The Pittsburgh Penguins are rebuilding, whether they use that word or not.
But dominos are falling, which raise the possibility that rebuilding can be accelerated, perhaps within the time frame of Sidney Crosby’s remaining tenure. (However long that is. He’s the best 37-year-old ever.)
The Penguins keep stockpiling draft choices, most recently getting a first-round selection in the trade that sent Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor to Vancouver. (That’s great return. Ex-Penguins GM Jim Rutherford runs the Canucks, he’d just gotten that pick from the New York Rangers in the deal that sent J.T. Miller to the Rangers, and it was burning a hole in his pocket.)
The Penguins have 29 picks in the next three NHL drafts. That includes four in the first round, four in the second round and seven in the third round.
The NHL salary cap is going up: From $88 million this season to $95.5 million next season to $104 million in 2026-27 to $113.5 million in 2027-28. That’s an increase of $22.5 million in three years, about 30%.
Crosby becomes an even bigger bargain at his $8.7 million cap hit. So do Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang at $6.1 million. (Erik Karlsson at $11.5 million is still a burden.)
The Penguins figure to have about $30 million in cap space available this coming offseason, and with zero players of significance to re-up.
A few prospects could be ready for NHL duty, like forwards Ville Koivunen, Vasily Ponomarev and Rutger McGroarty. Defenseman Owen Pickering will be back. Goalie Joel Blomqvist still will be on his entry-level contract.
Good players on entry-level contracts are the lifeblood of success in the NHL. They provide labor that’s cheap and young, invariably in energetic fashion. They’re hungry and invested in the logo. Old, washed-up mercenaries are not.
A few other prospects are lurking at the Major Junior level: Defenseman Harrison Brunicke and forward Tanner Howe, most notably. Their arrival in Pittsburgh isn’t imminent, but might not be far off.
The pipeline isn’t overflowing.
A quick turnaround is far from guaranteed.
But interesting possibilities seem to be opening up. At the very least, the Penguins will have flexibility.
Two questions:
• With attendance at PPG Paints Arena down to 90.5% of capacity, will revenue justify spending to the cap’s ceiling? (Owner Fenway Sports Group should extend Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold at Liverpool FC first.)
• Is Mike Sullivan the right coach when the roster gets younger? Sullivan prefers veterans. But when the time comes, you can’t give Kevin Hayes more minutes than Koivunen or Ponomarev.
Very cautious optimism isn’t out of line. Shortcuts could materialize.
President of hockey ops/GM Kyle Dubas might be the hero when the smoke clears in a few years.
Toronto still will not have won a Stanley Cup since 1967.
