So hey, how about that trade, huh?
No, not that one. Not Brandon Aiyuk. That's still status quo. He's still in Santa Clara, still not with the Steelers.
I'm talking about that one the Penguins made.
And no, not that one:
PENGUINS
I'll have thoughts on this one, as well, as I've always appreciated Cody Glass' potential and feel like he'll make a fine fit if he can find himself here. It's the latest in a summer of smart, subtle moves by Kyle Dubas aimed at fortifying his forward depth.
But no, I'm referencing this beauty:
PENGUINS
It's baffling upon a glance, but it's really just boring even when digging deeper: The Blues have submitted qualifying offers on two Oilers via restricted free agency and thus were required to have a specific assortment of draft picks at hand. So they needed one back from the recent trade they'd made to send Kevin Hayes to the Penguins, and Dubas was able to parlay that plea from counterpart Doug Armstrong into a two-round upgrade a couple drafts from now.
I know, I know: Who cares if it can't help Sidney Crosby?
I get that part. I appreciate it. I happen to agree with it, albeit only to an extent.
But hear me out and, within that, please weigh that I'd been as rough on Dubas as anyone regarding his first summer in our city: I'm loving his current approach to roster-building in the Crosby context. Not just the forwards or any other micro-facet, either. I'm talking about the whole process, from plan to pricing to purchase.
Check these three boxes with me:
► SATISFY SID
I'll be the last to downplay, much less dismiss this. Sid's special. He's Sid. He's in his own category. The city, the franchise owe him a debt that'll never be repaid, and the very least of that should be putting forth a bona fide effort into contending for another Stanley Cup. That's what'll fuel him through 40 years old and maybe beyond. That's what's always fueled him.
He'll sign his extension. Never been any drama there, and there'll never be any. He's as Pittsburgh as any of us. He values his legacy as much as any athlete I've covered, and he'll always want to be like his heroes Mario Lemieux and Steve Yzerman in being a single-sweater superstar. And really ... wow, it's as awkward as it is awful to even envision anything else.
That said, he's well within his rights to have been bending Dubas' ear all summer. Or, with better phrasing, lending his own ear to Dubas. The two have gotten together regularly while Sid trains up in Cranberry, where Dubas, too, does a lot of his offseason work. The GM's laid out the vision, the living legend's been kept abreast, and there's nothing wrong with that. Been like this for four decades with this team, with a handful of rings to show for it.
Now, it's no fun building a case that a roster that's missed the past two playoffs can suddenly become a participant, much less a contender. Sid's no dummy, and he'll see that, too. But twinning it together with the legacy, I'd feel OK positing that anything's possible. Evgeni Malkin's still a top-shelf No. 2 center from the production standpoint, ranking 29th this past season in points among all players at his position in the 32-team NHL. There's still a pretty much entrenched-on-merit top six. Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang are still here. Marcus Pettersson's been better than both of them. The power play pathetically under-performed, but that'd also suggest there's a rebound and a half to be had. And the goaltending, for as much as everyone tires of Tristan Jarry, ranked a respectable 13th in the league with a 3.02 goals-against.
What'd they lack the most?
Energy. No doubt in my mind.
Which leads to ...
► GET YOUNGER, FRESHER
The reflexive response to hearing or reading anyone talk about getting younger in professional sports is to think about youth. As in, nothing but youth. Or as in, getting super-young.
Neither of which has to happen for these Penguins to get both younger and fresher, while also working within Sid's presumed timeline of the next three seasons, or until he's 40. Because a player who's in his mid-20s can be every bit as fast and fiery as any who's in his teens or early 20s. In fact, almost without fail, those'll be better all-around players because they'll have the physical traits combined with experience at how to perform at the top level.
So, when I see Glass, who's 25 and a former No. 6 overall pick who's 6-3, 205 pounds, can speed around, has the motor to match and can release like this ...
Cody Glass settles down Josi's dish and snipes one home to put the Predators up 2-1!#Preds pic.twitter.com/J0smyZvGnc
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) February 21, 2024
... I'm not thinking, gee, I wish this kid was 18.
Not to pump up Glass too much. He's coming off a terrible season in Nashville, deeply disappointing in every way. Lost his confidence. Couldn't make plays in any zone. Healthy scratch for games at a time despite a $2.5 million salary. And he was first to go, not coincidentally, when Barry Trotz needed to carve out cap space.
That's why he's here now. The only reason.
