Pens Points: Vitale to radio, poor man’s Bryan Rust gets paid

Not too much going on in the middle of the week in summer, but let’s take a look at the headlines:

Former Penguin Joe Vitale unfortunately had his playing career cut short by concussions, but the St. Louis native has a new job as the radio color commentary announcer for the Blues, so congrats to him! [Twitter - Jeremy Rutherford]

The OHL’s Sudbury Wolves asked formed Penguin Rod Schutt some questions and he had some interesting things to say about his time in Pittsburgh. Not much is complimentary but he at least debunks the rumor that the Pens one-eyed GM Baz Bastien traded for him thinking he was getting Steve Shutt. [Sudbury Wolves]

Staying on the former Penguins player beat, Deryk Engelland and NASCAR’s Kurt Busch got together for a sport swap and the entertainment to follow. [Bardown]

Finally in former Pens news, it looks like it’s professional tryout szn already - Mark Letestu has agreed to go to Florida Panthers camp on a tryout. [TSN.ca]

Ondrej Kase has kind of reminded me in playing style of like a poor man’s Bryan Rust. Well he’s certainly not poor. The 22-year old just got a three year $2.6 million per year contract with Anaheim. Seems pretty high for a player with no arbitration rights, but it’s clearly a guy the Ducks are betting on to be a big part of their future. [Ducks.com]

Could Bruce Boudreau be under pressure in Minnesota this season? [NHL on NBC Sports]

A good idea out of Vancouver for once: contract extension talks with Brock Boeser have begun. Boeser is under the last year of his ELC in 2018-19 but getting him wrapped up early might save the Canucks some money. [NHL.com]