Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jeff Carter has tested positive for the coronavirus, while goaltender Tristan Jarry was placed in the NHL's COVID-19 protocols, head coach Mike Sullivan announced Thursday, per team reporter Michelle Crechiolo.

Both players are asymptomatic and will be unavailable for Pittsburgh's next game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.

As of Sept. 27, the Penguins were waiting on one player to get his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to reach 100 percent vaccination, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It's unclear if that player has since received the second shot. 

Per NHL protocols, players must remain isolated for 10 days after testing positive for the coronavirus. A player can be released from isolation if they are asymptomatic, are vaccinated and test negative twice on two straight days within those 10 days. 

Carter and Jarry are the third and fourth Penguins to enter COVID-19 protocols this season. Forwards Zach Aston-Reese and Jake Guentzel tested positive for the virus during training camp. 

Carter had been filling in as Pittsburgh's top-line center with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin sidelined. Crosby underwent surgery on his left wrist in September, and Malkin is out with a knee injury. 

Crosby was expected to miss a minimum of six weeks, while Malkin isn't likely to return until late November. 

In four games this season, Carter has one goal and three assists. It's his first full season in Pittsburgh after being traded to the franchise by the Los Angeles Kings during the 2020-21 campaign. 

With Carter sidelined, Evan Rodrigues could see time as the Pens' No. 1 center. The 28-year-old has two goals and an assist in four games this season.

Teddy Blueger and Brian Boyle may also get bumped up to the second and third line, respectively, while Dominik Simon could shift from the right wing to center on the fourth line. That would allow someone like Sam Lafferty to slot in as the fourth-line right wing. 

Jarry, meanwhile, serves as Pittsburgh's No. 1 goaltender. He is 2-0-1 in three starts this season with a 1.62 goals-against average and .935 save percentage. 

With Jarry out, Casey DeSmith figures to start for the Penguins. The 30-year-old is in his fourth season with Pittsburgh and is 0-0-1 this season with a 4.92 GAA and .872 SV%

Louis Domingue could be recalled from the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to back up DeSmith. 

Pittsburgh is 2-0-2 on the season and first in the Metropolitan Division with six points. After facing the Maple Leafs on Saturday, the Pens will host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.  

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby joined the team for a morning skate ahead of Saturday's preseason finale against the Columbus Blue Jackets as he continues his recovery from wrist surgery on Sept. 8.

It marked the first time Crosby joined his teammates on the ice after previously skating before practices throughout training camp.

Pens head coach Mike Sullivan said he still doesn't expect the two-time Hart Trophy winner to play in road games against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday and Florida Panthers on Thursday to open the regular season, but he expects the 34-year-old center to take the trip.

"He is on schedule. And it does indicate progress," Sullivan told reporters. "That's obviously his first practice joining the group. I would anticipate more of that moving forward. We're real encouraged by the progress that he's made to this point. He's in terrific shape."

The Penguins' initial announcement stated Crosby, who scored 62 points in 55 games last season, was expected to miss "at least" six weeks to recover, which would put him on track to return around Oct. 20.

Pittsburgh general manager Ron Hextall said the NHL's longtime gold standard has dealt with the injury for a long time and the organization hoped an offseason of rest could help rectify the issue, but it became clear surgery was the best short- and long-term option.

"At some point, you ramp things up along the way," Hextall said. "The conclusion we came to was this procedure was the best way to proceed."

He added: "We all, including Sid, wish we had known this a month or two months ago. That would be great, but we are where we are."

The Penguins are also set to open the 2021-22 campaign without fellow star Evgeni Malkin, who's expected to miss the first two months of the season after June knee surgery.

Their absences will leave a major void in the middle of the ice for Pittsburgh.

Jeff Carter figures to center the top line, while Evan Rodrigues should see his most expansive role since joining the Pens in February 2020. Rodrigues did see some top-six minutes during his previous stint with the Buffalo Sabres, though he's never scored more than nine goals in a season.

After the Penguins return from Florida, they embark on an eight-game homestand. Crosby should return at some point during that stretch barring any setbacks.

The Pittsburgh Penguins were dealt a major blow Thursday, as it was announced that superstar center Evgeni Malkin will miss significant time during the 2021-22 NHL season.

