Point Park University Friday Insider: Penguins need more than GM taken in Cranberry, Pa. (Friday Insider)

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Patrik Allvin

The search for the Penguins' next general manager continues, and it's not an exaggeration to suggest it will be the franchise's most important hire in quite a few years.

Co-owners Ron Burkle and Mario Lemieux and David Morehouse, the team's CEO and president, are looking for someone who can get the club its sixth Stanley Cup before the core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang begins competing in nothing more strenuous than alumni games. It will be, at the very least, a daunting challenge for whoever gets the job, because the Penguins no longer possess a lineup that is clearly superior to that of most of the teams they face, and don't have many expendable assets that can be used to upgrade the roster.

But while the focus, understandably, is on finding the best person for the GM job, it will be imperative that individual be surrounded with a capable support staff, ideally featuring people whose strengths can reinforce any soft spots in the GM's skills set. Say the GM has a relatively modest grasp of nuances of the salary-cap system. Bringing in someone who understands all of its finer points and can help the GM navigate through them would be a huge plus, because it would allow the GM to focus on other duties.

A few years ago, the Penguins' front office was crowded with aspiring GMs, but all of those have moved on and, with Patrik Allvin serving as Jim Rutherford's interim replacement, there isn't an assistant GM on the payroll at the moment.

The Penguins, understandably, have tried to limit their expenditures because of all the revenue lost during the pandemic, but it would be short-sighted to have Allvin -- or whoever else might get the job on a permanent basis -- operate without at least one capable assistant, and preferably a couple.

If the Penguins are serious about trying to win another Cup -- and pretty much every move they make suggests they are, regardless of how much of a long shot that appears to be -- they need to find not only a good GM, but staffers who will make it possible for him to be at his best.

MORE PENGUINS

* Kevin Weekes has gotten considerable attention as a candidate for the GM job, and that probably shouldn't be surprising. He's extremely sharp, stays on top of goings-on around the league in his role as a TV analyst and possesses a former goaltender's deep understanding of the game and the people who play it. He appears to have all the qualities to be an outstanding general manager. Someday. But not now. Not for this team. It's not a question of ability, but of experience. Weekes has never worked in an NHL front office, let alone run one. And while there might be some circumstances under which a team is willing to allow a promising executive to grow with the team he is overseeing, this is the polar opposite. The Penguins, as team officials say so often and so forcefully, are in "win-now" mode. They need someone who doesn't require much, if any, on-the-job training. Who not only can recognize what the Penguins need to give them the best possible opportunity to be a force during the Stanley Cup playoffs, but who knows how to go about getting those pieces. If Weekes would be interested in serving an apprenticeship under a more experienced GM -- the way guys such as Tom Fitzgerald, Jason Botterill and Bill Guerin did here -- he seems like he could become an excellent assistant GM -- one who could capably handle the challenges of running his own team in the future. It would just be too much of a gamble to allow him to try to do it now. -- Molinari

* Samuel Poulin and Nathan Legare are widely recognized as two of the best prospects in the Penguins' talent pipeline which, after many years of trading away early-round draft choices for immediate roster upgrades, isn't exactly overflowing with promising young players. Nonethless, Scott Young, their director of player development, believes there are a few guys in the system who have a relatively low profile, but also the potential to contribute to the parent club at some point in the future. "We can't forget about Kasper Bjorkqvist, who is over in Europe right now," he said. "Then you have (forward Valtteri) Puustinen and (defenseman Santeri) Airola. We have to get Puustinen over after this season, and see how he adjusts to the U.S. game, but he's got real good offensive hockey sense. He's got good speed. He's putting up some real good numbers in the Finnish league. Airola is ... a few years away, but he's a real good right shot, good-skating defenseman. He's got great feet. But that's going to be a few years down the road." -- Molinari

STEELERS

• All the doomsday predictions about the 2021 salary cap are looking less and less likely as the weeks tick by. In fact, according to the NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, the NFL and NFLPA met last month to begin negotiations on next season's cap. And the feeling is that the cap will end up much higher than the dire predictions out there. That is, of course, good news for the Steelers, who go into this offseason more than $30 million over the cap floor of $175 million set last summer. The expectation is that the cap will come in at $190 million or more by offsetting the losses for this season with expected future earnings. And a big part of that is moving forward with the idea that there will be fans in stadiums in 2021. It's still not ideal news for the Steelers, who, like everyone else, expected the cap to go up to $210 million or higher. But it certainly won't mean they have no ability to make any moves this offseason as some have predicted. -- Dale Lolley on the South Side

