The Pittsburgh Penguins never really had a chance this season.
Sure, with better goaltending and some semblance of good defense, maybe they could have chased down a playoff spot.
But the Penguins, as Kyle Dubas articulated on Monday, aren’t about merely making the playoffs but rather winning championships.
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Dubas, the Penguins’ president of hockey operations and general manager, doesn’t feel his team is anywhere near that point. So he went about his business quietly last summer. That’s why he tempered expectations at his preseason news conference in October. Impactful players cost lots of money, and after his disastrous summer of 2023, Dubas assessed — accurately — that spending big during 2024 free agency was unwise. Matt Grzelcyk and Anthony Beauvillier were more the Penguins’ speed. He knew his team had a low ceiling.
It certainly did.
This is a transitional time for the Penguins. If that means years of peak Sidney Crosby are wasted along the way, that’s OK with Dubas. No, it’s not ideal. Dubas would love to win this very minute. But he believes the Penguins must methodically be built before they contend for championships again, with or without Crosby. Dubas doesn’t believe in making bold free-agent signings until he knows his prospects are ready to thrive in the NHL. At that point, he intends to pinpoint which positions need help, and July 1 can then be the Penguins’ friend once again.
They’re making progress, but they aren’t there yet.
As a result, the 2024-25 Penguins weren’t expected to be very good and lived down to their mediocre billing.
The good
It certainly wasn’t all bad.
• We’re not watching prime Crosby these days, but the good news is 37-year-old Crosby is still about 90 percent of prime Crosby. Which is to say, he easily remains one of the 10 best players in the world, and that might not be ranking him highly enough.
Crosby finished the season with 91 points and is the first player in NHL history to record three or more seasons of 90-plus points at age 35 or older. Like he did last season, Crosby was a substantially better player in the second half of the season. He remains a marvel, a leader with no equals and isn’t showing any signs of slowing.
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“I don’t know if people around the league understand how great he still is,” a league executive said earlier this week. “One game, winner take all? He’s the guy most people around the league would still want. And for good reason.”
• Bryan Rust recorded a career-high 31 goals and, like Crosby, is aging like fine wine. Many teams, including the Columbus Blue Jackets, have expressed heavy interest in Rust. However, Penguins are not believed to have any interest in dealing him.
• Rickard Rakell recorded a career-high 35 goals, bouncing back from his disastrous 2023-24 season. The Penguins never seriously considered trading him before the deadline, as Dubas made it clear he would accept only an outrageous return in a trade.
• While the sample was very small, prospects Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen hardly looked out of place in the NHL. It’s essentially a lock that both will begin next season with the Penguins. McGroarty and Koivunen both have the look of becoming, at worst, good second- or third-line NHL players.
As an NHL scout told The Athletic: “Those are two good players. They’re the real deal.”
• The power play returned to respectability this season, leaping from 31st in the NHL to sixth. Somewhat remarkably, three likely Hall of Famers — Evgeni Malkin, Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang — were removed from the top unit.
Tristan Jarry was twice sent to the AHL this season. (Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
The bad
• Penguins goaltenders allowed a goal on the first shot of the game a remarkable 15 times in 82 games — 18.2 percent of the Penguins’ games this season. Mario Lemieux’s career shooting percentage was 19 percent. So, basically, it was like Lemieux was shooting the game’s first shot against the Penguins this season.
The Penguins’ feat was one shy of the NHL record, which is somehow held by the 2001 Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche.
• The Penguins made blowing multiple-goal leads an art form this season, especially in the early going. They blew a two-goal lead in five of their first 14 games.
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• Tristan Jarry became the poster boy for all of the Penguins’ goaltending struggles. In the second year of a contract that pays him more than $5 million annually, Jarry was twice dispatched to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to work on his game. He cleared waivers, went to Wilkes-Barre and didn’t play very well there in his second stint, only to be recalled to the NHL and play adequately late in the season.
“I wouldn’t be shocked if he starts opening night next season,” a Penguins source said. “I don’t think he’s the future, but he still might be the best option until the kid (Sergei Murashov) is ready.”
• The Penguins had four quality forwards in Crosby, Rust, Rakell and the fading but still productive Malkin. But that was about it.
The bottom six struggled mightily during most of the season, and talented acquisition Thomas Novak made it through only two games before sustaining a season-ending injury. With the likes of Kevin Hayes and Noel Acciari under contract for another season, the bottom six could again be set up to fail if the Penguins don’t make changes this summer. Hayes is well-liked by many of his teammates but didn’t give the impression that he was willing to run through a wall to win hockey games. He seemed to be riding out the wave of his career.
The blue line
• Karlsson was so bad during much of this season that many people within the Penguins organization were stunned. His first season in Pittsburgh was, in a word, underwhelming. His second season, while not completely disastrous, was not anything close to acceptable for a likely Hall of Fame player. Dubas made it clear during his season-ending news conference that he wasn’t pleased by Karlsson’s performance.
Karlsson is still a remarkable talent and well-liked within the organization. But when he makes the Hall of Fame, it won’t be because of his coachability or desire to win.
• Letang recently underwent surgery to fix the hole in his heart that was responsible for both of his strokes. He is expected to make a full recovery and has not indicated any plans to retire despite his health woes and the fact that he turns 38 this week. He endured likely his worst NHL season and was particularly gruesome down the stretch.
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• Jack St. Ivany, something of a sensation during his rookie season, played very poorly early in the season. He was sent to the AHL and didn’t return to Pittsburgh.
• Marcus Pettersson was having a shaky season before being shipped to the Vancouver Canucks in a blockbuster trade.
• Grzelcyk did a very nice job on the power play but otherwise was a non-factor.
• P.O Joseph returned to Pittsburgh and after a good couple of weeks, promptly returned to coach Mike Sullivan’s doghouse.
• Ryan Graves solidified his standing as likely the worst free-agent pickup in Penguins history by struggling through another rough season. Only four more years to go on that deal.
Rutger McGroarty, one of the Penguins’ promising prospects, is expected to start next season in the NHL. (Claus Andersen / Getty Images)
The future
This season wasn’t about winning. It was about patience and hoping young players would develop quicker than anticipated. To the Penguins’ credit, that’s precisely what happened.
Now, they could use some NHL Draft lottery luck and continued development for those prospects.
Look for Dubas to be aggressive this summer, though not necessarily in unrestricted free agency. He intends to think outside the box to make his team better and faster. He may well package draft picks to pry good, young players away from teams that can’t afford them. He is also not against using offer sheets to lure restricted free agents to Pittsburgh.
These kinds of methods are the next stage of the Penguins’ rebuild. Moves like this might be a bit more exciting than the team itself for the next year or so.
(Photo of Sidney Crosby: Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)
This news was originally published on this post .
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