Tuesday 12 Qs: Letang, Holdzkom, Tomlin, MLS

Kris Letang is out of the Penguins’ lineup indefinitely because of a concussion. — GETTY

BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

Welcome to Tuesday 12 Qs, our chat that takes place each week at 9 a.m. and offers readers a chance to carry the conversation. The format is simple: Use the comments below to submit an entry.

UPDATE 9 a.m.: And away we go …

avocadotom: How long should the Pens keep Kris Letang out, given their history of letting players come back too soon? I’m thinking they should play it as conservatively as possible, even if that means waiting well into the first round of the playoffs.

DK: The Penguins’ doctors have made some awful medical decisions, in recent years and in this season alone. The mishandling of the mumps caught national attention, but it could be argued that the most egregious was allowing Olli Maatta to return from shoulder surgery two months before their own diagnosed timeline, then allowing him to return again, only to require a second surgery. That’s Hall of Fame-caliber butchery right there. And here’s guessing that if the same doctors hadn’t also wonderfully diagnosed Maatta’s cancer, that young man could hold quite the grudge. He lost a year of his career, in large part because they blew it.

That said, Letang’s condition deserves its own consideration, as much as that’s possible in the context. And the best diagnosis that even the most knowledgeable medical professionals can offer related to concussions — take this from someone who moderated a symposium this year with some of the world’s brightest minds on this subject — is a great, big, educated shrug.

They’ve still got way more questions than answers. They still rely way more on symptoms than on scans. They still don’t have universal guidelines for what constitutes a concussion of this grade or that grade, at least not any that the medical community can agree upon.

So here’s how this will work: Letang will tell the Penguins’ people how he feels.

Here’s hoping, for his own sake, he’s forthright.

Carl: With the Pirates’ optioning John Holdzkom (just announced) it seems as though the Pirates are continuing to operate with a ‘can’t afford to lose any warm bodies’ mentality (in this case, Stolmy Pimentel). Do you think that this is a continued reality of Major League Baseball’s economic situation, or just the mentality of Neal Huntington et al? Wouldn’t the smart baseball move have been to cut ties with Pimentel, who has done little but disappoint?

DK: The news you cite, Carl, did occur exactly 20 minutes before this session, so thanks for taking care of our News/views entry by yourself there, pal. Check’s in the mail.

But I’m really not sure how Holdzkom’s optioning, along with that of fellow righty Rob Scahill, will spare Pimentel. Let’s address that first. Because I still see a pen of Mark Melancon, Tony Watson, Antonio Bastardo, Jared Hughes, Radhames Liz, Arquimedes Caminero and now Vance Worley. That’s seven right there, unless I’m missing someone while typing live.

Or, to repeat from last night here on the site, unless the Pirates are working on a trade.

Anyway, I’ll reiterate here that I don’t like Holdzkom down. Not at all. It’s got little to do with spring stats — he allowed three runs and five hits over eight innings, struck out nine, walked three — and nothing to do with roster composition. Rather, it’s that when the baseball gods bequeath upon you a gift like a guy showing up from independent ball onto your postseason roster, effortlessly throwing 98 mph with movement and putting the ball where he wants and getting everyone out … that’s not a fish you toss back. And if you do, you certainly don’t do it for — as I think you’re suggesting, Carl — hanging onto X number of bodies.

I like Caminero a lot. Don’t misunderstand. I just fret over the risk of watching someone like Holdzkom regress. He’s got back-end big-league stuff and makeup. And he’s got it now.

mattrharries: So say the Penguins fail to make a deep playoff run again this year. Do you think Mario Lemieux sees this core as a team that can’t win a Cup? Do you think they would consider shipping Sidney Crosby for the No. 1 pick, Connor McDavid? I mean, The Great One was traded at the age of 28. Crosby turns 28 in August.

DK: Oh, my.

Is that where this is headed even before the first puck drops on the playoffs?

