No Pucks Given | Pittsburgh Penguins Podcast · Pittsburgh Hockey Now

Vince Comunale on Penguins Identity & Trade Deadline

·30 min·1 clip

There is this support group amongst the Penguins young players and they're pushing each other every single day and just celebrating each other's success.

The episode opens with a simple but loaded question about how to judge the Penguins at this point in the season. Vince says that if they do not make the playoffs, that would be disappointing. At the same time, he makes it clear that making the postseason would not wash away every concern, which keeps the tone measured instead of overly upbeat. From there, the conversation gets practical. The host and Vince talk through the idea that the Penguins may already have made their biggest moves, and that a huge swing does not seem all that likely. They keep returning to the sense that a small deal is more realistic than a dramatic shakeup. Roster fit comes up over and over. The fourth line and third line are treated as spots the team may not want to mess with too much, especially if the current setup is working. That caution shapes the deadline talk: do not create a new problem while trying to fix an old one. There is still room for an upgrade if the right player shows up. Vince and the host mention the possibility of a young player they like, such as Chinnikov, as the sort of move that could make sense. The discussion stays focused on what would actually help this team rather than chasing a splash just to make noise. Injuries matter just as much as trades here. Kris Letang is a major theme, with the conversation stressing that it is not only the fractured foot, but whatever else he may be dealing with. Coaches and teammates have clearly hinted that he is grinding through a lot just to be ready for games. Evgeni Malkin comes up for the same reason. His shoulder is treated as a real factor in the playoff run, not a small detail to dismiss. The show keeps coming back to the same idea: the Penguins may need protection against more wear and tear. That is where the talk of upgrading in waiting comes in. The episode even asks whether Justin Brazeau could be upgraded, even with his career year. The point is not that he has been useless, but that a big-bodied player having a solid season can still fit into a larger insurance plan if injury hits somewhere else in the lineup. The conversation also has the feel of two people who have been inside a long season and are a little fuzzy on the chronology of it. They joke about where they were when a particular play happened and how the year has turned into a blur of moments instead of a clean timeline. That gives the episode a lived-in, inside-baseball feel. By the end, the show has made its case. The Penguins are still in the mix, but this is not the kind of season that rewards easy assumptions. The real questions are health, depth, and whether any move would genuinely change the shape of the run. It is a restrained, practical conversation that keeps asking what can actually help.

As heard by us

A sober Penguins check-in on playoff expectations, deadline restraint, and roster health.

The Penguins are being measured less by one result than by whether the season can still feel worthwhile from here. Vince Comunale and the host trace that question from playoff expectations to trade-deadline restraint, with the sense that the team may already have made its…

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