Lowlights:
"We need to get younger."
"Deep respect for coaching staff."
"Sullivan is type of coach to help you win. No discussion about Mike needed."
After question about Reirden: "Power play is on me."
"I haven't asked anyone to waive a NMC or NTC."
"Team has couple of weeks to show him something."
"Team is still capable."
"When we don't score on power play, puts added pressure on even-strength."
"Focus on getting team more consistent whether at trade deadline or off-season."
"Keeping core to help out younger guys."
"This group is given latitude based on their prior experience."
Would a trade shake things up? : "Absolutely. We tried but haven't found any opportunities. Not a huge proponent of that anyway."
Has Sullivan asked for anything? : "It's not his style to do that. No demands."
What's your message to fans who might be frustrated? : "Fans were incredible last night. Fans are doing their part. Proud sports city and everything we do will be working towards having a championship team sooner rather than later."
Who are the core? Crosby, Letang, Malkin and EK? : "EK would admit he needs to help the team more. Want to add younger guys so the core can help them."
penny lane wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2024 2:16 pm
Coach Sullivan is a hero for having to face the media daily.
LOL can't be serious. It's literally the smallest version of any form of accountability that he has even come close to facing since becoming head coach.
"Sullivan is type of coach to help you win. No discussion about Mike needed."
Wow ... I don't really know what to think, say, I can only hope that it is BS because he can't say in public what he really thinks. I REALLY hope that is the case.
Admin wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2024 2:31 pm
Not even one question about FLPensFan's plan?!
I tried to ask it when they were shutting down the presser early, that's why they started to shut it down and then came back for 3-4 more questions. They didn't want Dubas to be exposed to my great plan.
Here were my notes from the presser (put it in the other thread before here):
Highlights from Dubas presser:
--"Where we're at right now is not where we aspired to be in the beginning."
--Talked about Guentzel situation a bit, but the audio had cut out and back in. What I could glean is, no progress. Didn't talk about outright trading him, but mentioned this team needs to get younger. Talked about where his age is and committing to a bigger contract...and wanting to get younger.
--Addressed LeBrun comment about everyone available. Hadn't heard them, but a fellow GM brought it up to him the other day. Didn't specifically confirm or deny, just said the calls have increased as the Penguins play hasn't been what they expected. Talked about only winning 1 of 3 games a few times lately and that they aren't where they are.
--Rob Rossi asks if this team continues in this direction, how will that effect players and coaching changes in the offseason "One thing about the coaching staff is it is low hanging fruit. It's the easy thing to do. I have respect for Sully, we speak on an almost daily basis. I know he's into, the team means a great deal to him. For me, I envision Mike Sullivan, I think he is the type of coach that can develop people/players, and that he can win. So I don't think there needs to be any discussion about Mike. I see the work he's doing everyday. It's a fair question based on the results, but I see the work being done."
--Taylor Haase: Are you satisfied with PP and work Todd Reirden has done, or do you think it falls more on players: " Accountability on everyone, including me. It's on coaches, and players as well. 1) If there is an issue with the organization, it has to start with me. I need to to investigate the why and be able to address. There's no dancing around it, it hasn't been where we want it to be."
--Molinari: Have you or plan to ask anyone to waive NMC/NTC "I have not asked anyone to waive a NTC/NMC. Always evaluating, measuring the cost, etc. Gigantic game of poker. Again says as the team has struggled more, he is getting more and more interest in his players."
--Going to be buyers, or turn more towards the future: "I can't see us moving future draft capital to try and bolster the team. Are there moves where we can add good, younger players to this team to help us now and in the future." If there is a scenario where we could move a younger prospect for a slightly older player who is closer to the NHL, that is something we could do. Said he still believes this group can make a push.
--Talked about criticism of him, trying to build out more defensive lines in lines 3 and 4, to try and take pressure off Sid and Geno. Eller running one line and Acciari running the other. Stated
--Talked about getting younger AGAIN, mentioned the roster being oldest in the league. Doesn't want to get too far ahead, but talked about Sid, Geno, Kris, and Erik imparting wisdom on younger guys that they can bring in.
