A humiliating 5-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday might have been the nail in the coffin for the 2024-25 Penguins. They now sit five points back of a Wild Card spot and are buried beneath five other teams for that spot.
The conversation is never an easy one to have, but it's time to start thinking about it: Should the Penguins punt the rest of this year and start to look forward into the future?
Penguins management hasn't had this conversation in almost two decades. From the 2006-07 season all the way to 2022, Pittsburgh was a mainstay in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Now, the Penguins are well on their way to missing the dance for the third straight season, but the difference is that this time around, they aren't super close.
This time last season, the Penguins were 21-17-6. Now, they are 20-22-8. They've won less games in more games played.
The Critical Question
You, as a fan, are entitled to ask yourself this question: Can this Penguins team make the playoffs?
Sure, there are plenty of variables, but at a base level, this question can be answered.
If you say no, then it's standard that you would agree the Penguins should start to look to the future.
If you say yes (which you are entitled to answer), then you must have a solution for the fact they haven't won back to back games since before Christmas.
Hope for the Hopeful
History gives hope for those of you who still think this team can make the playoffs. We don't have to go back very long to see a year where the Penguins stormed back into contention with a great month of April. That year was last year.
The Penguins were out of it as late as March last season, yet they made their way back into contention despite selling off pieces like Jake Guentzel at the deadline.
It is not impossible for the Penguins to wallow around for another month then turn it on in March. It is March of the Penguins, after all. But, as I'll remind you of now, that outcome does not come with great odds.
Hopelessness for the Pessimist
Remember when the Penguins stormed back in April last year to make the playoffs?
Yeah, neither do I.
As much as the Penguins ran around in a frenzy to make the playoffs, they didn't. They fell short in the final week of the season.
Now, with a worse record this season than this point last year, they have an even bigger hole to dig out of.
Kyle Dubas has two phones in his pocket right now. Per the rumors, he's actively trying to sell off pieces, and the Penguins have lots of valuable assets this season.
The likes of Erik Karlsson, Rickard Rakell, and even smaller names like Anthony Beauvillier and Marcus Pettersson could help the Penguins make turnarounds in their prospect system that has been atrocious for many years.
I fall into this category. I see how unlikely it is to make the playoffs, so I'd suggest blowing things up.
Don't be the Steelers
Pittsburgh sports are all the same since 2018. Perennially good, but never good enough to be great. Stuck in mediocrity (except for the Pirates, they just suck).
The Penguins and Steelers have been the same team for years: always okay enough, but never bad enough to actually see substantial change.
The greatest flaw with the Steelers is their outright refusal to make changes. They are content with barely above .500 seasons and first round playoff exits to the point where they refuse to rebuild.
That very flaw is manifesting itself with the Penguins.
I get it, the historic core of Crosby, Malkin, and Letang is worth keeping around. And I agree with that. It would be an injustice to them and the city of Pittsburgh to let them wear a different color jersey.
However, there isn't a soul otherwise that should be unavailable in the trade market.
I've made this argument with the Steelers in a podcast before, and I know you probably don't want to hear it, but it's true:
It's okay to be bad sometimes. When you don't embrace it, you'll actually end up being worse.
When was the last time the Penguins won a playoff series? Anybody? 2018.
When is the last time the Steelers won a playoff game? 2016.
Being bad is scary, especially when you've been playable for decades. Yet, in failing to reassess your own situation and come to the realization that your middling is getting you nowhere, you doom yourself to even more excessive levels of failure.
If the Penguins miss the playoffs, are they a failure? Absolutely. So why get close to the playoffs and miss when you can just blow it up and miss anyway?
Here's my final shower thought I'll leave with you. Being an all Pittsburgh sports fan, the easiest team for me to root for isn't the Steelers or the Penguins. Nope. It's the Pirates.
Why? Because I know what I'm going to get and my expectations are curbed. Will they ever amount to anything? No. So I have no reason to get foolish expectations.
The Penguins and Steelers over almost the last decade have subconsciously gotten you to invest while subsequently progressing nowhere when it comes to chasing another championship.
They're stuck, and the only way they're getting unstuck is by throwing in the towel.
Here's your reminder that the last time both the Penguins and Steelers were downright bad, two icons of the city of Pittsburgh were born: Sidney Crosby and Ben Roethlisberger.