Although it hasn't been all bad for the Pittsburgh Penguins to start the season, there has been a lot of tragic outcomes. There seems to have been little or no plan in mind while building their roster this offseason, and now Dan Muse has a tough job every day. He must decide who fits into the lineup from their logjam of mediocre forwards and cannot change course to a youth movement.
Right now, the Penguins are hand cuffed with the veterans on their roster until some trades transpire.
You can blame both Muse and Kyle Dubas for this fiasco, but Muse is someone in a troubling spot. There appears to be some sort of disconnect between him and his players right now. For one reason or another, the team he coaches picks and chooses when they feel inspired to play his systems.
Going after Dan Muse's job is fair as there are a lot of problems stemming from his position, but he's not the sole cause. He must decide between some fairly boring options to fill out his lineup, when there are better choices in the AHL at the moment. The logjam of forwards caused by Kyle Dubas this past offseason is a mess. There is no way to fix this situation, and Muse is stuck with what he's got.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are failing Dan Muse this season without any sort of direction
Having a core group of players who have been together for decades only makes a coach's job increasingly difficult. Sidney Crosby is picky with who he can play with in the lineup, Evgeni Malkin seems cemented onto the second line without much wiggle room, and Kris Letang is a hot mess.
Those three are holding the Penguins hostage from a rebuild during their aging years despite all they have accomplished for the organization to varying degrees. Holding the franchise in mediocre territory isn't good enough.
That means that Dan Muse is left with a bottom six to shuffle through, barring injuries, and forcing Kris Letang to play top minutes despite him being well past his prime. Making a revolving door of forwards in the bottom six won't do much. Without a clear path to bring fresh blood onto the roster only makes matters worse. It's created a winless scenario for Muse to figure out this season.
There is trade chatter about the club potentially shopping veterans on the team. If they could make a couple of big trades to provide a youth movement into the lineup, it could help jump start the team. Right now, they are sitting dead in the water. They're not bad, but they're not good either. They're mediocre. That is a word you never want to be in a competitive sport, or you won't get anywhere.
Muse has an incredibly challenging job at the moment.
His team doesn't seem to fully take heed of his coaching unless they feel like it. Most of his players are set in their ways and unwilling to accept change. It would be a great addition to this club to bring in some younger pieces onto the team, but Muse and Dubas created their own grave. This might be a challenge they cannot overcome this season.
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