The Pittsburgh Penguins ended another disappointing season well short of where their incredibly talented roster probably should have wound up in 2014, continuing an unsettling trend for the Pens of coming up small in the season's biggest moments.
The change in leadership from Jason Botterill to Jim Rutherford at GM and Dan Bylsma to Mike Johnston behind the bench didn't help and the reported potential change of ownership probably won't have much of an effect on the team's fortunes on the ice either.
The possible sale of Mario Lemieux's stake in the franchise via Morgan Stanley could have farther reaching effects on the current makeup of the roster, and specifically, the future of superstar Evgeni Malkin, though.
"And look - they're not trading Crosby," said Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman while appearing on Calgary's Sportnet 960 on Friday, via TodaysSlapshot.com. "But I will tell you this - there have been rumors about Malkin's happiness. About whether or not he wants to stay. I think that was directed exactly at them. I have no idea if the Penguins are going to trade Malkin. I would suspect no until a sale gets done. But I can tell you this - there are people around the league who have been saying they've been hearing rumors Malkin is not happy and would welcome a change of scenery."
While trading Malkin seems farfetched - and would undoubtedly have an impact on the team's performance next season - the Penguins can't simply go into another season with the top end of their lineup as-is.
It's been a recipe for disappointment to this point and will presumably continue to be so unless and until some type of significant alteration is made - and no, Lemieux's departure does not count.
Malkin's though, would.
He's one of the best players in the NHL; he had 28 goals and 42 assists for the Pens last year despite appearing in just 69 games. But his massive cap hit - $9.5 million through 2021-22 - combined with Sidney Crosby's - $8.7 million through 2024-25 - has hamstrung the Penguins personnel-wise in recent seasons and left Rutherford scrambling for secondary scoring at the trade deadline this year.
It's made the Penguins a top-heavy team with little in the way of consistent contributors lower in the lineup, putting them in a difficult situation whenever Malkin and/or Crosby inevitably miss time due to injuries or suffer downturns in play.
Malkin's deal, like all superstars, carries a no-trade clause which kicked in on July 1, 2013. Moving him, and his enormous salary, is unlikely.
Still, watching teams like the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning lay waste to the rest of the Eastern Conference field via a deep roster of forwards, but without any superstars making the same type of money as Malkin and Crosby - though that's set to change for the Lightning and Steven Stamkos very soon - has to have Pittsburgh's brass - whoever sticks around after the team's potential sale - rethinking their current structure.
