It is time for something drastic because it is not okay to lose like this.
There is no quick fix for this 2024-25 Pittsburgh Penguins season.
There is no magic trade that is going to reverse the tide, there is no coaching change that is going to fix the roster, and there is no call-up that is going to inject enough life into this team to give them a boost.
It is a bad team.
Maybe by design. Maybe through poor management. Maybe a little of both.
Whatever the case may be, that is the path we are now officially on, and Monday’s 7-1 drubbing at the hands of the Dallas Stars was just the latest piece of confirmation to that.
Even with all of that, and even though I am not normally a “change for the sake of change,” person, the Penguins have to do something here. And given the way things are going that almost has to be a coaching change.
You can’t replace 23 players. You can’t even realistically trade a large portion of the roster because so many of them are tied into huge contracts or have no-trade protections. Sure, you can move Marcus Pettersson or Lars Eller for a couple of second-round picks or mid-level prospects (and that will eventually happen before March), but that is not going to really do anything except speed up how quickly this particular season truly starts to tank (maybe that is not the worst thing).
But how much longer can you put off a coaching change here? Because I can not imagine another coach in the NHL that would be getting the sort of grace that Mike Sullivan is currently getting.
I am not saying Sullivan is not a bad coach or that he suddenly forgot how to coach.
Objectively speaking he is the most successful coach the Penguins have ever had. He helped put two banners in the rafters and completely change the narrative around the Sidney Crosby-Evgeni Malkin-Kris Letang era. It is easy to forget now that in December of 2015 they were were facing criticism for not doing more in the playoffs and “only” having that one championship (it seems ridiculous to say that in hindsight, but those playoff losses were adding up and frustrations were building). Sullivan helped change, and that can never be taken away and should never be forgotten or taken for granted.
But at some point you just need to do something.
Everybody here might need a change.
Sullivan needs a better team to play the way he wants to play.
The Penguins need a different coach for where they are at this chapter of the organization.
They also need to look in the mirror about what is actually happening on the ice.
It is okay to lose. It is not okay to lose like this
This is the main point I keep coming back to this season. The Penguins can say whatever they want publicly about what their intentions were for this season. They can put as much window dressing on this roster as humanly possible and pretend they are still trying to make the playoffs. Nothing about this offseason indicated they were seriously trying to win. Last year was that last major push, and it did not work. It is very clear that the emphasis here is about starting to turn the page, starting to think about the future and collecting future assets. Maybe internally they do not see themselves as a playoff team.
That is fine.
Are they going about it the right way? Are they making the right moves to accomplish that? Should they be taking that approach when Sidney Crosby is still capable of playing at a high level? I think those are all points that certainly up for debate.
But even if you conclude that should be the path, even if you accept that they might lose this season, the thing I keep wondering is how long will ownership and management allow them to get embarrassed? And buddy, they are getting embarrassed.
Friday’s win over the Washington Capitals seemed like it could have been a little bit of a turning point. It was their third win and fourth game with at least a point in five games, they jumped out to an early lead, and even though they let that two-goal lead slip away they still managed to do something they had not done all season and bounced back to secure a big win, on the road, against a good team.
It was the first time all season they had beaten a playoff team from a year ago. It was also the first time they were actually competitive in one of those games.
Then reality slapped them in the face on Monday against the Dallas Stars.
A 7-1 loss at home. Six goals in the first period. Another loss to a playoff team, bringing them to 1-8-1 in 10 games against playoff teams from a year ago. They have been outscored 46-18 in those games. They have lost seven of those games by multiple goals, including four by at least four goals.
The numbers are bad enough. What is worse is just how disorganized and inept they look trying to do the most basic things.
It is not just a matter of getting beat and being outplayed by superior talent.
Things as simple and routine as line changes are a mess. The defensive zone coverage is appalling. The turnovers leading to transition and odd-man rushes the other way. None of it ever changing. We are more than a month into the season with a mostly veteran team. Even if the team itself is not good, you would at least hope that things would get a little better or show some sign of improvement. But there is nothing, and the only thing that changes it is getting the rare game against one of the small handful of teams in the NHL that has actually been worse than them. That is not improvement. It is a mirage.
The goaltending is obviously a problem no matter which one of the three goalies plays, but they are also facing one of the most impossible and daunting workloads in the league. Only three teams (Anaheim, Montreal and San Jose) give up more expected goals per 60 minutes. Only one team (Anaheim) gives up more high-danger scoring chances.
They have not won a playoff series since 2018. They have missed the playoffs two years in a row. They are off to one of the worst starts in the league and one of the worst starts the franchise has seen in decades. They are getting humiliated regularly. Even if it does not change the result of the season, at some point you have to see if a new voice, a new vision and a new plan can at least salvage something here, either on a team level or regarding individual players. We know what the current voice and vision is producing. It is not only not good enough, it is embarrassing them and the logo. That can not continue.