Wow. I can’t even …

You know, Matt, I’ll instead isolate on the first two sentences of your entry, because that presents a valid discussion point almost no matter how this season concludes.

I can tell you from my talks with ownership that they believe — and I mean Lemieux and Ron Burkle — passionately in the core they’ve got. That goes beyond Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to include Marc-Andre Fleury and Letang. And you don’t need any behind-the-scenes word from me to support that. Just follow the money. They’ve committed with big-time dollars to all four, and they’ve done it through thick and thin.

Now, is it still worthwhile to debate whether or not the Penguins need to get younger?

You bet. This survey from the Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper, illustrates painfully how the Penguins get less production from youngsters than any team in the NHL. That stinks, and it’s got to change, especially up front. But that can be done through other means that have nothing to do with the core, which, by the way, remains among the very best in the league unless you can name another team with two MVP candidates, a Norris candidate and a Vezina candidate.

The real handcuffs at play here are the big contracts Ray Shero committed to Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis, and I write that with all due respect to both, especially Dupuis, who looked very much like he could earn his keep before the unfortunate blood clot. Fact is, teams in the Penguins’ position, with so much money committed to the core, flat-out cannot spend that freely on supporting cast. They just can’t. Those have to be produced internally, the same way we’ve seen around the league with the elite teams. The Kings, Blackhawks, Lightning, even the not-so-long-ago spending-crazy Rangers have learned to prioritize younger players in supporting cast, and it’s worked both on the ice and on the payroll level.

Meanwhile, the Penguins are tying their own hands and playing short-handed right now because they’re afraid to waive Beau Bennett, who’s giving them nothing, solely because Bennett is the only forward they have on this side of the Atlantic who could possibly help them now or at any point in the future.

Shero dug that hole, too, by ignoring the forward position in the draft for years.

Fix all of the above before getting radical.

jmiller71: If you could cut one player from the Penguins, cap free, no salary cap hit and no salary owed, who would you cut?

DK: You mean other than Kunitz?

That’s almost as easy: Rob Scuderi is due almost $7 million the next two seasons. That will be an insane investment in an organization rife with young defensemen and in need of younger legs.

BuccoFanDan: As opening day and the hockey playoffs fast approach … a football question:
In the past few years, it’s been evident — and I think you’ve also mentioned this in passing — that the Steelers are behind the curve compared to much of the rest of the NFL with regard to incorporating analytics as part of their game preparation and longer-term management strategy.

Is this still the case, and what possibility is there for change in the future?

DK: The Steelers aren’t in the business of doling out internal evaluation methods, so take it for what it’s worth that Mike Tomlin no longer shoots lightning bolts from his eyes when the topic is raised. That in and of itself has changed.

My understanding — largely from having asked a high-ranking team official about it once last summer in Latrobe — is that advanced analytics are being used more intensely as it applies to the draft, not nearly as much in evaluating other NFL talent for the purposes of outside acquisition and barely at all as it applies to playcalling, clock management and the like. The latter phase is, in Tomlin’s eyes, in the domain of the coaching staff because (insert Tomlin pet phrase here about being in a stadium on a Sunday).

But again, I emphasize here that the Steelers would probably be the very last team in the league to divulge anything about their internal practices.

Consol Energy Center in its rawest form. — PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

Chris Rosetti: What are your thoughts that the sterile atmosphere during Penguins games might actually be in part caused by the sterile atmosphere of the building itself? I mean, every time I am there, seven or eight times a year, regardless of sport, I find myself almost dozing off at times because the atmosphere of the building is almost non-existent. Almost too corporate.

DK: I’m not sure what you mean by sterile atmosphere as related to the structure itself. I mean, the outside is as bland as it gets. Three-quarters of it indeed looks like ‘Home Depot on steroids,’ to borrow from one local architect. But that can’t impact the inside much.

