President of Hockey Operations Kyle Dubas - 7/1/2023

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Okay, UM I finished. I'dlike to start off just UM UH from
our organization's UH perspective of thanking BrianDumelin and Jason Zucker for their contributions to
the to the club. Obviously Iwasn't here with them, but even in
the in the month I've been here, it's been apparent the impact both have
made not only UM on the hockeyclub and on those inside the facility,

(00:24):
but also in the community. UM. And obviously Brian was a was a
member of two championship teams here.UH. Jason Zucker came in and had
a great season last year, andI think even from afar you could tell
he made a huge impact on thecommunity. So UM would be remiss not
to thank them for UM for everythingthat that they did for the city of
Pittsburgh and the Penguins organization. UM. Moving on from UH. From from

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that point, we've got six signingsthat are UH complete and UH and done.
Tristan Jarry resigning for for five years, Ryan Graves left unsman UM signing
for six, Noel Achari Um rightcenter, right wing, three years,
UM, Alex Nandelkovic one year,goaltender UM Matt yetto a Winger two years

(01:12):
and Larzeller Center for for two years. UM we went in to free agency.
I think when we when we talkedlast year in this room, UM
not wanting to overextend ourselves and makesubtle bets on the on the forward front
and addressed one of the needs wehad with the Riley Smith trade and then
the rest of the needs we feltin free agency on on shorter term deals

(01:36):
to give these players an opportunity herewith us and let them fill the needs
that we had which we've identified asa staff and worked through together. UM.
And then the Graves signings was wasalso an attempt. He's one of
the younger players in free agency.UM obviously played a massive role in New
Jersey. UM faced very difficult matchupsthere. I've had a chance to see
him there, and then also youknow in Colorado. UM very impressed with

(02:00):
him and think he compliments that wehave on our right side very well with
Chris and Jeff Petrie. So UMwe're very excited about that. We're still
working away here and we'll be herethrough the night and into tomorrow. UM
more on depth signings to you knowspecifically UM HL centers. UM hopefully a

(02:20):
center that can that can battle forthat four or five spot with us here
and provide competition there um, andthen HL wingers and someone to on our
power play and be depth at theHL level on that front. So that's
where we're at. And I thinkstill think we're also a goaltender short um
as well and trying to plan outas best we can. So UM,
that's where we're at at this point. And on that note, alternate over

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to any questions anyone may have aboutwhat we've done or what we may plan
to do. Kyle, you signedTristan Jerry Um clearly a talented player or
two time All Star. At thesame time, he's dealt with significant injuries
the past two years, hasn't experiencedmuch playoffs us. What gave you comfort
to extend such a substantial contract intohim? Yeah, I think I think

(03:05):
for me, it's it's looking atthe whole sample. So when you when
you go back a number of years, I think Tristan's played the six most
games in the league and won thefifth most I think in the in the
last three seasons. UM, Andso you know, I think the injury
stuff, UM, I don't wantto make it more pronounce than it was
because even with the injuries, hestill played forty nine games this year,
which is which is a credit totristan Um. But it started with the

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you know, the freak thing goinginto the playoffs two years ago, within
with anders Lee kind of falling onhim, and I think it just you
know, was one thing kind ofrolls into the other with it. But
he still played through it and wasable to still play well. I mean,
and I think he would be thefirst to tell you he wants to

(03:50):
continue to be better, and Ithink his sample shows that he's capable of
being better in the and two ofthe previous three seasons to that being an
All Star. So um, Ijust think that the larger sample made me
comfortable. But I think more importantlyin that seth just the view of the
people in the in the facility,in the room, and then with myself
getting to no tristan Um and sothat that was what made me comfortable to

(04:11):
go down that path with him.And I think it's been made very clear
to him what my expectations are interms of him continuing to be in great
shape, put himself in a positionto be as healthy as possible and continue
to play the number of games thathe has, and with what I learned
from he and meeting with his wifeHannah and Edmonton, I was very comfortable
with that that that he was goingto be able to hold up his head
of the bargain and continue to getbetter for us so and at his age

(04:33):
as well. Within looking at themarketplace, we just felt it was the
best bet to make for our clubat this time. You can do whatever
whatever you needs of him. Sorry, yeah, there we go. Yeah,
um, you mentioned being a goaltendershort. You also do have case
standard contract and you just speak moreabout the plans for the roles of the

