Just days before the NHL season picks off before the Pittsburgh Penguins, General Manager Kyle Dubas spent some time with the media offering a lot of insight on the team and his approach.
The Penguins have missed the playoffs the last two seasons and Penguins fans are running out of patience. The core four of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Erik Karlsson are not going to be playing hockey forever and especially at the level they are playing at. Pittsburgh in the playoffs should be the standard not the expectation with this roster.
Dubas understands that and has a strong belief the Penguins will be in the playoffs this season.
Ever since the core three of Crosby, Malkin, and Letang came to Pittsburgh they have been one of the most dominant trios of all-time. The trio has three Stanley Cups and 16 playoff experiences. However, it seems like a lot of people have given up on the Penguins and no longer view them as a threat. For the first time in what seems like awhile, the Penguins are underdogs.
“We are not favoured by anybody to accomplish anything… We will have to earn it through practice, the gym, and every game we play.”
That is an excellent response by Kyle Dubas as he embraces and understands the Penguins underdog mentality this season and wants to rewrite the ship. He also mentions, “This season and this chapter represents the change to change the story.” Dubas understands and is working towards a new era of Penguins hockey.
The past two years, the Penguins have struggled to beat the bad teams and throw points away. Losing to the bad teams and not taking advantage of the easy two points has cost the Penguins. Two seasons ago, all the Penguins had to do was beat one of the Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets to get to the playoffs and the Penguins lost to them both. Last season, the Penguins could not defeat the Detroit Red Wings.
In addition, the Penguins had many games last season where they blew the lead often and could not close the game. One of them was against the Buffalo Sabres (another bad team). Dubas addressed that in his press conference.
“If you look back there were so many games given away, blown leads to lottery teams at the end… I expect a lot more urgency for all 82 games.”
The role of a bottom-six forward or at least their primary goal is to defend and help kill penalties. The Penguins bottom-six has rotated constantly throughout the years and has not been solid since the Penguins won the Stanley Cup back in 2017. Dubas spent a lot of time and money in the offseason in hopes that this unit will contribute offensively as well.
“We need to get away from the ‘bottom-six has to defend’ idea. We need to score… It’s not just one or the other.” Dubas’ rejuvenated bottom six now consists of new players such as Rutger McGroarty, Kevin Hayes, and Cody Glass. Anthony Beauvillier would most likely be there as well once Bryan Rust returns.
As mentioned earlier, Dubas brought in a lot of new players. Also not mentioned was forward Blake Lizotte and defenceman Matt Grzelcyk. With tons of talent available, Kyle Dubas could have spent a lot of money on one player such as a reunion of Jake Guentzel. However, he chose to spread out the cap space and improve the roster as much as possible including improving the depth. In addition, instead of long-term contracts, Dubas focused on one and two-year deals.
“We took a particular focus on players with short-term contracts with something to prove… as opposed to handing out a massive contract or two.”
In addition, the Penguins also did something that has not been done in awhile and focus on the youth movement. Rookie Rutger McGroarty who was traded for in the offseason made the NHL roster and will make his NHL debut on the third line. McGroarty earned the roster spot as he showcased his talents and then some in the preseason. Penguins fans will be excited to have McGroarty on the team for awhile.
Dubas also has high praise for McGroarty when he mentioned, “Rutger McGroarty has earned his spot. He’s smart, competitive and I’m happy for him that he starts the day on the NHL roster.”
In addition to McGroarty, Jack St. Ivany also made the opening night roster on the third defensive pairing with Graves. St. Ivany appeared in 14 games last season, but will now be used in a more prominent role.
Ryan Graves is entering his second season as the Penguins defenceman after signing a rather large contract a couple of off-season’s ago. Kyle Dubas has the right idea signing him. His first season was one him and Penguins fans would like to forget as he had just 14 points and 40 giveaways. However, Dubas has faith he will have a better season as he mentions his expectation is he will bounce back this season.
Dubas has a lot of faith in this team and expects them to be in the playoffs this upcoming season. Their first test to that goal begins Thursday against the rival New York Rangers.
