The Pittsburgh Penguins‘ season ended 43 days ago, and we are now less than a month away from the 2024 NHL Draft and closer to the start of NHL free agency on July 1 than the end of the regular season.
So where are the Penguins’ changes?
When will president of hockey operations and general manager Kyle Dubas start breaking up the team that finished the power play in 30th place, was distant at best or absent on too many nights and was lost the playoffs for the second year in a row?
It looks like now isn’t the time for a Jake and Elwood mission to get the gang back together. No, getting this band back together would not be a mission from God.
Penguins winger Bryan Rust recently referred to the Penguins’ power play as “ass” during a widely viewed video game stream on Twitch. He is not wrong.
The only change to the Penguins’ facade since the end of the regular season was relieving associate coach Todd Reirden of his duties. The move was long overdue, as the Penguins’ power play continually did the hockey equivalent of a fall into an empty pool since last season.
President of Hockey Operations/GM Kyle Dubas re-signed defenseman Jack St. Ivany to a cheap three-year contract, essentially purchasing his rights for the league minimum until unrestricted free agency. Dubas also signed emerging prospect Jonathan Gruden to a new two-year contract.
They were good moves.
But those moves will hardly do anything to change the trajectory of a team that routinely fell apart, like the Blues Mobile, until the final 14 games of the season. They will do little to correct the enormous pressure on captain Sidney Crosby’s shoulders to carry the team offensively, a blue line with major questions, a lack of scoring among the center six and, perhaps most notably, a roster with few passengers.
Even the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton head coaching job remains open despite all but one NHL position being filled, as the New Jersey Devils hired Sheldon Keefe and the Seattle Kraken brought back Dan Bylsma to the big show. With Winnipeg and Los Angeles also filling their jobs internally, only the San Jose Sharks position remains open.
The penguins are certainly being methodical. The WBS Penguins job should be a great AHL assignment with a handful of prospects set to highlight the roster next season, including Ville Koivunen, Vasily Ponomarev, Tristan Broz and likely 2022 first-round pick Owen Pickering.
And NHL business has already begun. Earlier this week, the New York Islanders traded up in the first round to acquire additional draft capital. You don’t think Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello made what should have been a draft day trade a month in advance just to use those picks on prospects, do you?
To be fair, most teams haven’t started making significant changes yet. However, most teams don’t face the urgency of the final seasons of Sidney Crosby and a core group of Hall of Fame players. Most teams are also only a couple of years into a new ownership group that streamlines operations but also needs to win for revenue purposes.
If only the Pittsburgh Pirates needed to win to generate more revenue. But I digress.
The Penguins certainly need at least one top-six scorer, whether it’s a center, a winger, or a player who can play both roles. A third line player who can score 30+ points would surely help. And so would a left-sided defenseman capable of covering one of Kris Letang or Erik Karlsson, unless the Penguins are happy with the same problematic blue line that ultimately featured PO Joseph on the top pair with Kris Letang, Ryan Shea on the third pairing with St. Ivany and Ryan Graves in the press box, then injured reserve.
Make no mistake, this summer’s salary cap increase is going to be like a violent game of musical chairs. There will be fierce competition for free agents and this time there will be money to spend. The Pittsburgh Penguins have a lot of cap space and a lot of needs.
It would seem beneficial not to wait until July 1 to continue the roster restructuring that reportedly began with the acquisition of Erik Karlsson on August 6, just one day before Crosby’s 36th birthday.
If the Penguins really want to make another run or at least be competitive enough to try, there couldn’t be a more pressing fact than Crosby’s next cake will have 37 candles. There are some teams in the league that could despair, but none have a generational core nearing the end.
Reilly Smith and Ryan Graves failed to live up to expectations in their first year as Penguins. Coach vacancies. Alignment of openings and gaps.
We’ve seen this methodical dance before, and it ended with the last GM getting scraps off the table at the NHL trade deadline, sinking his career.
It is time to leave.
Keynote USA
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