"They're a little bit hungrier. They want more, like, to win. They're blocking shots, they're forechecking, backchecking, like ... they look like they want more, like, win."
That was from Evgeni Malkin.
"They just defended way harder. I think they wanted it more than us."
That was from Kris Letang.
"They made it hard for us. That's basically the end of the story."
That was from Bryan Rust. And damned if he wasn't right, because it really was the end of these weird Penguins' perpetually wandering winter, this 3-1 loss to the Islanders that wound down a stunning first-round sweep from the Stanley Cup playoffs.
And everyone up there was right about the root cause: The other guys wanted it a hell of a lot more.
Which is to say, uh ... wow.
The summer to come will offer far too many days to dissect all that went awry, not just in this cameo playoff but in all the many missteps along the way that unquestionably contributed. For now, though, this immediacy, this door-slam to the collective nose of all concerned, almost makes it feel more appropriate to skip further ahead and wonder ... man, what's next?
In that spirit, then, in lieu of the standard postseason post-mortem, I'll offer the following 16 slices of advice, purely from my perspective, that this franchise should take into this offseason and the 2019-20 NHL season.
You know, one for every additional playoff win they'll need ...
16. Don't touch the core.
Let's dispense with any silliness right at the outset: Neither Malkin nor Letang will go anywhere.
I cringe at having to invest even a couple sentences in this, but it won't happen. The owners of this franchise, Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle, believe in the star structure, they believe in Sidney Crosby, Malkin and Letang as individuals on and off the ice, and they're not going to be anywhere near some all-out blowup mode, which is what moving one or both of Malkin or Letang would involve.
I'm not guessing at any of the above.
Not. Going. To. Happen.
Let's proceed, in fact, as if this never came up.
15. Recognize the core's reality.
One of countless benefits of having one of hockey's most brilliant minds atop the franchise is that emotions and the moment won't unduly sway decisions.
Crosby had one assist, a minus-4 and, as he admirably acknowledged after the series, "I've got to do more personally to contribute." Malkin had a goal, two assists and was no more of a five-on-five factor than he's been for months. Letang made the awful decision to pinch on New York's latest tying dagger, and he, like the other two, was nowhere near regular-season form, never mind career norms:
Those are all glaring giveaways, none better or worse than the other. And they're emblematic of how all three showed, to varying degrees. None was great, and all were needed to be great.
I share not to isolate blame on the stars, as isolated blame itself would be badly flawed following a failure this complete. Rather, it's to underscore the unwanted truth that the core, while still capable of being an exceptional core, isn't enough to carry the process. And that's instructive. That's helpful. I really believe that. Think back to those championship Detroit teams and how they worked around older, smarter versions of some of their great players. The Red Wings didn't discard Steve Yzerman, Nicklas Lidstrom and the like but just kept morphing around them as each of their games matured.
It's the morphing that's the challenge.
14. Don't touch that draft pick.
No need to elaborate on this, but definitely a need to mention it: If it weren't for the Florida trade, Jim Rutherford's best move of the season might have been finally clinging to a first-round pick in the NHL Draft. That's got to become the new standard in Pittsburgh.
The Penguins have had four first-round picks in the past decade, none since 2014. Of those they've kept, only Olli Maatta wound up contributing, and the rest -- Beau Bennett, Joe Morrow, Derrick Pouliot and the traded Kasperi Kapanen -- did next to nothing, for a variety of reasons.
Elite young talent is needed, and it isn't easy finding it in the third round, as Jake Guentzel was. With Wilkes-Barre/Scranton so thin, it missed the AHL's Calder Cup playoffs for the first time in 17 years, and with the parent club needing youth, speed and energy, this isn't a future thing anymore. It's a now thing.
13. Trade Maatta and Patric Hornqvist.
No significant change can come without significant cap room. Rutherford's been bumping his head on the cap since his arrival, so he's needed to get creative in trades and, to his credit, has done far more good than harm. But it's unrealistic to expect an endless run of winners from the same hat, like the most recent ones in Jared McCann, Nick Bjugstad, Erik Gudbranson and Marcus Pettersson.
Maatta's a fine NHL defenseman, but he's got a $4,083,333 cap hit each of the next three seasons. If he's not deemed valuable enough to play the final three playoff games, healthy and all, then he's not worth that money within the scope of this roster.
Plus, Maatta, unlike Jack Johnson, who's got a $3.25 million cap hit each of the next four seasons and is eight years older at age 32, would bring an actual trade return. Johnson's would need to be some sort of cash dump, which doesn't really achieve much.
