Lars Eller was a bedrock piece of the 2023-24 Pittsburgh Penguins. Eller was the voice in the room voicing displeasure and anger when things were chaotic, and the team was lost. Eller was the person willing to call out his team for performances that were stunningly insufficient, if not unprofessional. He played all 82 games with responsibility and purpose. Eller also scored at a solid rate, adding 15 goals to the Penguins lineup. However, the Penguins’ third line, led by Eller for nearly all of the 82-game season, was not able to consistently deliver adequate production. The rotating cast of c ..read more

There has been a groundswell of speculation — not a syllable of which has been confirmed at this point — about an ongoing dispute between Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan and Kyle Dubas, the team’s president of hockey operations and general manager, over possible changes to the coaching staff. Some have gone so far as to describe it as a “power struggle.” It is not. Regardless of how hostile (or civil) any disagreements between the two might be, they do not constitute a power struggle. This content is for PHN+ subscribers only. Visit the site and log in/register to read. The post A Peng ..read more

Mike Sullivan is the Pittsburgh Penguins’ head coach. It seems that is news, as rumors and innuendo have picked up since the Penguins missed the playoffs for the second consecutive year. Fueling speculation is the vocal contingent of fans who would happily gobble up news reports and opposing opinions. Sullivan is the second longest-tenured coach in the NHL, behind the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Jon Cooper. He was promoted to the Penguins’ bench in December 2015, after just a few months with the organization where he was coaching the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL. Sullivan took over for ..read more

The noise and chatter surrounding the Pittsburgh Penguins this week have not yet yielded a conclusion, but if there are changes coming, they should start behind the Penguins’ bench. Associate coach Todd Reirden, who runs the power play and defensemen, oversaw two areas of significant concern this season, with very little improvement, if not a downward spiral. Per club policy, assistant coaches no longer speak to the media, so we don’t know much about the internal workings of the Penguins coaching room or the opinions of those coaches, but the undeniable truth is that the things under Reirden’s ..read more

It was not a blockbuster news day in the NHL, but black smoke was coming from the old basilicas of the Metro Division. The Pittsburgh Penguins retool is not underway, but something is afoot. Alex Ovechkin tacitly admitted he’s running out of steam to catch Wayne Gretzky’s goal record while the Washington Capitals GM said he would be hit the NHL trade block and free agency to find scoring help. The New Jersey Devils are looking for a bit more grit in their lineup, and the Stanley Cup Playoffs said goodbye to the New York Islanders and Winnipeg Jets. It’s been an interesting couple of days cover ..read more

T.J. Oshie has been the competitor who burned the Pittsburgh Penguins time and again as a member of the Washington Capitals. The chippy forward was nearly a member of the Penguins as former general manager Jim Rutherford tried to acquire him in 2015 before Washington successfully pried him from the St. Louis Blues. Oshie, 37, has not scored more points against any other NHL team than the Penguins. He has scored 34 points in 42 career games against the Penguins (a mark he’s tied against the New York Islanders and Chicago Blackhawks). However, father time waits for no one. Persistent back issues ..read more

Round One of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is showing a clear and large difference between the top teams in the Eastern and Western Conferences and everyone else. Not since 1987 has there been an opening round without a 2-2 series, and had the Dallas Stars not beaten the Vegas Golden Knights Monday night, 2024 would have been the next. A trio of teams, including the stout Winnipeg Jets and talented Toronto Maple Leafs, face elimination in Game 5 Tuesday. So, why do the Pittsburgh Penguins even bother trying to remain competitive or regain a playoff spot? They won’t win the Stanley Cup anytime soon ..read more

The Pittsburgh Penguins kept 2019 first-round prospect Sam Poulin in the fold for the next two seasons but also brought in a Swedish goalie who was a former Detroit Red Wings draft pick. Immediately, more questions about Alex Nedeljkovic’s future arose. Filip Larsson, 25, is the Swedish goalie about whom little is known. He was a sixth-round Red Wings pick in 2016 but has taken a circuitous route back to North America. And that’s why fans shouldn’t read too much into the signing. Penguins’ top goalie prospect Joel Bloomqvist decidedly did not perform well in the AHL playoffs, drawing a clear d ..read more

The Pittsburgh Penguins have re-signed forward Sam Poulin, who was scheduled to be a restricted free agent this summer. It is a two-year deal that carries a salary-cap hit of $775,000. They also agreed to a two-year contract with free-agent goaltender Filip Larsson, who was Detroit’s sixth-round selection in the 2016 draft. Larsson’s contract also has a $775,000 cap hit. Poulin, 23, appeared in three games with the Penguins during the 2023-24 season. He put up 16 goals and 15 assists in 41 games with their American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre. Poulin, who is 6-foot-1, 208 pounds, i ..read more

There is, of course, no way of knowing how the Pittsburgh Penguins would have fared if they’d qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs. Perhaps they would have sustained the momentum of their late-season surge, and made a legitimate run at upsetting a team that finished far ahead of them in the Metropolitan Division standings. Or maybe the push to get in would have left them physically and mentally spent, and their first-round series would have been all but officially over before a game had been played at PPG Paints Arena. Could have been the former. Might have been the latter. Or something in b ..read more