The Pittsburgh Penguins are one of the teams battling for a wild card spot, well behind the division leaders. That doesn’t scream Stanley Cup contender, but as they’ve said many times before, as long as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malking, and Kris Letang are in town, it’s a win-now year. Things are no different this season for general manager Ron Hextall, who spoke with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic over the weekend, and admitted the Penguins would “like to add for sure” if they can find the right fit.
Improving the team is the goal, and LeBrun writes that it is bottom-six forwards and depth scoring that Pittsburgh is looking for at the moment. That makes sense, given how disappointing players like Kasperi Kapanen, Danton Heinen, and even Jeff Carter have been this season. That trio has combined for just 20 goals, a mark that Crosby, Malkin, Jake Guentzel, and Rickard Rakell have all eclipsed individually.
The Penguins are already without their third and fourth-round picks for this year but own New Jersey’s third and have their first and second to play with. Other than draft selections, though, the cupboard is pretty bare. The team has a handful of decent prospects and young defensemen like Pierre-Olivier Joseph, who could be dangled for rebuilding clubs. But it’s going to be difficult to make the kind of big splash they have been known for over the years.
Perhaps they don’t need to, even if they are on the bubble right now. It’s hard to bet against Crosby, even as he reaches the back end of his career, and some of the other teams competing for those wildcard spots don’t have nearly the same experience in tough playoff-like games.
Still, one question remains outside of the depth forward discussion. What happens in net? Tristan Jarry is expected to play “soon” according to Hextall, but it’s hard even to trust the starting netminder given his previous playoff performances. In 2020-21, Jarry put up an .888 in six games to tank the Penguins’ chances, and last year he only played one game before injury took him out. Casey DeSmith has been okay filling in, but it’s hard to see the Penguins really challenging for a Stanley Cup with him starting the majority of the postseason.
Jarry, remember, is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and likely due a raise on his $3.5MM contract, regardless of how the rest of this season goes. Whether that will be in a Penguins uniform still remains to be seen.
Really hope ownership does what is right with their investment and they drop Hextall and BB after the season.
Don’t let the Pens fans hear you say “Casey DeSmith has been okay filling in.” Other than Hextall, it’s DeSmith that is the constant focus of Yinzer anger.
How about de smith, a first rounder, and a prospect for barbashev, binnington(blues retain 25 percent of his total contract salary) and bertuzzo?
Unless they find someone who is willing to be paid in gum and Primanti’s sandwiches, I’m not sure they can add enough to make this team much if any better.
Why is it that game after game, they just look old, tired and anemic? A lot of folks here wanted to see them sign “the big three” to close out their careers here. Ok. So just what did they expect?
Maybe they need the supplement that Frank Thomas and Doug Flutie peddle. And hey, their wives or girlfriends will like it, too