(04:54):
goaltenders, their chance casey gets sentdown to world sparit you're moved or I
think for if you look to lookinto around the league, I think,
and this is a great example herelast year, but I think it's something
that's becoming more, um more regularin the league, is that you you
need I mean, there's a lotof injuries in the position. I think
the demands of the position, theway that it's changed, the way the

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goaltenders play it, um makes itmore demanding. There are very few goalies
that go through the year without aninjury, and if you don't have the
depth they're built up and you don'thave a system in place, you can
really leave yourself shorthanded. So,um, I just feel like we've got
Joel Blumpwist, Who's who's going tobe there? We have we have Taylor
Gache that are down that are goingto be there like in the minors for

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sure, because they just need thetime. Um. But subsequent to that,
I do think we need one morekind of solid veteran guy and then
and then let everyone come in hereand training camp and let it fly.
I think the competition is an importantthing for the group as well, in
addition to pushing Tristan and showing thatwe have suitable people there. I think,
regardless of what the contract status ofthe players is, we need to

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build that competition up and and alsoprotect our depth and give our team the
best chance to win every night,and goaltending is the one place where you
especially need that depth. Hey Kyle, I got a two part one.
Do you anticipate? I know youjust mentioned looking for another goal that would
do you anticipate like buying large?This will be the team you bring the
camp? Are you still exploring thetrade market, and then also just give
us a sense of how this dayplayed out, because I know you said

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you weren't sure what it would looklike in terms of how the market would
unfold sure, and from our perspective, it felt pretty frenzied. Um.
Yeah, So the first question,I'd love to make that prediction now about
what the team will look like onSeptember twentieth or whatever day we officially open.
But I think you know, we'rewe're open to anything that can continue

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to improve the team. You know, anyone that we we add from from
this point on, especially in trade, I'd like it to be someone that's
gonna would potentially be here for thelong run. I think it's incumbent on
me to search every avenue that that'sthere. I'd be surprised if it was
much different, but you never know. So it's it's it would be easy
for me to say yes or no. Rate now. I just think it's

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fairly unpredictable and there's a lot ofpieces to continue to be moved around the
board. UM. So that's thethat's my view of of of of it
on on that front with regards towhat the team will look like. UM.
And then can you repeat your secondquestion? Oh the friends, sorry,
the day, the way the daywent, UM, I think it's
it's really interesting because you know,you're we were we were very focused on,

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um, you know, the goaltendingpiece obviously with Tristan and what was
going to happen there and his statusin situation. UM, and then you
know the rest of it for usjust kind of unfolded as we as we
went here today. You can youknow, you try to sit back a
little bit and try to get asense of where it's going to go,
knowing we had the cap room toto make those subtle more bets that we

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had talked about. UM. Idon't think it really felt frenzied. I
thought that the group in the officewas very organized, The pro scouting staff
was very organized, the the thethe staff on the management side was was
really well organized. Has kind ofhad our targets identified once the once we
started the day, we just kindof went through all those players and we're

(08:05):
able to kind of say, hey, here's what we're willing to do,
and with relationships good enough with theagents, get get answers back fairly quickly
and then get those contracts kind ofturned around here later in the day,
so UM, it didn't feel thatit didn't feel overly frenzied to to us
inside. I don't know what itwas like on the on the other side
of the arena, UM, butit felt it felt kind of like a

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normal day at this stage of theyear. Hey, I have two two
one um asking one at a time, so I don't forget yes, and
I'm sitting up here like the wheelsare turning up trying to remember what the
second one was. First, I'llremember that you have a second question,
okay, yeah, first one iswith regards to Jarium. Were you always

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looking at this type of term?Was it one of those situations where you
could maybe get a more agreeable capnumber by going longer? Well, I
think with think there is a perpetualbattle between the team and the player side,
especially when when a player comes totheir mid late twenties. They're largely
looking you know, save for afew you know, um exceptions, they're

(09:11):
largely looking for term and the teamis always looking to keep the term short.
And so once you you know,you fight that part of it and
then you get onto the the avSo this just felt like the right mixture,
which which addressed the the concerns ofboth parties and the right fit on
both term and av for both Secondone and thank you. How do Jeff

(09:35):
Petrie and Micau grand Lynd fit intoyour plan going forward for this season?
Well, Jeff Petrie is a hugepart of the plan to answer on his
part first, I mean, he'sour second pair of right defenseman behind Chris
Letang and plays massive minutes for thegroup. I know our staff was out
to see him last week in theDetroit area and very impressed with the way

(09:56):
his summer's coming together. Obviously,had an injury last year during the season,
which which was costly for the team. But um, I know Jeff
quite well as a player because weplayed against him a ton, especially in
his in the twenty twenty twenty oneseason where we played Montreal, you know,
ten times in the regular season andanother seven in the playoffs, and
got to see firsthand what he wascapable of, especially at that time.

