On the first day of June, Kyle Dubas was introduced to the world — or at least Uptown — as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ new president of hockey operations during an elaborate and lavish press conference in the opulent Lexus Club of PPG Paints Arena.
He professed optimism that the Penguins would soon be back in position to contend for the Stanley Cup.
Approximately 10 and a half months later, that pursuit has yet to reach its terminus.
With the Penguins missing out on the postseason for the second consecutive season, Dubas acknowledged the blunt reality of those shortcomings during a spartan gathering with reporters in the cinder block-lined media room of the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.
“Throughout the season we started off poorly, dug ourselves a hole in October, started to make our way out of it and then from mid-January really until April, we struggled,” Dubas said. “We can talk as long as we want today and answer any questions about where we are at on that. We can focus on individual things. We can focus on stretches of the year, but I think that stretch from mid-January through until (starting strong surge in April) … that’s the stretch that has us here today and not getting ready to play in the playoffs.”
Between Jan. 20 and March 22, the Penguins went 9-15-3 before completing the campaign with a valiant but futile 8-2-3 record.
That late-winter/early-spring malaise Dubas outlined also coincided with the approach and aftermath of the Dubas’ highly unpopular trade of popular All-Star forward Jake Guentzel on March 8.
“Surprised and disappointed,” Dubas said of how the team reacted to the transaction. “Because the reason is we showed what we were capable once we got back to it for the last 12, 13 games. … If we had shaken the doldrums a little bit earlier, we might be in a different position. I think it’s very instructive to everybody moving forward.”
Looking forward, how do the Penguins get back to the heights they profess to aim for? Dubas was vague on how that process may unfold over the next five months. But still buoyant in those hopes.
He cited the Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers as examples of teams that were able to retool in quick fashions to once again become contenders as opposed to full-out rebuilding projects that can be arduous and lengthy in duration.
“The easy answer when you’re up here is to say, ‘OK, we’re just going to rip it all the way down, and it’s going to require patience and it’s going to be painful,’” Dubas said. “If that’s the right course, there are organizations that have done that well. I think here with our group, it would be foolish not to try to get those younger players in around those players like (forwards Sidney Crosby), like (defenseman) Kris Letang, like (forward) Bryan Rust, people who come in every single day and operate at an extremely high level and get the most out of themselves. That’s the way I view it.
“But we haven’t gone through our full breakdown of the year, where we want to go, how we stack up against the other teams in our division next year, the year after, where those teams are at in their own cycle and how can we surpass them? I’d love to be able to give clear-cut answers right now, but I think that’ll become more clear as we get towards the draft and free agency.”
Dubas addressed a number of specifics on Thursday.
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Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic, left, replaces Tristan Jarry during the third period of a game against the New York Rangers at PPG Paints Arena on March 16.
• One day after coach Mike Sullivan professed support for scrutinized goaltender Tristan Jarry — who did not start the final 13 games of the regular season as the team made a desperate push for a playoff spot — Dubas largely echoed that sentiment and made a point to note Jarry was scheduled to start a road contest April 1 against the Rangers but illness derailed those plans.
“I think the easy thing to say now is — of course, and I don’t begrudge it — is what does that say about Tristan?” Dubas asked rhetorically in regard to Jarry’s lack of playing time in the final weeks. “When you close it and look at the whole year, I think he would be the first to tell you he wanted to be better and has to be better. … Tristan has massive potential. … What I’m most excited about for Tristan is every player that gets in these spots at these points in their career can be a real inflection point. He has to make the decision of how he wants to respond. There is obviously doubt. There are questions. I don’t think that’s necessarily just because of his play, it’s because of the fact that when he got sick, (Nedeljkovic) went in and ran with it.
“I’m excited to see how Tristan responds because this is really what it’s all about. How guys like that are able to push back when things don’t go their way.”
Nedeljkovic is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent July 1. Dubas avoided specifics as to any plans on re-signing him while noting the ascension of goaltending prospect Joel Blomqvist who is putting the finishing touches on a strong season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.
“(Nedeljkovic has) been very vocal about his views (preference for resigning),” Dubas said. “As I said to him yesterday, we have a situation where we have a young goaltender who is also pushing, in Joel Blomqvist. We are going to use this next stretch, the last two games (of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s regular season), he will play one game this weekend. Then really the playoffs with Wilkes. How does Joel play? Can he assert himself at that level? Then we will have more information with how we want to go ahead with our goaltending.”
Chaz Palla | TribLive
Sidney Crosby has one year remaining on his current contract that carries a salary cap hit of $8.7 million.
• Per NHL rules, the Penguins can re-sign Crosby to a contract extension on July 1 as he enters the final year of his current contract.
The 36-year-old Crosby has repeatedly expressed a desire to remain in Pittsburgh and little Dubas said Thursday suggested anything may go catawampus with those hopes.
“I know everyone will want answers, I know it will be a big topic,” Dubas said. “But it’s imperative that they’re kept private between Sid, myself and (agent) Pat Brisson. In regard to his meaning to the team and what the intention is, I think it’s always been clear, I think he should finish his career with the Pittsburgh Penguins. How long that is? I’m not going to put any limits on Sidney Crosby. He’s capable of great things and still performing at an extraordinarily high level, not only in games but every single day, his energy level and passion for it doesn’t decrease. He’s the type of person that’s always trying to add new things, even at this age. He’s not about maintaining. He’s about continuing to find new levels. So, I think he’s a special person in that regard.”
• With the team failing to reach the postseason for the second consecutive season with largely the same coaching staff, Dubas did not offer much substantive on that front.
“In the end, the responsibility for the year falls on me,” Dubas said. “That’s this role. Everyone that’s in place here is in place because I’ve either brought them here or have elected to keep them here. So, when things don’t turn out and the year falls below expectations, I think that in professional sports, that falls on the person who’s in my spot. So, I take the responsibility for the fact that we’re sitting here today and not in the playoffs and that we had that stretch where we really cost ourselves that chance.
