Friday Insider: Healthy Olcyzk ponders opportunities in NHL front offices

Three years ago, Eddie Olcyzk was facing a pretty uncertain future.

Didn't even know if he had one, really.

After all, he was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer in the summer of 2017, and there was no guarantee he would survive.

But Olczyk made it through, thanks to surgery and a few rounds of chemotherapy, and last month received encouraging results from the latest scan done to assess his recovery.

"Everything's all clean and clear," he said a few days ago. "I'm feeling good. We're on the right side of this."

Olczyk -- a player, coach and TV analyst for the Penguins at various stages of his career -- resides in his native Chicago these days and works on horse racing and national hockey broadcasts for NBC, in addition to doing analysis on Blackhawks telecasts.

But his future, in some ways, still is uncertain.

Not because he's battling an insidious ailment again, but because it's quite possible he'll be moving out of the broadcast booth at some point.



He was mentioned as a candidate to succeed John McDonough after McDonough was fired as president of the Blackhawks in April, and while he doesn't appear to be in line for that position anymore, Olczyk has to be viewed as a viable contender for any jobs that might open in the team's front office.

Considered that Chicago has gone through a couple of disappointing years after a long run as one of the league's elite teams, changes there seem quite possible after this season.

And even if he doesn't end up with a place on Chicago's management team, Olczyk might well get an opportunity to fill a prominent role elsewhere. It turns out that he's been exploring that market for a while.

"I've met with a couple of teams over the last couple of years and continue to have dialogues with a couple of others," he said. "I love what I do. I'm very content. I'm at peace. I love NBC and the hockey and horse-racing teams that I'm on, and then I do the games here in Chicago.

"You never say never, but I've been honored and humbled that teams would contact me and have a dialogue. It just hasn't happened. I'm not sure what tomorrow holds, but these conversations have been pretty enlightening."

Olczyk did not specify the teams with which he has spoken about jobs over the past few years, but Philadelphia and New Jersey are believed to be on the list.

It's also likely he's heard from the expansion club in Seattle, where his brother, Ricky Olczyk, is GM Ron Francis' assistant. (Francis, it should be noted, not only was Olczyk's teammate with the Penguins, but also his landlord.)

Olczyk, whose said his short-term focus is on becoming a first-time grandfather sometime in the next few weeks, would not be the first person to move from the broadcast booth to the executive suite. In fact, his opportunity to work on national broadcasts came when John Davidson left TV to become president of the St. Louis Blues.

So Olczyk not only has his health, which makes everything else possible, but the very real possibility of adding another entry to his resume at some point.

"I'm not going to deny that I've met with teams and talked with teams, but I love what I'm doing," he said. "If something pops up, I'll have to make a decision."

MORE PENGUINS

• Although there has not been a formal announcement from the team yet, a Penguins source confirms the club plans to open its training camp July 10, the first day allowed under an agreement negotiated between the league and the NHL Players' Association. -- Molinari

• The NHL still has not let teams know how many players will be permitted on postseason rosters, which obviously will have an impact on some personnel decisions made as the resumption of play gets closer. Jim Rutherford noted the Penguins used 25 players during their Stanley Cup runs in 2016 and 2017, and said he expects their roster to include "three or four extra forwards, probably three extra defensemen and probably up to four goalies." It also has not been determined whether clubs will be permitted to have a "taxi squad" of players who would not be among the 50-member contingent that would travel to the "hub" city where the team will play, but who would remain in the club's home city and be available if someone is needed to replace an injured player on the active roster. One aspect of the issue, Rutherford said, is settling on the guidelines that would have to be followed to introduce players from the outside to the "bubble" the league hopes to establish around competitors and staffers in the hub cities. "They're going to have to look at what the protocol would be to bring someone in later on," he said. "Is the protocol that they have to wait (in quarantine) for 14 days or eight days? By that time, the player you were bringing them in for may be healthy again. There's a little more to it than just saying, 'Yeah, you can' or 'No, you can't.' " -- Molinari

STEELERS

• Steelers and Pitt play-by-play announcer Bill Hillgrove's DUI charges last week had a lot of people wondering if this might be the end for the longtime Pittsburgh icon. And if it is -- a big if at this point -- who his replacement might be. Rob King replaced Hillgrove on the Steelers broadcasts late last season when Hillgrove was out following back surgery. King is well-respected. He would be first in line for that job. But let's not write Hillgrove off just yet. The 79-year-old has been calling Steelers games since 1994 and doing Pitt games for more than 50 years. He made a mistake. It was a bad one, but should it offset decades of charity work and ambassadorship not only for the teams for which he works, but for the city of Pittsburgh? The feelings of those in charge are split on that. Some say yes, others no. But don't be surprised if Hillgrove isn't at least publicly chastised for his actions. -- Dale Lolley on the North Shore