But he's a gamble worth taking, as I see it, so long as no one's seriously counting on him. Same goes, to varying degrees, for a sea of others in a similar age class among the forwards: Michael Bunting (28), Anthony Beauvillier (27), Blake Lizotte (26), Jesse Puljujarvi (26), Emil Bemstrom (25), Vasily Ponomarev (22) and Ville Koivunen (21) were all added by Dubas in the past calendar year. Valtteri Puustinen (25), Sam Poulin (23), yes-he's-still-young Drew O'Connor (26), and top prospect Brayden Yager (19) were already here.
Again, those are all just forwards. And between them, Sid, Geno, Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell, Lars Eller and Kevin Hayes, the only thirty-something Dubas added this summer, and even that principally for the second-round pick the Blues packaged, we're talking about a ton of younger, fresher forwards vying for a dozen slots for opening night against the Rangers.
See what I mean here?
A year ago, when I was blasting Dubas as if he were Ron Hextall's long-lost cousin, it's because he was adding -- and overpaying -- all these thirty-somethings like Noel Acciari, Matt Nieto, and I don't even want to remember who else. Among them, only Eller worked out. Or, just as misguided, he'd commit a gazillion dollars to a young-ish defenseman, Ryan Graves, rather than diversifying his portfolio. It was precisely the opposite of what should've been done with a supporting cast for stars either into their 30s or deep into their 30s.
The scenario being set up here won't allow anyone outside the obvious handful to take anything for granted. There won't be a Jeff Carter gliding into the sunset, a Reilly Smith reminiscing about Las Vegas, or any of that. There can't be. Think about it. Even with Mike Sullivan's affinity for scholarship-ing certain underperforming veterans, the veteran component's almost vanished among the remainder.
I like this. A lot. Anyone faulting Sid or even Geno for the Penguins' falloff in the past season ... just find another sport to enjoy. Their production was exceptional for their age and, in some ways, for any age. What went missing up front was, to repeat, energy.
► STOP THE MORTGAGE
I don't know if Pittsburgh sports fans are different than others in this way, but I do know that, around here, everything's got to be either an all-in or a rip-it-down rebuild. Meaning either be Jim Rutherford and peddle first-round picks like they're Halloween candy ... or be the Pirates and sell everything in sight to start from scratch.
Rutherford doesn't need my approval for how he handled business. Classic case of the right GM at the right time. Everything he gave up was worth everything he got.
But man, we really need to advance past seeing every rebuild as some Cam Bonifay 'five-year plan,' or as the Penguins' own 'X Generation' clean slate. Because that's just not necessary, certainly not in a cap league. If anything, the Steelers are more the model for how to cut modestly, build back up modestly and carve for themselves an opportunity to compete every fall. They're far from perfect, I know, and some might argue that they'd be better off taking bigger steps backward toward bigger draft prizes, but the point stands that apocalyptic blow-ups aren't the norm anymore. Not in the NFL. Not in the NHL, either.
So, how does Dubas begin amassing significant inventory for the post-Sid years?
Simple: Picks, picks and more picks.
Not that he won't have other tools, not least of which is the cap itself buttressed by Fenway Sports Group's pledge to always spend to the ceiling. Bear in mind, not paying Sid, Geno, Letang, Karlsson and others frees up an unprecedented amount of buying power. But he'll also have Yager, other youngsters and ... all ... these ... picks.
Get this: In the past half-year alone, beginning with the Jake Guentzel trade, this GM's added seven -- SEVEN! -- picks to future classes. That includes second-rounders in 2026 and 2027, and two third-rounders in 2025. All of which are added onto picks that, of course, he hasn't given away. Meaning full classes.
As with the twenty-something he's been accumulating, they won't all make it. They never do, though, which is why quantity matters as much as quality in such settings. Gotta throw a whole lot against the wall to wind up with one Guentzel or one Rust in the middle rounds.
Look, I'm out of the predictions business. I've no idea how the coming season will go. But I'm plenty comfortable sharing that this approach, creating competition among younger players while also creating the framework for a future ... that's one goal away from a hat trick.
• I've got more on Glass in our Penguins Feed.
• I'll hook up on a call with Alex Nedeljkovic later today. And no, we won't do it in Serbian. His isn't even what mine is, and mine's that of a second-grader. Too much Ohio in his blood.
• Thanks for reading my hockey coverage.
• And for listening:
