Nope, the Pittsburgh Penguins are nowhere near the team they were even two seasons ago. When you’re on pace to finish the season under 0.500 in points, something’s seriously wrong, and it shows us that Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang can no longer hide this team’s shortcomings.
While the Penguins weren’t the worst team in the league scoring goals, defense, and goaltending crushed this team. As I write this, the Pens allowed 279 goals, which is 30th in the league. Yeah, that’s a bleak number and nothing the Big Three can prevent from happening these days.
So, if the Penguins want to get relevant again, it needs to start with their play without the puck. Want proof that more than just the goaltending was to blame here? Just check out the fact that the Penguins allowed 30.2 shots on goal per game, and we haven’t yet gotten through the entire season.
Let’s begin with how poorly the Penguins goaltenders played
While the Penguins look promising in the prospects pool, they need to add talent if they plan on making the 2025-26 season interesting. There’s not a single goaltender on this team who I trust as my No. 1 going forward, even if Joel Blomqvist should work out in time.
As for Tristan Jarry, there’s no way I can put much faith into him, despite looking decent following an AHL stint. Alex Nedeljkovic is a good No. 2 guy, but there’s no way I’d let him start nearly half the games again. So, priority No. 1 must entail the Penguins finding at least a stopgap who can hold down the net as a No. 1 goaltender, or a 1A for the season.
If we see a similar group next year, expect the same returns that you saw in 2024-25, with perhaps some improvement from Blomqvist. Still, I’d be more willing to keep Blomqvist in a 1B/No. 2 role for a season or two before the Pens decide if he can be their No. 1.
As for adding defensive defensemen and defensive forwards…
Through an average of 79 games, NHL teams allowed 2,223 shots on goal while the Penguins gave up 2,390. That’s a major problem, and it’s the primary reason they’re 30th in goals allowed with just three games to go on the year. No, the netminders didn’t help, but it still doesn’ excuse the fact that the Pens allowed roughly 30 shots per contest.
All of that said, it’s easy to see where everything went wrong and why the Penguins will once again watch the playoffs from their homes. Yeah, they’ll always be among the more respected teams in hockey with their Big Three, but nobody could’ve bailed this team out. Okay, maybe a 28-year-old Sidney Crosby would have, but he’d have needed to put on a Hart Trophy-caliber season.
So, now that the Penguins should have a blueprint heading into the offseason, we’ll wait and see if general manager Kyle Dubas is interested in giving Sidney Crosby and Company a chance to hoist the Stanley Cup one more time.