CRANBERRY, Pa . — Locker clean-out day brought a sense of finality that, indeed, the Penguins' season and their championship run was over.
It also served to remind that, wow, some of these guys are really young.
See, even for those of us on the beat who are around the team all the time, we only see the players in their equipment, shorts, T-shirts or maybe getting on buses and walking into arenas in tailor-made suits. Casual Wednesday at the Lemieux Sports Complex was that rare chance to see players clean-shaven, for the most part, and wearing clothes you'd see on any typical millennial. Without the pressure of the season weighing on them, the players were relaxed, sharing handshakes and well wishes with the folks who routinely cover them.
And speaking for myself, these players are far, far more mature than I remember myself at the same age. And, I'm willing to bet, far more mature than you were, too.
For some of these players, this is the first time in their fledgling careers they've tasted playoff disappointment. I can't help but think of Ray Bourque, tears in eyes, finally lifting the Stanley Cup in 2001 at age 40, or Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau two years ago with San Jose.
Some of these players had never not won the Cup. What the Penguins went through the past two years is not normal. And yet they have a poise and perspective on things that is remarkably refreshing.
"It's something that not a lot of people can do or say they've done," said 25-year-old Bryan Rust, sans beard, of winning two in a row. "It's something that I think everyone in here is really proud of. It would have been nice to make it three, but we'll come back and try to get another one next year."
Only Matt Murray's skinny sweat pants with the big cuff on the bottom let you know his age (no way I'm pulling that look off). But when the goalie spoke Wednesday to a small group of reporters after the TV guys got their sound bites for the 6 p.m. news, you couldn't help but be floored by his maturity.
He speaks like someone 20 years his senior, keenly aware there is nothing typical about what he and his teammates have accomplished.
"I've been through a lot of learning experiences, been through a lot of different things that most guys don't see at my age and I feel very fortunate for that," he said. "Good things and bad things. But you learn from all of it. You learn from the bad things even more than the good things. I'll take that. Everything that's happened is going to make me stronger in the long run. I feel lucky, too. I've been through so many experiences in my really short career so far."
• Evgeni Malkin was seen walking around the hallways of the Lemieux Sports Complex on Wednesday, but he didn't speak to the media after talking at length following his team's Game 6 loss. That's more than Phil Kessel, who was harder to find off the ice Wednesday than on it during the Capitals series. I get that Kessel does not like speaking to the media, but given the circumstances and the speculation surrounding his health, it was a missed opportunity to set the record straight. I pressed Sullivan on Kessel's health but he reiterated the NHL's power play points leader's injuries were, "not significant, I can tell you that." Read into that what you want, but that would suggest Kessel was healthy enough and simply underachieved. Is there some sort of disconnect between coach and player, presumably unhappy with his role? I don't know. Kessel didn't speak. Long story short, don't be surprised if we see another Sully Summit in Toronto this summer. -- Chris Bradford
• The Penguins have 17 players under contract for next season at $70.2 million. Next month, the NHL is expected to announce that the cap ceiling, currently at $75 million, is expected to rise to between $78-82 million for next season. After extending Patric Horqnvist's contract in February, the only notable unrestricted free agents the Penguins have pending are Carter Rowney and Josh Jooris. A good bit, if not all, of that $8-12 million the Penguins should have in cap space will go toward retaining their restricted free agents. The Penguins have 16 RFAs, including Bryan Rust, Riley Sheahan, Jamie Oleksiak and Tom Kuhnhackl. All are in line for significant pay raises. Just as a point of reference, Rust's entry level deal paid him $640,000 this season while Conor Sheary got three years and $9 million last summer. Do the math. — Bradford
• By far, the most interesting thing to come from Rutherford's season-ending presser was how he felt he had pieces he can move that other teams would covet in trades, which will enable him to make the changes he feels necessary. Given the cap crunch the Penguins will likely face again, that opens up at least the possibility Rutherford will have to move a big-ticket contract. — Bradford
