The Pittsburgh Penguins need multiple changes, but not enough time to get it done.
The expectations surrounding the Pittsburgh Penguins heading into the 2022-23 season may have been high, but they’ve fallen way short of the mark through 53 games.
Currently holding a 27-17-9 record, the Penguins are in need of some kind of change to get the juices flowing within certain areas of the lineup.
There is, however, some obstacles in the way of improvement; the team needs multiple moves, and there isn’t enough time to make them.
The NHL trade deadline is just about two weeks away and the Penguins have yet to make any kind of noise in the trade market.
General manager Ron Hextall has said he’s been looking for some sort of deal, but no real rumors since.
But, if Hextall is on the hunt for a trade, where does he start? Ideally he zeroes in on doing something about the bottom six, mainly the third line center position.
Everyone knows how brutal Jeff Carter has been this season, but there doesn’t seem to be signs of him exiting the lineup any time soon.
Head coach Mike Sullivan has experimented with Carter on the wing, and that might be a workable solution.
Now, it’s up to Hextall to add the third line center, because it isn’t coming from in-house.
Bolstering the bottom six would be a great start to fixing the lineup, but again, there’s no time to then turn focus to the spotty defense, lack of toughness, or maybe even a backup goalie swap.
Unless Hextall can find a way to rapid fire a couple of trades, it’s likely the Penguins will get one deal made then have to tinker around with what’s already here.
It seems in all likelihood that that’s the exact rout the Penguins are going to ride for the remainder of the season, then deal with the rest of the issues in the offseason.
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