Where do the Pittsburgh Penguins go from here?
By: Rachael Bishop
RP Show Intern
On Wednesday, May 26, Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins suffered another early postseason exit; the third straight year that the team was eliminated in the first round (or in the case of last year’s matchup against the Montréal Canadiens, the play-in round). Since winning the Stanley Cup in 2017, the team has won exactly one playoff series (in 2018 against the Columbus Blue Jackets).
After another disappointing post-season, the Penguins (who were the surprise winners of the East Division during the series) are golfing early, another year wasted in the Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin/Kris Letang era. The first-round loss to an inferior opponent sparked much debate in the hockey world, and social media, and was also the inspiration for the RP Show poll question last Thursday.
Now that the dust has settled and the wounds have healed a little bit, the questions turn to the off-season and where the Pittsburgh Penguins go from here. It’s easy to say that the stars did not show up again, and the Islanders stars did, but that would be a lazy narrative. And in fact, the Islanders top line of Leo Komarov-Matt Barzal and former Regina Pat Jordan Eberle scored a total of two goals against the Penguins, and both of them came from Eberle.
There is one reason why the Penguins lost, and it wasn’t because their stars did not show up. The simple reason Pittsburgh is no longer playing, is because Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry put on one of the worst goaltending performances in the past 13 years. In fact, since 2008, Jarry’s 2021 post-season performance ranks third-last by a Penguins NHL goaltender in terms of goals saved above expected; he let in 6.7 more goals than he was supposed to. Only Marc-Andre Fleury in 2012 and 2010 had worse numbers. By contrast, Ilya Sorokin stood on his head for the New York Islanders, in a series which the Islanders were outplayed five out of six games. Had Tristan Jarry even just provided average goaltending, Pittsburgh would be facing Boston right now, and the Islanders would be hitting the links.
Keeping that in mind, the Penguins really don’t need to do much this off-season other than address the goaltending position; the team otherwise is the best team Pittsburgh has had since 2016. Former GM Jim Rutherford handcuffed Pittsburgh this season, going into a year with a goaltending tandem of Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith.
New General Manager and Team President Brian Burke DO have some interesting decisions to make this summer. Superstars and core players Evgeni Malkin, who is turning 35 on July 31st, and Kris Letang, 34, -two of just three players on Pittsburgh who have been with the team for all three Stanley Cups in the post-2005 lockout era-are entering the final season of their contracts. The way that Malkin and Letang performed during the regular season and the playoffs, shows that they are still amongst the NHL’s most elite players. Malkin had five points in four games against the Islanders, despite playing the entire four games on practically one knee. Letang finished second in points by a defenceman this season, a mere two points behind leader and Norris Trophy candidate Adam Fox.
Speaking to reporters via in his season-ending press-conference, -as he does every year when the Penguins do not win-Letang reiterated that all three wish to finish their careers in Pittsburgh. As Letang’s defence partner Brian Dumoulin stated, “they set the culture and drive the bus.” With Mike Sullivan expected to return as head coach, and Brian Burke’s history of not trading guys who have no-move clauses (Letang has a limited-no move, and Malkin has a full-no move), one can expect Malkin and Letang to be back for the 2021/2022 season, and likely more. As long as the Big Three can still perform at an elite level, and all signs say they can, I’d expect Pittsburgh to sign Letang and Malkin to short-term deals.
The core of the team can still play, Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust included. Rust is also entering the final year of his deal, along with trade-deadline acquisition Jeff Carter.
Lastly, now is not the time for Hextall and Burke to over-think and over-react, the results from the RP Show poll question stated the Penguins DO NOT need to blow things up, instead just a slight re-tool would suffice. This is the correct approach. It is clear from this season, that the Penguins cannot return with a goaltending tandem of DeSmith and Jarry. The problem is that aside from Tuuka Rask (which is never happening), the free agent market is slim pickings for goaltenders. I’d be intrigued with someone like Petr Mrazek, his cap hit of 3.125 million this season is comparable to Jarry’s cap hit of 3.5 million. Even if Pittsburgh is unable to trade Jarry and goes into next season with a 1A/1B tandem of Mrazek and Jarry, you have a proven NHL starting goaltender who has shown he can be an above-average playoff performer. With a team deep as Pittsburgh, above-average goaltending should be all they need to have success in the playoffs, otherwise it will be another wasted season of Sidney Crosby’s career, a career that may not have many years left.
