Pens GM Jim Rutherford Discusses Injuries, Acquisitions, Upcoming Season
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The FAN) - Pittsburgh Penguins General Manager Jim Rutherford is a busy guy, which makes him taking time out of his schedule to spend an hour in-studio with The FAN Morning Show all the more impressive.
Rutherford once made the mistake of telling Jim Colony that he doesn't listen to The FAN Morning Show, which led to Colony asking him to come in and talk with them for an hour so he could hear the show. And then this happened...
Tomorrow morning from 8-9 a.m. @penguins GM Jim Rutherford fulfills his promise to @JColony13 and appears live in studio
— Penguins PR (@PenguinsPR) August 31, 2015
Rutherford certainly made the most of his time with The FAN Morning Show hitting on a number of topics ranging from Sergei Gonchar's tryout contract, to who Phil Kessel will play with, to the risks of Pascal Dupuis playing again after suffering from blood clots that cut his season short last year, and much more.
One of the best highlights of Rutherford's time on The FAN Morning Show was the way he talked about defenseman Sergei Gonchar and the tryout contract he's on.
The way Rutherford makes it sounds, it seems like Gonchar has a real shot at making the team.
Another player Rutherford talked about was Pascal Dupuis as he attempts to come back this year after having his 2014 season cut short by blood clots.
Rutherford told the guys that Dupuis knows the risks of trying to play again.
If Dupuis can stay on the ice in 2015, he'll likely be of help on the top two lines, but Rutherford knows Crosby and Malkin need more help than just what was on the roster last year and talked about getting the two of them help and who they could be playing with.
The guy who will have the final say though on the lines is head coach Mike Johnston, and Rutherford took the time to throw his support behind Johnston as he heads into his second season.
Another winger Johnston will have to evaluate and find a place for is Russian forward Sergei Plotnikov, who just came over this offseason.
Rutherford talked about the extreme lengths Plotnikov went to in order to get out of his Russian contract so he could play for the Pens.
It has certainly been a busy offseason for Rutherford as he continues to turn over the teams roster and he talked about another one of his acquisitions in forward Eric Fehr.
Fehr is recovering from offseason elbow surgery and Rutherford said he's ahead of schedule
Click the link here to listen to more of Rutherford's visit with The FAN Morning Show.