Hornqvist's also 32, but he'd be an easier sell, even at a $5.3 million cap hit each of the next four seasons. There's always a team somewhere, just as the Penguins once were, who'll give up plenty for a guy eager to do what he does. And they might not even mind the recent health history or declining goal production, from 29 last season to 18 this one, then nothing in the playoffs.
But caution is advised: Complaining about a lack of team-wide hunger, then trading Hornqvist ... those aren't concepts that coexist easily.
12. Trade ... Phil Kessel?
"We'll see what happens," was pretty much all Kessel would observe regarding his own future with the Penguins, but expect that to blossom into an Antonio Brown-sized local issue this summer.
I'm not sure it'll happen.
Maatta and Hornqvist will bring a return. Kessel's got a $6.8 million cap hit each of the next three seasons, he'll turn 32 in October and, being blunt here, if he's not putting up points, he's a minimal return on the investment. For reasons not readily apparent, in spite of a point-a-game regular season, his production at five-on-five nosedived -- 15 total even-strength goals, three in the calendar year 2019 -- and he curiously lost his panache as the power-play quarterback.
Kessel exhibited his characteristic playoff passion through this round, but he put up all zeroes in the final three games, thanks in part to not burying chances like this one Tuesday:
Credit New York defenseman Scott Mayfield for bailing out Robin Lehner, but that's got to be a goal.
Another reason I'm skeptical it'll happen: Simple math suggests 82 points will be subtracted. Maybe a replacement player will be more complete, more compatible with everything Mike Sullivan seeks in a forward. But it's still 82 points. That's scary.
11. Clone McCann.
This kid. All day long.
He's fast, he's fired up, he's smart and skilled, and he's still a babyfaced 22. He's everything Rutherford and Sullivan should be seeking as they'll -- ideally -- aim to restructure this roster. Because they need all of those traits, and they need them across all four lines, maybe a little on defense, too.
Unfortunately, the only NHL team that makes a more generous trading partner than Florida is Edmonton, and the other 28 tend to be a lot brighter. So Rutherford might need to take a flier on a player undervalued somewhere else. Or try a free agent he and his advance scouts trust, the same way they were giddy over getting McCann.
Just make sure that, when there's any doubt in the scouts' room, someone points to the big McCann poster they should pin on the wall.
10. Find Sid, Jake a friend.
Formidable first lines still work. Ask everyone in Denver how it's worked out for the Avalanche grouping Nate MacKinnon with Mikko Rantanen and Gabe Landeskog. Whether it's a quality team like Colorado or a lesser light like New Jersey, the stacked No. 1 line gives a coach, no matter the opponent, no matter the countering system, a weapon every time he sends them over the boards.
And I'm guessing Sullivan concurs since, with his own back to the figurative glass in this game, he regularly dispatched the highly unusual trio of Crosby between Malkin and Kessel.
I've been assured by this coaching staff that Sid's linemates are always the top priority. I believe that. But it can become a personnel priority, too. Rutherford can use his cap space to pursue a potentially superior fit alongside Crosby and Guentzel, so that Sullivan isn't entering a playoff with his options being an ice-cold Rust, McCann on his wrong hand, or Dominik Simon principally because Simon could help on the breakout.
As delicately noted above, the core can excel. Crosby, as he exhibited all season, can still be considered the best 200-foot player in the game. But Guentzel, wonderful as he's been, is only half of what's needed for that line to go.
9. Leave the lines alone.
What's the worst way to attack inconsistency?
Right. More inconsistency.
Crosby finished the season logging 1,105 minutes of five-on-five time alongside Guentzel, 523 alongside Rust, 264 alongside Simon, 145 alongside Hornqvist, 125 alongside McCann, 96 alongside Kessel, 84 alongside Derick Brassard, 37 alongside Zach Aston-Reese, 21 alongside Riley Sheahan, 17 alongside Nick Bjugstad, 13 alongside Garrett Wilson, 10 alongside Matt Cullen.
Circumstances apply, of course. People get hurt. People come and go for various reasons. Some are deployed for specific faceoff scenarios.
Still, there can't be any question that the lines change far more often under Sullivan than they should. And no one needs to look any further than this airtight opponent for proof. The Islanders' forward lines -- all four of them -- remained remarkably intact through most of the season, Barry Trotz trusting and valuing that their chemistry, their camaraderie would supersede his own game-to-game, shift-to-shift whims. Which is how their fourth line of Matt Martin, Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck created more offense than any line in the series. They knew where the other would be, how the other wanted a pass, where to bank on the breakout.
