Penguins Update: Where Do We Go from Here? (Part II)
I confess. Penguins
GM Jim Rutherford stole a little of
my thunder when he addressed the media via teleconference yesterday.
“I plan to move
forward with the core,” Rutherford said, referring to the Pens’ big three of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris
Letang. “These are good players and they still have good hockey left in
them. I always have to say that if some amazing trade comes along that makes
sense for the Penguins now and in the future, you have to look at it. But I
will not be actively trying to trade our core players.”
Prior to his
announcement, I thought JR might consider moving Letang. But that doesn’t
appear to be the case.
Rutherford did stress plans to make the team younger. Sounds like the door could be open for prospects like Samuel Poulin and Pierre-Olivier Joseph to step in. Kids like Anthony Angello and Sam Lafferty could get longer looks, too.
“This could be a year
where we try to get younger but in a way that we feel that we can still win,”
Rutherford said.