NHL Exec: 4 x 11 for Guentzel would have been win-win for both sides

NOTEBOOK BUZZ — Rumblings, Musings, Opinions — ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Some in the Penguins organization under Kyle Dubas are mystified at the direction the Penguins are taking on the Jake Guentzel front in never truly trying to resign him. Conceptually some parameters were discussed at various points this season but in the last couple months there were no substantive talks. Feelings have been hurt multiple sources say. From Guentzel’s side of things, it’s understandable where there’s frustration that Pittsburgh under Dubas has never showed him the love. All this talk of trying to keep the window open, yet Pittsburgh keeps digging in on 32 and over players and as of today never came in with an offer to even make the Guentzel

Dubas Deadline Challenge; Eller, Ruhwedel Latest; NJD/Sullivan

NOTEBOOK BUZZ — Rumblings, Musings, Opinions — ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ One Penguins source who’s a strong supporter of Kyle Dubas: ‘He bought too much bullshit from carry overs who made him believers’ group was a lot closer than they really were. He leaned on those who were entrenched, and I bet that won’t be the case anymore. Kyle will learn and grow from it.’ Dubas has had a bad first season as General Manager with just a few hits and a slew of misses. There’s no way around it. Still, great General Manager’s learn and react on the fly and the next phase for Dubas is going to be the toughest course of action he’s ever faced as a hockey executive starting

Latest Pens Buzz: Sullivan perfect coach for a likely transition period? + More Rumblings

Sullivan the perfect coach In Place for the Penguins Transition Period? As noted before, Ron Hextall was hired for the fact that Penguin ownership desired a change in philosophy in the style of a General Manager in how to toe the line of remining a contender in the present, while planning and transitioning to maintain a competitive team on a year by year basis as the likes of Sidney Crosby and others age. Hence, avoid a Los Angeles, Detroit and Chicago type rebuild. Mike Sullivan sure showed last season and is again this season five games in that he might be the perfect coach of playing the game of trying to win now, while having the coach and system in

Latest NHL Buzz: Marc Andre Fleury, Kraken Coaching Buzz & More

Latest NHL Buzz The Tampa Bay Lightning are one win away from the Stanley Cup Final with an 8-0 thrashing of the New York Islanders Monday night as the Lightning look primed to repeat as Cup champions. Maybe the resilient Islanders force a game 7 but what a daunting challenge it is for anyone to beat that Lightning team four out of seven times and as expected that’s playing out again this postseason. In a salary cap era, it is something that since the 2008-2009 season, we could now have four multiple Cup Winners during that span with Chicago (3X), Pittsburgh (3X), Los Angeles (2X) and possibly Tampa Bay twice. Not to mention the possibility of two separate back-to-back winners

TIOPS Breakaway Buzz: Thinking Ahead on a Successor to Jim Rutherford

Inside the East Division Rumblings, Musings, & Opinions PHI 3-1-1, 7 pts: Coaches around the league feel Kevin Hayes is one of the most underappreciated players in the NHL. 6 even strength points through 5 games, Hayes has been one of the most dominant two-way players to open the season. If the Rangers could go back, there might be a different decision made on whether to sign Chris Kreider long-term over Hayes ……..Intrigue with the Flyers is the upside with the forward group as the season grows, in particular getting full seasons from Nolan Patrick (1 Goal, 3 Assists) and Oskar Lindblom (2 Goals, 1 Assist)…… The Flyers chased Zdeno Chara in free agency. Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher remains in

Breakaway Buzz: NHL/Economics, Penguins’ Ownership, Evaluating a potential lost season

*Rumblings, Musings, Opinions* 1. The NHL as expected extended their self-quarantine recommendation through April 30 for the players. It had previously been through April 15th. Update on @NHL Self-Quarantine Recommendation. pic.twitter.com/STgNBTf4bv — NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 14, 2020 Nothing has changed for the National Hockey League from a few weeks ago. Top league officials continue to be willing to wait things out for another couple months to see if there’s any chance to finish the 2019-2020 season. The league is going to wait until at least Mid-June before a decision is made, sources say. As reported a little while ago here, the best case scenario the league currently see’s is a July return for players in a training camp

Inside the Metro: Ovechkin’s dominance, heavy Western Conference interest in Chris Kreider

Inside the Metro

INSIDE THE METROPOLITAN DIVISION *Rumblings, Musings, Opinions* Washington Capitals, 77 pts, 1st in Metro | A hat trick for Alex Ovechkin Tuesday night gives him 40 goals in 53 games as he now sits at 698 career goals…….. Some will make a huge deal of the $9.2 million cap hit, (it’s just 11% of the cap), but Capital fans should love the Nicklas Backstrom extension signed last month because of the term. Washington will be paying for ages 33-37. Backstrom is such a cerebral player, Washington should get at least three good to very good seasons out of Backstrom……. The most significant development for the Capitals this season is the emergence of Ilya Samsonov. On a rookie deal for one

Inside Buzz: On what led to Ray Shero’s ouster & where the Devils go next

TIOPS NHL INSIDE BUZZ *Shero Sought to Slow Play Things *Will Fitzgerald get a legit shot? *Marty Brodeur Factor Despite being in the midst of missing the playoffs in four of five seasons, the New Jersey Devils firing Sunday night of General Manager Ray Shero was shocking to many and caught the league by surprise. When the Devils fired John Hynes, the message Devils ownership was sending around the league was that they were all-in on Shero for the present and future. Signed through the 2022-2023 season, that was all the more reason of a belief Shero was going to have a long enough leash to try to turn things around where he would get through at least next season.

Bill Guerin named General Manager of the Minnesota Wild

Pittsburgh Penguins Assistant General Manager Bill Guerin has been named the Minnesota Wild’s new General Manager, replacing Paul Fenton who was fired in July after just 14 months on the job. The Wild officially made the announcement this afternoon. “I am thrilled to announce we have hired Bill Guerin, a four-time Stanley Cup champion, as General Manager of the Minnesota Wild.” — Craig Leipold 📰 News → https://t.co/uM3vPSoWqs #mnwild pic.twitter.com/kU0yhA6khQ — Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) August 21, 2019 I am thrilled to announce we have hired Bill Guerin, a four-time Stanley Cup champion, as General Manager of the Minnesota Wild,” Owner Craig Leipold said in a released statement. “Bill has been a winner throughout his hockey career and I am extremely

Latest NHL Buzz: Jeff Skinner’s Payday, Erik Karlsson, Taylor Hall, Flyers going big in RFA market?

Latest NHL Buzz Price of Doing Business hitting Buffalo When you’re a General Manager like Jason Botterill who knows his seat is starting to get extremely warm in entering a make or break season for an impatient owner that has a history of paying executives, coaches not to work, you’ll get stuck in a situation Botterill now finds himself in. The price of doing business when your job is on line can get rather expensive. It started with the coaching hire and is now spreading to negotiations with Jeff Skinner. After Alain Vigneault [hide] wasn’t even interested in interviewing when the job was Vigneault’s if he wanted it and the same for Todd McLellan who spurned Buffalo for Los Angeles,