The Declining Penguins

For more than a decade, the Pittsburgh Penguins were one of the NHL’s most dominant franchises. With stars like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin leading the way, the team captured three Stanley Cups in a span of just eight years. However, over the past few seasons, the Penguins have struggled to maintain their winning ways. Some of the reasons are more obvious then others, but lets go over them.

Aging Roster

One of the biggest factors contributing to the Penguins decline is the age of the roster and that’s no big secret. Crosby, Malkin, and Letang who have been the face of the franchise for over a decade, are in their mid-30s. While they are still productive players and seem to show no signs of slowing, it will come, but the rest of the team is not Crosby, Letang, or Malkin, not even close.

The average age of the current Penguins roster is 29.8; yikes. For a team that’s supposed to play a speed game, it’s hard, if not impossible, to do that with a senior home roster. If the Penguins adopted a more Islanders style of play, I think this group would be much better suited and would probably have a few more wins under their belt, but Sullivan is set on playing a speed game with defensemen that activate.

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