PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Carelessly passing a puck into your own net is something Stanley Cup champs Jay Caufield and Tyler Kennedy have never seen. That’s not the worst part of the Pens loss to Arizona on Monday.
What each saw was a team that just blew a game two days earlier in Las Vegas yet didn’t bring the effort needed to respond.
“You would expect when your coach lays into you and gives it to you, that your next game, you are going to be on high alert and everybody is going to be going,” Sportsnet Pittsburgh’s Jay Caufield told the Cook and Joe Show. “That did not happen.”
“That’s what more disappointing. It’s a freak thing that happens in front of your net, but it was the play of everything else throughout the evening that was the disturbing part.”
“I think they do need a change,” said 93.7 The Fan Pens Insider Tyler Kennedy on the Fan Morning Show. “It’s too stale. It’s been stale for the last week or two. They were good for a month and before that it was stale. They need something or this is what they are.”
It doesn’t take being a player on a Stanley Cup winning team to know the Pens need to do something different. All of the progress over the last month seems to have been thrown away during a two-game trip to Las Vegas and Arizona.
The season isn’t over, still 38 games left, but they are throwing away points and remain in seventh place in the Metropolitan Division with the All-Star Break quickly approaching. Both Kennedy and Caufield told 93.7 The Fan, imagine where this team would be without the season Sidney Crosby and his line are having. It’s scary to think of them potentially being the worst team in the East without the top line.
Kennedy said new GM Kyle Dubas and his hands full. That there are not easy decisions coming.
An option is making a huge trade. Kennedy said everyone should be on the hot seat. It’s nice in theory, but the reality is many of the biggest names have the ability to nix trades to certain teams. Their salary cap hit also makes it tough to find a trade partner, especially if you want anything of value in return.
There is one player you could move. Jake Guentzel.
The 29 year-old is in the final year of his contract and has 20 goals and 27 assists on the season. He would bring value, although not the high end you might hope for because he will be a free agent in a few months. He’s also a huge part of the only line that is consistent for you and the only star player who is under 30 on the roster.
Kennedy told The Fan Morning Show, Guentzel could be the next Pens captain when Crosby retires. He deserves the big raise that is coming to him, but the other part of the equation is the Pens likely wouldn’t be able to match what Guentzel could get on the open market.
What else the Stanley Cup champ tells 93.7 The Fan is the Pens are approaching a cliff and when they fall off it, he expects them to lie in a canyon for a while.
“This is not going to be a two-year rebuild,” Kennedy said on 93.7 The Fan. “This is going to be a five, six year rebuild. In that time, you are going to miss Guentzel’s window. He’s going to be too old to lead the team to another championship. It might be a good option to trade Guentzel if you are looking big picture.”
But this team is built to win right now. They’ve signed Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust, Tristan Jarry to long-term contracts. How could you trade Guentzel?
How else could you get this team’s attention when it doesn’t appear that they listen to the coaching staff? The relatively new ownership group said they like Sullivan, so let’s assume firing the two-time championship head coach isn’t an option.
The most realistic option, while not easy, is benching players from the team’s enemic power play. The name that is most floated, but might also cause internal issues, is Evgeni Malkin. Some would tell you they’ve catered too much to the star center. What about taking an all-time franchise great off the top power play unit?
“He’s a guy that can completely take over a game when he’s pissed off,” Kennedy told Cook and Joe. “When he wants to win, something happens. Geno can still be a real dominant player still, just right now he’s going through a tough time and needs to find his game.”
Maybe he would find that next level if knocked off the top unit. What could it really hurt except for his ego? Kris Letang was already demoted after being a fixture on there for 15 years following the trade for Erik Karlsson. Why not Malkin?
If not Malkin, why not bring Letang back to the top unit and demote Karlsson? Underwhelming is a fair word when describing Karlsson and he just hasn’t fit whether through his making, his teammates or a combination. He at times appears frustrated with how the Pens run their system. Sure, you would like his potential on the top unit, but why is he promised a spot.
None of this may work. The sad reality is what Kennedy said of the current Penguins.
“We are always so positive and think we have a Stanley Cup contender because we have those three Hall of Fame guys,” Kennedy said on 93.7 The Fan. “But, when you look around, is that what we are?”
“I don’t think so.”