Kingerski: Why Penguins Veterans Should Embrace Leaving
Jordan Staal was the first to leave. Brooks Orpik was the second. Others followed, some by choice, others involuntarily, but not every member of the Pittsburgh Penguins championship core took salary discounts or vociferously chose to stay.
And most of them were better for leaving.
The improvement was not because the Penguins’ organization was a limiting factor, but because change is a good thing. Leaving the past and changing situations behind, and being well-fitted to a new situation has a lot of benefits.
It seems Sidney Crosby and his resolute desire to remain with one team for the entirety of his career has become an epidemic that has spread to many others, league-wide.
But it shouldn’t.
Would Staal have become a cornerstone with a commensurate salary if he stayed with the Penguins as the third center behind Crosby and Evgeni Malkin? Orpik cashed in and was paid handsomely by the Washington Capitals, not only expanding his bank account but also earning industry recognition as he introduced his snarling defensive game to a whole new fan base.
Sometimes, change is forced, but it doesn’t diminish the potential. When Marc-Andre Fleury was cast aside for Matt Murray in 2017, he had no way of knowing the pain he felt would become the best thing that could have happened to his career.
A Vezina Trophy, an adoring city, and league-wide recognition as one of the best followed. Fleury being sent away was the wrong move for the Penguins organization (and yes, I wrote that several times in 2017. You can look up the waves of argument and hate that came my way), but a freeing moment for the gleeful goalie because all of his baggage was left behind.
He was no longer held accountable by fans and hockey for the playoff implosions of 2012 and 2013. He was no longer the goalie who nearly lost his job to journeyman Ty Conklin or Tomas Vokoun a few years prior, or the scrambly netminder he could sometimes be, and some fans would not forget.
Sure, everyone loves Fleury now. He’s the story of the World Championships as he finally … FINALLY … made his Team Canada debut Sunday with a resounding win over Latvia. But the undeniable truth is that had Fleury stayed in 2017, he would have been saddled with the baggage for the remainder of his career, every loss proof that his failures were truth and his successes brushed aside as inconvenient details.
For the inverse of Fleury, see also: Kris Letang.
Letang never had that moment of being loved by a new fanbase and touted by a media contingent, thus changing the perceptions. He’s carried the labels slapped upon him by the locals of turnovers and risky play without the adulation of a fresh start.
A reader recently called Letang a first-ballot Hall of Famer (the expression rings true in American sports, though a selection committee chooses members in hockey). I’ve assumed that to be true, but then I wondered. Letang was not named to the Quarter Century Team.
Drew Doughty and Duncan Keith made NHL.com’s picks. While Letang is absolutely deserving to be inducted the moment he’s eligible, perhaps he won’t be. Perhaps the cacophony of criticism that dogged Letang for nearly two decades has indeed sullied the view of those from the outside.
One can’t help but apply the same corollary to coach Mike Sullivan, now the New York Rangers boss. He, too, is getting a fresh start. He quickly bolstered the New York Rangers’ outlook and projections.
No longer the miserly commander who hates young players or won’t make changes, he, too, left his baggage in Pittsburgh.
Wayne Gretzky didn’t get to stay in Edmonton. Or LA.
Yes, Mario Lemieux did remain in Pittsburgh for the entirety of his three careers, two stints as a player and one as owner. Steve Yzerman anchored the Detroit Red Wings from the glory days of the mid-1990s championships through the greatest teams money could buy of the early 2000s, and now leads them as the president of hockey operations/GM.
Evgeni Malkin declined his potential moves. Oh, teams such as the Florida Panthers tried to make it happen, yet Malkin chose to return on a four-year contract that expires after next season despite the knowledge that he would have had a line of suitors on the free agent market.
Letang passed on the same free agency opportunities.
As players cleaned out last month, Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell firmly stated their desire to stay.
When Letang spoke to PHN in March, he was firm that he knew the game was just a business, but he controls his fate with a no-movement clause for another season. The NMC will be mitigated by a 10-team approved trade clause on July 1, 2026.
And so with the same scenario again playing out in which a new beginning is enhancing a core member’s wallet and prestige (if Sullivan counts core), again playing out with Sullivan in New York, perhaps its time for Penguins GM Kyle Dubas and other core players to realize leaving isn’t the end of the world.
In fact, it’s probably just the beginning for both sides.
Just don’t tell Crosby.
Categorized: Penguins
Excellent analysis. With both coming off career-high goals scored and locked into very affordable deals for the next 3 seasons, the haul will never be higher for both Rust and Rakell given their ages. I doubt both will be dealt, since doing so would send Sid into a conniption. So deal just one. The one I’d choose…hate to say this because I love his energy…is Rust simply because his style of play often has him dealing with injuries. Deal him. Keep Rakell who is more of the sniper of the two. The return should plug at least 2 holes with… Read more »
The go-fund-me page for someone to eliminate this idiot from the planet is growing…..
Well stated and I remember well when this fanbase wanted to run Fleury out of town they selectively forget that. It’s time to embrace the next wave and say goodbye to aging vets
Best thing for him was to leave.
Although I love Fleury to the end of the earth, I totally agree that him leaving was the best for him and hockey. Other fans and players were blessed to enjoy him and he spread his smile over the entire league!
Spot on with this one Dan! I couldn’t agree more with this piece. But why do players hold on to lousy situations even when they know things have gone sour? I think there are two primary reasons. One is that people naturally want to stay with what is familiar and are hesitant to confront the uncertainty that change brings. In other words, “the devil you know.” Second is the matter of having control over their futures. If that control comes with the added benefit of frustrating their bosses, that makes it even better. Who doesn’t like poking their finger in… Read more »
How about they have young family and don’t want to upset them moving a lot.
