"Watch the defense."
This was Jim Rutherford. And this was a few weeks ago, fairly early in the ongoing Stanley Cup playoffs. He and I were having a fun conversation about the surprising-at-the-time Stars, and I'd mentioned I was having a tough time figuring out the source of their success. They'd transformed their style, their look since the regular season. So I was humble enough to ask a Hockey Hall of Fame GM for help.
He came back with those three words above.
He'd then go on to describe the speed, the skill, the rapid-fire transition to Dallas' scheme, and specifically the way John Klingberg and Miro Heiskanen were whirling away from any trouble and whisking the puck up ice.
I listened. I kept watching. I learned. And I'll be damned if he didn't nail it all: The Stars, of course, have soared into the Final. Their top two scorers -- among all skaters, not just defensemen -- are Klingberg and Heiskanen, who've combined for 43 points. And in turn, their old-ish core of forwards have looked far faster than their birth certificates by simple virtue of having the puck.
Hockey coaches at all levels have preached for a century-plus that the puck moves faster than the fastest skater, but the involvement on the back end has never been emphasized the way it is now.
"In modern hockey," Klingberg told reporters in Edmonton, Alberta, the other day, "you create a lot of offense from the back end, and you also want to be able to have your Ds join the rush."
"It's way easier to play with five guys on the ice than three or two," Heiskanen spoke in the same session.
Know who else feels that way?
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The Penguins traded Patric Hornqvist to the Panthers, I'm betting you've heard. In exchange for defenseman Mike Matheson and winger Colton Sceviour. Took a little while, partly because Hornqvist predictably didn't want to leave, but the ink was dry by late Thursday afternoon.
The previous day, I'd gotten word of the teams' agreement via a two-word text: 'Hornqvist traded.'
And the reason I share that, as well as the entirety of the preceding passage, is that my reflexive thought was this: 'Mobile defenseman. Has to be.'
Which it turned out to be. Matheson's arrival from Sunrise will be accompanied by enough warts to require extra luggage fees, but he'll be a defenseman, and he'll sure as hell be mobile:
That's mobile, and that's from a couple Christmases ago.
More recently, here are all eight goals he scored for the Panthers in 2019-20:
Yep. Still mobile.
And that, my friends, is all I've got.
That's as far as I'll go in attempting to assess this trade on any front other than the most glaringly obvious, which is that Hornqvist will be both missed and appreciated in Pittsburgh, by the Penguins and their fans, for a long, long time. Mike Sullivan once described Hornqvist for me as "elite at what he does," and I've never heard it better. It's legitimately likely the franchise will never see the likes of that guy again.
Beyond those two elements, though, this column's bound to be a bust. Because every direction I turn, I come up with two or three questions for every answer.
Rutherford's stated priority for this offseason has been to get younger and faster, and he reiterated those Thursday after the trade. Well, Matheson, 26, is a good bit younger than Hornqvist and might well have his best hockey ahead of him, But, while 26 is markedly younger than Hornqvist's 33, it's also ominously possible that Matheson's precisely what he is. Rutherford mentioned the parallel of Justin Schultz coming from Edmonton in 2016 as an enigma, then playing a pivotal role in the two recent Cups, but that's always going to be an exception and not a norm. Rutherford further mentioned that newly returned Todd Reirden could coach him up as he once did Kris Letang, then John Carlson in D.C., but those two are among the most gifted at their craft. Other than the Panthers once having grossly overpaid Matheson -- eight years, $39 million in 2017 -- he's never breathed that same air.
What do business people say about hope not being a plan?
Rutherford's other stated priority for this offseason was creating cap space. Well, Matheson and Sceviour -- an obvious throw-in so Florida could keep from digging its own financial hole -- actually add $775,000 to the Penguins' cap hit for 2020-21, and that's to say nothing of Matheson's massive hit all the way through 2026.
Why move Hornqvist for any reason other than a cap savings?
I'm left with even more questions about roster composition.
In a year where the pandemic's pushed the NHL to freeze the salary cap at $81.5 million, the Penguins currently have five left-handed defensemen making a combined $17.4 million: Brian Dumoulin, Marcus Pettersson, Jack Johnson, Juuso Riikola, and now Matheson. On the right side are Letang, John Marino and Chad Ruhwedel. And although Rutherford suggested that someone could switch across, including Matheson, that has about as much chance of happening as Johnson's No. 73 sweater suddenly outselling the No. 87 models.
Rutherford said Thursday, "Something will have to give" in that regard, but I can't imagine what.
Trading Johnson, as welcome and wonderful as that'd be, has about as much chance of happening as ... oh, you know.
Trading Riikola, as welcome and wonderful as that might be in Sullivan's eyes -- at least based on his usage -- won't bring any real return.
Trading Pettersson, who's only 24 and already fits the system pristinely, wouldn't make any sense.
And trading Dumoulin would be ... I can't even complete this sentence.
What about the right side, for that matter?
Ruhwedel doesn't get signed to make the top six. And I say that respectfully because he's as sound, as professional a seventh defenseman as there is in the league. But if he isn't third on that side, then someone from the outside -- a reliable report out of Canada is already connecting the Penguins to pending free agent Chris Tanev of the Canucks, Brandon's brother -- will have to be acquired.
But with what spare change?
Questions, questions, questions.
What about a true third-line center?
That's the most glaring need of all, at least from this perspective, as I've never believed in Jared McCann as anything but a winger. Sceviour, who I've barely referenced because there isn't much to elaborate about a 31-year-old bottom-six winger, has been shoved into center at times, but even Rutherford himself identified him Thursday as "a right winger." There remain no internal solutions for this, barring stubbornly sticking with McCann.
What about Sam Lafferty?
Speaking of stubborn, I'll keep pounding the desk for this kid until he's finally offered a solid spot. It'll have to be bottom six, but I see a 31-year-old with penalty-killing on his resume arrive, and I'm wondering if even that's available now. (Though it's worth appreciating that Sceviour's a decade younger than Patrick Marleau.)
What about Samuel Poulin or anyone else even younger?
A team doesn't get younger by declaring it. I've been told from within the Penguins that he'll have an honest chance to make the team this winter. Here's hoping so.
What about Matt Murray?
Does the additional cap crunch complicate a potential return for the most important move he's still got to make?
What about the locker room?
I know, I know, there's never sympathy to be extended to a team that falls in four games to the 24th seed in a 24-team tournament, but let's not pretend it's irrelevant. I'm not suggesting players will be weird about it, but I'll definitively state that the dynamic will be different without such a vocal, demonstrative leader. It'll take an adjustment.
What about ... what about all of this?
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I'd love to presume Rutherford has tunnel vision about this. That he saw Kasperi Kapanen as a first, vital step. That he truly coveted Matheson and felt he was acquired at a fair price. And following those two, that he'd envision a logical progression toward this "transition on the fly," as he tidily labeled his outlook for the coming offseason Thursday.
I'd love to presume, cutting to the chase, Rutherford has a similar vision about these trades as he did with the one that ultimately delivered this:
Nothing but net there. Could've called the bank shot, too.
We'll see. Long way to go, from the look of it.