To say it was an underwhelming 2022-23 NHL season for the Pittsburgh Penguins would be an understatement.

For the first time since Sidney Crosby's rookie season in 2006, the Penguins missed the playoffs.

Technically, they were also knocked out in the qualifying round of the 2020 postseason as well but had at least ranked fifth in the Eastern Conference up until the COVID pause.

After missing the playoffs, the organization quickly made some changes.

The team fired President of Hockey Operations Brian Burke, General Manager Ron Hextall, and Assistant General Manager Chris Pryor. So now, the question is: where do the Penguins go from here?

Recent Decisions

There were questions after their early playoff exit last season as to whether the Penguins were still contenders.

With Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin both in their mid-30s and set to become free agents, Pittsburgh could've turned their focus to integrating younger talent. However, they doubled down and re-signed both players to multi-year deals.

The Penguins also opted to re-sign others, like Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust. Both players are right around 30 years old, so we know with the extensions, each player is likely to see a decline by the end of the deal.

Then at the trade deadline, the Penguins gave up future assets for Mikael Granlund and Dmitry Kulikov.

Essentially, the Penguins made it clear that trying to win now was the goal, no matter what it meant for the future. That's what makes the result this season such a devastating outcome.

Possible Directions

Obviously, the core is continuing to age. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang have all hit 35 years old.

It's clear the Penguins were aiming to have a few last runs with the group and even with a change in management, there's a good chance this is still the case.

The other option would be kickstarting a rebuild.

Perhaps that could be the route for whoever comes in to replace Burke and Hextall, but with several players under contract for the next few years, it doesn't seem feasible to actually be able to sell players off.

Plus, any rebuild would likely involve the core players moving on, which would mark a major change.

The reality is the Penguins will probably aim to try to improve and get back into the hunt.

They will have quite a bit of cap space but will need to make decisions on some free agents. Jason Zucker and Tristan Jarry will both hit the market this summer, along with defensemen Brian Dumoulin and Dmitry Kulikov.

So, while they could take a swing in free agency, if they don't re-sign Zucker and Jarry, much of their cap space will probably go towards replacing them. They could look to add via trade, but then they're giving up even more future assets.

Right now, Pittsburgh's ability to compete still rests on their core players. Plus, almost every key player they have is already in their 30s or will be soon.

At the point in which Crosby, Letang and Malkin really hit a decline, it's all but over for the Penguins' chances.

At that point, they'll be far outside the playoff race and facing a long rebuild. It's a matter of deciding what happens until then.

Looking Ahead

If Pittsburgh chooses to truly go for another Stanley Cup, then trading future assets would the route to go.

You can look at it in the sense that the Penguins will do whatever it takes to make their last runs with their core count. If that's the case, assets like their first-round pick this year could be in play.

At the same time though, there's the consideration of how bad of a spot does management want to leave this team, after the core ages out.

They won't be a playoff team once the Crosby era fully comes to an end, but trading off more assets now will set them back even further.

Even making a decision on a player like Jake Guentzel isn't straightforward. He's essentially a point-per-game forward, but he also has a single year left on his contract and will be 30 years old for the start of the 2024-25 season, when his next contract would begin.

Re-signing Guentzel would be a short-sighted decision. If the team's goal is to compete at all costs, they're going to extend him, but it'll likely hurt the Penguins later.

Chances are that Guentzel commands a maximum-term extension. He'll be helpful for the start of the contract but within a few years, he could be a player in decline on a rebuilding team with significant term remaining.

So, we'll see where the Penguins go from here. It could be full steam ahead, or we could see some hesitation in continuing to sell off future assets.

At the very least, Pittsburgh's disastrous season is forcing the organization to reevaluate where they stand.