https://www.dkpittsburghsports.com/2019 ... ins-ducks/https://theathletic.com/766849/2019/01/ ... performed/The first link is to DK's site, the second to Yohe. DK's was from Saturday, and Yohe's from this afternoon. Along with the Mackey article, they give you three different perspectives from interviewing the same guy. Sometimes I think JR likes toying with them.
Tidbits from DK:
“It’s a good hockey team.”This was Jim Rutherford. And this came in a conversation we were having a few hours before the Penguins’ outrageously energetic 7-4 comeback over the Ducks...
In our talk before this game, he was candid as ever in addressing what he feels he needs to achieve by the NHL’s Feb. 25 trade deadline.
Meaning not a thing.
“Quite honestly, I don’t feel the urgency that I did at this time a year ago,” he told me. “If there’s something worth doing, I’ll do it. And we’ll always do our due diligence, spend the next few weeks assessing things. Anytime we can upgrade, if something makes sense, we’ll do that.”
And what, I asked, might be his primary positional target?
“I wouldn’t say we’re looking at anything along those lines right now,” he replied. “Obviously, we’re not going to keep all nine defensemen, so something has to happen there. But we’re not looking at anything along the lines of what we need.”
And from Yohe:
Why Brassard hasn’t thrived with the Penguins remains a mystery for Rutherford.
“I don’t know how to answer that,” he said. “You know, he’s been OK. It’s not like he’s been bad. But to this point, for whatever reason, he has underperformed. Especially when you consider the expectations that we had for him, he’s underperformed.”
“That line has actually done some great things,” Rutherford said. “When Phil turns it up the way he has recently, you see what a great player he is. Pearson has played very well lately. I honestly think that, if Brassard would ever shift a gear here, that line could be great.”
Is Brassard going to shift a gear? And why hasn’t he in 11 months with the Penguins?
“Nobody has the answer to that,” Rutherford said. “But I wouldn’t be talking about him shifting into another gear if I didn’t believe that gear existed. You usually don’t talk about people shifting gears if you don’t think it’s inside of him. We obviously think he has the ability to shift into another gear, to make a real difference for us. I got him because I felt that he would do that.”
So, the Penguins essentially have two choices. They can retain Brassard through the duration of his contract and hope he finally begins to produce at the level that is expected.
Or, they can deal him — perhaps along with one of their defensemen, as they currently have a surplus there — in return for another “No. 3 center” or an impactful forward of some kind.
“Well, we’re always looking around to make our team better at every position,” Rutherford said. “That’s how we always prefer to operate.”
• He realizes trading a defenseman is pretty likely at this point. When Justin Schultz returns to the lineup next month, the Penguins will possess nine NHL defensemen at their disposal.
“It’s a big number,” Rutherford said. “Carrying nine of them would be very difficult.”
• Rutherford said trade talks currently are “about where they usually are” for January, which is to say the phones have been active but not ringing off the hook just yet.
• The Penguins are absolutely interested in acquiring at least one forward before the NHL trade deadline. Rutherford refuses to get into specifics about the kind of player in which he’s looking.
“I’m not going to go there just yet,” he said.
I don't know what it all says, but it's right from the horse's mouth. So read into it what you will.