It's one thing to preach "identity," as Sullivan did since training camp. It's quite another to alter that on a near-daily basis -- right at ice level -- and another still to try a panicky-looking move in Game 1 with the still-inexplicable scratching of Johnson.
Consistency must begin behind the bench.
8. Favor youth, in general.
When Teddy Blueger shows something, keep playing him. When Adam Johnson shows something, keep playing him. When Juuso Riikola shows something, keep playing him.
It's admirable that Sullivan stuck by Marcus Pettersson, 22, as he did all through his rookie maturation. Same goes for McCann, though he arrived with a good bit more NHL polish. But it's also not the standard that's been set. And if this series doesn't convince not only this GM to get younger, faster and more energetic, but also this head coach, then I'm not sure anything will.
Anyone notice the Islanders' expressions and enthusiasm when they scored, or even between whistles?
They aren't all children, of course, but enough of them are.
Anyone notice the pulsating passion of other teams in the East such as the Blue Jackets and Hurricanes?
Sure, their buildings aren't exactly known for playoff settings so there's a novelty element, but they've got them bursting. And they're bursting because of what they're sharing.
Malkin's English is far better than my Russian, so I'd never diminish how he speaks his second language. Emotional as he was in an extended media session after this game, that only added to the difficulty in understanding what he hoped to get across. But I think he pulled it off, if I print it all out here for context: "It's a tough loss. But next year, we've got to understand, young guys ... they're hungry, every team they're trying to win. Like, we're not champions anymore. Like, no one anywhere respects our team. Everyone wants to beat Penguins. And like, I want the same thing from my teammates. We had a tough year, we come to playoffs and try, but it's ... hard."
Rough translation: Help. Get us some more kids.
7. Value Matt Murray.
Murray finished 2018-19 on the best sustained roll of his career, including the championship years. He'd never been asked to carry the Penguins the way he did by starting 21 of the last 22 games, and rescuing them night after night en route to the playoffs. And in this series, with his teammates popping a solitary goal in each of the final three games, he'd barely register as a footnote if he hadn't kept them in each of those.
So pay him. And respect him. In that order.
There's another year at $3.75 million on his contract, after which he'll be a restricted free agent. This summer would make a fine time to talk about a long-term extension, certainly one that would be longer than Casey DeSmith's that runs two additional years.
Beyond that, Sullivan and staff could strongly consider how to utilize this iron-man experience Murray just had. Maybe he's not the type to play half the games, then get hurt, then return and play half the games. Maybe he needs the net, and he needs it right from the first drop of the puck.
Loved his performance. Loved his personality through it. Loved, too, how he credited Lehner at the far end for his own performance on the ice and in life, having overcome major mental health obstacles.
"He's battled through a lot," Murray would say, unprovoked. "Nothing but respect and admiration for him."
Murray's due the same.
6. Either get faster ...
Malkin's response when asked if the Penguins were fast enough in this series was a beauty: "No. If we’re fast enough, we win game. They score two-on-one every goal, every game. We need to be faster, for sure. We’re not slow, but if you want to win, you need to be one step forward."
Yep. No one senses that stuff like the players themselves.
Get to work, gentlemen.
5. ... or mix up the systems.
I've never had a problem with Sullivan's system. I don't even now. Not at its core. The man's got two rings to show it works wonderfully when applied correctly.
But what about when the players don't apply it correctly?
Or worse, can't?
It's wholly possible that the Penguins have outgrown -- or out-aged or out-slowed -- a system that was built for the Carl Hagelin style, back when they were out-possessing everyone 2-to-1 to a dominant championship run. They aren't as slow as some claim, but neither are they that team. Nor the one from the following summer.
Barring some welcome infusion of massive speed, maybe the summer's wisely spent in thinking beyond that system. Sure, Sullivan and staff switch and adjust at times, as they did with tactical precision in that late-season critical victory over Carolina. But there isn't nearly enough of that, certainly not in-game, and that's not taking fullest advantage, I'd say, of a team capable of switching structure as needed.
I get the distinct impression, actually, they'd like it. Suffice it to say that several players brought up the notion that the system could use some adjustments between now and next season. Malkin went on the record with, "Maybe their system a little bit better," regarding the Islanders under Trotz.
Even Western teams have an easy time scheming for the Penguins anymore, since nothing really changes.
4. Stop the pinching already.
Another player expressed to me a wish that all the defense pinching could be harnessed in specific settings. I didn't have the time to detect if that sentiment was widespread, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't.
