The March is Nearly Over

The Penguins' championship window is closing, and they need to take advantage of Crosby and Malkin’s final years

by Brendan Smith, Sports O’Clock Writing Team Member

Sidney Crosby (left) and Evgeni Malkin (right) (photo credits: The Athletic)

The Pittsburgh Penguins have been one of the most successful NHL franchises over the past decade, but they have struggled to establish a strong presence in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since their last Stanley Cup victory in 2017. The Penguins are coming off an embarrassing defeat to the Montreal Canadiens in the 2020 playoff qualifying round and are hoping to significantly improve on that result in the upcoming 2020-21 season. The main concern for the Penguins is that their superstar duo, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, are in the late stages of their careers. Crosby and Malkin give the Penguins the best chance to win, so general manager Jim Rutherford must do all he can to put together a team that can contend for the next few seasons.

Crosby, the captain of the Penguins, is still one of the best players in the league. Malkin is too, but he has displayed a faster decline in ability than Crosby. Each of them still has a ton of ability, but they cannot win a Stanley Cup on their own. That is where Rutherford and head coach Mike Sullivan become incredibly important. It falls on them to build a good roster and get the best out of players, but that is not something they have done well since the Cup victory in 2017.

The Penguins have some great players outside of Crosby and Malkin. Jake Guentzel is becoming a superstar in his own right, Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin form a great top defensive partnership, and goaltender Tristan Jarry is coming off of an All-Star season and will become the full-time starter in net for the Penguins this year. The Penguins will need these players to perform to the best of their ability because questions remain on the rest of the roster.

Patric Hornqvist, Matt Murray, and Justin Schultz, three key pieces of the Stanley Cup teams, all departed this offseason. The Penguins brought in Cody Ceci and Kasperi Kapanen to replace them, but neither are of the same quality as the players they are replacing. Serious questions remain on the rest of the roster, such as Bryan Rust’s ability to repeat his points output from last season or the overall depth of the roster. The Penguins also have to work with limited salary cap space, which is a product of poor contracts given out by Rutherford. Rutherford has particularly hurt the team with midseason trades that have not panned out, such as the atrocious deal for Derrick Brassard in 2018.

This season’s Penguins roster is definitely capable of making the playoffs, but I do not believe it is good enough to win the Stanley Cup. Rutherford will have to benefit from a change in fortunes with regards to mid-season trades and Sullivan will have to work his coaching magic to turn this Penguins team into a true contender. If the Penguins do not win the Stanley Cup this season, they must get it done in the near future. Crosby and Malkin cannot play forever, and it would be a real shame if the Penguins fail to win another Stanley Cup with one of the greatest duos the NHL has ever seen.

(All photos are cited properly. No copyright infringement intended.)