According to Josh Yohe of The Athletic, Penguins general manager Ron Hextall said Malkin will miss at least the first two months of the season.

Malkin underwent knee surgery in June after initially suffering the injury in March.

The 35-year-old is a three-time Stanley Cup champion, seven-time All-Star, two-time Art Ross Trophy winner (most regular-season points) and has claimed the Calder Memorial Trophy (Rookie of the Year), Conn Smythe Trophy (Stanley Cup MVP), Hart Memorial Trophy (regular-season MVP) and Ted Lindsay Award (NHLPA's most outstanding player) one time each in his career.

Alongside Sidney Crosby, he has made the Penguins one of the most successful and feared teams in the NHL over the past 15 or so years. 

The Russian has scored over 100 points in three seasons and has hit 70 or more points 11 times in his career. 

But a right knee injury limited him to just 33 games in the 2020-21 season, and he was having something of a down year, scoring just eight goals and adding 20 assists. Scoring 28 points in 33 games wouldn't be an issue for most players, but it was just the second time in his career that Malkin's points didn't outnumber his games played. 

Nobody can play forever, and it's possible that Malkin's career is simply winding to a close. His latest injury might be another clue that's the case. 

In Crosby, Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust, the Penguins still have firepower. But there's little doubt that Malkin's scoring instincts and presence as the second-line center will be missed. 

Look for Jeff Carter to get bumped up to the second line in his place for at least the first two months of the campaign.

The Pittsburgh Penguins announced star Sidney Crosby underwent successful wrist surgery Wednesday and will miss at least six weeks, which includes the start of training camp.

"This is not a new injury for Sid," general manager Ron Hextall said. "It is something that he has played through for years. After exhausting all minimally invasive options and much discussion, it was decided that surgery was in his best interest."

Crosby has dealt with his share of injuries over the course of his 16-year career. He missed 28 games during the 2019-20 season with a core muscle injury. 

That season marked the first time in seven years that the 34-year-old sat out more than seven games. It's perhaps not a coincidence that season was arguably the worst year of his storied career. He had a negative plus-minus (minus-eight) for the first time since his rookie campaign in 2005-06.

The three-time Stanley Cup winner was better last season, posting a plus-eight with 62 points on 24 goals and 38 assists in 55 games.

The Pittsburgh Penguins traded center Jared McCann to the Toronto Maple Leafs for center Filip Hallander and a seventh-round pick, the team announced.

Elliotte Friedman originally relayed the terms of the deal ahead of the Saturday afternoon deadline to finalize rosters before the expansion draft.

McCann spent the last two-and-a-half seasons with Pittsburgh after being sent to the Penguins in a trade with the Florida Panthers. He's been solid but stuck playing on the third line behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. In 2020-21, McCann totaled 32 points (14 goals, 18 assists) in 43 games.

Per Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Penguins weren't going to protect him from the Seattle Kraken in Wednesday's expansion draft had they kept him.

Hallander is a 21-year-old prospect who was drafted by the Penguins in 2018 but was sent to Toronto as part of the August 2020 deal that brought Kasperi Kapanen to Pittsburgh. He has remained overseas on loan since being drafted, playing for the Lulea HF of the SHL the previous two seasons.

It seems likely that Hallander will make his way stateside sooner rather than later following the completion of this trade. 

Following their elimination from the playoffs to the New York Islanders, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced star forward Evgeni Malkin underwent successful knee surgery and is unlikely to be ready for the start of training camp.

Evgeni Malkin underwent successful surgery on his right knee.

Malkin is expected to be unavailable for training camp in September. The team expects to have a more definitive time frame for his return at that time.

Full details: https://t.co/XKwvOIf4CP pic.twitter.com/RS0A6RQgkx

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) June 4, 2021

The 34-year-old injured his right knee on March 16 against the Boston Bruins and did not return until May 3 for the final four games of the regular season. In the Islanders series, Malkin hardly looked like himself, netting just one goal with four assists in four games after missing the first two. 

The Russian center was in the midst of a slightly down year at the time of his injury. He played just 33 games during the regular season and netted 28 points (eight goals, 20 assists) while winning 42.5 percent of his faceoffs. 

