The Penguins’ latest stretch has turned into a blunt reminder of where this season stands. After a fast start that produced a pair of wins, Pittsburgh has dropped into a skid that has them staring at seven losses in eight games, with the shootout loss to Columbus amounting to what felt like a stolen point from the hockey gods. The one break in the slide was a 2-1 shootout win over Dallas.
The four-game road trip only deepened the mess. Colorado, Vegas and Utah are legitimate Stanley Cup contenders, and Pittsburgh looked out of sorts against all three. The trip also included a loss to the hapless Chicago Blackhawks in the opener, which made the whole run feel even rougher.
Defenseman Erik Karlsson pointed out that the group has lived through a similar spell before. Last December was ugly, but the team had banked enough wins earlier to survive the drop. This time there’s no cushion, and the emotional reaction inside the room has been all over the map - some acting like the sky is falling, others angry, others still in disbelief.
A four-game sample doesn’t hand out final judgments, but it did underline what has been true for much of the season. Or hole.
Here are five takeaways from the trip:
- The pace just isn’t there.
The Penguins’ lack of a forecheck isn’t coming from one issue alone. It starts with shaky breakouts and turns into stubborn puck possession even when defenders are closing in. But the biggest problem is simple: they aren’t getting to pucks fast enough.
That’s a hard way to play if you want to be a possession team. Right now, Pittsburgh isn’t putting enough pressure on opposing defensemen retrieving the puck, and it isn’t making life difficult enough for teams coming the other way on the rush.
The third line has been especially rough, with different wingers cycling through beside Ben Kindel. Andrei Kuzmenko isn’t built to be a pressure player, so the burden falls on Kindel and the right wing. The trouble is that none of the options tried in that spot have really solved anything.
The second line has also struggled, with Tommy Novak in the middle. That group doesn’t naturally bring what the Penguins need from the position, whether it’s Novak, Egor Chinakhov or Evgeni Malkin.
The result is a wide-open path into the Penguins’ end. The team needs speed on the wings, and it could use more speed on defense, too.
At the moment, Erik Karlsson is the only blue-liner who qualifies as an above average skater. That lack of quickness shows up on the breakout as well.
- The structure has been a mess.
Last season, PHN broke down coach Dan Muse’s hybrid defensive zone setup, which uses zone coverage high in the D-zone and man-to-man coverage lower down.
That system worked for last year’s club. Parker Wotherspoon and Ryan Shea earned more credit than they got for the way they moved, adjusted, and handled the shift from slot coverage to battles in front.
This season, the Penguins are losing too many battles around the net, and the zone coverage has become scattered. Opponents are finding space at the net, in the slot and out in the circles.
The trackback has been especially bad. That’s basic hockey stuff, and Pittsburgh keeps getting it wrong - picking up the wrong man, leaving rushers free to threaten the goalie, or simply getting back too late and leaving glaring openings.
This isn’t really on Muse. It’s mostly a roster issue, with players who just aren’t strong enough defensively.
- Arturs Silovs looks like a different goalie.
Silovs clearly put in work over the offseason, and it shows. He has looked like a much better goalie than he did last season. The rebounds aren’t spraying everywhere, the puck isn’t bouncing into dangerous spots, and his game looks calm and controlled.
It may also help that he got a confidence boost from nearly helping the Penguins dig out of that 3-0 series hole to the Philadelphia Flyers.
None of that changes the reality in front of him. With the team defending the way it is, no goalie is going to post pretty numbers. But even with that mess in front of him, Silovs deserves credit for looking so much sharper.
- Kindel needs help around him.
Before Kindel had the medical episode Tuesday, he was playing hard, even if the results weren’t showing up. His wing has been a revolving door, with Andrei Kuzmenko, Hendrix Lapierre, Filip Hallander, Ville Koivunen, Nick Robertson, Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust and Connor Dewar all taking turns beside him.
That kind of turnover makes it hard to build any rhythm. There’s no chemistry, no predictability, no real routine.
Still, Kindel was playing with bite. He tried to stand up for Declan Carlile Monday. He also took a beating on the trip, including getting thrown into the net in Chicago and roughed up in Vegas.
- The room knows what’s coming.
The Penguins understand that general manager Kyle Dubas is making calls to move some of them to the highest bidder. They may not want to talk about it, but they know. That reality is sitting in private conversations and group chats they won’t share.
This is a very different situation from Bryan Rust hearing trade rumors two summers ago. Back then, Rust knew Dubas didn’t actually want to trade him. He spent that summer in Canada and saw his name on TV almost every day as a player supposedly on the block, but he knew the reporting didn’t match the truth.
For a lot of veterans now, it is true. Dubas can’t afford to be patient or keep demanding a sky-high return on players whose value is slipping.
The market has changed. NHL teams don’t want players in their 30s right now, while players in their early to mid 20s are fetching huge returns.
That leaves Dubas in a tough spot. He’s going to have to clear space to move into the next era, and he probably isn’t going to “win” the next trade.
In Other News...
Penguins Defensive Shuffle Says Plenty Before Next Home Stretch
The Penguins' blue line got a little more fluid this week, with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton adjusting its defensive depth while the organization continues to sort out its next stretch of games. David Breazeale, who had been with the Florida Everblades, is back in the fold after spending time in the ECHL, while the recent movement of young defensemen underscores how closely the system is being managed as schedules tighten up.
Maleek McGowan and Ryan Mast were sent back down to Florida, a reminder that these roster decisions are often about keeping players active and available rather than making any dramatic statement about their long-term standing. For Pittsburgh fans, it is another small but meaningful look at how the pipeline is being handled, especially with the minor-league calendar and upcoming team events keeping the organization busy on multiple fronts. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jackets Fans Should Watch This Penguins Trade Twist Closely
The Penguins appear to be edging toward a roster reset, and Rickard Rakell has emerged as one of the names worth watching as that shift takes shape. He is coming off an uneven season and is viewed around the league as a player whose fit may be more about the present than the future, especially with Pittsburgh looking to get younger while sorting out its next phase.
Rakell also carries a contract situation that makes any move more complicated than it might seem at first glance. He has one year left on his deal at $5 million per season, and his eight-team no-trade list gives him some control over where this might go, even as previous conversations about moving him never got off the ground. For a club trying to find value in a thin market, the challenge is whether Pittsburgh can turn a low trade value into something useful without waiting too long. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Suddenly Face A Concerning Ben Kindel Situation
The Penguins were dealing with far more than a routine travel day after forward Ben Kindel suffered a medical episode shortly after the team plane took off from Salt Lake City, triggering an emergency landing and a trip to University of Utah Hospital. Kindel was reported to be in stable condition, conscious and alert, a relief for a team that had to absorb the kind of alarming news nobody wants to hear in the middle of a road trip.
Pittsburgh responded by making its scheduled practice optional, and there were no roster moves announced in the immediate aftermath. General manager Kyle Dubas is expected to address the media Thursday with an update on Kindels status, leaving the Penguins and their fans waiting for a clearer picture of what comes next. [Read more 🡒]