Analysts Roast Pittsburgh Penguins Following Two Crushing Losses

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Aaron Itovitch
February 20, 2023 (11:12)

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It's hard to imagine Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins not making the playoffs.

It's something they've done every year since 2008, and many young Penguins fans have never even seen their team miss the playoffs.

As their core ages, this team isn't what it used to be. This is an inevitable reality, but a good GM could adapt and build around the aging core. Instead we have Bryan Dumoulin and Jeff Carter taking up a combined $7.5-million in cap space.

Thus, after a string of losses pushing them right to the edge of the second wild card spot in the eastern conference, analysts didn't hold back.

The Athletic's Rob Rossi started it off:

A lot of people ask me why the Penguins don't look more engaged. I try to explain it's not effort so much as a deficient roster that can easily be made to look inept against high-to-mid level opponents.

This team has some top-end talent, and little else. It's really that simple.

Penguins radio host Mark Madden added to the fire:

The Penguins' ceiling is a first-round loss," wrote Madden on Sunday. "No trade can elevate that. So don't sacrifice future. Ownership must not allow Hextall to do that.

Finally, Penguins reporter Josh Yohe targeted one player specifically:

Their bottom six is beyond atrocious, maybe the NHL's worst. Their third line is centered by Jeff Carter, who appears to be completely washed up and is a liability almost every shift.

Clearly the Penguins aren't built for success, and they'll need to make some changes if they want to compete again while this core is still around.

We'll see if they break the 14-yeat streak this season. They aren't out yet, but it's getting hard to be optimistic about the Penguins.

Source: Hockey Feed