--Yohe: One way to get younger is to do a complete rebuild. Hard to do with Sid and Geno "Major opportunities is to get the team more consistent. When you have players like Sid and Geno, they prevent you from doing a full rebuild because they are too good." Named Yager, Pickering, Poulin, and Blomqvist as younger players they would want the core to help learn the game and expedite their development. Talked about looking for opportunities where maybe a team has a surplus at a position, where we can get some more younger guys in here.
--Reporter asks about his evaluation phase, can what happens in next 2 and a half weeks change his approach on trade deadline: "I think we've had enough moments that, when we are at our best, we can play with anybody...but it hasn't happened enough. If the group didn't have the pedigree and accomplishment, they probably wouldn't have this much runway."
--Reporter, any thoughts on just doing a hockey trade to shakeup the room. "We have explored that going into ASG break. We have found that it is just not that easy in the current landscape. We tried to do it, continue to try and do it, but the opportunities haven't been there and we've pretty much exhausted them." If we are
--DanK - When meeting with Sully daily, has he asked for specific players or types of players. "With Mike, I'll say this is the opportunities that we have what do you think? And most times, Mike will defer and state that if you think it will help, go ahead and do it. It's not his experience in-season to say I need X. They did a recent review like this with Matthew Phillips.
--Reporter - What would you say as a message to fans concerned and frustrated, on potentially missing playoffs for 2nd year in a row. "My expectation was that last night, given some of the circumstances, that last night would have been a lower attended game. Fans are doing their part. From my 8-9 months here, this is a proud city with their sports teams. We want to try and achieve success with the least amount of pain as possible."
--Rob Rossi - You've taked about Sid, Geno, and Letang. Then also talked about Erik. Should we consider those 4 as the core "We need to keep adding to it. My hope is that we can continue to add younger guys. And again, the core can impart their wisdom on these younger players."
==============================================================
My two cents from all of this, immediately after without much time to digest:
1) Sorry, but Sullivan isn't going anywhere. While he didn't come out and say it, he believes the effort and work is there from Sullivan. He also made a comment that he believes he is the right guy for player development, and Dubas mentioned MULTIPLE TIMES about getting younger. Sullivan's here. It doesn't seem like even a playoff miss is going to get him fired.
2) From what he did this offseason, and what he said today...I think this offseason was more about clearing up some of the dead weight (Petry, Granlund, etc) and trying to build a defensive bottom 6 team. He acknowledge that didn't work. Moving forward, his main focus, repeated many, many times, is for this team to try and get younger.
3) My stuff on Guentzel at the beginning was mainly me making assumptions based on what little I could catch due to audio switching out. But, if he's talking about getting younger...I'd expect Guentzel to get moved, and Dubas will look for an opportunity to add 1 or 2 young players to the roster out of a Guentzel deal. Can he get a Hoglander and someone else younger? Can he get a Holloway AND McLeod to add to under 25 guys to the roster? I think that is what he is looking at right now. Just my opinion.
4) While publicly he's saying this team still has a chance, sounds like these next 6 games (2 at home then a 4 game West Coast trip) will be the final measuring stick. And even if they went 6-0, doesn't sound like he's willing to spend futures for rentals or older players. If by some miracle this team made a strong run and put themselves maybe 3-4 points out before the deadline, Dubas will need to find a hockey trade or use guys from within. He won't dump picks and prospects.
That's where we are at. The bad here is, Sullivan is going nowhere. The good news is, Dubas sees the need to get younger, and it sounds like Dubas isn't going to be afraid to deal if they don't see a dramatic improvement in the next half dozen games.
Here's word for word what was said about Guentzel, per Pens Inside Scoop:
It sounds like he's gone. And, if Dubas is really smart, he'll let teams talk to Guentzel's agent about an extension...which could dramatically increase the return.
Nice summation. I do appreciate Dubas acknowledging that they owe it to Sid to keep trying to win. And the Sullivan thing, I have a few thoughts:
1) I've been on the "Fire Sullivan" train for a few years now but at this point, I don't even know what firing Sullivan NOW would really do. It's just a very poorly constructed lineup top to bottom. Granted, Sullivan has done a horrific job maximizing on what he does have at his disposal.
2) I don't ever expect the GM to publicly throw the coach under the bus. So while he speaks glowingly about Sullivan, it's not abnormal to then see the exact opposite happen when you're officially in the off-season.
