The Pittsburgh Penguins are within the early levels of a rebuild and have spent a lot of the 2024-25 season promoting off veteran property to gather draft picks and prospects. They hope to finish this rebuild comparatively shortly, however the playoffs by no means appeared like a practical chance at any level this season.
Regardless of all of this, they’ve gone on a bit of little bit of a run because the NHL commerce deadline and gained 4 video games in a row after Saturday’s 7-3 win over the New Jersey Devils.
That successful streak has included three wins towards playoff groups (Vegas, Minnesota and New Jersey) and a St. Louis workforce that has been one of many hottest groups within the league over the previous month.
Instantly after Saturday’s sport, they have been capable of near inside simply 4 factors of a wild-card spot within the Japanese Convention, and no less than create the phantasm they may nonetheless be in that playoff race.
The issue is that it’s simply that — an phantasm. It’s a mirage. It’s fantasy to suppose they nonetheless have an opportunity on the playoffs, and it has little to do with the state of the roster or the way in which they’re taking part in proper now.
It principally comes right down to a numbers sport, and the way there’s most likely simply not sufficient time to make up that kind of hole with only one month to play within the common season.
It isn’t simply the purpose deficit that issues. It’s also the mix of the variety of groups between them and a playoff spot, in addition to the variety of video games all people nonetheless has to play. After Saturday’s sport, the Penguins have already performed 69 video games this season, which is greater than each different workforce in rivalry for a playoff spot within the East.
Ottawa and Columbus, the 2 groups at present occupying wild-card spots, nonetheless have three video games in hand on them, whereas the New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins and New York Islanders are all in the identical state of affairs.
Have a look at it one other approach: The present level tempo for the second wild-card spot within the Japanese Convention is 88 factors. Which means the Penguins would wish to complete the season with 89 factors to eclipse that, and that’s assuming not one of the different groups forward of the choose up their tempo. A playoff spot normally requires no less than 90-95 factors in regular years. For them to get to simply 89 factors they would wish 23 factors over their remaining 13 video games. That will be an 11-1-1 document. That’s simply not more likely to occur.
The Penguins rebuild is definitely off to a promising begin. They nonetheless have excellent NHL gamers (Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell, Erik Karlsson) and a quickly bettering farm system with some bonafide NHL prospects (Rutger McGroarty, Ville Koivunen, Owen Pickering) that ought to have the ability to make an affect within the NHL as quickly as subsequent season. In addition they have 30 draft picks over the following three years, which is greater than another workforce within the NHL over that stretch with an actual alternative so as to add extra this offseason. They’ve an opportunity to show this round shortly. It’s simply not going to be this season, irrespective of what number of video games they win proper now.
