Pittsburgh Penguins legend Sidney Crosby has done it all in his career. He’s won Stanley Cups, MVP awards, scoring titles, Olympic gold, and most recently, the 4 Nations Face-Off.
At 37, his career is beginning to head off into the sunset. But there’s no sign of a decline in Crosby’s game, at least not yet. Like his long-time nemesis Alexander Ovechkin, Crosby is still going strong heading into his 40s.
Crosby proved that at the 4 Nations, keeping up with players over a decade younger than him. That situation means that as long as the Penguins have a healthy and productive Sidney Crosby, the team must do everything it can to give him one more shot at hockey glory.
Think about it. What could be better than Crosby ending his career in one final blaze of glory, winning a Stanley Cup?
But if this year’s performance is any indication, the team needs major support to get back into playoff contention.
Yes, the Penguins have an aging core. Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Erik Karlsson are no spring chickens (full disclosure: I am much older than all of these players).
So, when looking back at the Penguins’ season, there’s one thing that stands out like a sore thumb: Goaltending. The Pens got atrocious goaltending from everyone who suited up between the pipes.
That is why the Pittsburgh Penguins must embrace the idea of acquiring a number-one goaltender who could give the Penguins precisely what Marc-Andre Fleury delivered all those years ago.
The question is: Where can the Pittsburgh Penguins find that number-one goaltender?
The Pittsburgh Penguins can look to the Boston Bruins for help
Let’s be clear about something: I am not saying that this trade is going to happen. Well, anything is possible in the NHL. But the likelihood of this trade actually happening is unknown at the moment.
You see, the Boston Bruins are clearly heading toward a rebuild. Their fire sale at the trade deadline this season is indicative of that trend. They shipped off veterans who apparently didn’t have a role on the team anymore and embraced a youth movement.
That youth movement includes saving as much cap space as possible heading into the summer. That cap space could be weaponized in the free-agent market. But what if the Bruins are biding their time for a major free agent like Mitch Marner?
If that’s the Bruins’ play, they’ll need to clear cap space. Doing so might mean parting ways with Jeremy Swayman.
All the drama that surrounded Swayman this past summer had to affect, at least in some part, the relationship between the team and Swayman. Of course, I’m not saying that Swayman wants out.
But what if the Penguins could swing a deal to get Swayman and solve their goaltending issues? If there’s any executive in the NHL that could pull something like that off it’s Kyle Dubas. Without making any other major changes, the Penguins immediately would boost their playoff chances by adding a number-one goalie like Swayman.
It’s a tantalizing thought to ponder if such a deal were possible.