Many, many yinzers are stupid. They blame Letang if it rains on the day they have a picnic.
But what if it really is Letang’s fault when it rains????
Letang caught a lot of undeserved heat for a long time. But in 2025, he’s legitimately washed.
Dan, as an admitted geriatric I’m glad that you have never been given the opportunity to serve as Director of Facility Maintenance at Mount Rushmore National Monument. Under your custody Mount Rushmore would be renamed Mount Kaleidoscope. I’m a genuine supporter of yours and think you deserve an A almost every day. But your analysis here gets a Billy Madison grade. By the way when are you going to be chairing the committee to rename Pittsburgh’s bridges; Clemente and Carson are getting kind of stale and Mount Washington could have a rebirth as Mount Mendoza (wasn’t his average about the… Read more »
I would rename the Carson bridge the moment I had the chance and remove her murals post haste. If you know, you know.
I’d settle for you removing Nathan Bowling from your otherwise excellent website but as I understand it Nathan is a bot hiding in Pakistan. With his apparent reach he likely can rename any bridge you’d like including Ms. Carson’s. “Ninth Street” has a ring to it.
By moving to Carolina, he moved up the depth chart to 2C behind his brother Eric which wouldn’t have happened in Pittsburgh, but financially I think it was a wash. Didn’t he sign the the same 10 year / $60 million contract that was offered by Shero?
Correct. He wanted to play with Eric and then he left the team a few years later. He played 2C for some time, but never really was one.
While I agree with Dan on this point, people making out like the Big 3 are the issue are just missing the point. First, all the other players Hextall and Rutherford and Dubas traded for and signed are the real issue. These guys are not the player they were, but are still pretty good. I think everyone knows this.
Excellent overview. It really is a tricky situation, because you have to respect and applaud the loyalty these players have shown to the organization. That said, I understand why leadership might be hesitant to disrupt the current dynamic—but this is a prime opportunity to reset the direction of the franchise with meaningful assets coming back in return. I’m not in the ‘what can we do for Sid’ camp. He signed on fully aware of the team’s trajectory, and any objective hockey fan watching the playoffs can see the gap. Sure, anything can happen in the postseason, but for the Penguins,… Read more »
In Hockey theories don’t matter. This is the NHL not some College teaching theorizing to it’s students. See folks are under the impression with no proof to back it up that by moving Malkin or Letang or one of the other Vets that the guys they get back will end making the team better but the reality is that it can easily backfire and guess what happens then: You will have people like Kingerski run his mouth about how the Pens made a mistake in dealing those guys (Everybody including Dan himself would do it without admitting there wrong) and… Read more »
*They’re. You’re wrong, but I hate to ruin a good rant and “the media” takedown.
Is this how you make yourself feel better Dan? Many media members like yourself can never admit when you’re wrong and even at times when you do admit fault you stick by the adage “Well I stand by what I said”. Allow me to leave you with a quote that a doubt you will even understand “You all expect to hear, when you’re not listening”
Having grown up in an era of sports when guys would spend their whole careers with one team unless traded, I must say I enjoyed that era better. And I have zero problem with those who would prefer to stay with the same team today. Not every athlete enjoys the vagabond life, at least not as much as much as sportswriters and fans would want them too.
This article reminds me a bit of when the mindset of many fans with resigning Malkin and Letang was ” the Penguins OWE them ” . It is not an opinion I shared then and think there is only 1 player that is owed anything on this current team and that is Sid of course.
Frankly I don’t get the “Sid is owed something” thing. Besides the Cups and the personal stats Sid has made untold Millions playing for the penguins, and good for him, he is owed nothing more.
Actually Sid is owed something more; obviously a statue as a Pittsburgh icon on a par in significance with Clemente and Lemieux.
Too late. Letang and Malkin should have left three years ago. Just hope that Duby doesn’t allow local fans and media to talk him into contract extensions AND invite MAF to join them, but I won’t hold my breath. Hey, this is Pittsburgh, right?
I don’t know what people are focusing on those two. There are more.
Thanks for having the courage to write this Dan. I read everything on this site and I don’t always agree but PHN stuff always makes me think. But for this one I am in total agreement with you. I was sickened by Fleury being shipped out unceremoniously and really resented the fans who villainized him. And you are spot on that Letang gets the same treatment. None of those guys are the same guys they were when they were late 20’s (though Crosby is remarkably good even at age 37). I’ve been following the Pens since about ’86 and I… Read more »
Thanks, James. If you agreed with everything, that would be weird! There are only a few things that a concrete.
Why leave when you can hang around the boys at the Country Club?
You are right. Kyle Dubas should absolutely consider leaving. As for the veterans still worth something, they should absolutely run in pretty much any direction, if they want to play meaningful hockey. Rakell and Karlsson come to mind. Rust should absolutely go, but he has won before and maybe too tied to Pittsburgh. Letang would be a good addition somewhere where he could have a good partner. He can still play and has some term. Malkin should just ride out the last year. Yeah, it’s good for the players, but the team won’t recover from all those departures any time… Read more »
I’m pretty sure I didn’t assert any part of Dubas leaving or vets leaving just to play meaningful hockey. I’m confused why everyone is latching onto Malkin and Letang when the column was actually about their past and the current state of Rust and Rakell and others who want to stay.
It was a joke because you wrote “perhaps its time for Penguins GM Kyle Dubas and other core players to realize leaving isn’t the end of the world.”. I do know what you meant so no explanation needed. It’s just how it’s written that allows the joke. As for the rest I just mentioned others because all veterans should embrace leaving, not just the two Rs. Crosby too, but we know he won’t. I apologize if there was something in bad taste, which I can’t see.
It’s seemed to work for Guentzel too.