The Pittsburgh Penguins Can't Even Tank Properly

For the third straight season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have been a letdown for fans who grew accustomed to sustained success at the highest level.

When the games mattered most this year, and a year ago, and the year before that, the Penguins were a competitive no-show, even with the all-time icon Sidney Crosby continuing to be incredibly effective.

Since the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Penguins have, almost predictably, been marginally better than their record would otherwise indicate. They were the NHL’s 27th-best team a couple weeks ago, and they’re now 25th overall, going 5-3-2 in their last 10 games. Crosby has 20 points in 15 games since the 4 Nations Face-Off, while goalie Tristan Jarry has a 4-1-1 record, a .924 save percentage and a 2.47 goals-against average in that span.

Really, it comes down to this: the Penguins can’t even do a flop through the standings properly. Because of their relative improvement after being down in the standings for most of the season, they’re going to “mushy middle” themselves, being bad enough to miss the post-season but just good enough to deny themselves a high draft position when that’s what they need in the long term.

But the worst part is still to come: the Penguins doing this all over again next season. The worst part will be making a few mid-tier acquisitions this summer. The worst part will be giving a vote of consequence to Jarry despite assigning him to the AHL twice this season. The worst part will be when Pittsburgh’s other veteran stars – Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson – all come back for another year, and when Crosby once again will be his Hockey Hall of Fame self, with none of it mattering one lick in the standings.

Indeed, in a Metropolitan Division that’s going to be more competitive next season, the Penguins could miss the playoffs yet again, and they could still miss out on a top draft pick in the 2026 draft. You can basically set your watch to it. They won't learn their lessons, year in and year out. And once they're too far out of a playoff spot they’ll once again win just enough to assure themselves of another mushy middle finish.

Say what you will about the lowly Chicago Blackhawks, but give them this much: they’re going to get another top pick this summer, and in the long haul, when Crosby and Malkin have retired a few years from now, the Hawks will have a much more promising future than Pittsburgh. The Penguins haven't even had a top-10 pick in the draft since Derrick Pouliot in 2012.

If you think for one second next year’s iteration of the Penguins will be anywhere close to a team that can win playoff rounds, let alone win a Stanley Cup, we have a Steel City bridge-to-nowhere to sell you.

If you’re not winning when it counts, you’re spinning your wheels. That’s the destiny of this Penguins team.

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