no rebuild yet

Team: 2022-23 Pittsburgh Penguins

Initial Creation Date: May 15, 2022

Published: May 15, 2022

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

That Game 7 loss hurts for Pens fans. The Pens who played their 3rd string goalie for the majority of the series and went up 3-1. The Rangers fought back and the Pens brought back their starting goalie who was clearly not 100% in desperation to try to win a playoff series for the first time since 2018. But they join Ovi and the Caps on the golf course early. The Pens were down their main TDL pickup until Game 7, their best defensive d man for Games 2 to 7, their captain and best player in half of Game 5 and Game 6. Is this the end of the Crosby/Malkin/Letang era. Is it time for a rebuild? Crosby when healthy is still racking up points. Crosby and Guentzel are the main offensive weapons. Malkin can look great one shift and look terrible the next shift. Malkin is 35 and could fall off a cliff any time soon. If they keep Letang and bring back Rust and sign someone like Trochek or Strome then sure the Pens still could contend for one more year. This year was definitely the last shot for Crosby/Malkin/Letang together, but it might not be Crosby's last shot for a 4th cup. Rust struggled offensively towards the end of the season but Hextall should try to bring him back. If Evan Rodrigues asks for more than 2 million or even 1.75 million I would let him walk. He was invisible in the second half and there's no guarantee on what point production the Pens will get out of him. If they want to keep Kapanen they should sign him to a one year prove it deal contract. DeSmith played well after a rough start to the season, but idk if the Pens resign him. Maybe Fleury returns for one last hurrah with the Pens, but he will need to take a big paycut.