Penguins Notebook: ‘Massive’ Move In Player Development; Dubas Admits Mistake

Development is a central tenant of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ ownership by Fenway Sports Group. Not only is FSG finally developing the arena district, including the lower Hill District, but the ownership and the new front office, led by president of hockey operation/GM Kyle Dubas, are plowing money and resources into player development.

The organization’s five-day development camp, which featured just under 50 players, wrapped up with a highly competitive tournament on Wednesday. Not only was the number of players higher than in the past but so, too, was the level of play.

Despite a lack of blue chips or prospects with top-line potential, the Penguins appeared to have a genuine talent pool of next-generation players. And that’s only the start of an aggressive lurch toward building what comes next.

“It’s been interesting for me with different GMs to see how each one looks and uses the development department,” said director player development Tom Kostopoulos. “I think Kyle and Jason Spezza and Fenway have invested hugely in the development department in terms of time, money, and staff, and that only benefits the players. (It has been a) massive investment in development.”

The organization brought at least five players into the camp who had a strong chance of eventually playing in the NHL. Beyond the first handful are a few more who could be the next Valterri Puustinen-type, an unheralded late-round pick who quickly charges up the depth chart all the way to the big show.

Presumably, the Penguins will have another first-round pick in 2025 who joins the fold with starry eyes and big ambitions. In fact, the Penguins have a full slate of picks in the first six rounds for the first time since 2012.

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Wheeling Nailers will reap the benefits, and soon enough, the locker room in Pittsburgh could, too.

“It’s great. We have different skills coaches, skating coaches, strength coaches, video analysts, all under our wings now, which we can use to help the players,” Kostopoulos said. “(The players) say they love it. The feedback has been fantastic from them; it’s just more of everything for the players. So it’s been great for development and the Pittsburgh Penguins. I think we have to be near the top of the league in terms of what our organization has to offer.”

Now, about the restaurant scene around the Hill?

Dubas Mistake

No one is perfect, eh?

Last month, Dubas began his second year as the skipper of the Penguins’ hockey operations, but before that, he spent five seasons as the Toronto Maple Leafs general manager.

Craig Custance’s recently published book about the Maple Leafs, “The Franchise: The Business Of Building Winning Teams,” and Dubas copped to what he believed to be his biggest mistake while helming Toronto. Excerpts appeared in the Toronto Sun Friday.

“The biggest mistake I think I’ve made in my whole time there has been not taking care of the three incumbent contracts,” Dubas said, referencing the deals following entry-level contracts to Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Mitch Marner. “Nylander was up, Marner and Matthews could have been done on July 1 extensions.”

There were complications with all three, including Nylander’s holdout well into the 2018-19 season, during which time he scored just seven goals in 54 games. Negotiations also turned difficult for Marner’s second contract. While Dubas waited to sign Matthews and Marner, he signed the ballyhooed but now decried $77 million deal with John Tavares.

It became a mess, with hurt feelings and a raised salary ceiling that cost Toronto more money on the core three. As printed in the Sun, Dubas said, “The thing I learned was once we signed John to the (AAV) we did, it lifted the lid on the entire ceiling.”

The four contracts came at the worst possible time, too. Within two years of signing the deals, COVID shut down the league and the world. The salary cap remained flat for four years to repay the owners for the investment, but it especially squeezed the top-heavy Maple Leafs.

After learning that lesson, one wonders how Dubas would have handled the negotiations with Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin.