Latest: Pens/Habs Fallout; Scoring Depth; Bemstrom Acquisition & More Buzz

Key Takeaways from the Penguins 4-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens Thursday Night –Jarry Won the Night in first 10 minutes– Kris Letang might have been the storyline with two goals on Kris Letang bobblehead night but Tristan Jarry won this game in the first 10 minutes. If Jarry was a tad off his game, this one could have gone south quite early on for the Penguins with how out of sync Pittsburgh was defensively. Montreal was buzzing out of the gates with 19 scoring chances and 10 high-danger chances, all 5 vs 5 in the first 20 minutes of play. Jarry went on to make 30 saves in the win, marking the fifth time out of his last six

Latest Pens Buzz: What We Learned on Penguins Plan Moving Forward

— KEY TAKEAWAYS/OBSERVATIONS FROM KYLE DUBAS PRE-DEADLINE MEDIA SESSION – ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Dubas Does Well in Outlining a Plan Moving Forward What Kyle Dubas needed to do Wednesday was start selling a message to the fan base and whether it’s the right move or not, he did well in laying out his vision. In believing the likes of Sidney Crosby, Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang will remain higher level players for the next couple seasons, the Penguins will try to toe this line of being competitive while bringing in younger talent on the fly to avoid any real short or long-term pain. The view outside of Pittsburgh is this will not work but Dubas was extremely thorough as to why he

NHL Buzz: Golden Knights emerging in Guentzel derby

— Vegas eyes opportunity to discuss extension in trade talks for Guentzel — Buzz in league circles is the [hide] Vegas Golden Knights armed with draft picks and LTIR space have emerged in recent days as a dark horse team to watch on the Jake Guentzel front. The Golden Knights interest in Guentzel has been fueled-by a belief that Vegas is a team Guentzel would be willing to discuss an extension with prior to a trade. Vegas has two pending free agents at the forward position in Jonathan Marchessault and Chandler Stephenson. A Trade/Extension of Guentzel would likely see the Golden Knights moving on from the soon to be 34 year old Marchessault this summer. [/hide] The Penguins have not

Notebook Buzz: Ownership’s inner circle putting Pressure on Dubas to sell a plan moving forward?

— Rumblings, Musings, Opinions — Troubling Math: The Penguins with 29 games to go remain seventh in the division and have a .529 points percentage entering Wednesday. Tuesday’s 5-4 overtime loss to the New York Islanders was another classic game why it was hard weeks ago to buy into the games in hand being a reason to still believe the team warranted buying stock into at the deadline. For such a veteran team the lack of situational awareness has been something to watch. Mike Sullivan after being very critical of his club Sunday night, called the Penguins third period rally vs the New York Islanders an ‘inspiring effort: “A couple of goals were fluky, and I just thought our guys

Latest Pens Buzz: Was Pittsburgh’s Loss to Kings the nail in the coffin for the 23/24 Penguins?

Jagr Weekend was a First-Class Operation: Top to bottom the Pittsburgh Penguins organization put on an amazing display with the retirement of Jaromir Jagr’s #68. President of Business operations Kevin Acklin deserves his popcorn. Acklin was the frontman in making this happening. It’s easy to put together a plan, but to enact it and deliver it so well like the Penguins organization did is something else altogether. The Penguins have now set a precedent on how you go all out for a franchise icon. It wasn’t just the festivities Sunday afternoon with the hanging of #68 to the rafters. This was basically a 72-hour celebration that started on Friday and Pittsburgh knocked every step along the way out of the

Jagr Weekend: Going Down Memory Lane & Favorite Jagr Season

Going Down Memory Lane The Greatest Pittsburgh Penguin in Franchise History is obviously Mario Lemieux and little chance anyone is ever coming through that door that will come close to Lemieux. Sidney Crosby has moved into the second greatest Penguin territory and is arguably the Penguins most accomplished player in team history from an individual/team accolade perspective. Sorry Evgeni Malkin, Jaromir Jagr is hands down the third greatest Penguin of all-time and it’s not even close. This notion that Malkin is above Jagr is disrespectful to Jagr. Behind Lemieux, Jagr was the second-most dominant player to ever put on a Penguins jersey. By year three in 1992-1993, Jagr started to clearly emerge as a 10-forward in the game and from

Notebook Buzz: Penguins Acquired Erik Karlsson with idea of at least a two year window

— Rumblings, Musings, Opinions — Florida’s a Beast: There’s not a worst matchup for the Penguins in the Eastern Conference than the Florida Panthers. Following Pittsburgh’s 5-2 loss to the Panthers Wednesday night, talk about two vastly different styles in how each team is built. It’s very easily to see why the Panthers got through the Boston Bruins and the Eastern Conference last spring. The Panthers are a daunting team to go up against over seven games for anybody that’s going to see them……… Sell Baby Sell? Speaking of daunting, Kyle Dubas has a daunting task ahead of himself. Last night didn’t change much. Dubas knows he can’t double down on this group. This season is pretty close to being

Jake Guentzel Out & What it Means for the Penguins

Has Jake Guentzel played his last game in a Penguins uniform? [hide] The chances are high of that as the Penguins officially placed Guentzel on injured reserve this evening and announced the pending free agent will be sidelined up to four weeks. It’s believed Guentzel suffered a shoulder injury vs the Panthers Wednesday night. While the estimated four weeks could always be a moving target, the NHL trade deadline is just 22 days away on March 8th. [/hide] One of the clubs that has Guentzel at the top of their trade board is the [hide] Edmonton Oilers who come to Pittsburgh March 10th. Barring something unforeseen with the medicals, an injury to Guentzel is not expected to scare off a

Rumors: Penguins have coveted Ross Colton in Guentzel talks?

Latest Buzz: Buzz in league circles [hide] is the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche have as expected held exploratory talks on a Jake Guentzel trade. While the expectation is once Guentzel is eventually traded Pittsburgh will likely land a 3-for-1 type futures package for the high scoring winger, the Penguins have also discussed scenarios of targeting a return that will help the team next season. One name the Penguins are believed to have approached the Colorado Avalanche in what’s been described as very preliminary talks is center Ross Colton. The 27-year-old center has 28 points in 52 games this season and was acquired by the Colorado Avalanche last summer via trade from the Tampa Bay Lightning. Colton is signed through

Latest Pens Buzz: Trade Buzz surrounding veteran forwards Eller, Carter?

Math Problem: Pittsburgh coming out of the weekend with back-to-back losses has look of being a devastating weekend for Pittsburgh’s climb to a playoff spot. Suddenly the Philadelphia Flyers who looked dead leading into the All-Star break, have won four straight and are now 11 points ahead of the Penguins for third in the division. Pittsburgh enters Tuesday with a .541 points percentage on the season and seven points out of a wildcard spot. As the trade deadline gets closer and closer, Pittsburgh continues to have a math problem and as mentioned here during the All-Star break General Manager Kyle Dubas can’t base any trade deadline decisions on games in hand. Yes, the Penguins are competitive almost any night, but