Rutherford anticipates being active to upgrade the roster

Changes are coming to the Penguins this summer.

How big?

Time will tell.

“It’s obvious I’m going to keep an open mind to changes and I will make some changes,” Penguins GM Jim Rutherford said today at his season ending news conference. “We’re a good team, we will be a good team going forward,” said Rutherford. “We’ll have the chance to win again, we have the nucleus to do that.”

Whether the Penguins go into the direction of moving a core player remains to be seen but talk among rival executives already is the Penguins have the appetite to move a big name player in the right deal with To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!

One thing Rutherford noted today is the Penguins have a number of tradable assets to make desired changes in certain areas.

“We also have the pieces in place that are players other teams will want that will allow us To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!

MORE BUZZ

— On Derick Brassard, Mike Sullivan said today it was a “feeling out process” and Brassard just never found that true comfort level.

Rutherford, meanwhile, blamed the To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!

There’s going to be talk this summer, and already is on whether the Penguins should consider moving Brassard as there would be a strong market for a second-line level type center in Brassard who carries just a $3 million cap hit and $3.5 million base salary in 2018-2019.

It’s certainly early and the Penguins are weeks away from putting their off-season plan into focus but there is no sense right now that Pittsburgh has any interest in parting with Brassard this summer.

Among the reasons:

They’d be back to square one and most importantly, The Penguins don’t buy the ‘bad fit’ for the system talk one bit, a source close to the situation says, as Brassard has been successful in systems like this, notably To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!

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