So here we are. Again. The Penguins heading home prematurely after a first-round loss in the playoffs for the third straight season. And this was the worst of the three.
Even though the Pens managed to win two games instead just one or - like two years before against the Islanders - none at all, they appeared to be primed for a decent run. They were getting healthier and the addition of Jeff Carter gave them the best forward depth in the NHL or so it appeared.
Yet, despite three lines centered by future Hall of Famers guided by a likely Hall of Fame coach, once again Pittsburgh's hockey season ended way too soon. The difference is that this time we may finally see not just more changes, but major changes.
Neither GM Ron Hextall nor VP of Hockey Ops Brian Burke has any allegiance to Mike Sullivan and his assistants. Other than trading for Carter (who was the least of the post-season problems), they didn't draft, sign or trade for any of the players.
While Hextall and Burke aren't going to react as quickly publicly as the fans and we media folk have, it is likely that they've already shared their opinions between themselves. It is also likely that they will be given the latitude to make sweeping changes – if ownership approves. And that's the key.
Put simply, what happens this off-season is up to Mario Lemieux. What key players would the new management team be allowed to trade?
Previous GM's Ray Shero and Jim Rutherford often talked of the autonomy they were given and each did actually deal a core player. Shero traded Jordan Staal but that was when he was part of a very young core, plus he had only won one Stanley Cup.
Rutherford engineered the Marc Andre Fleury to Vegas expansion deal but that was after Matt Murray had won two Cups and it also helped against the salary cap. As it turns out, it has not helped the last three post-seasons. Still, however reluctant he may have been, Lemieux had to have approved letting Fleury go.
But how would Mario react should Hextall and Burke come to him with a proposal to trade Evgeni Malkin or Kris Letang or maybe even both? That also most likely would not please Sidney Crosby, although he deflected such a question immediately after the season-ending defeat.
Crosby, by the way, was as responsible as anyone this side of the goaltender for losing Game 6 and the Islanders series; he said so himself. Of course, Crosby will not be traded under any circumstances – unless he asks for it.
Back to Rutherford for a second. Since he quit just two weeks into the season, he has let it be known that at one point he had tried to reacquire Fleury. Rutherford has never said why he walked away from the Penguins leaving us to speculate that it could have been because he wasn't allowed to make that deal. Letang and Fleury have similar cap numbers; Malkin's is 2.5 million more.
Whether or not ownership, in fact, did block such a move trading even Jake Guentzel or Bryan Rust is one thing. Trading "generational talents" (as Sullivan calls them is quite another. Even if Hextall and Burke want to move Malkin or Letang – and think they have a deal that will not only help the current roster but also build for the future – it won't be up to them.
It's up to Mario Lemieux.
