The Penguins won't be going back to college this year.
Oh, they're not dropping out permanently, but they're taking a few semesters off from signing free agents who developed into prospects while pursuing an education.
That wasn't by design -- Ron Hextall said there were several the Penguins pursued this spring -- but regardless, he acknowledged they won't be adding a college free agent to the depth chart for one of the few times in recent memory.
"We did try to sign a couple this year," Hextall said, "but didn't come out on the good end of the ledger."
Such players are particularly valuable for the Penguins because being in "win-now" mode since 2008 has led to them trading many early-round draft choices, thus cutting the organization off from what normally would be its primary source of young talent.
According to records maintained by the team, 2014 and 2018 were the only two years during the previous 10 that the Penguins didn't pick up at least one college free agent. Here's a rundown of who they signed during that period.
2011 -- Forward Brian Gibbons (Boston College).
2012 -- Forward Jayson Megna (Nebraska-Omaha).
2013 -- Goalie Eric Hartzell (Quinnipiac).
2015 -- Forward Conor Sheary (UMass).
2016 -- Forward Carter Rowney (North Dakota), defenseman Ethan Prow (St. Cloud).
2017 -- Forward Zach Aston-Reese (Northeastern), goalie Casey DeSmith (New Hampshire, original contract in 2015 was a minor-league deal), forward Adam Johnson (Minnesota-Duluth).
2019 -- Forward Jake Lucchini (Michigan Tech).
2020 -- Forward Drew O'Connor (Dartmouth), defenseman Cam Lee (Western Michigan), defenseman Josh Maniscalco (Arizona State).
While Hextall would have liked to have put a fresh entry on that list in 2021, he would have had to be pretty choosy because the Penguins are believed to be carrying 49 contracts, just one below the league limit of 50.
Not that he makes a habit of flooding the market with offers.
"Philosophically, I've never carpet-bombed," he said. "In other words, having 20 or 30 players (he tries to sign). We typically choose carefully and go after a couple of players and then see where it lands."
MORE PENGUINS
• Lucky for the Penguins, who are trying to overtake Washington and the New York Islanders for first place in the East Division, that they have a couple of games against Buffalo this weekend, right? Couldn't be an easier four points anywhere on the continent, wouldn't you say? Well, not so fast. Sure, the Sabres remain anchored at the bottom of the overall standings, but they've been quite competitive in recent weeks. They are 5-3-3 in their past 11 games, including a 5-2 victory at Washington Thursday night, and five of those six losses were by one goal. (That streak, coincidentally enough, came immediately after the Penguins beat Buffalo March 24 and 25.) While no one is suggesting that the Sabres are going to make a late-season surge into contention for a playoff berth in the East Division, it would be a grievous error in judgment by the Penguins to assume that they're going to take a couple of victories out of KeyBank Center Saturday and Sunday simply by being in the building in time for the opening faceoff. Those, by the way, will be the Penguins' final meetings with the Sabres until they face them at PPG Paints Arena in the final two games of the regular season. -- Molinari
• It didn't get much attention on this side of the border, but the Memorial Cup junior championships were canceled a few days ago, making 2021 the second consecutive year in which the tournament will not be held because of pandemic-related issues and concerns. And while that competition, which features the champions of the Western, Ontario and Quebec leagues, as well as the host team, doesn't generate as much interest in Canada as, say, the NCAA basketball tournament does in the U.S., it is an event that gets attention in every corner of that country. Hextall never made it to the Memorial Cup while playing junior hockey for the Brandon Wheat Kings, but recognizes the impact that the cancellation will have across Canada, particularly in places that have junior clubs but are far removed from NHL or American Hockey League franchises. "You look at ... Brandon and Medicine Hat and Swift Current and Sudbury, it's a big deal for those little communities and for the junior hockey followers," he said. "But we are in a different world right now, and I think everybody's understanding of the adjustments we've had to make and the sacrifices we've had to make." -- Molinari
STEELERS
• If you had any doubts about how serious the Steelers are about changing things up at the running back position, the contract signed by James Conner with the Cardinals this week should dispel them. Conner got just $1.75 million from the Cardinals for one year. The Steelers could have easily matched or exceeded that. They didn't try. They had obviously grown weary of not knowing if he'd be available from week to week. One thing of which there should be no doubt that the team's main target in the draft is a starting running back. Conner would have been the fallback option if they didn't get one of the top three backs in this draft -- Najee Harris, Travis Etienne or Javonte Williams. That option is now gone, which is probably a good thing. Now, the team has no choice but to do what is necessary to get one of those three. There's nothing else available on the free agent market -- unless they want to go the Wayne Gallman route. -- Dale Lolley on the South Side
• The NFLPA is at odds with the league on in-person offseason workouts. The union has long been against holding voluntary workouts in the offseason. Despite that, they've continued to grow each year. It used to be that players left after the season and the team might not see them again until minicamp. But now, a number of players have workout incentives written into their contracts that are tied to the OTAs. Thus far, a handful of teams have been informed that their players won't take part in in-person OTAs. They want to do it virtually as they did last year because of the pandemic -- at least that's what the union is saying. But with millions being vaccinated across the country each day, it seems like the NFLPA is looking to use the pandemic as an excuse to get rid of something it didn't want but was too weak to keep out of the last set of CBA negotiations last year. Steelers NFLPA rep Cam Heyward has spoken against the in-person workouts out on social media, but there has been no decision as of yet whether the team will boycott on-field workouts. Under the terms of the CBA, the league can implement an OTA plan on its own without union approval. And, outside of minicamp, they are all voluntary. But players who skip them will be forfeiting their workout bonuses. -- Lolley
• There was some confusion about what was going on with the Steelers' inside linebacker position earlier this week when Avery Williamson changed his Twitter avatar back to include the Steelers on it. I'm told the Steelers have been in contact with Williamson, a free agent. But they really wanted Vince Williams back. They could potentially re-sign Williamson, as well, but with Williams back, the need becomes far less. Whether or not Williamson returns will depend on what happens in the draft. -- Lolley
PIRATES
• The more people I ask around the industry about right-handers Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker, the more I hear Leiter being the preferred choice. I even heard from one source that Rocker could potentially even fall out of the top 10. That seems very unlikely given his pedigree and overall stuff, and he has still had a terrific season with Vanderbilt. But Leiter appears to be on the cusp of running away with the distinction of this draft’s best prospect. -- Alex Stumpf
• Not to say that the Pirates are manipulating his service time, but if Chasen Shreve does not get added to the team by April 27, he will not be able to accrue enough service time to reach a full six years, meaning the Pirates could be given the option to retain his services for 2022 via arbitration. The Pirates have liked him for a while, and tried to sign him last offseason too. He didn’t earn a roster spot this spring, but one bad month couldn’t have soured them too much on him. Ben Cherington said Thursday that some of the Pirates veterans have opt-outs in May, though he didn’t give a specific date. If that includes Shreve, the Pirates might need to make a decision in the coming weeks whether or not they want a second lefty in the bullpen. -- Stumpf
• Would Chad Kuhl blossom as a middle reliever? A scout from a National League club thinks so. This isn’t the first time someone has speculated about that with Kuhl, but with each passing year, it seems a bit more likely, at least when he leaves the Pirates. He can dial up his fastball velocity a little more out of the bullpen theoretically, and the slider has always been a plus pitch for him. Kuhl has not had a good start to this season, and with only one year of team control remaining in 2022, the Pirates are going to listen to offers for him again this trade deadline. While his only relief appearances were as part of a piggyback with Steven Brault last year, perhaps he is more marketable in that role. -- Stumpf