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So a great athlete and that's beenhim his whole life, and I think
even as he gets to thirty sixyears old, there's still a good amount
of fuel left in the tank forJeff. As it pertains to to Grantland.
I think, you know, we'vetalked about it in the past year.
It's, you know, the waythat I look at it is he's
been a very good player in theNHL for a long time. Obviously,

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I don't think last year, especiallycoming over in the trade on a from
a production standpoint, went the waythat he wanted. I think it's incumbent
on us and on him to worktogether to get him back to the level
that that he can expect. Andhe's a versatile player that can play all
three four positions, can play penalty, penalty, kill, power play,
and has done that well in hiscareer. So I'd like to focus with

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Michael on how we're moving ahead andmoving ahead productively with him so we can
have him be, you know,played his potential as a Pittsburgh Penguin.
Kyle, I believe the last timethat you did speak with us here you
said when it came to Tristan,to Jason Zucker and Brian Dimlin that he
would have liked to have a decisionmade by this past Wednesday so that you

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would have an idea of sure whereyou were entering today. When it came
to Tristan. When was the determination, may not necessarily that you were going
to definitely be able to bring himback, but that that was the best
decision for the Penguins to bring himback. Um, I think that the
determination for me. So last weekI'm just trying to get the days exactly

(11:43):
right. Or maybe it was twoweeks ago I went out to Edmonton to
meet with him. That was akey part for me, And I mean,
I know what everyone thinks of Tristaninside the facility. I I felt
I needed it was in coming onme for to me to learn about him
and for he and Hannah to havea chance to get to know me personally.

(12:03):
Once I take the information that Ihad from our goaltending department, our
coaching staff, our player personnel department, everyone else in the facility about his
character, added my own short evaluationto it, and you know, at
that point we were we were firmlyengaged with his camp. Then. Um
so I'm going right when we wereflying up for the days have kind of

(12:24):
escaped me in terms of what dayit actually is of the week. But
um we met with them early inthe week in Nashville and exchanged offers and
then were able to work with CraigAuster and the folks at Newport to come
to a conclusion there. The othertwo were a little bit more fluid in
terms of going today, and theywere really in the end. You know,

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from my perspective, I think everythe coaching staff, a lot of
the people in the facility were bigfans of bringing them back. I just
felt that, you know, veryopenly, it was a chance for us
to with me coming into to changethe mix a little bit as well.
And you know, the Riley Smithmoves sort of made it would have made
it tough to bring back Jason,and then just with the with the Graves
thing and signing Ryan here today,it was just a chance to make the

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group a little bit younger um aswell. So that was the determination there.
Hey, Kyle, you've discussed sinceyou've come here about improving the bottom
six. What do you feel youdid today as far as the grip with
the bottom six and the physicality evenadding a guy like Graves into that mix
too. Yeah, I think Ryanis Ryan. Obviously he brings a lot

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of size to the group. He'sbut more importantly he's he's been very effective
playing against very very tough competition inNew Jersey and going back to Colorado,
so we feel that will help.He can compliment and play with with either
Chris or or Jeff whoever the coachingstaff feels are best and usually the play
with everybody by the end. Um. With regards to the bottom six,

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I mean we've had no Achari inthe past. They know what he brings.
He's going to be extremely physical everynight, able to kill penalties,
able to chip in and score aswell. Um. But in terms of
the toughness that he brings, Ithink it's undisputed. In the way that
he plays, whether he'll put anypart of his body on the line to
block shots, UM, will bevery welcome here at even strengthen on the
penalty kill. Anto is a playerthat, you know, my previous position

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we always looked at and tried toacquire and just couldn't get it across the
line, and we were happy todayto do that. He brings great speed,
defensively responsible, um, you know, able to kill penalties, able
to chip in as well, notyou know, And so it's he's trying
to find the right fits for thefor the coaching staff and what they want
and what we all believe in whichthey competitive, They've got good they've got
good speed, they're defensively reliable andhave defensive utility, and they're able to

