When the Pittsburgh Penguins brought Erik Karlsson to Pennsylvania in the blockbuster trade of the summer, the expectation was that this roster would be back to competing for Stanley Cups in 2023-24.

Instead, Karlsson has two points in his last 10 games, the Pens powerplay is connecting at a despicable 9.5 percent clip — and hasn't scored since Nov. 11, an 0-for-37 stretch — and Pittsburgh is 11-12-3 and second-to-last in the Metropolitan Division.

Naturally, the question must be asked: how safe is head coach Mike Sullivan's job? For now, at least, no changes seem to be coming.

“Do I think that [Mike is] the right person for the job now and far into the future? I absolutely do,” Penguins president and general manager Kyle Dubas told NHL.com's Wes Crosby earlier this week.

“As soon as the team didn’t play to its potential, now it seems that right away, the focus shifts to coaching. I’m not sure exactly why that change has happened, whether it’s social media or just a greater focus on coaching, or what have you. With Sully, I had my impression of him coming in and my respect for him coming in. Being with him every day, and not only seeing his attention to detail on the systems but his attention to detail on the players and coaching them individually or personally, I think we’re very fortunate to have Mike.”

Penguins not looking to make changes

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Based on Dubas' comments, it looks like the team will try to ride out the cold stretch without making any front office changes. But it doesn't change the fact that it's been an absolutely brutal start to the year.

Dubas also confirmed that he wouldn't yet look for a solution outside of the organization.

“When it comes to how we dictate our course, I’m going to give the players and the coaching staff as much time as possible,” Dubas continued, per Crosby.

“So just by nature, I’m not going to make any decisions based on how we do this week or next week. When we get through the All-Star break and on the other side of that, we’ll have a better idea of what we are as a group and where we need to go. Are we close and need some help? Or do we need to have a deeper discussion on where we’re at as a club? Time is going to tell us that.”

The season is still early, and Pittsburgh is still just six points back of the second wildcard berth in the Eastern Conference. But the team needs to play much better, and it's already shaping up to be a long season in Pennsylvania.