![]() ![]() ![]() Forward Jason Zucker, who served as the emotional sparkplug for long stretches, is also scheduled to hit the open market and may have priced himself out of town. Two-time All-Star goaltender Tristan Jarry will become a free agent this summer and was beset by injuries over the second half of the season. While the Penguins do have $20 million in cap space and the 14th overall pick in this month’s NHL draft, significant changes or upgrades could be difficult in the short term.ĭubas inherits a team that was the oldest in the NHL last season and is littered with question marks, particularly in goal and the forward group outside of Crosby, Malkin and Jake Guentzel. Yet save for a 14-2-2 stretch in November and December, the Penguins struggled to find consistency and ultimately stumbled down the stretch to snap the longest active playoff streak in major North American Sports. I think it is a group that’s capable of contending to win a championship.”Ĭrosby and Malkin were excellent for much of last season and Letang showed remarkable resiliency while dealing with multiple setbacks, including a stroke and the death of his father. “But I’m going to bet on them and go with them here. “I heard a lot of people that were highly skeptical of the team’s ability to contend here and the way I view it, if the people want to bet against (Crosby, Letang and Malkin) they can go ahead and do so,” Dubas said. Dubas replaces Brian Burke, who was fired along with general manager Ron Hextall in April after the Penguins failed to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2006. Yet Dubas believes strongly the issue isn’t the age of the franchise’s core but deficiencies elsewhere on the roster. In Pittsburgh, his mission will be to prop open the Stanley Cup window for Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang a little longer.Īll three are 35 or older and haven’t won a playoff series since 2018. In Toronto, he was tasked with helping the Maple Leafs emerge from two decades of postseason futility. ![]() The 37-year-old Dubas goes from one type of hockey crucible to another. PITTSBURGH (AP) Kyle Dubas wanted to take a breath and take a break after being fired as the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs.ĭubas joined the Penguins as the team’s president of hockey operations, less than two weeks after a somewhat ugly exit from Toronto following a second-round playoff loss to Florida. In order for the league to begin mocking up a schedule for next season it needs to know if a February Olympic break will have to be worked into the 82-game campaign. While the NHL and NHLPA came to an agreement in the Collective Bargaining Agreement that the league would pursue player participation for the Beijing Games next February, a deal still needs to be worked out with the International Olympic Committee and the International Ice Hockey Federation.Īccording to Dreger, the NHL would probably like to know which way the IOC/IIHF are going by the end of May. What’s another week? Īside from next season’s start date, there was also some discussion about the 2022 Olympics. The 2020-21 NHL season will end in mid-July, so it’s understandable next season would be delayed a bit. The Seattle Kraken have waited this long. (Things could also change depending how COVID-19 rates go and the efficiency of the vaccine rollout.) ![]() 22, with both dates needing approval from the NHLPA before becoming a part of the league’s critical date calendar. 12 start date for next season, Darren Dreger reported during Wednesday Night Hockey. Training camps would begin Sept. General managers met virtually Wednesday to discuss a variety of topics pertaining to this season and the 2021-22 NHL season.įirst, the league is targeting an Oct. ![]()
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