The Pittsburgh Penguins are in danger of missing the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time in 18 years. That 2006 season was Sidney Crosby's first in the NHL, and he & the Penguins would go on to make the playoffs in 16 consecutive seasons, winning three Stanley Cups in the process.
There doesn’t appear to be a Stanley Cup on the horizon for the Penguins this season. Pittsburgh is eight points off a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Along with that, the Penguins are actively shopping former 40-goal scorer Jake Guentzel ahead of the March 8 deadline.
Guentzel hasn’t played in three weeks as he recovers from an upper-body injury. Despite that, teams are still inquiring to the Penguins about the 29-year-old who is set to be a free agent after the season.
Pittsburgh should still have some leverage and will likely get what they want for Guentzel. With all of the trade rumors pouring in, Penguins beat reporter Josh Yohe suggests that the pressure of another non-playoff season looming over the fact that the Penguins are about to trade Crosby's best teammates rather than extend his contract is weighing on Pittsburgh's captain.
“I have to wonder how impacted Sidney Crosby is by how the Penguins are playing right now,” Yohe wrote on Tuesday. “He didn’t play a bad game against the Blue Jackets by any stretch, but I thought it was perhaps his most quiet game of the evening. He didn’t look right. He didn’t look engaged the way he normally does.”
Crosby failed to record a point for the second straight game, though the Penguins did defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3. He knows, as well as Penguins fans, that he has probably already played his last game with Jake Guentzel.
As he wraps up the penultimate season of his 12-year contract, Sidney Crosby will be left to complete it with one less proven goalscorer.
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