Team: Pittsburgh Penguins
Team Building Status: Hanging On
The Pittsburgh Penguins rose as a powerhouse nearly two decades ago when they won the 2005 lockout draft lottery. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang have been the backbone of the team through a run that’s seen them win three Stanley Cups during their tenure. When they brought all three back in the summer of 2022, it was clear they were eyeing another crack at the cup.
Roster Ruminations
NHL Roster
The Penguins continued to add last summer, with a blockbuster deal that brought Erik Karlsson to Pittsburgh. While the Pens started off slow, their underlying numbers suggested they were better than their early season record. Now, with five games left in the season, they’re battling hard for a playoff spot. This seems a more reasonable result given the talent at the top of their lineup, but depth is becoming an issue as the prospect pipeline has been picked over after years of contention. Next season’s profile suggests a continuation of the trend, with the Penguins good enough to chase a playoff spot but also showing potential for further decline.
Salary Cap Management
The Penguins cap sheet clearly shows their intention to continue to compete through the end of Sidney Crosby’s current deal. They have a number of veterans locked up for similar term, including Malkin and Letang. With over 80% of their 2024-2025 cap space already committed, they’ll have some work to do to upgrade the roster but, with only about 50% committed the following season, they have some flexibility to work with.
Future Assets
The Penguins have used future assets to build up their playoff roster for years. It’s showing. Hockey Prospecting ranks them 29th in the NHL for their prospect pool, so their internal options to find the depth they need around their veteran stars are limited. They’re in better shape for the next three drafts, with a draft success profile slightly below baseline.
What’s Next?
If the Penguins were to set forth on a rebuild, there would be no better time than this summer to start. Their front office seemed to take some notice of that at the trade deadline, when pending UFA Jake Guentzel was traded as the Penguins were languishing in the wild card chase. The assets the Penguins have that are of the highest value are their household name players who are now late in their careers. If the Penguins want to extract the most value from this group to kickstart a new era, their stars will provide the best returns now.
The possibility that the Penguins are ready to throw in the towel on the Crosby era just yet seems remote, however. It seems much more likely that they’ll continue to try to add pieces around the core to give the Crosby group one more shot at a long playoff run. The trio is not as dominant as they were at their peak, but they are still very impactful players. Crosby remains as one of the NHL’s best all-around 5v5 forwards and Malkin and Letang can still have a large influence on a game as well.
The Penguins recent decline has more to do with the declining level of support available to complement their top players. With Guentzel gone, the list of Penguins players in their prime years shrunk further. There are a few good pieces, like Bryan Rust and P.O. Joseph, but the depth that existed in their championship years has fallen off considerably. If Pittsburgh is intent on giving the Crosby group one last run, they need to find a way to add support players to improve their NHL level depth.
If Pittsburgh is intent on giving the Crosby group one last run, they need to find a way to add support players to improve their NHL level depth. With a prospect pool that has been drained and a need to hang on to remaining support pieces to avoid further roster degradation, the Penguins have a difficult summer ahead that will likely force them to choose between short and long term success.
