Dubas press conference 2-21-2024

[BigMcK]

My takeaway? Sullivan isn't going anywhere, so stop complaining. We are in complete control and know what we are doing. Thank you fans for spending money on the team. We are working to get younger, but if we can offer a younger player for a slightly older player, we will do that. There are 82 games to evaluate the situation and I don't think we have enough data to make changes.

FLPensFan needs a better agent for press credentials.

[1967penguins]

"FLPensFan needs a better agent for press credentials. "

I sure liked what FLPensFan proposed a whole lot better than what came out of Dubas' presser this afternoon. One was grounded in reality and practically addressed the current situation for what it is, while one was so much blather and outright denial of the dire straights facing the hockey team.

[maopens]

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.

I heard much the same. The off-season plan was to build out 2 defensive lines so that the 2 top lines could focus on scoring. The plan hasn't worked and he said it, largely because the power play isn't scoring as they anticipated.

After listening to the presser, I went to NHL.com to pull stats as of today (granted they change somewhat day to day as teams have played different numbers of games). For the season thus far, here are the Pens team stats:

1. Goal For = Ranked 27th best in NHL
2. Goals Against = 4th best in NHL
3. Power Play % = 30th best in NHL
4. Penalty Kill % = 8th best in NHL
5. Face Off % = 1st in NHL


From those stats, defense and goaltending have held up so far even though it may not feel like it. The untimely late goals likely spoil how those numbers feel to us. But the problem for this team is that it cannot score goals. The power play has dragged down the offense to the point that the team cannot overcome that issue even with a good defensive season. I think we all agree, the goaltending has exceeded expectations for this season and that is pumping up those defensive stats.

The questions remains as I did not hear Dubas address what is going to change regarding the power play. It's a boat anchor around this team's neck. No answer for how a team with Crosby, Malkin, Guentzel, Karlsson, Letang, etc is scoring on 13% of their power play chances for the season. That may be the most shocking stat that I've seen in my 40 years of watching Penguins hockey. They've had all season to address it and so far, the same people are in charge of that offense, the same players can't gain zone entries, can't maintain possession with a man advantage, and cannot stop giving up short-handed goals.

Who thinks they are going to make any significant change with 29 games to go? How in the world they haven't brought in a new face to take a fresh look at what they are doing is beyond me at this point.

Tampa Bay and Toronto are scoring on around 30% of the power play attempts. How about somebody start watching those games and copying what those teams are doing? Hell, I'll do it for free if someone would listen.

[Admin]

Tampa Bay and Toronto are scoring on around 30% of the power play attempts. How about somebody start watching those games and copying what those teams are doing? Hell, I'll do it for free if someone would listen.

Well now you have to do this.

[pronovost19]

If the Pens had this season’s goaltending and not “spicy pork and broccoli, not the best” in the Rangers series two years ago, they easily win that series and may go on a deep playoff run. It all has to work in unison.

[DelPen]

If Dubas thinks the work and effort is there for Sullivan what does it say that this team can’t hold leads and is way outside the playoff picture? That’s called garbage coaching. I’d actually feel better if the team quit on him but they are all still fully buying in to what he’s coaching and it’s a miserable form of hockey.

[Fast B]

If the Pens had this season’s goaltending and not “spicy pork and broccoli, not the best” in the Rangers series two years ago, they easily win that series and may go on a deep playoff run. It all has to work in unison.

It still pains me that that Game 7 was on my birthday. I barely even got to answer my front door (for a pizza delivery) before the OT began and ended. Rude.

[BigMcK]

It still pains me that that Game 7 was on my birthday. I barely even got to answer my front door (for a pizza delivery) before the OT began and ended. Rude.

How was the pizza? Hot and fresh I hope. Penguins owe you a do over...

[BigMcK]

A follow up question, post State of the Penguins press conference: Has any players agent reached out to you and alerted you their client is willing to waive trade restrictions and asked that you work to trade them to a Cup contender?

The old *get me out of here* card.

[Fast B]

It still pains me that that Game 7 was on my birthday. I barely even got to answer my front door (for a pizza delivery) before the OT began and ended. Rude.

How was the pizza? Hot and fresh I hope. Penguins owe you a do over...

Hey, can't complain about my local pizza place, at least. The Pens playoff performance, on the other hand…

[Pens4Life]

Sully has compromising photos of Dubas. There is no other explanation.

Can't be KD,he barely came here lol.. Sully has pictures and videos of top dogs, few FSG guys

But jokes aside (or not) it was deeply depressing hearing that about The Untouchable Mike ..

[Puck-Lurker]

Sully has compromising photos of Dubas. There is no other explanation.

Can't be KD,he barely came here lol.. Sully has pictures and videos of top dogs, few FSG guys

But jokes aside (or not) it was deeply depressing hearing that about The Untouchable Mike ..

It's not that I don't think Sully can work with (as of yet) inadequate younger players and make them more than their sum of parts.

It's just that I don't think he will deviate from the tired old strategy of tired old.

[pronovost19]

Sully has compromising photos of Dubas. There is no other explanation.

Can't be KD,he barely came here lol.. Sully has pictures and videos of top dogs, few FSG guys

But jokes aside (or not) it was deeply depressing hearing that about The Untouchable Mike ..

At this point someone has to do the rebuild. Might as well be him. I am over it. I just want it to happen. This 8nsanity of keeping the band together and not rebuilding at the same time is making me

[Weegie]

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.

I heard much the same. The off-season plan was to build out 2 defensive lines so that the 2 top lines could focus on scoring. The plan hasn't worked and he said it, largely because the power play isn't scoring as they anticipated.

After listening to the presser, I went to NHL.com to pull stats as of today (granted they change somewhat day to day as teams have played different numbers of games). For the season thus far, here are the Pens team stats:

1. Goal For = Ranked 27th best in NHL
2. Goals Against = 4th best in NHL
3. Power Play % = 30th best in NHL
4. Penalty Kill % = 8th best in NHL
5. Face Off % = 1st in NHL


From those stats, defense and goaltending have held up so far even though it may not feel like it. The untimely late goals likely spoil how those numbers feel to us. But the problem for this team is that it cannot score goals. The power play has dragged down the offense to the point that the team cannot overcome that issue even with a good defensive season. I think we all agree, the goaltending has exceeded expectations for this season and that is pumping up those defensive stats.

The questions remains as I did not hear Dubas address what is going to change regarding the power play. It's a boat anchor around this team's neck. No answer for how a team with Crosby, Malkin, Guentzel, Karlsson, Letang, etc is scoring on 13% of their power play chances for the season. That may be the most shocking stat that I've seen in my 40 years of watching Penguins hockey. They've had all season to address it and so far, the same people are in charge of that offense, the same players can't gain zone entries, can't maintain possession with a man advantage, and cannot stop giving up short-handed goals.

Who thinks they are going to make any significant change with 29 games to go? How in the world they haven't brought in a new face to take a fresh look at what they are doing is beyond me at this point.

Tampa Bay and Toronto are scoring on around 30% of the power play attempts. How about somebody start watching those games and copying what those teams are doing? Hell, I'll do it for free if someone would listen.

Any idea how many one goal losses the Pens have this season, it has to be a lot? And I think they keep thinking "we usually only lose by 1 or 2 goals, we're really close" and keep hoping they can get over the hump to the winning side. But they usually lose by 1, and many of those losses are in overtime.

[stonewizard51]

Sully has compromising photos of Dubas. There is no other explanation.

Thanks for the visual. Now off to dunk my head in a tub full of Clorox.

[Southern Fan]

This team has the feel of the 2001-2002 team when the team went into a mid season death spiral, and didn’t recover until Sid was drafted.

[Badger Bob]

Sully has compromising photos of Dubas. There is no other explanation.

Thanks for the visual. Now off to dunk my head in a tub full of Clorox.

I didn't say what Dubas was doing in those photos. He could have caught Dubas stealing office supplies from the Pens offices. You have a filthy mind Stone.

[penny lane]

HighPriest Sullivan hopefully changes the lines.

Once, there was Mario, Jaromir, and Ronnie Francis as a line. Put the rings together: Sid, Evgeni, and Rust. Rackell wanted his own line, give it to him.

[Ericf]

Don’t shoot the messenger: the guys on Overdrive on TSN, think it was Bryan Hayes, said that apparently Sullivan has an iron clad contract. He said LeBrun mentioned it to them. Hence Dubas’ over the top praise of the coach yesterday. What’s he gonna do? He’s stuck with him

[pekkasteele]

I read a quote from KD, can't find it again but was something like "I see how much effort he puts in every day."

I mean, effort, sure it is important, but what does he do with that effort? Wasting it on the wrong things it seem, since it is not the PP, not figuring out working line combos or anything like that. Give him a medal for effort, but don't let him keep his job, he aint doing it good right now no matter the effort.

[FLPensFan]

Dejan noted the following, basically saying it's great that Dubas says we need to get younger, but, the team is able to do that somewhat right now, and the coach refuses. Exhibit A:

Jeff Carter's logged more ice time over the Penguins' past 10 games than at any stage of this NHL season, averaging 20.1 shifts.

A couple nights ago, in what wound up a 5-4 overtime loss to the Islanders before a capacity crowd that'd been virtually begging for any semblance of life from the home side, Carter took 24 shifts to Puustinen's 18. When Carter was on the ice at five-on-five, New York had a 10-3 edge in shots, and 16-6 in shot attempts. When Puustinen was on the ice at five-on-five, Pittsburgh had a 12-1 edge in shots, and 18-7 in shot attempts.

Carter got more shifts, more TOI than Puustinen, and yet, the ice was heavily tilted in the Islanders favor when Carter was out there, and heavily tilted in the Penguins favor when Puustinen was out there.

Getting younger won't do squat if the coach can't get out of his own way. Playing Carter more often than Puustinen doesn't seem like "putting the best team on the ice to help us win."

[Admin]

Pfft, Carter is mentoring the young guys.

[stonewizard51]

Sully has compromising photos of Dubas. There is no other explanation.

Thanks for the visual. Now off to dunk my head in a tub full of Clorox.

I didn't say what Dubas was doing in those photos. He could have caught Dubas stealing office supplies from the Pens offices. You have a filthy mind Stone.

It's who I am. It's what I do.