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Weekly Rumours – What’s Next in Pittsburgh?
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Tyler Yaremchuk
Feb 11, 2021, 09:00 ESTUpdated: Feb 10, 2021, 19:15 EST
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Earlier this week, the Pittsburgh Penguins hired Ron Hextall to be their new GM and unexpectedly also announced that Brian Burke will be their new President of Hockey Operations. That has led to some talk about what’s next for the organization and specifically, some of their ageing stars. One thing seems clear though from reading different reports: as long as @Sidney Crosby is on the team, they will not go through a rebuild.
It was reported on TSN’s Insider Trading that Penguins ownership wants to win and the two hires they made are consistent with that vision. Burke and Hextall are not coming in to tear this thing down.
In the most recent ‘31 Thoughts’ blog, Friedman said that some candidates weren’t big on being the ones to have to dismantle the core of this team. It sounds like the Pens simply hired two people who aren’t too keen on that either. 
Still, some are wondering about the futures of Letang and Malkin considering both have just one more year on their current deals. I think that’s a fair question but if ownership wants those two to stay around and be Penguins for the rest of their careers, I think it will happen.
So, if they aren’t going to sell off key pieces, they’ll likely add. They’re already being connected to Flames forward Sam Bennett and I wouldn’t be surprised if adding a defenseman is high up on the list of priorities for the Penguins. It will be a very interesting storyline to keep an eye on.
Here are some other rumours from around the league: 

CANADIAN PLAYERS WANTING OUT

It feels like every Canadian team except the Oilers have either had a disgruntled player at some point this year or currently has one on their roster. The Flames have Sam Bennett, the Jets had Patrik Laine, the Habs have Victor Mete, the Senators have Derek Stepan (who wants out to be closer to his family), and the Canucks have Jake Virtanen. There has also been chatter that the Leafs might be looking to move Travis Dermott.
I’ll start with the Stepan situation. It sounds like he wants to be closer to his family and the Senators understand. They are trying to find a team for him but that won’t be easy considering he carries a $6.5 million cap hit. If they’re willing to keep some money, I could see the Blue Jackets being interested in him. He’s also been linked to the Minnesota Wild.
Honestly, it makes you wonder why the Senators bothered trading a second-round pick for him before the start of the season. 
I’ve spent enough time talking about Bennett and Mete but there was some talk centred around Virtanen this week. Apparently, the Boston Bruins have shown some interest in him. I could see that being a fit. I personally wonder how much of an issue the quarantine rules are going to be. Maybe the Canucks, Canadiens, and Flames would be wise to just pull off a three-team trade where they swap problems. Although that probably isn’t realistic.
If the Leafs wanted either Virtanen or Bennett, I wonder if there’s a deal to be made with Dermott going the other way.

JOB SECURITY AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH?

We are now 25% done the 2021 regular season and not only have we not seen a single coach get fired but there really hasn’t been much chatter about anyone being seriously on the hot seat.
Things got ugly really quick in Vancouver as they started to struggle and that led some to wonder if the organization will look to make a change either behind the bench or in management. That likely won’t happen according to Frank Seravalli.
On Monday’s episode of the DFO Rundown Podcast, Seravalli said “Are changes possible? Yes but that doesn’t seem like any sort of direction that the Canucks want to go down”.
Seravalli would go on to add that the 56-game year could be very good for job security around the league. His co-host Jason Gregor added that with a lot of organizations is tough spots financially due to the pandemic, owners might not be crazy about bringing in more salary to replace a fired coach or GM.
You can catch the full podcast here:

QUICK NOTES

  • On Saturday, Elliotte Friedman said that the Vancouver Canucks are shopping forward Adam Gaudette. He has just two goals so far this season.
  • Luke Fox of Sportsnet recently mentioned the Maple Leafs as a team that could be interested in Flames forward Sam Bennett. The injury to forward Wayne Simmonds would likely increase the Leaf’s interest. Friedman has also said that the Leafs are very interested in bringing in a forward but didn’t connect them to a specific name.
  • Following the sudden retirement of Mikko Koivu,  the Columbus Blue Jackets are reportedly on the hunt for a centre. I mentioned that I could see them being interested in Stepan, but I would imagine that Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen would look at some more cost-effective options first.
  • Frank Seravalli threw out a tweet yesterday saying that Jonathan Huberdeau’s lack of ice time is raising some eyebrows around the league. If he’s available, the Oilers should be calling.
  • Larry Brooks is reporting that the Rangers are having a hard time finding the right deal for Tony DeAngelo, who the organization says has played his final game for them. Brooks said that the Flames were interested at one point but a deal now seems unlikely. There is still talk about the Kings and Ducks being interested though.
  • Not a lot of trade rumours with Oiler’s connections. There are a lot of fans who want Ken Holland to go out and add an impact goaltender, but that’s tough to do in the middle of the season. If the goaltending is still a problem come trade deadline time, I bet we’ll hear more about it.

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