The narrative surrounding incoming head coach Mike Sullivan suggests that the weeklong Rangers rookie camp that started Wednesday is superfluous.
Rookies? There were hardly any rookies on the Penguins over the 10 years of Sullivan’s reign behind the bench. Young blood? Youngbloods were the exception to the rule on the roster following the initial infusion of Jake Guentzel, Conor Sheary, Bryan Rust and goaltender Matt Murray during the early days of Sullivan’s tenure that began with back-to-back Cup championships in 2016 and 2017.
That’s a fact.
But it is also a fact that the Pittsburgh hierarchy that featured GM Jim Rutherford — before Ron Hextall and Kyle Dubas entering his third season — were in the business of going for the Cup every season. The Penguins traded their first-round draft pick for six out of seven years from 2015-21 in deals that brought back Phil Kessel, David Perron, Ryan Reaves, Derick Brassard, Sami Kapanen and Jason Zucker.
