Letang, Malkin talks ongoing, but under wraps
“We’re all disappointed, but you’ve got to admire the way that this group never took no for an answer from anybody until we lost.”
— Brian Burke
After another successful regular season — and another first-round playoff exit — the Penguins have embarked upon a pivotal offseason with a new ownership group and plenty of looming roster decisions.
In an interview with the Post-Gazette, president of hockey operations Brian Burke restated the Penguins desire to re-sign Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin, discussed the team’s recent hirings and promotions, addressed the possibility that assistants Mike Vellucci and Todd Reirden could have opportunities to move on to head coaching roles and more.
Note: This interview has been edited lightly for clarity and space considerations.
• PG: Now that some time has gone by since the end of the season, how do you assess the way the team performed thisyear?
Burke: I’m very proud of our team. I can’t believe the adversity these guys continued to overcome and almost pulled it off in Game 7. [Tristan Jarry] gets hurt. [Brian Dumoulin] gets hurt. Sid [Crosby] gets hurt. [Rickard] Rakell gets hurt. Then, we get to Game 7 and Mike Vellucci can’t be on the bench.
We’re all disappointed, but you’ve got to admire the way that this group never took no for an answer from anybody until we lost.
PG: That said, as you look backon the year more broadly, is there anything you felt was missing — or may be not to that degree, but just an element that you’d like a little bit more of? And if that’s true, how could that shape some of the off season decision-making?
Burke: Well, we’ve got to see who comes back first before you worry about who you add. We’ve got to see who signs out of this group. The first priority right from the get-go: [GM Ron Hextall] has been dealing with [Kris Letang] and [Evgeni Malkin]. We’ve all agreed to keep those discussions secret. There’s no reason to do it publicly.But our goal is to get both guys signed and at contract terms and salary terms that makes sense.
PG: Understanding that you’d like to keep things more private on the negotiating standpoint, what obstacles could stand in the way? And what’s the realistic likelihood, given your limited salary cap space, that you will be able to keep both of those players?
Burke: Well, I’m not negotiating in the newspaper.
PG: Letme ask you about a guy you did sign in Bryan Rust, who inked a six-year, $30.75 million extension. Why was it important to get him signed?
Burke: I think Bryan Rust is an extremely valuable player. He can play up and down the lineup. He can play eitherwing. He kills penalties. He can play power play. He’s a great kid. We were really excited about signing him. It made sense to us financially. I think that was a very important-signing for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
PG: Goaltending is always a big area of focus. There were so many questions about Tristan Jarry coming into the season. A lot of people said and wrote that you guys should just move on from him and find somebody else [following his 2021 postseason letdown]. You guys stuck with him. Now, how do you feel about that position going into this offseason?
Burke: Focus on Tristan first. He had a sensational year. It’s unfortunate he got hurt that late in the year. But thisis a guy we believe in. And our faith in him was rewarded. Ron Hextall was very vocal right out of the gate that this is the way we’re going. There are lots of goalies who their first time out in the playoffs, they stumble a little bit. That doesn’t mean they don’t go on to become real solid goaltenders, and that’s what Tristan did this year.
As far as a backup, Casey DeSmith has played well for us since I’ve been here. And he’s a great kid. We’ll see if there’s a fit.
PG: In terms of the coaching staff, we’ve seen recently a number of well-respected coaches like former Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy and former Islanders coach Barry Trotz get fired. Coaching can be a very volatile profession. What do you think of the work Mike Sullivan did with this group?
Burke: It was funny because for two years, there was very little change, mainly because of COVID. Ownership around the league appeared to adopt a patient approach, and that went right in the sewer when the season ended. So there’s been lots of change, and there’s more to come
[around the league]. ... I’ve said publicly, I think the ownership and management are too impatient on the coaching fronta s a general rule.
I know one thing: We’re thrilled with our coach. Our coach has done a great job since we got here. I think he’s one of the best coaches in the National Hockey League, and Ithink it was appropriate he is selected to coach in the Olympics, even though he didn’t get the chance.
PG: While you’re happy with Mike Sullivan, do you imagine there could be changes to his staff? There are currently five vacant head coaching positions, possibly a sixth if the Florida Panthers move on from Andrew Brunette. The Post-Gazette has heard Mike Vellucci and Todd Reirden are in consideration for possible head coaching jobs and you can see why they wouldbe.
Burke: It’s unusual for two assistants from one team to be asked to interview for jobs in the same season. That’s the firsttime that’s ever happened in my career. They’re both quality coaches. They both deserve a chance to move up. And if they get that chance, we’re not going to stand in their way, obviously. So we’ll wait and see what happens here over the next little while. But that’s one of those things where you’re hoping your guys get their chance and you’re not disappointed that theydon’t.
PG: Finally, the Penguins have made a number of promotions this week and a couple hires. That included the promotion of Kevin Acklin to president of business operations and Chris Pryor to assistant manager.
One, in particular, I wanted to ask you about was Teena Murray, who was hired as senior vice president of integrated performance. We’ve seen a number of organizations across professional sports hire women into prominent roles. How do you anticipate her unique background and expertise will add value to this club?
Burke: For us, it’s a major step forward. I think we’re paying playing catch up with some other organizations around pro sports. For us, it’s a major hire. We think this makes a seismic difference in our medical care. We think Teena is the woman to be in charge, and we’re excited about that very much.