It was the fewest games Malkin has played in a season since 2012-13, when he appeared in 31 because of a concussion and a shoulder injury while recording nine goals and 24 assists. Two years earlier, Malkin's season ended after 43 games when he tore the ACL and MCL in his right knee following a collision with then-Buffalo Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers—the same knee that required surgery this week.

There's no question he remains a large part of the Penguins organization as a franchise cornerstone along with Sidney Crosby. 

Malkin has one year remaining on an eight-year, $76 million deal and will become an unrestricted free agent following the 2021-22 season. Before he and the team talk about extending his time in the Steel City, Malkin will need to prove he's healthy and able to continue contributing to Pittsburgh's quest for a fifth Stanley Cup. 

Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan will reportedly return for the 2021-22 NHL season even though the team has failed to advance beyond the second round of the playoffs since winning the Stanley Cup in 2017, including three straight first-round exits.

A source told Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Tuesday that Sullivan is "100 percent" expected to retain his job with the "full support" of president of hockey operations Brian Burke and general manager Ron Hextall.

Sullivan took over as the Pens' bench boss in December 2015 after the in-season firing of Mike Johnston, and he proceeded to guide the franchise to back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in 2016 and 2017.

Pittsburgh's performance has faded since that initial dominance under the former NHL center. It was eliminated in the second round of the 2018 playoffs while seeking a three-peat and has followed with the early exits from the postseason the last three seasons.

The Penguins have still found plenty of regular-season success in recent years, posting a 121-65-21 record since the start of the 2018-19 campaign, but leading a franchise that's become accustomed to championship-level success during the Sidney Crosby era still landed him on the hot seat.

Sullivan didn't shy away from questions about his status after the team was eliminated last week by the New York Islanders, per DeFabo.

"Ultimately, you get judged on your success," he said Friday. "Our performance in the regular season, I think it would have to be acceptable that we won our division. But having said that, we have higher expectations in Pittsburgh. ... We didn't ultimately live up to that. We all have to take ownership for it."

In all, the 53-year-old Massachusetts native has led the Pens to a 251-131-43 record in the regular season and a 41-34 mark in the playoffs across six seasons. He went 70-56-15-23 during a prior two-season stint with the Boston Bruins (2003 through 2006).

All of the Penguins' key players, led by Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jake Guentzel and Kris Letang, are under contract to return next season, so expectations will be high once again.

The biggest point of emphasis in the offseason with no coaching change on the horizon could be finding competition for goalie Tristan Jarry, who posted a lackluster .888 save percentage in the playoffs.

Longtime Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang told reporters he wants to retire with the club alongside fellow core members Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin as he prepares to enter a contract year. 

Following the Pens' first-round elimination by the New York Islanders in six games, Letang said he's yet to speak with Pittsburgh's front office about an extension but doesn't want to play anywhere else. 

Kris Letang has yet to hear from Penguins management about his future. Emphasized he, Malkin and Crosby want to finish career in Pittsburgh.

— Rob Rossi (@Real_RobRossi) May 28, 2021

The 34-year-old is finishing up an eight-year, $58 million deal. Malkin is also scheduled to reach unrestricted free agency in 2022 after completing an eight-year, $76 million deal. Crosby, meanwhile, is still under contract through 2025. 

Each of the three franchise cornerstones have spent their entire NHL careers with the Penguins, helping the club win three Stanley Cups. 

In 15 seasons with the Pens, Letang has played 863 games with 582 points (134 goals, 448 assists) and 1,286 blocked shots. He's been named an All-Star in six seasons 

His 5.7 defensive point shares in 2010-11 rank as the third-best season by a Pittsburgh defenseman in team history and he leads the time in all-time defensive point shares at 45.7. 

Whether or not he can maintain that level of play entering his age-34 season remains to be seen. Most long-time defensemen who have stayed in the league into their late 30's and 40's have done so by changing their style of play. Chris Chelios is a prime example of someone who developed into a steady stay-home defenseman by taking shorter shifts and focusing his efforts on clearing the puck out of his zone. 

Yet Chelios wasn't able to finish his career with one team.

Letang, the Penguins' 62nd overall pick in 2005, has made clear he wants to only play in Pittsburgh.

That might require him—and Malkin—to take a pay cut depending on where the salary cap is after next season and how competitive Pittsburgh is up until that point. 

