assistants contracts are up anyway.
Dubas talks about replenishing the cupboards. I'm all for it, I just don't know who he's going to trade to replenish? Jake is gone. Who else really has tremendous value? I guess you could get a 1st and prospect for MP, but then we will be in a bigger bind defensively.
Real curious to see what moves are made. I don't know how you don't explore the market for Jarry and Smith at minimum. Do we really want Jarry mentoring Blomqvist? I think not.
Badger Bob wrote: ↑Fri Apr 19, 2024 11:49 am
@ FLPensFan - Nice job with the recap!
Quite frankly, I'm not real happy with how Dubas reacted to the results of this season. He's like a college professor (and looks like one). I think a little more anger and emotion and showing his own disappointment in the outcome would be nice. It's almost like, "oh well we had a roller coaster of a season, oh well we'll try better next year. We'll work harder in the off season". I would have liked to hear something like "This performance is totally unacceptable, and we will get it corrected. Changes will be made after we evaluate everything."
I agree. It would have been snice to see some emotion, anger. This is the 2024 way. Maybe the Pens are happy with their participation trophy these days??
I really think Sullivan is going to have a chance to right the ship next season. My guess would be that they are going to have him on a short leash and if the results by mid-season are similar to this year, then he'll probably be shown the door at that point. Unfortunately, they'll be looking for a replacement in mid-season. Of course, they've been down that road before. Hopefully, he will be letting some of his assistants hit the road during the off-season, especially Reirden.
Considering how bad the defense was in front of Jarry and Ned, I don't think goaltending was a major factor for this team's failure. The Power Play failures, the lack of offense from the 3rd and 4th lines, the inability to hold or build on leads in the third period and their abysmal performance in OT were much more influential in how things turned out.
Puck-Lurker wrote: ↑Fri Apr 19, 2024 12:24 pm
That was a hole lot of media-trained nothing...
I guess, what were we to expect? Dubas never really tips his hat about anything. Plays things close to the vest. But I would have at least hoped he'd say that there are some significant changes needed, not just tweaking.
Pitts wrote: ↑Fri Apr 19, 2024 12:17 pm
Looks like the plan is to have Smith back next year:
He didn't say bounce back season with the Penguins...he just said a bounce back season.
Dubas is going to have to make some moves somewhere. They aren't good enough as is. They aren't competing with the Rangers and Carolina as the team is constructed today.
I could see them going with a triple P 4th line...Puustinen-Poulin-Puljujarvi. I've seen Madden and a few others suggest that DOC should still be moved down to the 3rd line. I'm not certain where he should play. Based on the way he finished, he should get a look to stay with Sid, but, if the opportunity is there to bring in a younger, faster player for the top 6, I'd be fine with DOC on the 3rd line with Eller.
Three Stars wrote: ↑Fri Apr 19, 2024 11:26 am
Yes, it is an issue with the coaching staff, but how much coaching should 4 future hall of famers need to not play like they did? We have no idea what the interactions were between the big four and the coach.
The thing is, the coaches did make changes to the system and they did play young players. The one thing they didn’t do until now is call out the players publicly. That’s the kind of thing that makes fans excited but runs the risk of alienating your players.
Then what purpose does Sullivan serve? It's not as if the team was playing all out and the 4 future hall of famers were holding them back... the whole team played like crap for the majority of the season. If Sullivan has no control over that, why is he here? How, exactly, would it hurt the team if a new coach was brought in if that is the case?
The "changes" and playing of young players has been discussed frequently, and certainly appeared to only occur from necessity (player injuries and the Guentzel trade). It's not like he was making bold decisions on his own initiative... he was forced into doing *something* because there was no choice.
I didn't see a whole lot of fans here asking for him to "call out players publicly", but I did see an awful lot of people asking why young players weren't getting a chance from the beginning of the season when it was apparent the then-current lineup was not getting things done.
Maybe a new voice, fresh eyes, and a different plan of attack might do the team some good?