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As the Pittsburgh Penguins continue trade talks centered around wing Rickard Rakell, the veteran has drawn a lot of interest around the league. The Penguins may be able to net some strong assets for him in any deal, but there is also a high asking price to move the wing. Rakell could be a real game-changer for a team this late in the offseason, and there is some smoke around a trade happening. But where the veteran lands remains a major mystery around the NHL. NHL insider David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period linked the Seattle Kraken to a deal for Rakell. While it remains to be seen if a deal will come about, the Kraken could be a solid landing spot for the veteran. Rakell remains a valuable scoring option and could heavily impact any team that would land him. Last season for the Penguins, the veteran wing scored 35 goals and 35 assists, showing his strong productivity. The biggest obstacle for the Kraken in trading for Rakell is that he owns an eight-team no-trade list. It's unknown which teams are on this list, so Rakell would need to waive this if Seattle were part of it. We have seen players do this over the years, so it's possible that a deal could happen. But it has also been reported that Rakell would prefer to stay with Pittsburgh, despite all the trade rumors around him. If Seattle were able to pull a deal for Rakell off, it could help them get back to the postseason. Seattle has missed the playoffs in three of the four years that it has been a franchise in the league, and the front office has a lot of pressure to win moving forward.
The 2024 offseason expanded the $30M-per-year wide receiver club to six members. D.K. Metcalf, Ja’Marr Chase and Garrett Wilson have taken it to nine this year. Terry McLaurin is undoubtedly pushing to bump that number to 10, after seeing 2019 Day 2 classmates Metcalf and A.J. Brown land among that contingent. McLaurin reported to training camp Sunday and landed on the active/PUP list. As our Rory Parks explained, skepticism exists about how injured the Commanders’ top wide receiver really is. An ankle injury has keyed the PUP stay, but it can be safely assumed McLaurin would be ready to practice if an extension comes to pass. Nevertheless, the Commanders have been surprised by the difficulty of these talks. Using an injury to avoid practicing while negotiating — developments the Jonathan Taylor and Micah Parsons sagas brought — represents a third tactic, joining the holdout and the increasingly utilized hold-in amid extension talks. McLaurin shifted from a holdout to the injury route; no matter how he is accomplishing not practicing, the seventh-year veteran is aiming to land a lucrative third contract. His age provides a complication for Washington. McLaurin is going into an age-30 season, separating him from Brown and Metcalf. Both Ole Miss products were drafted just before McLaurin, a 2019 third-round pick, but they are each two years younger. This strengthened their cases for big-ticket third contracts. McLaurin went first to ignite the second-tier boom on the receiver market in 2022, agreeing to a three-year, $69.6M extension. That shaped the Metcalf and Deebo Samuel extensions, both of which coming in higher than McLaurin’s despite the latter’s consistency with suboptimal quarterback situations. McLaurin’s AAV has dropped to 17th at wide receiver. The Commanders are prepared to extend their top wideout, but Sportskeeda.com’s Tony Pauline indicates the "holdup" is regarding the $30M-AAV number. Some around the league point to the team not wanting to go into that neighborhood for McLaurin, despite his five 1,000-yard seasons. Courtland Sutton and McLaurin are nearly the same age, and the Broncos’ top target signed a four-year, $92M extension. That matches where the Titans went for Calvin Ridley (now 30) in 2024. McLaurin, though, has a better resume than both and should be aiming higher. The Commanders have a Jayden Daniels rookie contract to structure another McLaurin extension around as well. Adam Peters was around for the 49ers’ 2022 Samuel extension but not Brandon Aiyuk‘s $30M-per-year deal. (The Samuel extension also did not work out for the 49ers, who proceeded with a salary dump of sorts by trading him to the Commanders.) The second-year GM taking a hardline stance with McLaurin would be an interesting route given the WR’s importance to a sudden contender. Peters confirmed talks are ongoing, with that comment coming after McLaurin expressed frustration about the negotiations. A potential gap between the pack of 20-somethings (and Tyreek Hill) north of $30M AAV and the Tee Higgins–Jaylen Waddle–D.J. Moore tier could be relevant here, and it will be interesting to see if McLaurin settles for something just south of that $30MM benchmark. Guarantees and contract structure, of course, will be important to determining the value as well. A short-term extension should be reached soon, per Pauline, but if the Commanders hold the line at or around $30M, the McLaurin matter could drag on for a while longer.