“Having said that, it’s my job to evaluate all of the groups, all the systems that we have in place — medical, equipment, player development, etc. and make sure that we’ve got the right people in place on staff to get us where we want to go. (Sullivan) and I will meet continually about the staff, go through each staff member, whether they’re the right fit for our group or not and then evaluate whether we want to make any changes. What I will say about the coaching staff is the amount of work that all of them respectively put in throughout the year, their efforts, their push to change and evaluate the way we were playing, especially when it wasn’t going well.
Chaz Palla | TribLive
Penguins associate coach Todd Reirden (left) and head coach Mike Sullivan.
“(Associate coach Todd Reirden, assistant coach Mike Vellucci, assistant coach Ty Hennes, goaltending coach Andy Chiodo, video coach Madison Nikkel and assistant video coach C.J. D’Alimonte), they were unrelenting in their push and quest to try to bring us back. It wasn’t for a lack of effort on their part at all. To answer your question about who does the responsibility fall on, it falls on me and it’s up to me, (Sullivan) and our whole management group to work to get us back into the spot where everyone here in Pittsburgh wants us to get to.”
• Reirden orchestrated the power play, which was hideous for most of the season and finished with a conversion rate of 15.3%, 30th in the NHL.
“We have to get the power play to the point where it’s functioning at a high level, like everything that we do,” Dubas said. “Everyone in this room can feel it. The crowd and everybody in the building gives it one revolution, one faceoff, one chance to set up, one entry before they get restless. Then angst builds, then it leads to booing. Everyone feels that. Players feel it. The coaches feel it. The fans feel it. Everyone wants the power play to be great and be seen as a separator for the team to help it win games.
“It started to come together too late. I don’t think it was scoring at the level we wanted it to, but at the very least, it was giving us momentum, giving us looks and giving us chances. They weren’t falling. All that said, I don’t buy into what we’re generating in terms of expectation. The power play is about execution and outcomes. You have to produce. We can’t allow short-handed goals against. We have to execute at a high level. In the end, it comes down to execution. … It’s a collective situation that we need to get much, much better at. It was obviously costly.”
• Defenseman Ryan Graves, the team’s most prominent free agent acquisition last offseason, finished an underwhelming season with a concussion that sidelined him for the final 10 games.
Before that, things were rarely ideal for Graves who wound up on the bottom pairing before being injured. In the first year of a six-year contract, Graves is signed through 2029. No one else on the current roster is signed beyond 2028.
Dubas was frank in acknowledging Graves was disappointing but optimistic he can improve.
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In 70 games this season, Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves had 14 points (three goals, 14 assists).
“Part of that is on us as an organization,” Dubas said. “It’s as much on Ryan to push and find his way through the summer. It’s a massive summer for him. His strength — which will allow him to be more physical and make stops in the defensive zone — his mobility — he will be 29 to start next year — he’s going to have to really push and work on that. But we have to arm him with the path to get there. He has to execute it relentlessly. If he can do that, he’s going to get back to being the player that he was when we signed him. But it’s going to be up to him in the summer to execute that and come into camp and be ready to roll.
“That’s the expectation for Ryan. He’s a great person, great character. I know how proud he is. And I fully expect him to come back in next year and have a great year.”
• Defenseman Erik Karlsson, acquired via a blockbuster trade in August, improved as the season wore on in Dubas’ estimation.
“Karlsson, I thought at the end of the year, showed exactly why you acquire Erik Karlsson,” Dubas said. “He skated, took charge, shot the puck rather than try to slap pass it through five people every time — which he and I have had many discussions about — and became awfully effective because he kept the defense off balance, defended harder.
“He’s going to be in his mid-30s. Massive summer to maintain his level and improve it and next year rolling. But I think he got on his way, like the rest of the group overall at the same time, and a little bit too late. But wouldn’t change anything with him at all. He’s going to be able to play at a high level for a long time.”
• Dubas’s first notable transaction with the Penguins came June 28 when he acquired top-six winger Reilly Smith from the champion Vegas Golden Knights.
After a fast start, Smith largely underwhelmed for the majority of the season before settling in on a role with the third line.
“Reilly Smith, great start to the year with (second liners Evgeni Malkin and Rickard Rakell), especially when (Rakell) wasn’t going well,” Dubas said. “Then from mid-November on, (Rakell) was hurt, (Malkin) wasn’t as good and I thought that affected Reilly. Very different linemates than what he played with in Vegas, (Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson), so big adaptation for him. Then he got hurt himself in January, and then I felt he was better after the trade deadline. With (trade acquisition Michael Bunting) going into that role on the second line, I thought that really helped the second line a lot. (Drew O’Connor) went up with Sid and (Rust) and I thought he helped them a lot.
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In 76 games this season, Penguins forward Reilly Smith had 40 points (13 goals, 27 assists).
“That let us put Reilly with (Lars Eller and rookie Valtteri Puustinen), and I thought that was a better fit for Reilly, to kind of get him back up and rolling. Yesterday, in talking to him, he knows he wasn’t as good as he was last year. Certainly, he was an excellent player on a Stanley Cup-winning team. But I think if you look at his history, I would expect a big bounce back from him next season.
• Dubas indicated he will retain the general manager role he took on in August.
“I don’t think right now, with where we’re at, bringing in somebody who’s going to be deferring to me anyway is at all what we need to in our building.
“Unless someone moves on for a promotion elsewhere, I’ll evaluate it, but (the hockey operations group) has so much potential. As they continue to grow, it’s up to me and (senior advisor of hockey operations Doug Wilson) to move it along.”
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at [email protected].
