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Former Rival Sends Misguided Attack to Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins don't have what it takes to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and that isn't sitting well with a certain analyst.

Nick Horwat

Feb 22, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) talks with defenseman Erik Karlsson (65) and left wing Michael Bunting (8) against the Washington Capitals during the first period at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Feb 22, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) talks with defenseman Erik Karlsson (65) and left wing Michael Bunting (8) against the Washington Capitals during the first period at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
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The Pittsburgh Penguins are not a good team in the 2024-25 season, and despite never coming out and saying they are a rebuilding franchise, that’s exactly what they are. In their first game back after the 4 Nations Face-Off break, on national television, the Penguins got swatted 8-3 by the rival Washington Capitals.

During the second intermission of the beatdown, ESPN analyst and former NHLer P.K. Subban unloaded on the Penguins. Subban dug into the team being poorly built and called the situation “inexcusable.”

“This is a poorly built team,” Subban said. “They’re set up to fail. To me, the way this team is built, it’s inexcusable.”

What Subban might not know is that the Penguins aren’t supposed to be a good team this year. They’ve already started selling off huge pieces of their lineup and are putting an emphasis on building for the future.

Captain Sidney Crosby is still around and at the top of his game, and does have the drive to win, but he won’t be able to do that with the team around him. Crosby may have just put on a show at the 4 Nations Face-Off, helping lead Team Canada to gold, but everyone is aware the Penguins don’t have the talent to be playoff contenders.

“Crosby deserves way more than this,” Subban said. “At the level that he’s playing at, where he’s at right now in his game, his career… this is not enough for Sidney Crosby to do some damage with. He needs a better team around him.”

And that’s kind of the whole point. Team shooting for the Stanley Cup don’t trade away Jake Guentzel and Marcus Pettersson in back-to-back years.

Penguins president Kyle Dubas has been stockpiling draft picks, prospects, budding NHLers, and youngsters who have lost favor within their teams all in an effort to build a winning team in Pittsburgh after the Crosby era.

“To me, it’s on Kyle Dubas,” Subban said. “If it’s a rebuild, then rebuild. If it’s not, then we got to see better results on the ice.”

Well, it’s a rebuild.

No one within the organization has come out and said those words verbatim, but the writing is on the wall if you look even for more than a few seconds.

This isn’t the first time Subban has gone after Dubas and the Penguins. Last season after the trade deadline Subban went on a very similar reciting all the same bullet points. “Crosby deserves better,” and “it’s on management.”

The Penguins aren’t a playoff contender and are clearly looking forward to the future. Crosby may still be one of the best players in the NHL, but he is also committed to the Penguins no matter what direction they’re heading.

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Nick Horwat
NICK HORWAT

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