This marked the second time in three years the Pens didn't advance out of the first round of the postseason. Last year the club failed to advance out of the qualifying round inside the league's bubble. 

That leaves the front office with plenty to consider as their core pieces begin entering the later stages of their careers. 

UNIONDALE, New York — Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin cemented their legacies long before the 2021 postseason. That happened back in 2009 when they won their first of three Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

But there was still something unsettling about the way they were eliminated from the 2021 postseason Wednesday night with a 5-3 loss to the New York Islanders in Game 6 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series.

The Penguins probably have enough firepower to win another Cup. They have the center depth and the blue line. It's not the deepest roster, but they possess enough weapons to supplement Sid and Geno. They have the scoring, and they have the stifling defense to make it stand up. Maybe.

Pittsburgh had one of the best records over the final two months of the the season despite injuries to key players—Malkin included—but then was eliminated before the Eastern Conference Final for the fourth straight year. The games were close, including one overtime game, one double-overtime game and two others decided by one goal.

Either no one seems to know exactly what went wrong or no one is willing to point any fingers.

"I don't know if it's one thing," Crosby said in his postgame Zoom press conference. "I thought we got better as the series went on, and I think you look at two overtime games that we lost, being able to win one of those would have been huge. But I think we did a lot of good things. The last couple games we played really well."

It's not much of an answer, and it raises the question of whether this group has accomplished all it can together. We might be seeing the end of an era in Pittsburgh, or maybe the beginning of the end.

Malkin and Kris Letang each has a year remaining on his contract, so there will be talks of extensions this summer. But the club is right up against the salary cap, and with a new regime in charge, it's fair to question whether general manager Ron Hextall and team president Brian Burke might want to make changes to the roster or behind the bench.

If they can't extend Malkin or Letang, is it worth keeping them? Is it time for a roster shakeup?

"They've been saying that for four years, right, so I don't know if I'm going to change anybody's mind," Crosby said. "I think we did a lot of good things this year. You can look at every year and analyze it differently. We had a good group, and we easily could have made a run. I feel pretty confident about this group...with the way that we were trending and the way we finished the year. But it's a fine line in the playoffs."

All involved say this core has another deep run left in them, but they're running out of time to prove it.

"I believe in this core. This is the best core groups of players I have ever been around, bar none," coach Mike Sullivan said. "They're a passionate group, they are generational talents, they still can compete at an extremely high level and they've shown it game in and game out."

So if the core isn't the problem, then what is it?

You could point to a lack of roster depth, which is what happens in a flat-cap league when a team's money is tied up in its stars. The Penguins got vintage performances from Jeff Carter, whom they acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings at the deadline. He turned out to be a driving force in this series with four goals and an assist.

But what will he be capable of next year at 37? What does the depth look like with one of the talented young role players likely headed to Seattle next season via the expansion draft?

Of course, it would be impossible to look at this series and not think that the goaltending was a problem.

When the Penguins won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017, they had a franchise goalie in Marc-Andre Fleury and a 1-A backup in Matt Murray. They were both cleared out to make room for Tristan Jarry.

If you didn't know Jarry's name before this first-round series, you certainly do now. How could you not after the way the packed Coliseum crowd chanted his last name? It's not his fault his last name is exceptionally easy to chant, and with a group of fans at long last reveling in live hockey, you had to know it was coming with even the slightest of miscues.

And unfortunately for Jarry, there were miscues. And they were costly. One of them in particular cost the team Monday night in double-overtime, gifting the Islanders and Josh Bailey the game-winning goal with a poorly timed turnover in Game 5.

A five-goal Game 6 did little to inspire confidence.

Sullivan chose to protect his embattled goalie, declining to elaborate on any conversations he might have had with coaches about using Maxime Lagace to start the third period after the Islanders scored four times in the second.

"You win games as a team and you lose games as a team," Sullivan said. "It's not any one person's fault."

There is little reason to throw him under the bus after the last game of the series. Besides, he's not wrong. While many fans will blame Jarry for this series, it was not the goaltending alone that bounced Pittsburgh out of the playoffs in the first round.

The vaunted top-line was noticeably absent. Crosby was on the ice for three of the Isles' five goals and got burned in an odd-man rush on the second one.

Letang and others took some bad penalties that resulted in power plays, and discipline was an issue through some of the middle games as the Islanders were easily able to bait the Pens into skirmishes that resulted in their top players going to the penalty box. A player is useless if he can't stay on the ice.

And, of course, there was Barry Trotz's frustrating system. Everyone knows it, yet somehow few can get around it.

"They've done it for years. They play a very structured game, a very simple game, a patient game," Carter said. "When they get opportunities, they capitalize on them."

You can't blame Jarry alone for this playoff exit, and you definitely can't blame him for the past three. You can blame the people who made the decision to let Fleury go to the Vegas Golden Knights and traded Murray to the Ottawa Senators thinking Jarry would be good enough to supplant both of them. But that general manager, Jim Rutherford, isn't even in Pittsburgh anymore, having left the team in the middle of the season for "personal reasons."

So where do the Penguins go from here? What will they look like next season? The front office already has to be preparing for life after their heralded core, but it's difficult to do that without any first-round draft picks. With Pittsburgh constantly in win-now mode, they haven't had a lot of those—only six since 2009.

It's a tough balancing act to try to win now while also building for the future, but as long as Crosby is around they have no choice. There is no damage done to his legacy, but the expectation in Pittsburgh is he and the Penguins will continue to try to build upon it.

The Pittsburgh Penguins clinched a playoff berth with a 5-4 victory over the Washington Capitals.

A massive OT winner from Jake Guentzel (@jakenbake20) to send the @penguins to the #StanleyCup Playoffs!

NHL x @trulyseltzer pic.twitter.com/5sSTEUxp2H

— NHL (@NHL) April 30, 2021

Pittsburgh joins the Carolina Hurricanes, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vegas Golden Knight, Colorado Avalanche, Minnesota Wild and Capitals among clubs who have secured their postseason ticket. 

Meanwhile, the East Division draws closer to solidifying its playoff field with the Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres eliminated from contention. The New York Rangers, Boston Bruins and New York Islanders continue to battle for the final two postseason slots in the division. 

LOCKED IN! 🔒

The @penguins have clinched their spot in the 2021 #StanleyCup Playoffs. 🏆#LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/E9AVdbHNmd

— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) April 30, 2021

Pittsburgh failed to make it out of the qualifying round of the NHL's modified playoff format last season. Losing to the 12th-seeded Montreal Canadiens in four games was a bitter pill to swallow.

As long as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are on the roster, the Penguins can't afford to be stagnant. ESPN.com's Emily Kaplan and Greg Wyshynski gave the franchise a B-minus offseason grade, writing how general manager Jim Rutherford was "desperate to squeeze one more run out" and made improvements around the margins.

Rutherford promptly stepped aside in January, temporarily throwing the front office into disarray.

In general, the five-time Stanley Cup champions have largely played to type.

Crosby has scored 20 goals and assisted on 36 more, while Jake Guentzel is second on the team with 52 points (21 goals, 31 assists). Together, they form a deadly line at the front of Pittsburgh's attack.

The questions start right after that, especially since Malkin has missed an extended period of time due to a lower-body injury. Jason Zucker hasn't played well after making a positive impact during the second half of last year. Jeff Carter provided some depth ahead of the trade deadline, but the compressed schedule leaves little time for him to find a comfort zone before the playoffs are here.

The numbers speak for themselves. The Penguins' 3.34 goals scored per game are fifth-best in the NHL, and they own the second-best record in the East division at 33-15-3. They have an excellent attack, and Tristan Jarry (.911 save percentage and 2.71 goals-against average) isn't a big downgrade from Matt Murray.

Regarding that defense, though, Pittsburgh's 7-6 win over the New Jersey Devils on April 20 might be a warning sign as the team nearly threw away a six-goal lead in the third period.

The problem for the Penguins is that they look like a very good squad on paper but not a great one. Simply put, there are stronger contenders across the league, and some might argue within the East Division alone.

You can talk yourself into Pittsburgh being the last team standing given how well Crosby has played. Perhaps Jarry thrives in his first real playoff run as the guy between the pipes. But you can also envision a scenario in which the Pens are too reliant on Crosby and the goals dry up at the worst possible time. 

Head coach Mike Sullivan should be able to guide the franchise to the second round for the first time since 2018. Achieving something beyond that could be a challenge.