Dubas talks Guentzel, the trade deadline and the future of the Penguins

The last time Kyle Dubas formally talked to the media back in December, he was preaching patience and hopefully optimistic that his team would put themselves in a good position by the trade deadline.

This time around, with the deadline a few weeks away it hasn’t gone as hoped.

“Where we’re at right now is not where we aspired to be in the beginning.”

Time is running out, Dubas mentioned he is attempting to remain as patient as possible out of respect for what the core of the Penguins has done, but without much progress in the standings, the team to move forward accordingly is coming along.

You can watch the whole press conference here:

Some various short thoughts—

Interesting thought on Jake Guentzel’s situation, noting that time is running out before the deadline and the immediate future will be telling for how it plays out. Talked about how Guentzel has been great for the team but followed up by saying that they “have to find a way to get younger”, in a curious way to pair thoughts together.
Dubas responded to the TSN report about all players besides Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, saying that teams are calling because the Pens have a lot of good players but didn’t sound like he was trying to run all the talent out or indicate that almost his whole roster is available to be traded.
He backed the coaching staff again, praising their commitment and the way they handle the ups and downs and has a great respect for Mike Sullivan. Dubas said he thinks Sullivan is the type of coach that can help teams win but also develop individual players in the future and ended the thought with a clear “I don’t think there needs to be any discussion about Mike.”
Called the power play “under-performing” and says it falls on “everybody”, including starting with Dubas himself being accountable for it. He says everyone in the locker-room is unhappy but didn’t want to delve into specific or individual coaches or players, despite admitting that the power play “isn’t at where we want it to be at”.
Has not asked any players to waive a no trade or no movement clause.
Can’t see the team moving draft capital to bolster the current team, but is looking for good younger players to add to the organization that could support the team.
Cited that the team isn’t “functioning the way it’s designed to” when the poor power play makes it stand out that the lower lines aren’t pitching in much offense. Again re-iterated that the focus on the lower lines was to take on defensive responsibilities from the Crosby and Malkin lines and in essence limit goals against (which, again as we’ll mention has been successful).
Mentioned that with Crosby/Malkin around, the Pens will be “too good” to be a bottom-five team in the league and that a full on rebuild is not likely to happen with those players (and Letang/Karlsson) around. But also that Dubas wants to work in younger players to have them around and grow with the experience of the top players from his core.

Overall, standard GM talk. Dubas isn’t going to bury an assistant coach in charge of the power play to the media, and he’s not going to single out any players or make many big waves. Nothing much comes from press conferences for a reason, they’re standard and full of generalities and side-stepping any hard answers.

The one really telling and surprising talking point might have been about Jake Guentzel. When asked about Guentzel, Dubas almost immediately and directly segued into getting younger with his answer.

Dubas continued: It’s tough with Jake [Guentzel] because he is an excellent player playing at an elite level… We need to find a way to have some of those veteran guys while continuing to get younger at the same time.”

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) February 21, 2024

A team doesn’t get younger by signing a soon-to-be 30-year old to the long-term, big money contract that Guentzel is in-line to receive. Dubas mentioned that team performance in the next two weeks before the deadline will set his final course, but let’s get real in that the Penguins are who they are through 50+ games. Nothing they do in the next handful of games before the deadline is going to drastically change their course in a good or bad way.

If Dubas was just dodging just to dodge dropping a bombshell of his future plans, that’s one thing — but legitimately still figuring things out would be too inactive by now. Pittsburgh sits 12th in the conference in both points and points percentage. The absolute best case at this point is scraping into the playoffs in an unlikely fashion and being a huge underdog in the first round. The last four months have shown the likelihood of this team playing into a best case scenario is very, very low.

And yet, the linking of thoughts about getting younger immediately when being asked about and discussing Guentzel’s future is very telling. Later in the press conference, Dubas painted a picture of Crosby, Malkin, Letang and Karlsson being the core to stick around and teach the next wave of Penguin players in the coming years. Tellingly or not, Guentzel wasn’t mentioned in that vision.

Dubas is right that the team does need to get younger, but if Crosby, Malkin, Letang and Karlsson are all in the picture, that doesn’t leave many other options for the future.

Dubas has been dragging his team and giving them every chance in the world to remain competitive and have them make him go in the direction of re-signing Guentzel. But the team hasn’t held up their end of the bargain.

With time running out, Pittsburgh flipping Jake Guentzel in a trade is starting to look more and more likely of a possibility.