When I heard the news that the Pittsburgh Penguins tried to regain former goalkeeper Marc-Andre Fleury (twice) from Vegas Golden Knights in the past few months, a lot has crossed my mind.
Via Vegas Hockey Now, TSN’s Bob McKenzie told NBCSN on Wednesday that “the Penguins have tried ‘hard’ since the off-season to regain their three-time Stanley Cup winner. The Golden Saints have passed away on several occasions.
“Former Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford was at the forefront of these negotiations during the off-season. Patrik Allvin, acting GM of the Penguins, recently tried ‘a few weeks’ ago, but Vegas insisted on ‘no’. “
My first thought was, of course, Vegas said “no”. Why would the Golden Saints say “yes”?
Fleury was fantastic. Before the 1-0 loss to Anaheim Ducks on Thursday, he won his first five decisions with 1.80 goals against the average and 0.92 percentage of saves. Meanwhile, the guy who struggled to get Fleury’s initial job last year in Las Vegas, Robin Lehner, was not as sharp (3-1-1, 2.96, 0.88%).
In addition, the Knights are 8-1-1 at the top of a very fierce Western Conference. And penguins have little to reciprocate. At least nothing that wasn’t a massive subtraction from your current list.
Furthermore, how would Pens be able to absorb the remainder of the Fleury’s $ 7 million salary cap reached this year and the entire installment in 2022? What money would have to be withdrawn through the door for this to happen? Or how much of the salary do Pens expect Vegas to eat?
Not to mention what it would do to Tristan Jarry’s confidence. If that still matters to the franchise. What may not happen.
Do not misunderstand me. I am a well-known flower sycophant. I would love to see a meeting happen. Especially with Jarry’s struggles so far in 2021. However, for all of these reasons, it’s no wonder why McKenzie is saying that the Golden Saints are giving the proposal a “not hard”.
But we go beyond all this uncomfortable pragmatism. Who cares if the idea makes sense or not? If all of McKenzie’s report is correct, let’s talk about my guy, Patrik Allvin!
Look, I understand Rutherford’s concept of fishing to see if he could bring Fleury back in the off season. The goalkeeper’s depth was an issue. Rutherford is a two-time Stanley Cup winning general manager. He is a Hall of Fame member who wants to bring back a three-time World Cup champion, with whom he had no choice but to negotiate after 2017.
I understand all of that. But Allvin? How about a little love for this guy ?!
He is an interim general manager. Emphasis on “provisional”. He had the job for, how much, 15 minutes? And he was about 15 more. And apparently, he was fully aware of that probability.
Allvin basically says, “Oh, well. I’m just renting this car. Let’s see how fast it can go! “
So it looks like he picked up the phone sometime during the fort’s three-week control period, and he decided to swing his heels and try to do a five-run home run on the first shot he saw – with no one at the base.
Then Allvin calls back to Vegas – after Rutherford was unable to close the deal during the off-season – and ostensibly tells Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon: “I had a chance to make it happen. Let’s Dance!”
He’s like a Swedish version of Eminem.
Now, what for? Sincerely, I do not know.
Maybe Allvin was trying to impress the Penguin bosses by doing something Rutherford couldn’t do. That way, he could make a proposal to keep the job full time. Maybe getting Fleury was a personal passion, and he would do everything possible to make it happen in the limited opportunity he had.
Or maybe he just wanted a commercial legacy that he knew most Penguins fans would love with his limited run at the helm. At least he would have a prominent line on his resume for his next general manager interview.
It is as if Allvin wanted to get drunk on power and it would be Tom Brady at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers boat parade.
And I love it! I’m all about it. I might even be a bigger fan of Allvin now than of Fleury.
Some other items, however. Who was offered in exchange for Allvin or Rutherford? Was there anything that hindered negotiations at the end of Pittsburgh? And did this have anything to do with Rutherford’s decision to leave?
I kick all the subplots with the Pittsburgh native and “Puck Off Podcast” host Joe Bartnick during Friday “Breakfast with Benz” podcast. We also discussed the signings of Ron Hextall and Brian Burke, the ice problems faced by the Penguins so far in 2021 and the advantages of this unique schedule prepared by the NHL for the season altered by the pandemic.
Tim Benz is an editor on the Tribune-Review team. You can contact Tim at [email protected] or via Twitter. All tweets can be posted again. All emails are subject to publication, unless otherwise specified.
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Penguins / NHL | Sports | Breakfast with Benz