The Pittsburgh Penguins may be forced into a decision with a pair of veteran forwards.

Kyle Dubas has a simple plan when constructing the Pittsburgh Penguins this season. Rely on the top six for scoring, with help from a pair of point-producing defensemen, and rely on the bottom six for defense.

Despite its struggles, the Penguins' bottom six has held up their end of the bargain. They are on pace to allow 48 fewer total goals than last season's bottom-six. Meanwhile, the top six are on pace to score 12 fewer goals than last season.

While the overall scoring is down, the Penguins' top performers (Crosby/Malkin/Guentzel) are all on pace to finish with higher goal totals than they did last season. Meanwhile, Bryan Rust is on pace to tie his 20 from last year.

The two players who have failed to hold up their end of the goal-scoring are Reilly Smith and Rickard Rakell. Both have missed time due to injuries but have experienced lengthy scoreless droughts when healthy. 

Rakell went scoreless through his first 19 games. After a brief hot streak of five goals in eight games, Rakell has failed to score in his last seven matchups.

Smith began the season red hot, scoring six goals in the Penguins' first ten games. He then registered just two goals in his previous 30 games before being injured against the Vancouver Canucks.

The Penguins' goal-scoring woes don't fall squarely on these two. A 13.1% power play holds most of the blame. But with each making $5 million against the salary cap, the Penguins need much more from their struggling top six wingers.

If their performance continues declining, one or both could find their name in trade talks as the Trade Deadline approaches on March 8th.

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