I suppose if it had Columbus’ ‘party stacks,’ or the cannon the Blue Jackets have, to name one example, you’d add some atmosphere. But otherwise, I’m hard-pressed to name gimmickry from any of the NHL’s other 29 arenas where I’d offer a suggestion.

Here’s my thought about Consol, and it might hit on what you’re asking: The lower bowl of the place is too flat, and it pushed back the upper bowl farther than it is in most arenas around the league. I’ve heard different theories as to how and why this happened — the most prominent being that Mario is really tall and, when he sat in the seats, he felt they offered everyone a fine view — but it did. And the sightlines in the lower bowl are not good, as a result, plus the upper deck is too far away and way, way too steep. Almost scary.

Put all that together, and it doesn’t feel tight, much less intimate.

Show me a building that’s tight — San Jose, Nashville and obviously Winnipeg leap to mind — and I’ll show you fans that feel like they’re part of the event.

daniel.mallott: Do you think that the Pirates’ decision to name Jeff Locke as the fifth starter has anything to do with keeping a spot warm for Jameson Taillon or Nick Kingham? Or possibly going with a six-man rotation to set matchups better?

DK: Funny thing about Clint Hurdle: He’ll tell you, eye to eye, that he’s open to any type of information presented. And he’ll mean it. And some of it, he’ll genuinely process.

But at his heart, Hurdle is Whitey Herzog, and he won’t apologize for it. In fact, he’s been known to get plenty emotional at the mere mention of that, and in a good way. He loves his small ball, he loves his groundouts to advance a runner, and yeah, he loves his righty-lefty mix. In the bullpen and in the rotation.

The manager cited a slew of reasons to reporters in Bradenton yesterday, but be very sure that one was right at the top. He believes in keeping hitters off balance, not just in where the ball is coming from but also how it arrives. That’s why he separated A.J. Burnett and Charlie Morton, even though they’re Nos. 3 and 4 on the stated depth chart. Two right-handed sinkerballers, he reasons, is too much to show to the opposition on back-to-back nights and, thus, unfair to Morton.

Nothing else to read into this.

Kyle Sutphin: With Kasperi Kapanen’s season over do you think that he could make an appearance on the big club come playoffs, with the salary cap situation prohibiting him from coming up before then. And if he does get the call, where would he play and could he be effective in filling a top-six or depth scoring role?

DK: I’m in favor, and I’ve written that. The time is now for young legs, and the moves that need to made to make room for more young legs — and paying Kapanen a year early — need to happen one way or the other. No reason not to use him. None.

And I say that only because the Penguins’ management believes he could handle it.

Would it be challenging, maybe even a bit unfair to thrust him into the highest level of NHL play?

Absolutely. But let history also show that young legs handle the playoff grind better than most and that Kapanen, in addition to being 19, played in only 41 regular-season games in Finland, plus nine at the international level. That’s just 50 games. That alone could give him a significant advantage in his first competition, if you’re thinking of a different way of looking at it.

He could come over now, get two weeks in Wilkes-Barre, as you say — the cap isn’t allowing any roster movement at all, barring waiving Bennett or someone like that — then join the big club in time for Game 1.

Think all that speed wouldn’t come in handy against the Islanders, the league’s fastest team?

DK: What you cite is the No. 1 question the common observer will ask about the Riverhounds. And the No. 2. And No. 3. And Nos. 4, 5, 6 and keep right on going …

The real answer is this: If this ‘good as it will get’ scenario doesn’t work in Pittsburgh, neither will MLS. Nor will MLS even close to sniffing around. One must happen before the other. We aren’t New York or Los Angeles, nor do we have some Saudi oil baron ready to dump his life’s reserves into the franchise for there to be an overriding factor. The current franchise must succeed — and I mean really succeed — for any serious consideration to follow.

I wrote from Highmark after the Riverhounds’ riveting opener about the improved quality of play in USL. It’s real. And even if it’s not MLS, much less the European pro brand, I dare say it’s plenty good enough that about 95 percent of anyone who might be interested in soccer probably wouldn’t be able to distinguish the difference. It’s also plenty good enough to entertain, to educate, to build up the real foundation that’s needed for anyone to even conceive of going to the next level.