• Kris Letang won't be one of those pieces. Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle, based on numerous talks I've had with both over the years, believe passionately in preserving the core to the best of their ability. Letang is part of that. Always has been. -- Dejan Kovacevic
• Expect Tristan Jarry to have his status elevated next season, although he didn't come up in the same context as Zach Aston-Reese and Daniel Sprong in Rutherford's presser. Sullivan elected to go with a playoff backup in Casey DeSmith who had a history in that role. No confidence was lost in Jarry, whom Sullivan genuinely seems to trust. I'm not suggesting there'll be a starter's battle, but there will be a push toward a more even split of the 82 available starts. -- Kovacevic
PIRATES
• Clint Hurdle and Ray Searage are trying to achieve a better understanding of how much rest Felipe Vázquez can have between outings. Vázquez asked to not pitch in the Pirates' four-game series against the Nationals last week because of a stomach ailment, although he told the coaching staff he might be able to enter a game in a save situation. The situation seemed to irritate Hurdle, and he said he was uncomfortable even using Vázquez against the Brewers last Friday night. Now, Vázquez has agreed to enter in both save and non-save situations, no matter the circumstances. — Lance Lysowski in Chicago
• Contrary to what Andrew McCutchen has said in multiple interviews, a few of his teammates confirmed McCutchen is "excited" to return to Pittsburgh this weekend. Josh Harrison said the two spoke over the phone recently, and McCutchen has actually been looking forward to the reunion for months. — Lysowski
• Speaking of Harrison, he's ahead of schedule in his return from a broken bone in his left hand, and he credited the timing of the injury for his progress. After all, Harrison broke the same bone last September, but his rehab program was far different because there was no chance to return before the end of the season. Now, he's pushing to get back, although the Pirates will approach the situation with caution to ensure the bone has healed properly. — Lysowski
• Corey Dickerson entered the visitors’ clubhouse in Philadelphia following a loss to the Phillies last month to discover his former teammate and friend, White Sox reliever Danny Farquhar, had collapsed in the Chicago dugout because of a brain hemorrhage from a ruptured aneurysm. Farquhar was released from the hospital Monday and visited the White Sox clubhouse the next day. Although Dickerson wasn't able to visit with Farquhar, his wife, Beth Anne, has remained in contact with Farquhar's wife, Alexandria, and Dickerson said he says a prayer for Farquhar "every single day."
"It makes you realize how unimportant baseball is or little things," Dickerson told me. "Life can be taken away from you so quickly, how important family is. I immediately thought of his little kids he has and his wife. It's very humbling. I couldn't believe it." — Lysowski
• Gregory Polanco is batting .360 with three doubles, one home run and four RBIs over his last seven games, including a solo home run in a 6-5 win Wednesday, and insists he never worried about his swing during his three-week-long slump. He actually laughed when I asked if he changed anything mechanical. "It's just part of the season, man," Polanco said. "No one can go an entire season without a slump." — Lysowski
• Players and coaches have asked Colin Moran questions about what he learned during his time in Houston, because the adjustment to his swing yielded a career high in home runs last season. No one is going to try to emulate what he's done; however, this roster is dotted with cerebral hitters. — Lysowski
STEELERS
• Just because the Steelers haven't yet signed a veteran inside linebacker, doesn't mean they won't. Wednesday marked the date after which veteran free agents signed by teams no longer count in the compensatory draft pick equation. Don't think for a moment that doesn't matter for the Steelers. They figure to get a pretty decent pick for Chris Hubbard's signing despite the additions of Morgan Burnett and Jon Bostic. Those two contracts hardly offset the five-year, $36.5 million deal signed by Hubbard. My guess is the Steelers should be in line for at least a sixth-round pick. The Steelers will still take a look at what they have at rookie mini-camp and OTAs before they do anything rash, but they're much more likely to make a move now than they were a week ago. — Dale Lolley at Rooney Sports Complex
• Now that the draft is over, the Steelers can move on to trying to work out a deal with Le'Veon Bell again. Those talks had been on hold since the free agency period began in early March. Now the team has until July 16 to work on a new deal. With the trade of Martavis Bryant and the release of J.J. Wilcox, the Steelers now have a little over $6 million in cap space. Kevin Colbert said at the owner's meetings that any extra money freed up following the draft could be used to sweeten the pot for Bell. The team is in a much better position to bargain with Bell this year. He's now a year older (26) and will turn 27 next offseason. Bell has to know 27-year-old running backs don't necessarily get five-year contracts. — Lolley