While the Philadelphia Eagles, Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders have garnered a lot of attention lately, there is one NFC team that has quietly been flying under the radar. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost a one-score game to the Lions in the divisional round in 2023 and followed that up with another one-score loss to QB Jayden Daniels and the Commanders last season, proving how close they have been to the ultimate prize in the two seasons with Baker Mayfield under center. In an appearance on ESPN's "Get Up" Tuesday morning, analyst and former player Ryan Clark offered high praise for Mayfield and what the Buccaneers are capable of. "Baker Mayfield is a top-10 quarterback in this league," Clark said. "Baker Mayfield is a football player. And when I say that, I know people at home are gonna be like, 'Duh, he gets paid to play football.' No, not all quarterbacks are seen as football players. Not all quarterbacks are embraced in the locker room as one of us." Clark sees the Buccaneers as a team the rest of the league should be paying attention to because of who they have returning and the close calls in the playoffs the last two seasons. "This is a team that's been on the cusp the last two years," Clark said. "Now you think about some of the pieces they've added, the confidence in their quarterback and the way that he plays, and Todd Bowles with another year to understand winning at a high level at the head coach position. This is a team you better be extremely scared of because they're stacked and they're confident." Mayfield has been sensational during his time with the Buccaneers. Although he did throw 16 interceptions, Mayfield accounted for the third-most passing yards (4,500) in the league last season and has thrown the most TD passes (69) in the last two seasons, per StatMuse. To add even more incentive for Mayfield, the team restructured his contract, which is set to expire after the 2026 season, to include $30M in guaranteed salary for that season. The Buccaneers return a lot of production on both sides of the ball, in addition to bringing in first-round draft pick Emeka Egbuka, who topped 1,000 receiving yards twice at Ohio State and accounted for 26 total TDs. While Tampa Bay allowed the 17th-most points per game (22.7) last season, it returns the majority of its defensive production. On top of that, the offseason acquisition of veteran LB and two-time Pro-Bowler Haason Reddick, who agreed to terms on a one-year deal, should be a welcomed addition for a franchise that had some question marks on defense last season. The Buccaneers are projected to have the sixth-easiest schedule in the NFL this season and have the best chance to win the NFC South for the fifth consecutive season, according to ESPN Analytics. If Mayfield can cut back on his turnovers and the defense can create more pressure on opposing QBs, the Buccaneers could be a threat in the NFC once again as they look to put their recent nail-biting losses in the postseason behind them.
The Los Angeles Lakers are looking for Bronny James to make some changes ahead of his second year in the NBA. James, the No. 55 pick in the 2024 draft, played in 27 games for the Lakers last season and started in one game. He averaged 2.3 points, .8 assists and .7 rebounds per contest. For James to improve on those numbers this season, head coach JJ Redick thinks the 20-year-old needs to change his physique. "The biggest thing for Bronny is that he has to get in elite shape," Redick said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. "That's the barrier of entry for him right now. And if he does that, I think he's got a chance to be a really fantastic player in the NBA." James didn't have much of a chance to get in elite shape before his rookie season. He played a shortened season at USC after suffering cardiac arrest on July 24, 2023. James made his debut for the Trojans on Dec. 10, 2023. Redick compared James' ceiling to Davion Mitchell of the Miami Heat and T.J. McConnell of the Indiana Pacers. For James to get there, he has to push past his fears of the prior cardiac arrest caused by a congenital heart defect. "I think we have all seen these amazing flashes of it from Bronny," Redick said. "And to get to that next level for him, it's cardio fitness. "He's cleared. ... I get that there's a history there of a really scary thing that he had to live through, and I think it's tough to push past certain points for him, but he's going to get there. He's going to get there." Based on Redick's comments, James has more to change than getting his 6-foot-3, 210-pound frame in shape for the upcoming season. He has to work on his mental fear of pushing his body too far. James' mental hurdle might be the biggest obstacle to his improvement as an NBA player.