This Pittsburgh Penguins Act is Getting Old

[PaulD]

The Pens are Sid Crosby. Period. The captain trying to drag dead weight through another season while Sullivan pretends to be frustrated and shocked is an old act. I like Jeff Carter but when the old man is on both special teams units someone's clueless.
Karlsson replaced Petry and the team is worse after the switch?
Rielly Smith was a beaut on the Cup Champs and looks lost on Sullivan's squad. Jarry leads the league in shut outs and Sid is having a great year (even by his standards) yet the team has not held a play off spot for one day all season?
This team earned the age old option of a "new voice" like no team I've ever seen. Sullivan should take a page from Paul Maurice and get out of the way. As the owners won't make the change and apparently wont let Dubas do it.

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[Roksta]

Waiit until they trade Guentzel

I get that Crosby is loyal but he should just go play with his bud in COlorado

 

[Randy Butternubs]

I know they almost moved to Kansas City, but Pittsburg Kansas??

 

[Hockey4Lyfe]

How is Sidney Crosby having a career year?

But to the point of this, their PP is awful. Somehow their defense is good and offense is putrid

Smith is almost assuredly going to be traded. I believe the team should trade Guentzel as well and start a rebuild with the large package he would bring back.

Team isn’t good enough to win anything or, hell, even make the playoffs it looks like.

With their age, this was inevitable to happen. It is what it is. Not sure why we are so surprised by this and continue to make threads on it. The Penguins went on a run that 99% of the other teams in the league are jealous of. Now they get to feel the pain of going for it all those years.

 

[LokiDog]

I do feel bad for Sid (in the way one “feels bad” for guys playing a game for millions) because he’s still an absolutely elite player who should be chasing more Cups instead of stuck with the mess in Pittsburgh. Especially when he never chased the maximum pay day he could have, partially in order to keep his team competitive. Him not retiring a Penguin seems inconceivable but I would love to see him in Colorado for a few years. That would be absolutely epic.

 

[DitchMarner]

Meh... They're like the Washington Capitals. They're done being a contending team and will be hard-pressed to make the playoffs this year and in the coming years but they have a franchise legend who will be with the team until he retires. Until he does, they'll keep tinkering with the roster in hopes of making it good enough to sneak into a playoff spot.

 

[DitchMarner]

How is Sidney Crosby having a career year?

I think people are excited and impressed by what he's doing at his age. He's still a hell of a player. But he's had numerous seasons better than this one. Do some people not realize how much scoring has increased across the League or something?

In his prime he was a consistent top ten scorer, usually top three to five. He's not in the top 20 right now.

 

[Tawnos]

They really needed to recognize that their rebuild phase should already be started. But they have new ownership and a grateful fan base who both want them to try to stay competitive as long as Crosby is there.

I never really understood the view that Smith was going to help improve the team, because he replaced Zucker. It’s more of a lateral move than an improvement.

Crosby is still great, but not capable of taking over games the way he used to.

No one should be surprised that Karlsson is more the player he was for the 4 years from 2018-2022 and not the player he was in 2022-23.

A coaching change isn’t going to fix the roster issues and, whatever Sullivan’s flaws, it’s the roster that’s the problem.

 

[dirtydanglez]

i cant see crosby ever leaving but seeing him in colorado would be insane.

 

[Hockey4Lyfe]

Would be absolutely foolish for Dubas and co not to at least see the packages that could be put together for Guentzel.

Would even look at what is being offered for Malkin/Karlson.

About 99% sure Crosby is here until he retires or demands out.

 

[CrownofThornton]

Roster aside, how long does this team plan on keeping Sullivan as head coach?

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Meh... They're like the Washington Capitals. They're done being a contending team and will be hard-pressed to make the playoffs this year and in the coming years but they have a franchise legend who will be with the team until he retires. Until he does, they'll keep tinkering with the roster in hopes of making it good enough to sneak into a playoff spot.

The Caps and Pens are similar in that they’re teams that used to be good and now aren’t but they’re very different situations. The stars on the Penguins are all still very good to elite (except Malkin) but their depth is ass. The Caps’ stars are cooked and are being carried by pretty decent depth.

If you could combine the Penguins’ top end talent with the Capitals’ depth they’d be really good. I personally think it’s harder to find elite talent than it is to build depth so I think the Penguins are in better shape today but the Caps should be able to rebound quicker than Pittsburgh given the different ways each team has handled the past two seasons.

 

[Darren McCord]

Roster aside, how long does this team plan on keeping Sullivan as head coach?

Until the FSG sells lol

Sullivan is there Boston bro

 

[DitchMarner]

The Caps and Pens are similar in that they’re teams that used to be good and now aren’t but they’re very different situations. The stars on the Penguins are all still very good to elite (except Malkin) but their depth is ass. The Caps’ stars are cooked and are being carried by pretty decent depth.