• The elevation of Adrian Klemm to offensive line coach was panned by a segment of Steelers fans, who thought Mike Tomlin should have gone outside the organization to replace Shaun Sarrett. But in the past couple of days, I've traded some messages with linemen currently on the roster about the hire. And they're excited about it, crediting him for developing the younger linemen on the roster the past two seasons. Coming to the Steelers from the college ranks, Klemm is a teacher first. And as the assistant offensive line coach, he worked on developing the non-starters during training camp and the regular season, when everything is geared toward getting ready for the next week's opponent. Sarrett might have been the right hire when the Steelers were trying to maintain what was a veteran offensive line. But with what looks like will be some new faces coming into the fray, a teacher first and foremost is what is needed. And Klemm, apparently, is that. He also has something that Sarrett did not have -- NFL experience. I'm told that was a key thing Tomlin wanted in an offensive line coach. And his other two candidates both had that, as well. -- Lolley

• With the elevation of Matt Canada and Klemm on the coaching staff, there's a feeling the Steelers aren't adding enough new blood to the mix on the coaching staff. But that's not the case. Regardless of these moves, the Steelers will have three new coaches on the staff. New tight ends coach Alfredo Roberts has already been hired from the outside, having held the same job with the Chargers. New quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan is a longtime NFL assistant, as well. Tomlin will still have three new coaches on his staff. And Canada has been with the team for one year, while Klemm has been with the organization for two. Would the critics think differently of them had they both been hired from outside the organization this year? They were hired with the potential for these moves in mind. And the Steelers still did their due diligence interviewing outside candidates before hiring them. Hiring a veteran offensive line coach would have made some sense, but Klemm's NFL playing experience helps offset that, as does the longtime experience of both Roberts and Sullivan. -- Lolley

• It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that Art Rooney II said last week he expects GM Kevin Colbert to return for 2021. Colbert, of course, is going year to year now with his contract, but the now 64-year-old does love his job. He'll retire at some point, but the fact some of the people on staff are sending out feelers outside of the organization -- Omar Khan with Houston and Carolina, Brandon Hunt with Carolina -- that perhaps they don't think Colbert will retire anytime soon. There also was this nugget from Rooney's press briefing last week: "If Kevin decided not to continue on, I think we'd look at opening up the situation and doing a search and deciding if our internal candidates were stronger than candidates that might come in from the outside." It has been assumed that Hunt, the team's longtime pro scouting coordinator, would be the obvious replacement for Colbert. And maybe that's still the case. But considering Rooney's statement, maybe it's not a slam dunk. -- Lolley

PIRATES

• The Pirates’ list of non-roster invitees is very prospect-heavy, especially with those in the team’s top 10 farmhands who are a few years away from the majors, such as right-hander Quinn Priester, shortstop Liover Peguero and shortstop/second baseman Nick Gonzales. Minor league spring training can’t start until after the major-league one disperses, so for those players not heading north with the Pirates or to Class AAA Indianapolis, they’ll get to take part in another spring training. This is going to maximize how much time the top prospects are around instructors this year after being home for most of 2020. -- Alex Stumpf

• While he is going to have to earn a spot in the bullpen first this year, the Pirates view Luis Oviedo as a potential future starter. He battled back injuries in 2019, which greatly affected his fastball velocity, but while in the Venezuelan Winter League this offseason, he was ramping his heater back up to 97-98 mph. The Pirates want to make sure he sheds his Rule 5 status this year, and since he hasn’t pitched above Class A, making him a multi-inning reliever or swingman this year is the safer bet. Going into next spring training he could be in the mix for a rotation spot. -- Stumpf

• Two of the top hitters in the Australian Baseball League this winter are Pirates prospects – infielder Robbie Glendinning and outfielder Bligh Madris. Both were in Altoona in 2019 and will remain in the upper-half of the farm system in 2021. Glendinning is slashing .343/.443/.507 and Madris .270/.357/.446, putting both in the top 10 in the league in OPS among players with at least 70 plate appearances. Madris has homered three times and is showing more pop than he did with Altoona in 2019. That’s partly because he changed his mechanics, standing more upright while in the box and adopting a leg kick instead of a toe tap. “I’ve definitely have had a lot of time through the quarantine to work on some stuff and watch video,” Madris told me. “I found that where I’m at right now is the best position to produce and tap into that raw power that I have. I found that I’ve been generating more power to all fields with it and still been pretty consistent. I’ve been taking more risks at the plate and having the mindset of do damage all the time until two strikes.” Madris will have a chance to show off to the new player development team what he can do this year. Glendinning has hit very well since coming to the Pirates and could be a future utility player. -- Stumpf

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