• Word has it after last week's NFL meetings in Atlanta that the league's new crackdown on the use of helmets as a weapon won't be as far-reaching as many feared. It's something the league's competition committee only expects to be called once every two weeks or so. But it will give the league more of a mechanism for immediate ejections for those kind of infractions, which will be reviewable. But nobody, players, coaches or officials, wanted this to turn into players being ejected from every game, which is what some were thinking might happen if the league went with a zero-tolerance policy. — Lolley
PITT
• May officially is an “Evaluation Period” for college football recruiting, and the Panthers’ coaching staff certainly has been covering some territory. Pat Narduzzi has been touring in-state, speaking with the Panthers on the Prowl alumni program this week — no doubt working in some recruiting time, as well. Tight ends coach Tim Salem, who probably has the least-deep position on the roster, was in both New Jersey and central Florida this week. Defensive line coach Charlie Partridge and linebackers coach/recruiting coordinator Rob Harley also were recently in Florida, and secondary coach Archie Collins has logged time in Ohio, Michigan and Georgia over the past two weeks. — Matt Grubba
• When Jeff Capel selected his assistant coaches, the two things that jumped out about the choices were their Division I experience and the personal history Capel had with each. New women’s basketball coach Lance White apparently valued those same traits with his selections, as he filled out his staff with associate head coach Terri Mitchell, a 1989 Duquesne grad who won 348 games in 18 years leading Marquette; associate head coach Danielle Atkinson, an assistant the past four years alongside White at Florida State; and assistant coach Josh Petersen, who began as a graduate assistant with the Seminoles before taking a full-time post at UNC-Asheville. — Grubba
• Speaking of Capel and recruiting windows, basketball coaches are coming up on a nine-day dead period beginning May 17. Capel told 93.7 The Fan in an interview Thursday he is looking to add “maybe one or two more” players for the 2018-19 season. He went on to say he is looking for immediate help, not reaches or project-type players, saying “We don’t want to take guys just to have bodies.” Because of the way the calendar lines up, expect Capel to push hard for another commitment in the next seven days so he won’t have to wait until Memorial Day weekend or later to get back in touch with recruits. — Grubba
PENN STATE
• Trace McSorley had so much belief in himself as a quarterback recruit – instead of the safety so many schools wanted him to be – he passed on a recruiting visit to Stanford because it only wanted him as a safety. McSorley’s early offers as a quarterback came from MAC schools, and it wasn’t until Ricky Rahne offered him at Vanderbilt that McSorley had a big-time offer as a quarterback. Again, measurables aren’t everything, but who was the coach pushing hard for him at safety at Stanford? That was current Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason. Would Vanderbilt have been able to land McSorley? Yes, potentially, had it hired Herb Hand, who was in the running to be head coach and who McSorley got to know well during his recruitment, a source confirmed. — Audrey Snyder in State College, Pa.
• Penn State will have four freshmen enroll this weekend ahead of the start of the first summer session. Typically, the majority of the freshman class arrives ahead of Summer II at the end of June. This new arrival date, something James Franklin and his staff are, of course, in favor of, gives the players six extra weeks and one additional class on campus. Franklin expects this to become a trend where Penn State could have as many as 10 early enrollees in January and then more for the May semester. Penn State had six January enrollees this year and will have four May arrivals, including defensive tackle PJ Mustipher, quarterback Will Levis, defensive tackle Judge Culpepper and tight end Pat Freiermuth. Look for this trend to continue all across college football as coaches want their players on campus as soon as possible. After all, as Franklin said, they can still go home to attend prom. — Snyder
• Add commencement speaker to the list of accomplishments for McSorley. McSorley will address the next wave of graduates at his alma mater, Briar Woods High School in Virginia, this spring. – Snyder