Remember, this is two years in a row Trotz has eliminated the Penguins from the playoffs, and it's two years in a row that Trotz's team capitalized on a bunch of odd-man breaks, mostly because of defensive pinching. As the player worded it, there are times to do it, times not, teams to do it against, teams not. Shouldn't take that much to discern the difference.
Why is this ranked so high?
My goodness, it's losing entire playoff series, right?
3. Defend like the Islanders.
I'll have Sullivan's back on this line of his after the game: "It's hard to win in the playoffs if you don't defend. And if you don't take care of the puck. I think that's the lesson learned."
It damned well should be. If it hadn't been brought up a billion times through the regular season that this group is at its best when defending, when fronting the puck and when taking care of it after that, all this discombobulation might have been easier explained. As it was, the players' inability or unwillingness to follow through on this consistently was the inexcusable culprit.
Watch Mat Barzal come off the boards Tuesday:
... and watch McCann and Hornqvist offer him helpful tips on how do that.
That's not on the coaching. That's a one-goal playoff elimination game transpiring up there, I'll remind. And the number of times in the series the Penguins were afforded that kind of avenue inside the New York circles couldn't have been counted on a single hand.
I'd really, really like to think the players haven't tuned Sullivan out on this or any other stressing point. He's too good a coach. But I'm at a loss to explain it otherwise.
2. Reboot Malkin.
Malkin's a generational talent. Even in what he'd confess was "a bad year," even though he missed 14 games to injury, he put up 72 points, tying his second-highest output since 2011-12, his MVP season.
But he'll turn 33 in a couple months. And he, more than Crosby, more than Letang, needs to think long and hard about who he's going to be in the next phase of his career.
Because it can't be this Geno-rama he tried in this game:
Or this familiar rush down the right side where he tries to simply overpower a defender and do one of those circle-the-zone skates on his backhand:
Or this Alexei Kovalev rewind of needlessly trying to beat someone one-on-one when he had ample other options:
Sit down with Mario. Or Sid. Talk about it. Truly great players who've already experienced it are right under his roof. Mario came back as a Brett Hull-level gunner. Sid's become a bona fide Selke candidate. His Russian countrymen offer their own compelling examples, notably Sergei Fedorov and Pavel Datsyuk. They took on more responsible roles, trading individual dynamics for team dynamics.
Don't doubt Malkin's drive any more than his talent. He wants to be great. He knows he's supposed to be great. He doesn't accept his level of play this season, and he shouldn't. He and I had talks all season, especially on the road, that strongly reflected his ongoing search for answers.
Now's the time. Pull up a chair.
1. Find a little humility.
"I still believe the future's bright for the organization. There's some special players here. This particular group, we just weren't able to get it done. It's tough."
That was Cullen. He's 42. He just played, almost surely, his final game after 21 NHL seasons.
Rutherford brought him back for a final go in part, as he spoke at the signing, because he felt the Penguins' room could benefit from his leadership, that this needed a boost from the previous season. And all that occurred, as it turned out, was that the work on the ice became that much more ragged, that much more unpredictable.
It'd be bizarre to blame Cullen for that. Or Crosby. Or anyone wearing any letter on any sweater.
I'm not comfortable pinning that on Sullivan, either. Not when I heard the right message again and again and again, and I know the players heard it, too.
So what happened? What was missing?
I put that directly to Malkin:
" ... they look like they want more, like, win."
Let that one resonate. Because he wasn't lying.
There's an arrogance that's permeated the Penguins, right through to the room itself. It's been coming for a while, and it dug in deep this season. It's not Crosby, of course. It isn't Malkin or Letang or Murray. It wasn't any of the new acquisitions, all of whom were genuinely thrilled to arrive. It wasn't most of the players, actually. But there was a palpable sense of privilege, of entitlement, among some of the rest and even some of the team's support staff that was far, far different than the recent Cup years. And I dare say it affected everyone.
Frankly, it wasn't a very fun place to be. As someone who covers the Steelers and Pirates equally, this was the least of the three environments by the broadest of margins.
Infinitely more important, out on the ice, there was a lack of push, a lack of "being on our toes," to borrow one of Sullivan's favorite phrases. They'd do just enough to squeak by on some nights, crank it up when needed on others. And by the time they ran into a team that did all the right things as a matter of course, there was no more switch to flip.
One person very, very high up in the organization saw this coming. Grabbed my elbow near an elevator on Long Island after one of those periods in which the Islanders just engulfed the Penguins and remarked, "Never saw that with the Cup teams, did you?"
Nope. And that won't be seen again around here for a while. Not with real reflection and authoritative action.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Penguins vs. Islanders, Game 4, PPG Paints Arena, April 16, 2019 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS
