Where do we go from here?

[FLPensFan]

We are just about 1/4 of the way into the season. The team is last in goals allowed, last in goal differential, and currently sit 5th worst overall by points percentage. We are actually behind last year's points pace, and the PP is better but still less than middle of the pack. The team is toast. There is no more "doing the right thing for Sid and the core." They aren't performing, the team isn't performing, and there is simply no way to magically get this team into playoff contender position this season, or likely any upcoming future seasons. Dubas and FSG need to face that harsh reality. Instead of half assing it in an attempt to sneak into the playoffs while hurting your ability to fully embrace the future, we need to be 100% forward looking from here on out. What does that look like/what would I do?

1) Fire Sullivan. These last 2 seasons have been an embarrassment. We need to stop the narrative that there's nothing wrong on a coaching level. If the players aren't executing, then it's the coaches job to get them back on track. Sullivan won't do the necessary evils and bench THE RIGHT GUYS, or yell at the right guys behind closed doors. His accountability towards the veterans is his downfall. It's time he steps aside, so that we can get a better look at a few players under a different mindset. I'd name Vellucci the interim head coach for the rest of the year. He has been interviewing more and more for outside head coaching roles. Give him some experience that may help him land his next NHL gig somewhere else.

2) If possible, trade Ned and a 2027 4th to Carolina for CAR 2025 2nd. Andersen is out long term. He's 35, 1M more expensive than Ned, and a UFA at the end of the season. Acquiring Ned lets Kochetchov take over as the starter, and gives CAR a solid NHL backup that can split starts if needed. Ned isn't the goalie we want to move, but he's 1000x easier to move than Jarry. You bring Blomqvist back up and let him push Jarry for starts. You bring Murashov back up to the AHL, and when Gauthier returns, you let Gauthier and Murashov rotate in and out of Wheeling and let the better player remain in WBS.

3) Acciari, Hayes, Beauvillier, Pettersson, DOC, Nieto and Grzelcyk should be made available (they likely already are). They are all UFAs next season and should be the easier pieces to move. Try to move one or two of them ahead of the deadline.

4) Start rotating guys up from WBS to get 10 game stints at the NHL level. To be clear, most of the guys in WBS are not ready for full time NHL duty, especially trying to come up and play under the train wreck that we currently have. But, give Aho a chance to come up and show that he can do better than Grzelcyk, Shea, and St. Ivany. Reward Broz and Koivunen. Get Pickering and Ponomarev into their stretch of games. A lot of these guys may not be fully ready now, but, giving them a 10 game stint...they get to see first hand the pace and physicality of the NHL, and should be able to get a better read on how they stack up and what they may need to improve upon to stay in the NHL next season.

5) See if there are any takers for Rust, Rakell, and Bunting this summer. I love what Rust brings to this team. He plays in all situations and is generally not one of the guys "coasting." Which is why he'll likely pull better assets once his NMC is gone this summer.

6) Revisit with the core and see if any of them want to move on. Be straight...look, we tried, but it hasn't worked out. We don't and cannot acquire the pieces that I think can get us into the playoffs. If any of you would like to move on, I will find you a home on a contender or a team that could become a playoff team with you coming in. We'd love for you all to stay, but we want to do right by you. Except you Karlsson...eff off, GTFOH.

The goal for the rest of the season should be player development over wins and losses.

Porter Martone has passed James Hagans as the #1 overall projected pick in some projections. Michael Misa and Roger McQueen are all very good forwards. 5 of the top 7 players are all centers. So this is a good draft for the Penguins to finish somewhere in the top 5 to get one of those guys as a starting point.

[Toke]

I would really like to try and find a taker for Graves as well.

[Daniel]

We are just about 1/4 of the way into the season. The team is last in goals allowed, last in goal differential, and currently sit 5th worst overall by points percentage. We are actually behind last year's points pace, and the PP is better but still less than middle of the pack. The team is toast. There is no more "doing the right thing for Sid and the core." They aren't performing, the team isn't performing, and there is simply no way to magically get this team into playoff contender position this season, or likely any upcoming future seasons. Dubas and FSG need to face that harsh reality. Instead of half assing it in an attempt to sneak into the playoffs while hurting your ability to fully embrace the future, we need to be 100% forward looking from here on out. What does that look like/what would I do?

1) Fire Sullivan. These last 2 seasons have been an embarrassment. We need to stop the narrative that there's nothing wrong on a coaching level. If the players aren't executing, then it's the coaches job to get them back on track. Sullivan won't do the necessary evils and bench THE RIGHT GUYS, or yell at the right guys behind closed doors. His accountability towards the veterans is his downfall. It's time he steps aside, so that we can get a better look at a few players under a different mindset. I'd name Vellucci the interim head coach for the rest of the year. He has been interviewing more and more for outside head coaching roles. Give him some experience that may help him land his next NHL gig somewhere else.

2) If possible, trade Ned and a 2027 4th to Carolina for CAR 2025 2nd. Andersen is out long term. He's 35, 1M more expensive than Ned, and a UFA at the end of the season. Acquiring Ned lets Kochetchov take over as the starter, and gives CAR a solid NHL backup that can split starts if needed. Ned isn't the goalie we want to move, but he's 1000x easier to move than Jarry. You bring Blomqvist back up and let him push Jarry for starts. You bring Murashov back up to the AHL, and when Gauthier returns, you let Gauthier and Murashov rotate in and out of Wheeling and let the better player remain in WBS.

3) Acciari, Hayes, Beauvillier, Pettersson, DOC, Nieto and Grzelcyk should be made available (they likely already are). They are all UFAs next season and should be the easier pieces to move. Try to move one or two of them ahead of the deadline.

4) Start rotating guys up from WBS to get 10 game stints at the NHL level. To be clear, most of the guys in WBS are not ready for full time NHL duty, especially trying to come up and play under the train wreck that we currently have. But, give Aho a chance to come up and show that he can do better than Grzelcyk, Shea, and St. Ivany. Reward Broz and Koivunen. Get Pickering and Ponomarev into their stretch of games. A lot of these guys may not be fully ready now, but, giving them a 10 game stint...they get to see first hand the pace and physicality of the NHL, and should be able to get a better read on how they stack up and what they may need to improve upon to stay in the NHL next season.

5) See if there are any takers for Rust, Rakell, and Bunting this summer. I love what Rust brings to this team. He plays in all situations and is generally not one of the guys "coasting." Which is why he'll likely pull better assets once his NMC is gone this summer.

6) Revisit with the core and see if any of them want to move on. Be straight...look, we tried, but it hasn't worked out. We don't and cannot acquire the pieces that I think can get us into the playoffs. If any of you would like to move on, I will find you a home on a contender or a team that could become a playoff team with you coming in. We'd love for you all to stay, but we want to do right by you. Except you Karlsson...eff off, GTFOH.

The goal for the rest of the season should be player development over wins and losses.

Porter Martone has passed James Hagans as the #1 overall projected pick in some projections. Michael Misa and Roger McQueen are all very good forwards. 5 of the top 7 players are all centers. So this is a good draft for the Penguins to finish somewhere in the top 5 to get one of those guys as a starting point.

Honestly right now the franchise needs to get past the five stages of grief and accept the fact that it's over.

Denial & Bargaining have lasted for 5 years. Anger happens every so often, then right back into bargaining. I hope the depression doesn't last long, but until they get to acceptance they'll continue to bargain until only the die hard fans are left and the greatness of the trio will be a distant memory.

[dark_forces]

We are just about 1/4 of the way into the season. The team is last in goals allowed, last in goal differential, and currently sit 5th worst overall by points percentage. We are actually behind last year's points pace, and the PP is better but still less than middle of the pack. The team is toast. There is no more "doing the right thing for Sid and the core." They aren't performing, the team isn't performing, and there is simply no way to magically get this team into playoff contender position this season, or likely any upcoming future seasons. Dubas and FSG need to face that harsh reality. Instead of half assing it in an attempt to sneak into the playoffs while hurting your ability to fully embrace the future, we need to be 100% forward looking from here on out. What does that look like/what would I do?

1) Fire Sullivan. These last 2 seasons have been an embarrassment. We need to stop the narrative that there's nothing wrong on a coaching level. If the players aren't executing, then it's the coaches job to get them back on track. Sullivan won't do the necessary evils and bench THE RIGHT GUYS, or yell at the right guys behind closed doors. His accountability towards the veterans is his downfall. It's time he steps aside, so that we can get a better look at a few players under a different mindset. I'd name Vellucci the interim head coach for the rest of the year. He has been interviewing more and more for outside head coaching roles. Give him some experience that may help him land his next NHL gig somewhere else.

2) If possible, trade Ned and a 2027 4th to Carolina for CAR 2025 2nd. Andersen is out long term. He's 35, 1M more expensive than Ned, and a UFA at the end of the season. Acquiring Ned lets Kochetchov take over as the starter, and gives CAR a solid NHL backup that can split starts if needed. Ned isn't the goalie we want to move, but he's 1000x easier to move than Jarry. You bring Blomqvist back up and let him push Jarry for starts. You bring Murashov back up to the AHL, and when Gauthier returns, you let Gauthier and Murashov rotate in and out of Wheeling and let the better player remain in WBS.

3) Acciari, Hayes, Beauvillier, Pettersson, DOC, Nieto and Grzelcyk should be made available (they likely already are). They are all UFAs next season and should be the easier pieces to move. Try to move one or two of them ahead of the deadline.

4) Start rotating guys up from WBS to get 10 game stints at the NHL level. To be clear, most of the guys in WBS are not ready for full time NHL duty, especially trying to come up and play under the train wreck that we currently have. But, give Aho a chance to come up and show that he can do better than Grzelcyk, Shea, and St. Ivany. Reward Broz and Koivunen. Get Pickering and Ponomarev into their stretch of games. A lot of these guys may not be fully ready now, but, giving them a 10 game stint...they get to see first hand the pace and physicality of the NHL, and should be able to get a better read on how they stack up and what they may need to improve upon to stay in the NHL next season.

5) See if there are any takers for Rust, Rakell, and Bunting this summer. I love what Rust brings to this team. He plays in all situations and is generally not one of the guys "coasting." Which is why he'll likely pull better assets once his NMC is gone this summer.

6) Revisit with the core and see if any of them want to move on. Be straight...look, we tried, but it hasn't worked out. We don't and cannot acquire the pieces that I think can get us into the playoffs. If any of you would like to move on, I will find you a home on a contender or a team that could become a playoff team with you coming in. We'd love for you all to stay, but we want to do right by you. Except you Karlsson...eff off, GTFOH.

The goal for the rest of the season should be player development over wins and losses.

Porter Martone has passed James Hagans as the #1 overall projected pick in some projections. Michael Misa and Roger McQueen are all very good forwards. 5 of the top 7 players are all centers. So this is a good draft for the Penguins to finish somewhere in the top 5 to get one of those guys as a starting point.

Honestly right now the franchise needs to get past the five stages of grief and accept the fact that it's over.

Denial & Bargaining have lasted for 5 years. Anger happens every so often, then right back into bargaining. I hope the depression doesn't last long, but until they get to acceptance they'll continue to bargain until only the die hard fans are left and the greatness of the trio will be a distant memory.

Well written. You covered all the prime considerations perfectly.
We should be in complete tear down mode now. The only thing I may do is hold onto Sullivan until the offseason, but use the rest of the season to really monitor who's out there (could be out there) in the coaching ranks for a potential hire this offseason.
I think the organization needs a fresh start as far as head coaching is concerned, but it should be carefully planned for and not just bump up an assistant or bring in a retread coach.

[thehockeyguru]

The answer is simple sell off when it makes sense, take on bad contracts when you can gain assets, and lose every single game.

The only problem so far this season is we've won too many games

[FLPensFan]

The answer is simple sell off when it makes sense, take on bad contracts when you can gain assets, and lose every single game.

The only problem so far this season is we've won too many games

I'm not so sure on that. We may not run away and be the clear worst team in the league, but if the team continues playing how they are now, I think they will continue to be in a battle for a bottom 5 spot.

If you look at the results, they've beaten one playoff team, Washington. They've lost to every other playoff team they've played.
All of our wins have come against non-playoff teams, and now, we've lost 2 consecutive games to non-playoff teams, DET and CBJ.

Over their next 11 games, SJ tonight and Utah next Saturday are the only non-playoff teams they play. They've got TB, WPG, VAN, BOS, CGY, FLA, NYR, TOR, and COL as the other 9 games.

They then have a stretch of 9 games where only NJ and LA are playoff teams. MTL, OTT, NSH, PHI, NYIx2 and DET.

