Penguins general manager Ron Hextall held his season-ending news conference yesterday, and it does not appear he plans to make any major moves in the off-season.
There has been speculation about the core three players who have won three Stanley Cups with the team, but Hextall said there is a future moving forward with Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, and Evgeni Malkin.
Letang and Malkin are each entering the final year of their contracts.
A former goaltender himself, Hextall said he expects embattled goalie Tristan Jarry to rebound from his poor playoff series against the Islanders.
The GM, who along with Brian Burke joined the Penguins in February, says he still believes in the players on the current roster.
Hextall also said he and coach Mike Sullivan are “on the same page”, and pointed to the fact that Sullivan guided the Pens to a first place finish in the NHL East despite long-term injuries to five of the top nine forwards. The Penguins also suffered major injuries on the blue line early in the season.
Sidney Crosby has been named a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award, honoring “the most outstanding player in the NHL” in the regular season. The award is voted on by members of the NHL Players Association. Crosby has won it three times before, when it was called the Lester B. Pearson Award. Only Wayne Gretzky, with five, and Mario Lemieux, with four, have won it more times than Crosby. The Oilers’ Connor McDavid and the Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews are the other two finalists.
The Buffalo Sabres have won the 2021 NHL Draft Lottery and the right to pick first overall. The NHL’s newest expansion franchise, the Seattle Kraken, moved up to the number two spot. The Anaheim Ducks will pick third overall. Michigan hockey star Owen Power is considered the front-runner to be the top overall pick.
