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

Oct 23, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman

(4) skates with the puck against the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

3. Management and Front Office Personnel

While Management clearly falls under the first slide, this is a different topic altogether.

The Pittsburgh Penguins were built for success entering the 2014 season. They came out flying and looked like a well-oiled machine that was hitting on all cylinders. But, then injuries struck and it was all downhill from there.

The injuries that the Pens suffered were detrimental to this lineup. I’ve said it many times before and will continue to do so, the 2014-15 Pittsburgh Penguins weren’t going anywhere without Pascal Dupuis, Olli Maatta, Kris Letang, and Christian Ehrhoff in the lineup. However, that doesn’t excuse the staff responsible for making personnel decision from constant mistakes and mishaps.

I’m not a member of the Jim Rutherford hate club by any means. But, he and his staff made a bad situation worse with multiple decisions such as trading Simon Despres, failing to place Ehrhoff on LTIR days before the final ten games of the regular season, and once again sacrificing the future (two draft picks over the next two seasons) for a short-term defensive forward in Daniel Winnik.

The mistakes that occurred last season weren’t on one person. It was a collective effort that widened the hole for this team to fall through instead of offering a ladder for them to climb out. Whether you’re a healthy team or not, those types of decisions will still hold you back.