Latest Pens Buzz: Viewing Themselves as top-3 team in Division will dictate aggressiveness as a Buyer

Eye test slowly starting to match computer models? Are the stars potentially aligning for the Penguins to more than a soft buyer at the trade deadline? This Penguins management team is a group that at the end the day will make decisions more off what a computer tells them to do than being swayed by the eye test. Despite the Penguins hovering around a .480 winning percentage a month ago, the Penguins internal models at the time were still projecting this to be around a .600 winning percentage team by the All-Star break and will they prove, correct? Boasting one of the best records in the NHL since mid-December, the Penguins are slowly creeping in that direction with a .564

Rumors: Rival Execs tabbing Penguins as ‘The’ dark horse team that adds a seismic shift to the trade market?

This week has been the story of ‘lifeless’ performances for Pittsburgh sports teams. The Penguins Wednesday night vs the Lightning, followed again by the Steelers Thursday night at home against the Patriots. Are these also two franchises in a period where both are stuck in that bad spot of being in the ‘middle of going nowhere?’ Time will tell on the Penguins, but more and more evidence emerges that’s more likely than not of where they’re also at……….. Penguins General Manager Kyle Dubas in a way put his team on watch during his weekly radio appearance saying prior to Wednesday’s matchup vs the Lightning that Pittsburgh’s next two games were going to massive measuring sticks for him to see where

Latest Pens Buzz: Should a New Voice be tempting to Penguins management?

When evaluating his hockey club Penguins General Manager Kyle Dubas is a believer in how your team stacks up against your division. Evaluating the Penguins across the entire NHL, the Penguins new management team is smart enough to realize this is not a winning formula with what they have in place in all facets. 24 Games in and playing at an 85-point pace is an alarming rate for a team internally that believed it had a roster to push for a 99-100 point season. From day 1 it was clear with this roster, that type of improvement was going to be predicated on great top-6 play (they’re getting it from first line), above average goaltending (Pittsburgh is getting top-5 goaltending

Rumors: Penguins had Zoom Call with Patrick Kane last week?

While regarded as a [hide] long-shot team in the mix, the Pittsburgh Penguins were among nine other teams last week that were granted a zoom call with future Hall-of-Famer Patrick Kane, two industry sources confirmed to Inside Pittsburgh Sports.[/hide] [hide] Kane recovering from off-season hip surgery, has been leaning towards signing with an Eastern Conference team due to the style of play in the conference and the Kane camp led by Pat Brisson and Jim Nice of CAA Sports spoke at length with potential interested clubs last week about role, ect. Kane during the calls asked to speak with the head coach from a number of the clubs involved in the calls. At least three clubs, two from the Eastern

Notebook Buzz: Will Penguins’ management force system changes if next four-game homestand goes south?

The Pittsburgh Penguins have dropped two straight and had a putrid performance Saturday night against the St. Louis Blues in a 4-2 loss where the Blues out-executed the Penguins in all phases, leading Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan to blast his hockey club that they didn’t work hard enough. With a so-so soft schedule through the first five games of the season, Pittsburgh is suddenly off to a disappointing 2-3 start and the team is treading water where all the optimism coming into the season could come crashing down if the Penguins come out sleep walking against the Dallas Stars tonight and the Colorado Avalanche Thursday night, two legitimate top Stanley Cup contenders. This is a huge four-game home stand

Latest Pens Buzz: What to Read into the Penguins 2-2 Start

Following a 6-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings Wednesday night, the Pittsburgh are 2-2 at the four game mark. If you buy into expected goals, the good is arguments could be made that they should be 4-0 or at least off to a 3-1 start. The negative is in the long run where this club saw first hand last season that every point matters against inferior teams, getting 4 out of 8 points to open the year against four unlikely playoff teams isn’t ideal in a deep Eastern Conference. What’s fascinating with this club through four games is every expectation with how this roster is built, has played out thus far. Before training camp ended it was clear all

Are the Penguins Back as Contenders? Key Storylines/What to Watch For

Home Opener | Blackhawks @ Penguins 8:00 P.M. | ‘Get Rolling’ The Kyle Dubas hire, splash trade of Erik Karlsson and more roster upheaval (8 newcomers will dress tonight) has accomplished the off-season goal of breathing optimism into a stale hockey club that not only missed the playoffs last season after an implosion in the final week of the season but is looking to win a playoff round for the first time since 2018. There’s a sense of energy in the organization not seen for a number of years. “Now it gets up to us as a group and up to the team to turn that optimism into an earned confidence,” Penguins GM Kyle Dubas said Monday in his season

Latest Pens Buzz: Penguins a team to watch on waiver wire?

Penguins General Manager Kyle Dubas is Jim Rutherford like in how he’s always in on everything and always open to making changes to the roster. Difference is everything with Dubas is much more thought out and calculated than making knee jerk, emotional moves like Rutherford was so accustomed to doing. For those reasons the Penguins are a team Monday to watch on the waiver wire. As the team is very comfortable going into the season with Colin White or Radim Zohorna as the 13th forward on the roster, the organization went well into Sunday were still mulling outside options at the forward position and on defense, particularly the right D spot. “Kyle and our staff are going to have some

Latest Pens Buzz: Puck Pursuit Ability major driving point on who will nab final forward spots

The Pittsburgh Penguins closed out the preseason with a 7-4 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Friday Night. And there was a lot to like…….. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ FINAL ROSTER BUZZ — Not sound like a broken record but since an off-season game plan was put in place back in Mid-June, Pittsburgh’s new management team and the coaching staff led by Mike Sullivan have bought into the philosophy of building a bottom-6 that excels at a puck pursuit game and put together a bottom-6 that can eat up tough minutes defensively so the likes of Sidney Crosby can be freed up from constantly having to match up against the oppositions top line. It’s certainly come into focus of who’s going to win

Latest Pens Buzz: Third Line Impact, Guentzel Contract Buzz

The biggest development out of Pittsburgh’s 3-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres Thursday night is we’re going to see an extended look with the third line of Drew O’Connor – Lars Eller – Matt Nieto over the next little while in camp. Things are heading in the direction where it’s likely to be Pittsburgh opening night third line. Drew O’Connor was not a true bubble player entering camp but there was still some pressure to prove yourself for OC. O’Connor flashing excellent forecheck instincts, wall play, and some individual offense has seen him lock down a top-9 spot for now as he’s been among Pittsburgh’s best players in camp. That trend continued vs the Sabres…….. “I think OC’s played really