So for anyone who’s waiting for MLS to come to Pittsburgh before dedicating themselves to local professional soccer, you should know your wait, in that event, will be forever. One must come before the other.

smgallagher3: DK, for someone who’s never really gotten into soccer, how would you recommend someone start learning about the Riverhounds and how to best support them?

DK: At the risk of sounding glib, I just wouldn’t. That column the other day wasn’t aimed at people on the fence about soccer but, rather, people already heavily into it. Pittsburgh has that. There are 44,000 families currently and formally enrolled in youth levels. There are soccer bars. There are people getting together to watch EPL games early on weekends. Or just passionately partaking on their own.

Oddly, that part isn’t at issue here.

Rather, it’s overcoming the … can I call it soccer snobbery?

OK, I just did. Because that’s what it is. It’s this high-brow view among a lot of that crowd that, if it isn’t Barcelona v. Manchester United, then it must be trash.

It’s good soccer. It’s in Pittsburgh. They wear the city colors. They play in a wonderful little stadium against the Downtown skyline. Wouldn’t seem like such a challenging barrier to overcome.

Theshutlocks629: DK, is this the year the Pirates finally overtake the Cardinals for the Central? I like the offense the Bucs have, but do they have the arms to get it done?

DK: Predicting rotation success is close to the equivalent of predicting pitcher health. It’s next to impossible.

If health isn’t a factor, St. Louis has Adam Wainwright, Lance Lynn, Michael Wacha, John Lackey and revamped reliever Carlos Martinez. That’s not a great group, but it could be very good, especially if Wacha ascends to his expected next level. He’s certainly got the goods.

You know what the Pirates have, both in pluses and minuses. The rotations look similar to me, with Gerrit Cole having a singular chance to separate Pittsburgh from the pack.

The Cardinals have a fantastic closer in Trevor Rosenthal, but it would be hard not to give the Pirates the edge when looking at bullpen depth. If and when Holdzkom is brought back — and sanity should reign before long on this front — the Pirates will have three, possibly four guys capable of pitching the ninth. There aren’t many of those in the entirety of the sport. And they’ll bring gas and versatility and the whole deal.

On pitching alone, the Pirates have a chance, yes. As do the Cardinals.

And the Cardinals always win, right?

pitttim: DK, given that the Pens are short-handed on defense and cap issues would require them to waive a forward to send to WBS before they can add another defenseman, why not expose Craig Adams, send him down if he goes unclaimed, then bring him back for playoffs?

Seems like the chances of him being claimed are absurdly low and, candidly, not a great loss if he was.

DK: They’re clearly not willing to do it, Tim, certainly not over a handful of games with a playoff spot essentially sealed up. Again and again, Mike Johnston has talked about how the Penguins can push through this.

What should be concerning, I think, is what, if any, effect this push has on Johnston’s stated intention of getting guys rest heading into the postseason. One would hope it isn’t affected at all.

And for the record, I actually have no problem with how the Penguins are currently bumping their heads on the cap. If they hadn’t spent up to the cap and made the moves they wanted from a hockey standpoint, they’d have been criticized. They did spend as much as they could. They did get the players they wanted. And then, they got stuck in this weird situation where they have injuries at their one position of real depth and, because of the cap, they can’t address those for the final few games of the regular season.

That’s not the end of the world.

And so you know, when I suggest floating Bennett out there on waivers and awaiting his being claimed, it’s not so the Penguins will have a better shot of winning in Buffalo next weekend. It’s just because the more and more I watch Bennett, the more I wonder if he even wants to stay in the league.

Thanks to all for a terrific session today. I’m not just being nice when I say I feel this was the best set of Qs since this site’s inception. That’s appreciated. Really is.

Heading up to Consol for the Penguins’ practice now.