3) In an odd way, Sullivan has proven to get a lot of out a "*** filled roster when the big guys were out injured in the past several seasons (most notably in the 2021-2022 season). Maybe he's at his best when he is forced to use younger lesser-known guys in the organization in high-impact positions.
Not excusing Sullivan at all - but to me, alot of it still comes down to the fact that the GM went out and got 143 of the same type of ham n egger bottom sixers and left really no competition for the young guys. Not that the cupboard is filled with talent, but at some point, you have to allow young guys to try and take a spot. They didn't allow for that under the Hextall regime and thus far through one offseason, also not under the Dubas regime.
I missed the very beginning so I went back again. Sure sounded like Dubas has said to Jake he's gone. Agreed, that Sullivan (publicly, at least) is Coach for Life™. Emphasis throughout the press conference was on getting younger and having the core teach the noobs.
Admin wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2024 2:57 pm
I missed the very beginning so I went back again. Sure sounded like Dubas has said to Jake he's gone. Agreed, that Sullivan (publicly, at least) is Coach for Life™. Emphasis throughout the press conference was on getting younger and having the core teach the noobs.
Emphasis on getting younger is great in theory, but not when you have a coach who prefers to play Jeff Carter as much as humanly possible.
It’s easy for Dubas to take the blame and deflect on Sullivan. He’s the one with a 7 year deal. Dubas isn’t going to throw his coach under the bus though.
I expect them to trade Jake and Smith for sure. Then do some major reconstruction in the off season.
Yes we need to get younger but man do we really need offensive depth.
Admin wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2024 2:57 pm
I missed the very beginning so I went back again. Sure sounded like Dubas has said to Jake he's gone. Agreed, that Sullivan (publicly, at least) is Coach for Life™. Emphasis throughout the press conference was on getting younger and having the core teach the noobs.
Emphasis on getting younger is great in theory, but not when you have a coach who prefers to play Jeff Carter as much as humanly possible.
It’s easy for Dubas to take the blame and deflect on Sullivan. He’s the one with a 7 year deal. Dubas isn’t going to throw his coach under the bus though.
I expect them to trade Jake and Smith for sure. Then do some major reconstruction in the off season.
Yes we need to get younger but man do we really need offensive depth.
It sounds like they will likely trade Jake. The focus needs to be on getting a young player who can be in the lineup today. Thinking a Hoglander or Holloway type. If they allow a team to talk extension, and one is worked out before a trade is made....I'd be looking for a 1st, a 2nd (if we retain for this year only), an A level prospect, and a 20-24 year old top 9/top 4 type player.
I don't agree with it, but I think the argument for Sullivan is that he could be a good coach for a rebuild. If he has a bunch of young, hungry, fast guys who have some skill but aren't necessarily stars, and his veteran crutches are taken away so he has to play the kids, I could see him getting that sort of team to overachieve.
That's about all I can see as a case for keeping Sullivan.
My biggest takeaway is that I can stop saying anything about the coaching staff. It all falls on GMKD now. I respect his inner accountability. Stand up guy. Water under the bridge. We are where we are but now every move he makes will be under a more powerful microscope, because as he says, if it isn’t the coaching then it has to be the personnel.
Well, Dubas then must be admitting that some of his bigger moves of bringing in Smith and Graves are mistakes on him. And to a little lesser degree, the acquisition of EK, which has also been disappointing. It's not on the coach at all? Hmmmmm.....
pekkasteele wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2024 2:45 pm
"Sullivan is type of coach to help you win. No discussion about Mike needed."
Wow ... I don't really know what to think, say, I can only hope that it is BS because he can't say in public what he really thinks. I REALLY hope that is the case.
My reaction exactly. Wow. I don’t think Dubas was hired with the power to fire Sullivan. There just is no other explanation. I realize that you don’t want to throw the coach under the bus at a press conference but I expected him to at least say something like, “We’re going to evaluate everything after the season” or “We have no immediate plans to make changes to the coaching staff” or “We’ll sit down after the season and evaluate…” Nope. Pretty much a hard no. Must be nice to have that kind of job security.
All I needed to hear and I went off.. yuck