It's a big stretch of games, 20 to be exact, and if you go buy beat non-playoff teams, lose to playoff teams, they'll 9-11 over that stretch....but that's also above their current points percentage pace.

That's a lot of words just to say....bottom 5 in the league...definitely a chance.

[100565]

Plan should be to be bad. Really bad.

At this point, I keep Sully for a few years. He gives them best chance of being bad.

DOC, Pettersson, and Puljujarvi give them best chance of getting something of substance in return. I put these guys in positions to exceed to hopefully increase trade value.

I take bad contracts with assets attached.

I don’t retain salary in any trade.

They need top 5 and top 10 picks to get highend talent. No one in minors excites me too much. Probably 3C, 3-4D, 4C, and maybe middle 6 LW.

[Puck-Lurker]

- 1. Fire Sullivan.
- 2. Do not trade Crosby.
- 3. Do NOT trade Crosby.
- 4. Trade any non-prospect player for picks, prospects and placeholders.
- 5. Take on bad contracts for picks and prospects.
- 6. Call up a few WBS guys to plug and play, learn on the job.
- 7. Suck for the rest of the season, intentional or not.
- 8. Draft well.

Bonus;
Dubas can get style points for acquiring a(nother) high 1st round pick. For adding good prospects. For adding better than 3rd rounders in deals.

[thehockeyguru]

The answer is simple sell off when it makes sense, take on bad contracts when you can gain assets, and lose every single game.

The only problem so far this season is we've won too many games

I'm not so sure on that. We may not run away and be the clear worst team in the league, but if the team continues playing how they are now, I think they will continue to be in a battle for a bottom 5 spot.

If you look at the results, they've beaten one playoff team, Washington. They've lost to every other playoff team they've played.
All of our wins have come against non-playoff teams, and now, we've lost 2 consecutive games to non-playoff teams, DET and CBJ.

Over their next 11 games, SJ tonight and Utah next Saturday are the only non-playoff teams they play. They've got TB, WPG, VAN, BOS, CGY, FLA, NYR, TOR, and COL as the other 9 games.

They then have a stretch of 9 games where only NJ and LA are playoff teams. MTL, OTT, NSH, PHI, NYIx2 and DET.

It's a big stretch of games, 20 to be exact, and if you go buy beat non-playoff teams, lose to playoff teams, they'll 9-11 over that stretch....but that's also above their current points percentage pace.

That's a lot of words just to say....bottom 5 in the league...definitely a chance.

We don't need to be the run away worst team, finish bottom 3 and you are getting a legit foundational piece. Then do that every season trading off Crosby, Malkin, Karlsson and Letang over that timeframe.

I've stayed away from this board because everyone wants to "fix" this team. Fire Sullivan, cut Jarry, trade Graves. No no and no. Every decision made should look to maximize draft picks and maximize losses. You won't built another cup contender without top 3 picks. If you doubt that look at the Detroit rebuild

[Dynasty1970]

- 1. Fire Sullivan.
- 2. Do not trade Crosby.
- 3. Do NOT trade Crosby.
- 4. Trade any non-prospect player for picks, prospects and placeholders.
- 5. Take on bad contracts for picks and prospects.
- 6. Call up a few WBS guys to plug and play, learn on the job.
- 7. Suck for the rest of the season, intentional or not.
- 8. Draft well.

Bonus;
Dubas can get style points for acquiring a(nother) high 1st round pick. For adding good prospects. For adding better than 3rd rounders in deals.

You have to let Crosby go. We cannot win here during the remainder of his career. Let he go put up points on a winning team.

[Maestro]

The answer is simple sell off when it makes sense, take on bad contracts when you can gain assets, and lose every single game.

The only problem so far this season is we've won too many games

Speak truth to power.

[maopens]

In hindsight, putting EK65 and Letting on the same team turned out as badly as one might have imagined it would.

Having 2 offensive-minded defensemen who are defensively deficient seemed like a good idea to GMKD?

Karlsson - in spite of all the points he has put up, in spite of his Norris trophies, in spite of his so-called greatness, his plus/minus rating for his career is -107.

-107!! That is really hard to do. Even Letang and all his boneheaded turnovers is a +90.

We have to find a way to get him and that horrible contract off this team. I can't watch another couple seasons of him in black and gold.

[largegarlic]

There was an interesting article on Pensburgh (https://www.pensburgh.com/2024/11/15/24 ... ht-produce) where they go through every player that was traded during the last rebuild (2001-2005) and the return the Pens got. Basically, the conclusion was that none of the players returned in those trades and none of the players picked with draft picks returned in those trades actually contributed to the next Pens team to make the playoffs. The only exceptions are Fleury, if you count the trade to move up and take him in the draft, and Goligoski (I forgot that Goligoski played in the playoffs for the Pens), who was taken with a pick the Pens got in a trade. I guess the conclusion was that none of the tearing down of the roster actually helped in the rebuild except indirectly, since it made the team bad enough to get actual high-end draft picks.

I do wonder, though, if the situation is similar enough to shed much light on what this rebuild could look like. The Pens in the early '00s were broke; there was no cap; and Jagr was "dying alive." I think those circumstances forced Patrick into some pretty bad trades where he was just trying to save money/unload a disgruntled star and had to accept crappy returns. For all the griping about FSG, they seem willing to spend to the cap and aren't unloading guys just because they cost money. They're even going further and taking on bad contracts like Hayes and Glass when they can get paid in draft picks to do so.

Also, there were those reports that Patrick was way behind the times by the point he was ousted and was still doing things by land line with little computerized and internet-based information. Dubas's moves have been a mixed bag so far, but he's probably not going to make as poor decisions with as little data as late-stage Patrick was doing.

[Pens4Life]

We are pretty much all on Fire Sullivan train!? But for god sake..

He will never step down as coach on his own ha? Like that **** never even crossed his mind probably.. like we suck,maybe I'm the issue,maybe change will be good for me as well.. nope, probably didnt happen at all!

[KBone]

In hindsight, putting EK65 and Letting on the same team turned out as badly as one might have imagined it would.

Having 2 offensive-minded defensemen who are defensively deficient seemed like a good idea to GMKD?

Karlsson - in spite of all the points he has put up, in spite of his Norris trophies, in spite of his so-called greatness, his plus/minus rating for his career is -107.

-107!! That is really hard to do. Even Letang and all his boneheaded turnovers is a +90.

We have to find a way to get him and that horrible contract off this team. I can't watch another couple seasons of him in black and gold.

There was evidence it was a gamble going in as SJ tried it with Burns and EK and it didn't work there and it hasn't worked here.

[Puck-Lurker]

- 1. Fire Sullivan.
- 2. Do not trade Crosby.
- 3. Do NOT trade Crosby.
- 4. Trade any non-prospect player for picks, prospects and placeholders.
- 5. Take on bad contracts for picks and prospects.
- 6. Call up a few WBS guys to plug and play, learn on the job.
- 7. Suck for the rest of the season, intentional or not.
- 8. Draft well.

Bonus;
Dubas can get style points for acquiring a(nother) high 1st round pick. For adding good prospects. For adding better than 3rd rounders in deals.

You have to let Crosby go. We cannot win here during the remainder of his career. Let he go put up points on a winning team.

You only do that if Crosby wants to go and he asks to be traded. I wouldn't make any assumptions that he wants to get out of town.

If he does inform Dubas he wants to be traded, you make it happen and get a good deal out of it, whether you like it or not. But evidence so far, points the other way.

[DelPen]

I’m still waiting on what should have happened at the end of the seasons in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 and then also half way through the 23/24 season last year and that’s Sullivan is no longer the right coach for this team. Rick Kehoe was fired for less reasons than there are to dump Sully.

[Daniel]

- 1. Fire Sullivan.
- 2. Do not trade Crosby.
- 3. Do NOT trade Crosby.
- 4. Trade any non-prospect player for picks, prospects and placeholders.
- 5. Take on bad contracts for picks and prospects.
- 6. Call up a few WBS guys to plug and play, learn on the job.
- 7. Suck for the rest of the season, intentional or not.
- 8. Draft well.

Bonus;
Dubas can get style points for acquiring a(nother) high 1st round pick. For adding good prospects. For adding better than 3rd rounders in deals.

You have to let Crosby go. We cannot win here during the remainder of his career. Let he go put up points on a winning team.

You only do that if Crosby wants to go and he asks to be traded. I wouldn't make any assumptions that he wants to get out of town.