If you could combine the Penguins’ top end talent with the Capitals’ depth they’d be really good. I personally think it’s harder to find elite talent than it is to build depth so I think the Penguins are in better shape today but the Caps should be able to rebound quicker than Pittsburgh given the different ways each team has handled the past two seasons.

Yeah, true. Remember, two seasons ago Ovechkin was still a great player (some had him in the Hart conversation in the first half of the season). He was 36 then. Now he's definitely nowhere close to as good as he was in his prime.

Teams don't usually rebuild around players who are over 35 years of age. The Penguins can try to make some moves to improve for next season, but it doesn't make sense to be looking to put a good team around Crosby three to four years in the future.

 

[TooManyHumans]

Roster aside, how long does this team plan on keeping Sullivan as head coach?

∞

 

[Sideline]

People act like the Penguins are bad because some of their super stars are old now. Letang and Malkin are playing for 6MM cap hits. They are not overpaid by any stretch. Crosby is still a steal at 8.7. Guentzel is a point per game at 6MM. Tristan Jarry leads the league in shutouts.

The one big ticket player you could want more from is Karlsson and he still on pace for 60 points.

This team is bad because the powerplay is bad. That's coaching.

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

Don't feel any empathy for them
They had a great run, gifted some elite players in drafts and won 3 Cups in Crosby era.

Fans and management didn't want to move the core 3 and I get why but it was a dumb decision and they will likely pay for it the next 2 seasons.

Not sure a different coach (as bad as Pens fans think he is) will change much, they're old now and have a GM who drools over skill but may have the right mind to find some skillful players and the ability to work some key trades to get them competitive again by 2026.

 

[Cursed Lemon]

I'll just keep on saying it - all the Penguins have to do to win the Stanley Cup is fire their coach, so I don't know what the holdup is.

 

[VivaLasVegas]

Meh... They're like the Washington Capitals. They're done being a contending team and will be hard-pressed to make the playoffs this year and in the coming years but they have a franchise legend who will be with the team until he retires. Until he does, they'll keep tinkering with the roster in hopes of making it good enough to sneak into a playoff spot.

Just remembering the off-season when so many of the HF geniuses were predicting the Pens in the ECF ..... against the Devils.

 

[JKG33]

Before last night, I'd never seen Erik Karlsson live in person. And boy is he noticeable out there, even more so than on TV. I've never seen such a highly touted d man cause so many odd man rushes against.

And the Penguins just aren't a speedy enough team to make up for the $10m liability.

 

[Tom Polakis]

I feel your pain.

 

[Dominance]

1. Trade Crosby to Colorado. He deserves to be playing in the playoffs with the effort he is still showing. Acquire Ritchie + Byram + whatever else in return + RyJo cap dump.

2. Sell everyone else with value and rebuild for two years, with the intent of bottoming out next year and picking up Misa or Hagens.

3. Sign Crosby out of free agency for 2-3 years, immediately slap the C back on his chest, and let the penultimate leader show the youth movement how it’s done while playing out his career on a team with actual potential and talent to support him.

It’s painfully obviously the right move for the Pens and the only external variable is the Avs, who surely would leap on the chance to have a still-elite Crosby maximize this window.

Drouin-MacKinnon-Rantanen
Landeskog-Crosby-Nichushkin
Lehkonen-Colton-Parise
Cogliano-Wood-O’Connor

Toews-Makar
Girard-Manson
Johnson-Malinski

 

[BallardEra]

Pens should have moved on from Sullivan ages ago. Reminds me of Keefe and the Leafs.

Burning and wasting another year of old guys like Crosby, Malkin and Letang is brutal as they continue to decline.

 

[Reality Check]

They were on fumes before the Karlsson trade as is.

Gonna ride it until the car officially breaks down for good.

 

[Lacaar]

The Pens are Sid Crosby. Period. The captain trying to drag dead weight through another season while Sullivan pretends to be frustrated and shocked is an old act. I like Jeff Carter but when the old man is on both special teams units someone's clueless.
Karlsson replaced Petry and the team is worse after the switch?
Rielly Smith was a beaut on the Cup Champs and looks lost on Sullivan's squad. Jarry leads the league in shut outs and Sid is having a career year yet the team has not held a play off spot for one day all season.
This team earned the age old option of a "new voice" like no team I've ever seen. Sullivan should take a page from Paul Maurice and get out of the way. As the owners won't make the change and apparently wont let Dubas do it.

I'm actually surprised Reilly Smith is doing as well as he has for the Pen's this year.
He was by far the worst player on Vegas against the Oilers last year.
Don't trade with Vegas is my recommendation. They're very good at insulating and identifying dead weight after it has served its purpose.

I wouldn't touch anyone Vegas is offering with a 10 foot pole because how they play for you will not be the same as how they play for Vegas.