Pens Points: Looking Ahead

It’s now been a week since the Pittsburgh Penguins concluded their 2022-23 season and there isn’t much to right home about since front office cleanout last Friday. Instead, the Penguins are more or less stuck in a holding pattern for the time being while Fenway Sports Group goes about its business retooling the hockey operations, a process that will likely take weeks.

Pens Points...

It’s very, very early into what will be a long offseason for the Penguins franchise after missing the playoffs. What comes next will all be determined by who is put in charge and what their vision is for the path ahead. [Pensburgh]

This will not be the first rodeo for Fenway Sports Group when it comes to making a front office hire. In the past they tried to hire Billy Beane then landed on Theo Epstein for the Red Sox, moves which shed some light on what to expect for the Penguins. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

Whether you win the Stanley Cup or fail to make the playoffs, each offseason comes with roster decisions to be made. For the Penguins, there are a lot of question marks that will need to be dealt with this summer. [The Athletic $$]

All signs point to the Penguins retooling this roster over the summer with plans on being a contender rather than going into a rebuild. That will require them to be a cap team and contracts coming off the books allow for some contract wiggle room. [The Hockey News]

One of the players who does have a contract for next season (and beyond) and figures to play a major role in the Penguins Cup dreams is forward Rickard Rakell, who believes the Penguins can win again and soon. [Trib Live]