The latest episode of the GM Show comes a couple of days before Friday’s trade deadline at 3 PM. Kyle Dubas sat down with Josh Getzoff to discuss the state of the Penguins, who have gotten points in 14 of their last 16 games (10-2-4); are in second place in the Metropolitan Division; and rank eighth in the NHL in points percentage.
While they touched on a lot of topics in the half-hour show, here are the parts that will likely resonate the most with Penguins fans.
We know what was announced with Sidney Crosby, a minimum of four weeks with a lower-body injury. Anything more you can update us on with the captain?
I think, as you know, he's extraordinarily diligent, and is going to do everything he can. He always puts his team first. And his way of doing that is making decisions that are totally selfless over there in Milan, and then coming back here and really doing everything he can to get back and help the Penguins. So, he's in here for long hours every day rehabbing his injury. It's been over two weeks now, so hopefully we've kind of crossed the peak, and we're coming down the other side where we'll start to see him get back on the ice and test it that way. Obviously that that will be the best trade deadline addition that we could make, is when Sid returns to the lineup. We'll just continue to try to stack some points up in his absence and put the team in a good spot as he has put the team in a great spot for over two decades now. So, it’s the team's chance to give back.
Everyone's talking about the status of Evgeni Malkin.
[For context, Malkin - in the last year of his current deal - was asked on Saturday in New York if he could provide any information about his contract status, and he said this: “We talked a little bit with (agent J.P. Barry) a couple days ago, and he just say, like, wait (until) end of season and then see what's going on. Nothing (we) can say right now. I'm just playing. It’s not my job to talk to Kyle or somebody. I just play my game and just wait. Sid has injury, I want to help the team win, of course. Like, (no) crazy news. I'm just waiting. And I think my agent tell me, like, we wait (until) end of season.”]
You brought this up going into this year, that there maybe would be some form of dialogue in or around the Olympic break. And when you look at Evgeni Malkin, when you look at the Penguins, where does that stand?
Yeah, I think at the beginning of the year, in talking to J.P. Barry, Geno’s agent, that the discussion was very clearly, at Geno’s age, what's the best way we want to handle it. He’s a franchise icon, deserves to be treated with the utmost amount of respect, and we will always want to handle it the right way.
And the decision at that point was, there's a break in the middle of the year, or past the midway point of the year, in February. Let's see how Geno feels at that point, and let's see where things are at, see how he's playing.
When players get past their mid-30s, it's not just a question of, can they come back? (It’s also), do they want to come back? To know to talk about the elephant in the room, it's how much longer are they going to continue to play for? And it's not just an automatic that they want to return and continue playing. I think there's lots of players around the league, this year you have (Anze) Kopitar, he's announced his retirement. Patrice Bergeron had it a few years ago. There's a number of these type of scenarios throughout the league, and I think for the team, it's important you handle them the right way.
So, that was what was decided at the beginning of the year, that we would have a check-in midway through the season during the Olympic break, and then proceed from there.
And from my perspective, I think J.P. and I have continued to have dialogue. Geno has been, as is his right, a little bit more public-facing with his commentary once he had sort of made up his mind as to what he had wanted leading into the break, and then obviously coming out of the break the other day. I have no problem with that. I think, from our perspective, the communication with CAA, with J.P. Barry, and with Geno has been very clear – I think both in terms of the way that we want to handle it as we continue to proceed, and what that path is going to be.
And I don't think it benefits Geno or really benefits the Pittsburgh Penguins for us to lay that all that out publicly, as much as the public may have an interest in it, other than to say that the year that Geno's had has been spectacular for someone who's 39 years old. Not only the production, but I think more importantly, from my perspective, the production has sort of always been there for him. It's been watching him as we've had some of these guys come in, like (Egor) Chinakhov, Arturs Silovs, Ilya Solovyev, that are Russian-speaking... and the way that Geno has handled them from the leadership side, it's really been special to watch. And I think they speak openly about the impact that he's had on them. And I think with Geno, that impact sort of goes a little bit under the radar, and maybe it's not talked about as much.
But he brings a lot to our program, and has obviously brought a lot of very special moments and championships and obviously individual awards. But more importantly, helping the team to play at a high standard and win over his over his time with the team.
And so, we'll continue to stay in touch with J.P. And other than that, I think it's a private matter for Geno. He can speak about as much as he wants, but from our perspective, we'll let him do that.
He's just one of a few UFAS you have to handle. You've acquired some guys recently that are also UFAS, in the sense of a Stuart Skinner or even Anthony Mantha, who has had an unbelievable year for you guys. Is it a similar approach with all these UFAS? Or is it a case-by-case type, when you think about position, needs around the league, stuff like that?
I think as much as you'd want to treat every single player the exact same, the reality is that as the market takes shape and you're aware of what's going to be available in the summer, what is the marketplace going to be for certain positions, you have to act. And we did that earlier in the year with Blake Lizotte, where he had made it known to us that he wanted to return.
Our initial intention with everybody was, let's get through the Olympic break. Let's get through the deadline. Let's get through the season and take our time and see how our young guys are pushing from down below, how they're developing outside of our system, whatever it may be.
In Blake's case, we looked around the league at what would be available. Obviously, we know his importance and what he represents to the Penguins in terms of how he fits into a long-held standard of operation on and off the ice. And it was just a decision for us where we had decided that we were going to have him back, why belabor it? He's earned it.
And then, you've listed just a few of the players on the team that don't have contracts for next year. I think in some cases it can be used as an excuse or distraction. I think it's a credit to the players and to Dan (Muse) and his staff that it never gets brought up. There's been a few teams in the last number of years that have had great success with a lot of pending free agents, and we're just hopeful to become the next in that line.
If there were an ideal person or player that was a Pittsburgh Penguins target, what kind of boxes would they have to check to come here?
Well, I think we feel good about where we're at in goal, in the present and future.
So, in terms of acquisitions, I think where we look is both up front and on defense. I think the ideal acquisition for us will be a player that's in their 20s, closer to their mid-20s, that has some team control. Either they're signed, or they are a pending restricted free agent, where they're not a rental.
That said, if we get closer to Friday and there's a chance to add to the team with someone who is a rental, we could look at that, too.
I think everyone looks at the deadline as that’s a time that you have to act, and I think it is a great opportunity to add talent to your roster and to your team. What I would say to that is that this year, we have already added a lot of talent to the team. So, we've made a lot of moves throughout the year to add Stu Skinner to the team, Sam Girard to the group, Egor Chinakhov to the group, and Ilya Solovyev to the group. So, we've already done that through the year. I think at the deadline, it's seen as a time where I think that (people think) you have to act. And I think we've already acted. But it doesn't mean that we ever stop trying to improve the team, especially in positions that can help the group now and in the future.
So, the Chinakhov deal would sort of be the template that I would use.
