Kingerski: By Dubas’s Own Fears, Mike Sullivan Should Be Under Scrutiny

You may have heard or read that Pittsburgh Penguins players want to stay. Being a one jersey player or loyal to the sweater has become the norm, despite losses piling up like slag in McKeesport.

Monday, Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas dropped a few hard lines in his press conference, and a few other subtle hints. The one connection he didn’t make, but should, involves coach Mike Sullivan.

Perhaps some of the loyalty within the team has come at the expense of winning. Dubas stripped away the desire to stay as any deciding factor in his offseason decision-making. In fact, the overtly stated desires to stay set off warning bells for the Penguins’ front office.

Losing team + Players eager to return = Dubas’s anxiety.

“When I hear (all players want to come back), when this team, the team has missed the playoffs now three years in a row, I start to get this inner anxiety and fear that when you aren’t performing at a high level, when people still say that, you’re at the risk of complacency and stagnation setting in,” said Dubas Monday. “That’s not to say that we need to stop doing things that way on the outside (but) we have to get back to increasing our level of expectation to get players to feel that way.”

Dubas can sometimes speak in tangled explanations with meanings buried in the middle. But his frustration or unhappiness with the situation can be easily gleaned. Players should want to be a Penguin because they’re winning, not because of being comfortable.

Read More: Penguins Offseason Plans: Trade Strategy, Complacency, & Past Mistakes

Increasing the level of expectation? That would ordinarily be a direct shot at the coach, but it didn’t seem like it Monday. It was more of a shot at the situation, but it still doesn’t speak well of Sullivan.

Yet Dubas didn’t mention Sullivan’s role in accepting a different level of expectations. If he’s worried about a stable veteran presence stagnating through continued failure, creating a sense of complacency, he’s got quite a legitimate point, but he also should include the Penguins’ head coach in his worries.

It would be otherwise impossible to cite a complacent room but exempt the coach, who has led the team through three years of playoff misses, a worsening performance, and, in defenseman Erik Karlsson’s words, “underachieving.”

Contained within the Monday press conference was perhaps the first real sign that Sullivan’s tenure should be on shaky ground, though Dubas gave absolutely zero indication that it was.

The coach and GM were to meet on Tuesday, though that’s a standard practice to exchange information, discuss situations, and plans. Such a meeting figures to be a standard company meeting, minus a consultant’s jargon or stale donuts. Don’t expect another press conference with breaking news anytime soon.

For the purpose of being taken seriously, it’s time to focus criticism on reality.

Sure, Dubas has heard the never-ending fan criticisms, though he dismissed them with what some would find an irritating recitation of actual facts.

Sullivan won’t play young players? Yeah, he’s heard it.

Dubas deconstructed it and even stuck the landing with a little jab back. He visibly finds it as silly as do analysts who’ve tried in vain to explain.

“It’s not a criticism, because the team was literally in contention for two decades. When you’re in that spot, you’re trading draft (picks), you’re trading prospects to try to add the pieces that put the team over the top, and it’s worked here,” said Dubas. “I catch that from time to time. I think when you say that, what I often ask is what young players have left here, gone elsewhere, and skyrocketed after not getting an opportunity here?”

From time to time?! But I digress.

“I think the young player stuff is a personnel department issue, which falls on me and management to fix more so than coaching. I think that’s how I view that. I would say that at the end of the season, we had two young players come up (Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen), and (Sullivan) put them into very prominent roles without really holding them back. So that’s what I look at. I understand until the team is 21, 22 years old at every position, plus Sid, and winning, then everyone’s going to have their angst, but we’ll do our best to get there.”

Dubas ended with a pretty good chuckle. Put simply, the Penguins haven’t had many young players worthy of big roles. Those who have been, such as a 23-year-old Marcus Pettersson, were used extensively.

There are plenty more dogmatic criticisms that are worn to the nub.

Sullivan doesn’t make changes! Check.

Sullivan hates physical players. Check.

The hamster wheel of criticism goes around and around, though belief supersedes reality. Yet here is real criticism after seven years without a playoff win and three without even the chance.

Within Dubas’s own words were reasons that Sullivan’s long tenure–most of 10 seasons–is becoming or should come under scrutiny. If complacency is an issue, that almost necessarily includes the head coach, who has spent those 10 years with four players in the room (Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Bryan Rust).

Either the head coach is part of the complacency or has allowed it. Either way, it’s not a good look. It was unclear whether Dubas believed there was real complacency or simply feared it, but both interpretations are germane to the larger point.

The head coach should be included in that worry or problem.

Of course, there are other factors that attract players to Pittsburgh. The city itself is an amazingly livable place where the cost of living is rising, but only to catch up with other cities across North America (Seriously, out-of-towners, stop overpaying for rent! Keep Pittsburgh cheap). Penguins fans, when not on X, are one of the warmest, most supportive bunches in the league. The organization has a high standard of how it treats players, which is one of the great things from Mario Lemieux’s ownership legacy.

And Sidney Crosby.

Yet there was a distinct lack of progression from many of the players on the roster this season. Dubas presented Sullivan with a handful of projects, and nearly all finished about where they started, including Philip Tomasino, Kevin Hayes, Matt Grzelcyk, and P.O Joseph.

After the January trade, Sullivan also spoke of Drew O’Connor having more levels that they weren’t able to tap into.

Sullivan admitted he needs to sell the team on playing a better brand of defense with far more commitment. A big portion of the stagnation rests on the players, but a coach can push forward that process and create some positive change, too.

And so it bears watching. Sullivan has shown to be a remarkable coach with the ability to adapt, despite public criticism to the contrary. The bench boss tried everything he could this season, from tactical changes to personnel changes, to public scolding, and a gentle hand. In keeping with Dubas’s plain language, Sullivan coached his butt off this year, and yet it didn’t help.

If Dubas truly fears complacency, he should keep a close eye on Sullivan. And Sullivan should keep a close eye on players who perhaps performed well but got too comfortable. Or tougher on talented players who didn’t perform well. And others who had more to give, but more often simply didn’t.

Expect significant roster changes this summer. Dubas essentially assured he’s going to be aggressive trying to trade for restricted free agents and players whose teams can’t or don’t want to afford them. Veteran status or career years will not matter if Dubas has a chance to improve the team.

Changing or avoiding complacency will be a factor, just as it should be in judging the head coach.