How do the Penguins get out of their mess?

The Pittsburgh Penguins are just four games away from finishing the 2024-25 regular season and failing to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the third consecutive season. With a record of 31-35-12 and 74 points, seventh in the Metropolitan Division, the Penguins have a good chance of earning a high draft pick in this June’s draft.

With a team full of future Hall of Famers on the wrong side of 30, President and General Manager Kyle Dubas has to figure out where the team goes from here and if there’s room to move on from some of their bigger names.

On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL defenseman Colby Cohen discuss the Penguins’ struggles and what Pittsburgh needs to do if they want to climb out of the league’s basement.

Tyler Yaremchuk: It’s been another forgettable season in Pittsburgh. After a 16-year playoff streak, they have now missed in three consecutive seasons. It is not getting any better in Pittsburgh, and they haven’t given Penguin fans much of a reason that it will get better in the near future.

Colby Cohen: I really don’t know the mess Kyle Dubas is in. Partly, he got himself in the mess, partly it was stuff that came down from ownership saying, “Look, you need to re-sign some of these guys.” Erik Karlsson, they need to find a way to get him out, because he’s got three years left, and Tristan Jarry has three years left.

This roster is built to be slow, in my opinion. You want to infuse Rutger McGroarty in his second year, maybe Tristan Broz gets called up from Wikles-Barre. They have to get younger, they need to think about foot speed. You look at that team and there just isn’t enough of it there.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…