This week’s “U mad, bro?” is really rough on Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford. It’s also unkind to former Steeler Antonio Brown. And I didn’t come off very well either.

John emailed me about the Penguins trades in recent weeks. He’s not thrilled with general manager Jim Rutherford dealing Dominik Kahun to Buffalo for Conor Sheary and Evan Rodrigues.

“We gave up a player that seems to have earned (Evgeni) Malkin’s trust and has tons of ability. I say TONS.

Instead we get two guys that barely have more points (28) than one guy (Kahun’s 27). Sheary hasn’t been putting the puck away except against the Pens. The other can’t get playing time. I am thinking our GM is finally losing his mind.

Please enlighten me on why this is a good trade. I am willing to listen.”

John, if I can’t convince myself of it, I can’t convince you. And I’m not convinced that this will turn out to be a good deal either.

Like you, I thought Kahun’s skill meshed nicely at times with Malkin. But you are making him sound like Pavel Bure.

When he was healthy, he was decent. He just wasn’t healthy often enough to make a regular impact on games.

What I can do, though, is tell you what they’re thinking. And what the Penguins are thinking is that they need multiple bodies, who can play multiple roles, on multiple lines. And they feel Sheary and Rodrigues are more suited to do that.

Kahun isn’t fit for a third or fourth line. Rodrigues could be.

Kahun can pretty much only play with Malkin and be effective. Sheary can play with both Malkin and Sidney Crosby.

They brought Kahun to Pittsburgh, and they didn’t see enough of what they liked in Chicago. They saw more of what the Blackhawks disliked to make him expendable.

That’s what they are thinking.

Convinced? If so, good.

Maybe I’ll convince myself eventually, too.

Judith sent me a really long email after the trade deadline passed. And she was NOT HAPPY with Jim Rutherford.

Here’s the condensed version.

“The Pens’ chances of competing for the Cup this year ended on “Trade Deadline Day.” The Penguins needed to become a “heavier” team to match up better against more physical rivals like the Lightning, Capitals, Bruins as well as the Hurricanes and Islanders or even the Flyers who all made trades to bolster their rosters.

GMJR did not address the Penguins most pressing need and instead chose to make another Trade with a former assistant Botterill. (The first of course being with Guerin for Zucker.) In the end, Rutherford may have helped his former aides with the Wild and the Sabres more than he did the Penguins.

The Penguins will be lucky to go one, maybe two rounds before being man-handled and out-muscled.

The playoffs will prove that Rutherford made all the wrong moves in due time.”

I’d quibble with that last point to this extent — it’s almost a self-fulfilling prophecy. The suggestion is if the Penguins don’t survive a brutal Eastern Conference, the trade deadline was a bust because they didn’t get “heavier.”

OK, then. Who was the big, bruising power forward available that they should’ve gotten? Or the Hal Gill-esque top-six defenseman?

Because if those guys weren’t available, the Penguins had to help the depth at forward in other ways.

And, to be honest, their failure last year against the New York Islanders had every bit as much to do with their best players bottoming out as it did a lack of production from the depth of the team.

John is a Pitt fan who didn’t like my podcast post about the Panthers NCAA violations.

It’s a piece deliberately kicking a program when it’s down, filled with attempted humor barely rising above sandbox level.

— John Brown Jr. (@TheJohnBrownJr) February 22, 2020

“Sandbox level” humor? No. C’mon. It is at least sophomoric.

Sandbox level is a good way to describe Pitt’s attempts to get around the rules, though.

Or the performance of both the football and basketball programs in recent years.

Vince is a Pitt fan. And an even bigger fan of me.

“You’re garbage. A waste of time reading your weak attempt at a slam at Pitt.”

Well, Vince, based on the amount of hate mail I got back from Pitt fans like you, I guess the “slam” wasn’t so “weak.”

It appears to have been quite effective, and I guess it touched a nerve.

The only waste of time that you — as a Pitt fan — should be worried about is the two-year black hole of the Kevin Stallings tenure that you and the rest of your fanbase had to endure.

And one that, apparently, is going to take much longer than two years to fix.

Good luck.

Ray replied to my column ripping the NFL for reinstating Vontaze Burfict.

When he permanently disables someone the NFL is going to have a huge lawsuit on their hands. The NHL got rid of goons...why won't the NFL?

— Ray Rentler (@RayRentler) February 26, 2020

I agree with a lot of this tweet, Ray.

But while the NHL has gone a long way toward minimizing goons, Tom Wilson still has a job.

And he is basically Vontaze in skates.

Yahoo Sports tweeted out this survey.

YOU'VE BEEN KIDNAPPED!

You get to send one sports related tweet that would alarm your followers that you're in trouble.

What's your tweet?

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) February 26, 2020

Here’s how I responded.

I'm completely in favor of the Steelers bringing Antonio Brown back to Pittsburgh. https://t.co/LbXjrmMLy8

— Tim Benz (@TimBenzPGH) February 26, 2020

These guys appreciated the gag from Yahoo, too.

Kent Graham didn't get a fair shake.

— J. R. (@qgunk) February 26, 2020

Neither did Mark Malone.

Pitt should hire steve pederson for a third time

— Thebingebreaker (@thebingebreaker) February 27, 2020

And Scott Barnes for a second time?

I miss Gene Stallings, fire Jeff Kaple.

— Randy Diffendal (@randy_diffendal) February 26, 2020

I don’t know who “Kaple” is. But Gene Stallings did much better at Alabama than Kevin Stallings did at Pitt.

A guy named “Jim” responded to my A.B. joke. He’s not buying. (I’m cutting and pasting his tweet to clean up the language a bit.)

“Sorry Benzy. I know why you want him back. Gives you a lot of material. But for the team and coaching staff? No (expletive) way. He is so screwed up, and wouldn’t be any good for chemistry. He is so far gone in the rear view mirror.”

Jim, trust me. “Mr. Big Chest” has given me 10 times the material AFTER he left.

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