Penguins/NHL category, Page 300
Penguins can’t count on prospect pool to produce impact players
If the Pittsburgh Penguins are to return to the type of championship form they showed in 2016-17, their prospects will have to play a role. During those back-to-back Stanley Cup seasons, homegrown talents such as Matt Murray, Jake Guentzel, Bryan Rust, Conor Sheary, Tom Kuhnhackl and others made significant contributions....
Remember Janne Pesonen? European free agency hasn’t been panacea for Penguins
Having traded away multiple draft picks in recent years in pursuit of the Stanley Cup, the Pittsburgh Penguins have to find other ways to replenish their prospect pool. They’ve had some success in signing undrafted college free agents, adding Zach Aston-Reese, Casey DeSmith and Conor Sheary via that avenue in...
First Call: Patrick Peterson trade talk ramps back up; Jordan Staal shines for Hurricanes
In “First Call” Thursday, the Patrick Peterson trade rumors may kick up again. Jordan Staal comes through in the clutch for the Hurricanes. And a warning for the Pirates against the Diamondbacks. Are the Patrick Peterson rumors back? Remember this past season when rumors swirled that the Steelers may try...
U mad, bro? Penguins fans angry with Mike Sullivan, Kris Letang; Steelers draft unrest
In “U mad, bro?” this week, Penguins fans are still angry at Mike Sullivan and Kris Letang. People disagree with me about the NHL playoffs and the Steelers draft. And one health organization is mad at the entire city of Pittsburgh. We start with Sheldon, who is dissatisfied with Penguins...
Major offseason overhaul unlikely for Penguins defense corps
Judging by the reality of the salary cap, fans of the Pittsburgh Penguins can expect the team’s blue line to look a little different next season. Judging by the comments of general manager Jim Rutherford, it probably won’t be too different, though. The cap dictates the Penguins will have to...
Reports: Penguins assistant Jacques Martin a candidate for Buffalo Sabres job
Pittsburgh Penguins assistant Jacques Martin is a candidate for the head coaching job of the Buffalo Sabres, according to multiple reports. Martin, 66, has been with the Penguins for the last six seasons, serving mostly as the assistant coach who works most closely with the team’s defense and penalty kill....
Penguins’ Patric Hornqvist to play for Sweden in World Championships
Pittsburgh Penguins winger Patric Hornqvist will play for his native Sweden in the World Championships next month in Slovakia, the Swedish ice hockey federation announced Wednesday. Hornqvist will be joined on a star-studded Swedish roster by New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, Arizona Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Calder Trophy...
During disappointing season, Penguins forwards were less than sum of their parts
At the time, it looked like the start of something for the Pittsburgh Penguins. In the third period of a Dec. 4 home game with the Colorado Avalanche, everything winger Patric Hornqvist touched found twine. His natural hat trick in a span of 2 minutes, 47 seconds not only set...
Penguins sign high-scoring Finnish free agent Oula Palve
The Pittsburgh Penguins added a highly regarded European free agent to their depth chart Monday, signing 27-year-old Finnish center Oula Palve to a one-year deal. The 6-foot, 176-pound Palve was among the top 10 scorers in Finland’s top league in each of the last two seasons. This year, he recorded...
In-season pickups could provide blueprint for Penguins’ roster retooling
As general manager Jim Rutherford prepares to perform offseason roster surgery designed to bring the Pittsburgh Penguins back to championship-caliber prominence, he has at least one thing going for him. He’s in the middle of a pretty decent run at the trade table. Defensemen Marcus Pettersson and Erik Gudbranson and...
Tim Benz, Mark Madden talk Penguins elimination, Steelers draft, Pirates loss
In this week’s “Madden Monday,” Mark Madden of 105.9 the X joins me to look at what the Penguins may do this offseason. Are trades of Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Patric Hornqvist and Phil Kessel possible? We debate the future of head coach Mike Sullivan and whether he can get...
Tim Benz: Are Penguins’ Mike Sullivan, Jim Rutherford really on same page?
It had to be on purpose, right? Head coach Mike Sullivan and general manager Jim Rutherford standing side-by-side during the Penguins’ season-ending media availability. Sharing the podium. Answering questions in the presence of each other. There must have been intent behind the execution of the 2019 season-ending news conference last...
In Penguins’ quest to be harder to play against, does Phil Kessel help or hurt?
