Where do the Penguins Go From Here?

[RichieNextel305]

The Penguins still have elite level talent at the top of their lineup. But Father Time is undefeated. And even though the individual talents are still showing signs of promise, that whole organization has become so stale.

 

Erik Karlsson was not the answer. It screamed late-90s/early-00s Ranger panic move from the second the deal was made. And it hasn’t moved the needle at all. 
 

For the most part, aside from us being a runaway train for a good chunk of the season, the Metro has been kind of lumped together. Philly has over exceed expectations, Washington is a generic operation I don’t see staying in the mix, Carolina and NJ have underperformed and the Islanders have been a mix of underwhelming and overwhelming all at once with their ability to steal loser points but also lose leads all the time late in games.

 

Where does that leave Pittsburgh? They’re hanging with the brutal Blue Jackets at the bottom of a division that, to this point, aside from us, has been very underwhelming. So the question is, what happens next? At some point, this era is going to have to end. I’m not comparing situations because obviously this era for the Penguins was significantly more productive than anything the Rangers have put out, but I remember losing to Ottawa in 2017 and thinking: “These guys had their kick at the can, they’re getting older, their cap hits are getting more worrisome. If they couldn’t win at their peak, they’re not winning at all.”

 

I think there needs to be that discussion held for the Pens. And they’re painful ones when you’re talking about icons. But at some point, you have to call it like you see it, and right now, it’s not a productive environment. I just don’t know how or when you decide to move on and try and get these guys moved out for hopeful young pieces that can help you tomorrow. Because today, for them, isn’t looking like their day.

[Pete]

They're overpaying two or three guys and paying Karlsson when they didn't need him, they needed depth forwards. 

 

They're screwed. You don't rebuild when you have Crosby and Malkin still performing at this level, but man their cap sitch ain't good. 

[Phil]

There's nothing they can do. They've quadrupled down on an aging core and can't rebuild until Crosby and Malkin are gone. They'll fiddle around the margins and hope for better results.

[Morphinity 2.0]

The last game against the Leafs notwithstanding, where they got trounced like 7-0, they've been playing pretty well. They just can't score on the PP, which is crazy given the level of talent they have. Apparently Todd Rierden is the PP coach there, so they should have taken him off the PP like yesterday.

 

[Pete]

6 minutes ago, Morphinity 2.0 said:

The last game against the Leafs notwithstanding, where they got trounced like 7-0, they've been playing pretty well. They just can't score on the PP, which is crazy given the level of talent they have. Apparently Todd Rierden is the PP coach there, so they should have taken him off the PP like yesterday.

 

Or maybe don't have a guy with two career power play goals coaching your power play. 

[Ozzy]

 

Don't worry....Bettman will fix them!

[jsm7302]

Gretz was traded, Mess was traded, Jagr was traded, Roy was traded.....

 

One or more of those pieces are going to be on the move. Just imagine it being Sid!?!

 

In all reality, time to call it a day for Sullivan. Message is stale. Best they could do is hire Gallant and let the vets run the show.

 

With that said, GM's will be tripping over themselves to try and woo him if he gets canned.

[Pete]

11 minutes ago, jsm7302 said:

Gretz was traded, Mess was traded, Jagr was traded, Roy was traded.....

 

One or more of those pieces are going to be on the move. Just imagine it being Sid!?!

 

In all reality, time to call it a day for Sullivan. Message is stale. Best they could do is hire Gallant and let the vets run the show.

 

With that said, GM's will be tripping over themselves to try and woo him if he gets canned.

Sullivan isn't the problem. He's actually done more with less over the last few seasons.

 

There's no way Sid gets traded, he doesn't want to go anywhere. The best thing he can do is take less money. 

[siddious]

They go to hell. Fuck the pens. 

[Cash or Czech]

17 hours ago, siddious said:

They go to hell. Fuck the pens. 

 

Yeah I'd like to win my bet on them missing the playoffs, thanks.

[siddious]

Just now, Cash or Czech said:

 

Yeah I'd like to win my bet on them missing the playoffs, thanks.

There’s also something satisfying about Dubas not being successful that I haven’t quite processed yet

[MuddyInTheMiddle]

19 hours ago, jsm7302 said:

Gretz was traded, Mess was traded, Jagr was traded, Roy was traded.....

 

One or more of those pieces are going to be on the move. Just imagine it being Sid!?!

 

In all reality, time to call it a day for Sullivan. Message is stale. Best they could do is hire Gallant and let the vets run the show.

 

With that said, GM's will be tripping over themselves to try and woo him if he gets canned.

 

No they are not. Crosby, Malkin, Letang, and Karlson all have NMC's. None of those four are getting traded unless they say so. They all re-upped under the premise of "let's keep the band together" as well so I doubt it. BTW, Letang is under contract until he is 41 years old; talk about a diminishing asset, as that contract is not going to age well.

 

Complicating the situation is that they traded a 1st round pick for that Karlson contract and only were able to get 1.5 million retained despite San Jose desperately wanting to get out from underneath it. As is, there is no draft help coming to start the rebuild until the 2025 draft.

 

The only thing that they have that would be considered a tradeable asset are Geuntzel and Petersen's expiring contracts. What is that really getting you?

 

Finally, they are not even going to really have much cap space to sign more than replacement parts until 25-26.

 

It sounds crazy, but Dubas has actually only managed to make a bad situation even worse having been on the job for 6 months.

 

 

 

[RangersIn7]

21 hours ago, Pete said:

They're overpaying two or three guys and paying Karlsson when they didn't need him, they needed depth forwards. 

 

They're screwed. You don't rebuild when you have Crosby and Malkin still performing at this level, but man their cap sitch ain't good. 

Karlsson was a huge mistake for them. Huge.

As you said, they desperately needed depth forwards.

In the years with Crosby and Malkin, they’ve been at their best when their forward group has been deep and of good quality.

The bottom half of that group now is an absolute mess.