Pittsburgh Penguins: 5 Reasons the Pens Will Not Win the Stanley Cup in 2016

Oct 23, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Johnston (left) during the game against the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

4. Coaching

Sound familiar? If you read through my five reasons that the Pittsburgh Penguins will win the cup, you’ll know that I included coaching in that list too. I cited the fact that we haven’t seen anywhere near what Mike Johnston has to offer, and he could do great things with a healthy lineup.

But, what about the rest of the coaching staff? I like Rick Tocchet, and I haven’t given up on him yet, but his areas of expertise last season were the power play and Steve Downie. Downie was fairly productive but took penalties at some of the worst possible times imaginable, and the power play was absolutely awful for a little over half the season.

The power play is also something that was impacted by injury, but when you have Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, David Perron, Patric Hornqvist, and Kris Letang at your disposal you simply have to score. Was he the sole reason for their struggles? No. But the location and role of the aforementioned stars saw little change throughout the season as that unit continued to struggle.

Why isn’t Malkin your trigger man? Why is Sid plastered to the side boards when he’s clearly more effective below the goal line? Why did everyone on that unit look like they were cemented in place?

If that unit doesn’t find it’s way next season, the Pittsburgh Penguins will not be successful. The coaches need to figure it out.