Penguins general manager Ron Hextall: 'I like where we’re at right now'

Like anyone with a vested interest in the Pittsburgh Penguins, Ron Hextall hasn’t enjoyed what he has seen over the past two games.

When your team allows at least a touchdown’s worth of goals in two consecutive contests, that is simply unacceptable.

But don’t expect the Penguins general manager to make any kind of roster moves in reaction to his team’s poor play over the past week.

“I don’t believe the last two games (have) necessarily been an indictment on our team,” Hextall said Wednesday during a conference call with four media outlets, including the Tribune-Review. “We have to play better. And it’s the whole group. It’s not just the defensemen or just the forwards. It’s the whole group collectively defensively. Being in sync and making good decisions and having good sticks and good angles and good (defensive) zone reads. We’ve been very sloppy. We’ve certainly created more than enough chances, but we can’t give up the type of chances that we’ve given up. That’s just not a recipe for winning hockey.

“But again, I don’t think you can look at two games and think that we’ve got to make moves because we’ve played poorly for two games.”

With the NHL’s trade deadline approaching at 3 p.m. Monday, Hextall held court and discussed a number of subjects as they relate to his team:

• Hextall noted there has been a lack of trades league-wide because so many teams still have hopes for the playoffs:

“I don’t think it’s probably as active of a year because so many teams are still in the hunt. We’ve seen teams gain four, six points in a week. So I don’t think teams are quite as active as typical. But there is some activity. And we’re looking around to see what’s available and to see if there’s anything that makes us better.”

• The injuries to forwards such as Teddy Blueger, Kasperi Kapanen, Evgeni Malkin and Brandon Tanev have shifted Hextall’s approach to the trade deadline. But in not the way one might assume:

“Probably a month ago, we were more active looking for centermen. The way things have fleshed out, we’ve had some guys do pretty good jobs in the middle. Like Jared (McCann) and (Frederick Gaudreau) have really stepped up for us and done a good job. So there’s not quite as much urgency there. …We have a salary cap issue and an asset issue, as well. It would have to really make sense for us to make a deal from an asset standpoint, from a cap standpoint. And also something that we feel would make us better.

“The one thing that the injuries have done is made us feel more comfortable with the depth that we have. Some of the guys that we have up front, (Evan) Rodrigues and Gaudreau and (Anthony) Angello and (Colton) Sceviour have done a pretty good job for us. Now, all of a sudden (Radim) Zohorna comes in and gives us some decent minutes here. We’re more comfortable with the depth, probably from myself and (president of hockey operations Brian Burke’s) standpoint, from a knowledge standpoint, more than anything. But again, if we can find something that makes us better and the price is right, we’ll certainly act on it.”

• Hextall, who was hired as general manager Feb. 9, was asked if he views his team as a Stanley Cup contender as presently constructed:

“I thought it was a good team we were taking over. Obviously, at the time, we weren’t playing up to (full) capability. Then all of a sudden, we turned it around and played very good hockey for six weeks. To me, every year you go into it and look at how many Stanley Cup contenders are there? I think there’s a lot this year. There is a balance in the league. I think there is a lot of teams that have a chance of winning. I certainly put us as one of those teams. I think our players believe that, as well. If you watch, just, again, the last six weeks, guys have played pretty well. And we’ve been missing some guys.

“If we get those guys back, the danger is you tend to sit back a little bit and think that (when Malkin and Kapanen are) added to the group, it’s just going to be easy. And honestly, it’s not. So we’ll have to fight that at some point. I like the team, I like the depth. Certainly don’t like the last two games. We’ve got some cleaning up to do for sure, but I like where we’re at right now.”

• The Penguins are looking for some physicality up front as well as a depth center:

“We would like a big physical forward. We’ve said that right from the start. The right guy has got to be out there, though, at the right price. Sometimes, you have to wait for something to come along that a team is willing to part with. But we would like to add that. You could always use depth in the middle. It’s reality. There’s a lot of centers that can play the wing. There’s not a lot of wings that can play the middle. Center’s always a position that you’d like to have depth at. But again, over the past four to six weeks, a couple guys have proven they can be pretty effective players for us in the middle.”

• Hextall doesn’t rule out trading a high-end future asset such as a prospect or a draft pick. But the return would have to be substantial.

“It would really have to make us noticeably a better team to part with future assets. If that’s there, we will weigh it out. But again, it’s got to give us a good jolt as a team. We have to balance now and the future. But we’re certainly not going to give critical future assets away for players that might make us minimally better or add depth. I think our depth is good on (defense) and up front. Again, we’re as banged up now as hopefully as you can be. … But again, if there’s an impact player that we could add and the price is right, we would look at it.”

• The versatility and overall play of McCann as of late has impressed Hextall:

“Certainly, having that flexibility there with him is terrific. He’s been very good in the middle. But I think over his career, he’s played well on the wing, also. Having those guys that can play both positions is critical as we saw when (Malkin and Blueger) went down there. You’re kind of looking going, ‘OK, how are we going to fill this hole?’ That’s two holes. Pretty big holes there to fill there. And Jared has done a very good job. That just gives the coach more flexibility with the lines. And obviously, you’re not going to be healthy all the time. So he’s shown us what he can do in the middle should we need him there, short term and long term.”

• Gaudreau has made an impression on management:

“You can’t overlook Freddy. He’s done a really good job. The biggest thing you can say is there’s a trust factor. A very responsible player. He puts the puck in the right spots. He makes the plays when they’re there. He’s over top of his man. He’s stepped in and done a really good job for us. It’s certainly something that’s got all of our attention. He plays hard every night. He plays in traffic. His work ethic, his grit, I can’t profess that I knew him all that well coming in then all of a sudden you see him for a few games. He’s made a real good impression on all of us.”

• Hextall anticipates Malkin — sidelined since March because a suspected right knee injury — returning before the end of the regular season:

“Yes, that’s certainly our hope. With injuries, you never know which way it goes. But we are operating with the assumption that he’ll be back.”

• Hextall is open to a “hockey trade” (i.e. a deal with long-term ramifications) but is probably leaning toward a deal with a more immediate impact on the team:

“When you’re a manager, you’ve got to listen to everything and consider everything. But I do like the chemistry that we have built up over the last six, seven weeks. So you certainly can’t overlook that. So I wouldn’t anticipate, right now, a hockey deal. If there’s going to be anything, I think it would be more of a move to help us right now. We do have a (salary) cap issue next year, so you have to be cognizant of that. There is expansion next year, you have to be cognizant of that. Anything we look at right now will probably be more something that can make us better right now.”