If he does inform Dubas he wants to be traded, you make it happen and get a good deal out of it, whether you like it or not. But evidence so far, points the other way.

At this point for Crosby and even Malkin/Letang is their legacy. While it won't diminish their Hall of Fame credentials, they might like the only one team thing. Consider this, Crosby is #3 in all time scoring for players who played for one team and might end up as the highest scorer ever when it's all said and done. He's #4 in goals and #3 in assists and points. He already has 3 cups so being the number 1 in assists and points might be his only remaining goal. He'll never catch Ovechkin, but is 47 assists away, and 165 points away from Yzerman.

Or he might not give a crap and end up with MacKinnon in Colorado.

[Ericf]

I’m still waiting on what should have happened at the end of the seasons in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 and then also half way through the 23/24 season last year and that’s Sullivan is no longer the right coach for this team. Rick Kehoe was fired for less reasons than there are to dump Sully.

Exactly. It’s not a serious team if they don’t fire him

[Daniel]

I’m still waiting on what should have happened at the end of the seasons in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 and then also half way through the 23/24 season last year and that’s Sullivan is no longer the right coach for this team. Rick Kehoe was fired for less reasons than there are to dump Sully.

Exactly. It’s not a serious team if they don’t fire him

Consider this, Sheldon Keefe never missed the playoffs and had a .600 winning percentage and got fired. Sullivan can't match either over the past 5 years.

[MayorofD6]

I favor the trading of Ned. But let Bloom stay in WBS for now. Bring up Larsson to back up Jarry. Then alternate between Bloom and Larsson up here the rest of the season.

[Pitts]

More trades coming. Nothing we don't already suspect, but ...
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/592892 ... -deadline/

Kris Letang might be the most interesting player in this equation.

While he signed a six-year deal with the Penguins in 2022 with a desire to finish his career in Pittsburgh, I’ve never sensed from Letang that playing for a different franchise would trouble him the way it would Crosby and Malkin.

Marcus Pettersson is the most likely candidate to be on the move. League sources said the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks have interest in the lanky defenseman, and there’s every reason to believe other teams will covet him.

There’s a good chance Rickard Rakell, Pettersson’s fellow Swede and close friend, will also be gone sooner rather than later.

Don’t expect the Penguins to ask Rust to waive his no-trade clause. And don’t expect him to do it if they ask.

Next season? Things could get interesting. There will be no shortage of teams interested in his services, and, again, the Penguins are in a rebuild even if they won’t publicly say it.

Given the state of the Penguins’ blue line, and that Pettersson doesn’t figure to be in Pittsburgh for more than a couple of months, it seems likely that Penguins fans will see their share of Pickering soon.

[Puck-Lurker]

If all those get traded and fetch a decent return, I'll be more hopeful about our future.

[largegarlic]

If all those get traded and fetch a decent return, I'll be more hopeful about our future.

Yeah, I was reading Pensburgh's take on trade possibilities this morning, and they didn't think Letang or Rakell were at all tradable. They figured that both had too much term, and Letang has the NMC. And that does make some sense. But if The Athletic is hearing there's interest in guys like that, that is a good sign in terms of being able to trade them for something useful.

[jeffshly]

Okay, "Devil's Advocate" post here.

I've opined on whether Mike Sullivan is the coach for this team and have felt that he wasn't for quite a few years. However, if the Pens really are in rebuild mode (even if they're not admitting to it), could Sullivan be the guy to rebuild this team?

A quote from a post I made back in March:

A good coach will formulate a style of play that will allow his team to be most successful. He'll build a system around the tools he has in his arsenal. Sullivan forces his players to play his style, squeezing square pegs into round holes. He's trying to enter a 1987 Yugo into a Formula One race! You can't play a speed game if you don't have team speed. The Pens haven't had team speed for quite a few years.

But if the Pens get a lot younger and a lot faster, would he be the guy to coach that team? He's had success with youth and speed in the past, and did a great job putting guys into roles where they could succeed. I'd actually be curious to see what he's capable of without any constraints of deferring to The Big Three that he may be operating under. Don't get me wrong - Scotty Bowman, he's not. Bowman was the master of changing styles to match his teams' strengths. But in this hypothetical scenario of having a youth-and-speed team, he's a youth-and-speed coach. Could he be the fit that the post-Big Three needs?