General manager Jim Rutherford and coach Mike Sullivan stood side-by-side at a season-ending news conference and announced, in one voice, that the Pittsburgh Penguins must be harder to play against moving forward. So, what does this mean for Phil Kessel? By the conventional definition of the term, Kessel’s game is...
Penguins’ Kris Letang is story of offensive flair vs. defensive responsibility
As the Pittsburgh Penguins tried to grapple with a quick playoff exit this season, Kris Letang and Mike Sullivan became entrenched on opposite sides of a divide that seemed new, dramatic and important. Sullivan stood at a podium after his team was swept by the New York Islanders and declared...
Mark Madden: Coach Mike Sullivan must steer Penguins in new direction
In 1997, Mario Lemieux retired for the first time. The 1996-97 Penguins had finished second in the Northeast Division at 38-36-8. Eddie Johnston had been dismissed as coach with 20 games remaining and replaced on an interim basis by general manager Craig Patrick. When the 1997-98 season dawned, Kevin Constantine...
Penguins goalie Matt Murray grateful for lessons learned in tumultuous season
Emotions ran the gamut as Pittsburgh Penguins players tried to wrap their heads around a stunning first-round sweep by the New York Islanders this week, but most fell somewhere in between disbelief and disappointment. As he packed up his gear before heading home to Thunder Bay, Ontario, for the summer,...
Tim Benz: Penguins better listen to themselves after ‘self-inflicted’ playoff exit
If the Penguins showed this much pushback against the New York Islanders, maybe they’d still be playing. Locker cleanout day got a little testy at times Thursday at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry. The 2019 Penguins team was packing up for the last time in the wake of...
Sidney Crosby: I still believe in this Penguins group — but expect changes, too
The Pittsburgh Penguins captain spoke Thursday about an hour before the coach and general manager did on the day of the final gathering of the 2018-19 edition of the team. Ultimately, as powerful as Sidney Crosby is within the organization, he won’t be making the decisions on where the Penguins...
Effects of concussion not to blame for slump, Penguins’ Patric Hornqvist says
It’s a fairly clear and direct line that can be drawn. Patric Hornqvist has been one of the NHL’s most consistent goal-scorers for a decade, scoring between 21 and 30 goals for eight consecutive full seasons – and he was on pace to end up in the high end of...
Kevin Gorman: After playoff sweep, Mike Sullivan must hold Penguins accountableVideo
Fresh off being swept out of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday presented a united front that indicates changes are coming. Not a coaching change, of course. Where Penguins players remain committed to keeping their core together, general manager Jim Rutherford and coach...
Sidney Crosby takes pass on World Championships to rest, heal
At the end of summer, Sidney Crosby will celebrate his 32nd birthday. That is part of the reason the beginning of his summer won’t include a trip to Slovakia for the World Championships next month. It’s a tournament he helped Canada win in 2015, the last time the Penguins were...
GM Jim Rutherford to seek chemistry, hunger, not speed, as he reshapes Penguins roster
After the Pittsburgh Penguins ended a six-year championship drought by winning the Stanley Cup in back-to-back seasons in 2016-17, the generally accepted theory was that they did so with speed. General manager Jim Rutherford acquired players like Carl Hagelin and Trevor Daley and the Penguins responded with an up-tempo attack...
Penguins’ Kris Letang defiant in saying changing his game ‘is not the answer’
In the wake of getting swept out of the first round of the playoffs, some want the Pittsburgh Penguins to modify their mindset and take a more conservative approach. Kris Letang doesn’t want to hear it, at least when it comes to his game personally. “I don’t think the (answer)...
Somber Olli Maatta looks ahead to uncertain future with Penguins
Two years ago, Olli Maatta’s season ended with a sun-soaked nap on an apartment balcony after the Pittsburgh Penguins celebrated a second straight Stanley Cup with a parade down Grant Street. On Thursday morning, as the Penguins cleaned out their lockers in Cranberry, his season-ending mood was decidedly more somber....
Penguins clear out lockers: Sidney Crosby won’t play at World Championships for Canada
Less than 48 hours after their season ended, the Pittsburgh Penguins returned to their practice facility in Cranberry on Thursday morning to clear out their lockers and address the media for the final time of 2018-19. The Penguins were swept by the New York Islanders in the first round of...