• The Steelers saw their turnovers forced jump from 15 in 2018 to a league-best 38 in 2019. Much of the credit went to the acquisition of safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. But that's oversimplifying things. Fitzpatrick was responsible for some of it. He had five interceptions, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble. So realistically, he had a direct hand in eight turnovers. The fact is, the Steelers worked hard at stripping the ball and getting more interceptions. "It’s reasonable to expect us to improve in that area and to improve in all areas," Mike Tomlin said this week when asked if his team could repeat that performance. "We have a young nucleus defensively, guys that have been here. A lot has been written and said about the acquisition of Minkah and his impact. For him to have an offseason and a preseason in the position that he’s in, a guy who plays in the middle of the field largely for us, I think, is significant. We are excited about it. More than anything, it’s a culture process for us. It’s something we try to bring to our daily work and every drill it is that we do." There also was some luck involved. The Steelers created an outstanding 33 fumbles in 2019. They recovered 54.5 percent of those. You can make some of that happen by having guys run to the ball, but the ball also is oblong, not round. But if they can punch the ball out 33 times -- after forcing 13 defensive fumbles in 2018 -- the turnover numbers should be there. -- Lolley

• The decision to cancel the Hall of Fame game was an easy one in the end. The league has told all teams they will likely all be reporting July 28 for training camp. There's just no way the Steelers and Cowboys were going to be ready to play a game less than 10 days after that given the fact they had no on-field offseason work. Add in the fact that players could arrive for training camp on July 28 and test positive for coronavirus and thus be out of commission for an extended period, and it just wasn't worth playing the game. -- Lolley

PIRATES

• While the league and players association did not reach a revised agreement for the 2020 season, there was speculation the two sides could still potentially work out smaller deals for changes that could be viewed as mutually beneficial. The most publicized of these was expanded playoffs. Playing more playoff games would bring in more money for both sides, and Taillon previously said in March that players want to make sure the best teams still make the postseason in the shortened campaign. With a 60-game schedule, that might not be a given, with the prime example being the defending World Series champion Nationals, who started the year 19-31 and were 27-33 through 60 games. However, it appears those negotiations will not be reopened before spring training 2.0 resumes July 1. "The vibe I got, at least, when we signed off on this and we agreed to medical protocols and the league’s moving forward with implementing 60 games, it seems like the negotiations for now are pretty much over," Pirates MLBPA rep Jameson Taillon said. "And I think that’s a sigh of relief for everybody." In the union's final offer to the league, they requested a $50 million playoff pool for players, double the $25 million the owners proposed. The two sides can revisit expanding the postseason after the current collective bargaining agreement expires after the 2021 season. The league was considering a 14-team postseason back in February, so it seems probable that the idea will be a point in those negotiations. -- Alex Stumpf on the North Shore

• Taillon and all rehabbing Pirates will not be allowed on road trips this year, per the league's health and safety protocols. Instead, Taillon said the Pirates are "either going to keep a P.T. back for me to get my work in" for him, or "we might have to commute to Altoona and get my work in when the team's on the road." Altoona will be the Pirates' alternate training site, not just for spring training, but throughout the season. Kevin Kramer should also spend some time rehabbing after undergoing hip surgery in May. -- Stumpf

• The 2020 season will be 66 calendar days long, but based on the March agreement, it will count as a full service year. A full regular season is considered to be 187 calendar days long, and a player is credited with a full service year if they are on the Major-League roster for 172 of those days. That means each day of being on the Major-League roster this year will be credited as 2.83 days of service time, and that any player is on the roster for at least 61 days will receive a full year. This directly impacts Ke'Bryan Hayes, who has not made his MLB debut but is still projected to this season. His service clock has not started, meaning if he is on the roster for 60 days or fewer, he would still be under team control for six more years. The catch to this is rather than having rosters expand at the end of the year like normal, teams will start with 30 players this year and slowly have it reduce to the original 26. That increases Hayes' chances of making the team, and if he plays well, the Pirates might not be able to justify sending him back to the taxi squad. -- Stumpf

PITT

• When the men's basketball team gets together for required summer activities -- the NCAA is allowing this to occur July 20 -- expect the players to be rusty. Real rusty. Finding places to stay sharp during the coronavirus shutdown was not as easy as some believe, particularly for those players living or staying in large urban areas where the impact was greater than what has happened in Western Pennsylvania. Sophomore forward Justin Champagnie, the team's leading scorer and rebounder last season, did not have much gym access in Brooklyn. "Me and a couple of friends lift weights, do stuff that we can do," he said. "Just working a lot on staying in shape." Sophomore center Abdoul Karim Coulibaly stayed in Cincinnati before returning to Pittsburgh. While in Ohio, he said courts were closed, so he spent time working out in the area. "Just a lot of running, jumping rope, abs and push-ups," he said. Coulibaly said he's dropped a few pounds. Incoming freshmen Femi Odukale and Max Amadasun, who both live in New York, also said their offseason routine mostly consisted of lifting weights. -- Mike Kovak on the North Shore

• Optimism surrounding the football team, which began supervised weightlifting sessions Monday for medically cleared players, is understandable. The defense returns 12 players who either started or made key contributions last season. It should be bolstered by the return of defensive linemen Rashad Weaver and Keyshon Camp. The offense brings back seven starters, none more important than quarterback Kenny Pickett, though center Jimmy Morrissey is key, too. People outside of the program are taking notice. When Athlon Sports released its preseason All-ACC team, 10 Panthers were selected. Only Clemson and Virginia Tech had more. Pro Football Network said Pitt could have the best defensive line in college football. Rich Cirminiello, director of Maxwell Football Club, took it a step further. He ranks Pitt's defensive line as the nation's best. Followed by Clemson, Alabama, Miami and Penn State.  -- Kovak