PENGUINS CHAT
Highlights from Matt Vensel’s Penguins chat, which you can join at post-gazette.com. Questions and answers have been edited for clarity:
TP Ranger: If and when the games begin, who is going to have an advantage? The high-skill teams like the Pens or the hunkerdown squads?
Matt Vensel: I don’t know if the layoff will make much of a difference in terms of playing style. I think I’m following your reasoning, but playing the stingy style that the Islanders played last year also takes practice and precision to get it right. I do think generally speaking we could see a little less scoring, at least early on. If the Penguins get back to playing the tight, structured way they did in the first half of the season, they should be OK against the Canadiens in the play-in round.
pozone: If we trade [Matt] Murray in the offseason, what do you think we can get?
Matt Vensel: Before I tackle this hypothetical, I want to make clear that I’m not saying Matt Murray will definitely be traded. It certainly is possible with Murray and Tristan Jarry expected to become [restricted free agents] and Murray rightfully hoping to get paid like a guy with two Cups on his resume. All that said, I think Murray’s contract expectations would need to be taken into consideration when thinking about what a trade could look like, since that team in addition to giving up assets also would have to turn around and presumably give him a long-term contract paying him north of $7 million a season. Taking all that into consideration, I could see the Pens getting a protected first-round pick, a pretty good prospect and a useful veteran player. I don’t know that they would want only future assets given they are in win-now mode, but I suppose they could always flip those assets in a future deal. Now, if he leads the Pens on a deep playoff run, that price may go up, but wouldn’t the Pens then want to keep him?
Guest: Usually heading into the playoffs, you would have a sense of who is playing well, who is on a streak and who is struggling. This is not the case this time. How will you be looking at who might fit into which category as they go through training camp?
Matt Vensel: I don’t think there is really any way to tell. Every team and every player is truly entering this postseason tournament with sort of a blank slate, which probably isn’t a bad thing for the Penguins after they won just three of their
final 11 games before hockey shut down. We should get a little bit of an indication during camp about how some players, particularly the goalies, are trending. But we’re talking about practice. Games are a whole different animal.
TP Ranger: Do you think the league would make a mistake by having a long offseason after the playoffs? Wouldn’t it be better to take a brief break, long enough to make year-end transactions and then get right back to action so the players don’t have to go through another back-to-basics training camp?
Matt Vensel: I don’t think they will have a long offseason. Based on what has been reported about the current talks between the NHL and the NHLPA, it sounds like the draft will be a week or two after the Cup is rewarded. Free agency would be Nov. 1. You’ve got to give guys time to relocate their families. And they would probably be back on the ice soon after Thanksgiving to start ramping back up for the 2020-21 season. To me, that’s still pretty quick. What I question is the NHL’s desire to then cram in a full 82-game season and a full playoffs in the span of six or seven months. Would, say, a 62-game season make more sense?
Hey Bwent: Over/Under that the Pens will retire Flower’s number someday? I hope they do.
Matt Vensel: The Pens only have retired two numbers, for Mario Lemieux and the late Michel Briere. So they’ve been pretty stingy about handing them out. I’m sure Jaromir Jagr’s will be retired eventually. Same with Sid and Geno. Beyond that, you can make a strong case for Fleury, who is a fine goalie, a three-time Cup-winner here and one of the most popular players in team history. It’s not my team nor is it my building, but if it were up to me No. 29 would eventually hang up there.
Wicky: Will the Pens try and trade [Nick] Bjugstad? I don’t see him making an impact with their other forwards playing.
Matt Vensel: I’m sure that will be something they discuss, but I’m not sure many teams will line up for his services. Now, I’m a Bjugstad backer. I think he’s a good player who brought value as a third-line center, even if the production wasn’t eye-popping. Awesome, awesome dude, too. But he barely played this year due to ongoing injury issues and will make $4.1 million next season, the final year of his deal. I don’t know that they would get much back for him if it’s strictly a hockey trade, unless they are willing to take back a player with more term on his contract. And I don’t know if they will be looking to simply dump his contract, though they will probably have to move money somehow with the salary cap ceiling not expected to go up next season.