Notebook Buzz: Differing views surround Penguins plan of action

— Rumblings, Musings, Opinions —

Soft Rebuild in Play? Pittsburgh after a 3-2 overtime win Saturday night vs the Montreal Canadiens, will go into the All-Star break 9th in the Eastern Conference in points percentage and just four points out of third place and multiple games in hand. Still, the final two games of the break showed again with this club how every night just seems to be a 50-50 game and struggle to get two points. Management has to weigh that into their evaluation process. With third place in the Metropolitan Division so up for grabs, though, arguments for both sides can be made. One thinking around the team is Kyle Dubas owes it to this group to at the minimum either to stay the course or be a soft buyer. The other side is let’s be honest the right move is getting a jumpstart on a soft rebuild……….

Differing views surround Dubas: What’s fascinating with those two lenses, there’s two very differing views of what Dubas will do from those around the team to what the league-wide belief is right now on the Penguins. In Pittsburgh there is a belief ownership prefers to ride this season out and push everything to the summer.

There are even some To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”! intimidated by the core on what they’ve meant to the franchise and To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!……..Around the league, though, the belief is the totally opposite and that Dubas is already slowly laying the groundwork to be bold leading into the deadline, for instance a belief Dubas will not keep Jake Guentzel as his own rental and will start a re-tool of the roster for next season, beyond. And this a pretty strong consensus outside of Pittsburgh among those who indicate Dubas does not believe in this team and a group not worth mortgaging capital to try to guarantee a playoff spot……. We’re a month and change from finding out which side is right………

Mike from Utah?: Let’s end this notion Kyle Dubas needs to weigh the opinions of the Big Three before constituting a deadline plan. Sidney Crosby absolutely, a superstar of his magnitude deserves to be in the loop of why ‘you’re planning this, ect’, but Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang absolutely not. They do not deserve any consideration of what they think and that’s the truth. Malkin is a complementary player at this stage and just along for the ride. The Penguins are not paying Dubas almost $7 million a year to be a puppet for a Malkin and Letang retirement tour. He just can’t fall into any traps……..Let’s say Mike Sullivan was from Utah instead of Massachusetts — would ownership be so infatuated with Sullivan? — Saying this, I’m a believer Sullivan is easily a top-5 coach in the NHL and would be great in a number of other situations, but even the biggest Sullivan supporters in the organization have to wonder about the obvious if a coaching change would bring out the best in Erik Karlsson with systematic changes to allow him free reins down low similar to San Jose and oh yeah fix the power play……..

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Rumblings: If Kyle Dubas was even permitted to make a coaching change for one last hope of getting the most out of this group, the name constantly mentioned around the league is To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”! Had the Steelers interviewed eight to ten candidates instead of three, would the Arthur Smith hire be more popular? Only in Pittsburgh after having a JV high school offensive coordinator in Matt Canada at the helm for two and half seasons would the hiring of Smith be bashed like it is right now…………At first glance the Smith hire is more about the Steelers believing they are close to taking the next step than the hire being solely that they think the OC can fix Kenny Pickett. In how Smith likes to attack offensively, it certainly leaves a pursuit of Justin Fields still on the table, something that surely will be a discussion in the organization…….

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