After being eliminated from the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs by the Philadelphia Flyers, the Pittsburgh Penguins are confident that they'll be back in the post-season in the years to come.
It's no secret that building a sustainable window of contention in the National Hockey League is not an easy thing to do.
But, if there is one team with any kind of authority on how that works, it's the Pittsburgh Penguins.
After making the playoffs for the first time in four years - with those three misses following a stretch of three Stanley Cup championships and 16 consecutive years of playoff contention - the Penguins were eliminated from the first round of the 2026 post-season after an overtime game-winning goal in Game 6 by the Philadelphia Flyers sent them home for the summer.
Of course, the sting of that loss still resonated during locker cleanout day on Friday, but there is also a sense of hope and encouragement in the air that this is not going to be the last time the Penguins contend for the playoffs with Sidney Crosby and company still in town.
"I think we took some good steps," Crosby himself said. "I think just the way we came together, the way guys stepped up individually. You look at a lot of guys who had career years, so I think that's a reflection of guys' individual play, but also as a group. I think the coaching staff, management, everyone deserves a lot of credit for that, but it's a step. So, you've got to continue to grow and get better, and it's a starting point, though, for sure.”
Veteran defenseman Kris Letang agreed, saying that there's always a certain kind of feeling around a team that's legitimately good - and one that seems to have some things figured out moving forward.
"Just the way we did it," Letang said. "There's a feeling, when you're in a room for over like six months of time and you play the game every single time, there's a feeling that gets inside of you. It was not a group that was just going out there and winning with skill. Some nights, would go their way or not. It was the pace of the game we played at and the commitment we did, playing better defensively.
"So yeah, it can always go up from there."
As everyone knows by now, outside expectations for the group heading into the 2025-26 season were not exactly sky-high, and it required the entire team coming together to secure its spot in the playoffs this season. GM and POHO Kyle Dubas has reiterated, time and time again, that his goal is not only to build a team that can contend for the playoffs but one that can contend for the Stanley Cup sustainably.
And the players believe the collection of talent required to do that is in this room, on the coaching staff (head coach Dan Muse was named a finalist for the Jack Adams earlier on Friday), in the system already, and on the way in the near future, even if there are still some things to improve upon.
“We have a good group in here. We have a good base," said Erik Karlsson, who is entering the final year of his contract and is eligible for an extension this summer. "Obviously, we have some room to improve, just like 31 other teams will. After this year, there will only be one that will be satisfied.
"The potential is definitely there to improve on our roster. It’s exciting times. Been having a lot of fun here lately. This year was a very positive year and definitely something that you can see the qualities that the guys in here have and this team has. It will be easier to figure out what we need."
Defenseman Ryan Shea - a pending unrestricted free agent - has been with the organization since the beginning of the 2023-24 season. He's seen the progress that the organization has made during that time at the hands of Dubas and believes the team is well on its way to a stretch of years where they'll be competing in the post-season.
"Honestly, I think Kyle's vision... he hasn't deterred from the path he's wanted to go down," Shea said. "And I think it helped our team greatly this year. He brought in a couple guys that I would say, I don't know how other teams are letting them go. But, whether it's management, the culture, or the coaching staff, this organization and this team brought the best out of players that I've never really seen before, and kudos to them.
"A lot of guys had career years, but it wasn't just because guys were playing with confidence, it's because people that are above them put the confidence in them and kind of just gave them a role and trusted them that this is a spot that you can earn and play in if you do it, and a lot of guys on the team took a big step. I'm proud of this team, proud of everyone that did that, proud of myself for this year. And, obviously, the future's a little uncertain [for me], but I think the future for the Penguins is only going up."
Rickard Rakell, who put together a nice year for the Penguins despite some setbacks, also praised the work that the team itself and Dubas has done to bring playoffs hockey back to Pittsburgh and believes they're building to something that will extend beyond the success of this season.
“I really think so," Rakell said. "The way we felt that we were competing with any team this year and we gave us a chance in every game. I really feel like we took some big steps.”
He added: “I mean, even before this year, no one really believed that we were going to be in this spot. He’s done a really great job, and (Dubas) brought in some really good players into our team that made a big difference. I think we’re really hopeful, and that it’s only going to get better."
But, at the end of the day, it takes a lot to build a sustainable contender. There will be some tough decisions this summer - including a decision on Malkin's future - and there is likely to be a lot of movement, especially if Dubas feels the team is on the upswing.
But forward Bryan Rust knows how much belief is in the room and in the organization to chart the right way forward and keep this team in the Stanley Cup conversation for the years to come. And it starts with the day-to-day mindset of each individual and their own belief in their teammates and in themselves.
"There's a lot to build on," Rust said. "For us, the culture that we had, the mindset that we had of taking everything day-by-day and using everybody, and having a team that we rely on everybody, all four lines, all of our defensemen, all of our goalies. That's extremely important to make sure everybody knows their value in the room and knows that they're really important to the room, and to continue that as we move forward."
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