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chip in and think the game offensivelyand give us a little bit of offensive
push in the bottom six. AndEller, um, it is kind of
you know, he he'll think thatspot here, especially as we as we
roll along, you know, inrounding of the top nine at center is
hugely important and everything everyone here wouldbe very famili with Larzell and his game
from his time in Washington. Youknow, he's got a great relationship with

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Todd Reardon on our staff, whocoached him in Washington and won together their
championship. And you know he Um, he's he's somebody that that we had
Keaton on early in free agency andthen um, Mike Sullivan, myself and
and Todd spoke with spoke with himtoday on the phone right afternoon, and
and um, kind of we're ableto share with him what our plan would

(15:26):
be and where we were going togo with him and what we would expect
from him, and that was justwe're happy that that was a great fit
for us, because that's a reallyhard position to fill. Someone that can
come in and you know, canplay that role that also wants to play
that role, especially on a teamlike ours in the way that it's constructed.
So we that today you know,there's there's you know the Tristan and
Ryan Graves are longer term and UHand and UM higher a v but the

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Elder signing we felt was really reallykey for us, UM and that's that's
when we're very happy about as well. Kyle. There was a lot of
talk on the outside, I'd atleast this afternoon about you guys making a
serious run at eric Um Carlson.Was that accurate and if so, is

(16:11):
it still viable? UM? Ithink that anytime well, I think largely
UM, as we get to knoweach other better here, I think as
when there's a player like that thatcomes available, UM, I think it
wouldn't, especially with the core groupand how special that core group of people
isn't in the room, both thecoaching staff and the players and the and
the group that surrounds the team.Anytime a player like that becomes available or

(16:34):
talked about, well, I thinkit's incumbent on me to reach out and
see if there's a fit there forus and Um, that was the way
that that I viewed that entire umsituation. If I don't want to get
too much into it, because Ithink some of it is private and it
doesn't involve a player that's that's ours, So I don't want to cross any
league lines and upset anybody. Butum, at the same time, you

(16:56):
know, I think that any timethere's a there's a player of that caliber
that comes is available throughout my timehere, especially in this next stretch,
it's probably realistic to think that wewill be involved or see if there's a
way that we can be involved andadd them to our group. Kyle,
Yesterday, Ryan Paling didn't receive aqualifying offer and then he signed with Philadelphia

(17:18):
today. Was there any particular reasonregarding injury or was it more so just
on ice performance that you wanted tolook in a different direction. I think
what we were we you know,when we tried it, when we built
it out. I think I Imean, we played against Ryan when I
was in Toronto, he was inMontreal, and so familiar with him as
a player. I think it's justone of these issues with the way that

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the system is here and that youknow, he's arbitration eligible. We knew
what the arbitration case was going tobe and for that position and in that
role, we we were you know, in order to build out the roster
in the other ways that we wantedto. We felt like we were going
to have about half of what hishis case was presenting U, which is,
you know, around what he gotfrom Philadelphia, which is great for

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Ryan. I don't know him personally, but the people around the group say
he's a wonderful, wonderful, wonderfulperson. So I'm very happy for him.
And it's worked out, um ina in a place that that's going
to have opportunity for him. Andso we'll see him lots now and UM
it'll be uh that that was thedecision there was we wanted to kind of
use, you know, with thatspot on the roster, have it be

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you know, between may be wrongon this, but I have you guys
at twelve forward, seventy and threegoalie and a million and a half over
give or take, will do youanticipate getting under the cap being something you
do by having only two goalies onthe roster? And if not, how

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how else do you do that?Oh? I mean there's a number of
ways we can do that. UM. I think by when you say you
have us underthing, you've probably beenCAPP friendly or maybe oh you run your
own cap system. Yeah, ohcow, that's impressive. No, you're

(19:06):
good, You're good, that's impressive. UM. I think for us,
we don't see ourselves as over thecap right now with what we have planned
internally, and I think us sharingthat isn't constructive to the competitive nature of
the sport. But we'll we havewe have a number of ways that we're
compliant right now to start the year, and we will we will certainly we
have to be compliant by the firstday. We see ourselves as well under

(19:29):
an accruing space while able to haveroster flexibility. So um, we'll have
to just stay tuned on how we'llhow that'll all unfold between now and October ninth.