Penguins Update: Is This What Kyle Dubas Intended?
In Mel Brooks’ comedy, The Producers, Max Bialystock (brilliantly played by Zero Mostel) and his accountant Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder) hatch a scheme to produce a sure-fire musical flop, then abscond with the investors’ money.
Intended to offend, Springtime for Hitler instead became a smash comedy, leaving Bialystock and Bloom in the lurch and holding the proverbial bag. They conclude the only way out is to blow up the theater and force the play to close.
In a thinly veiled way, this seems to describe the dilemma facing Penguins’ POHO/GM Kyle Dubas to a T. Judging by his less-than-inspired work over the summer, you get the impression that while Dubas might not have purposefully set the Pens up to fail, he wouldn’t be disappointed if they did. The easier to sell off the remnants and pieces/parts at the trade deadline so the team can really tank and spiral its way to a lottery pick in the draft.
Who knew this seeming rag-tag bunch of aging stars, misfits and cast-offs would actually show signs of melding into a capable, cohesive unit?