The Pittsburgh Penguins may still make a couple of changes but the pressure to do so has lessened
Josh Yohe of The Athletic: The Pittsburgh Penguins window remains open, but GM Jim Rutherford knows they need to make some changes.
What was learned over the weekend?
1. Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin appear to be staying put
2. The trade market died over the weekend – the Penguins don’t have a lot assets or cap space, especially with the cap ceiling lower than expected.
3. Rutherford’s direction has changed – They’d like to make a couple more trades, and could still make them, but it may not be a player like Phil Kessel. Trading Olli Maatta was their first step in changing the culture.
4. Don’t expect the Penguins to be players on the free agent market – They may add a player or two on inexpensive contracts, but they won’t be after any bigger names.
Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The pressure for the Pittsburgh Penguins to make a trade(s) and change their culture may no longer be there. Defenseman Olli Maatta is the only trade they made so far this offseason.
“People think there’s going to be a lot of turnover with the Penguins but I don’t think there was ever that intention,” Rutherford said from the NHL Draft floor. “We want to make some changes, change a little bit of the culture in the room and we’ve started to do that.”
“We’ll probably do that prior to training camp.”
Rutherford adds that it’s just a little re-tooling needed and to “freshen things up a little bit.”
He added that it’s “highly unlikely” that they trade Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin.
“I think we can change how we go about our business with a little different approach, how we bring the team together,” Rutherford said. “If we can make two or three moves over the summer, which we’ve already made one, and then regroup, get the team in the right direction where it can come together, we have good enough players to win.”
