As Sidney Crosby’s 12 game point streak came to an end in Sunday’s 3-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, 24 hours earlier was another Sidney Crosby Gem Saturday Afternoon against one of the NHL’s premier teams in the Dallas Stars. Will keep repeating this for the next eight to ten weeks:

This organization owes it to Crosby to do everything in their power to try to build next year’s roster up to a Wild Card level team. Let’s stop this talk of owing Sidney Crosby and the core another shot at a Stanley Cup. That is not reality. I mean come on.

While Crosby remains a clear cut Top-10 player and should continue that trend for at least one more season, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson are all fading as players that can elevate. Getting back to a Stanley Cup level is not going to happen anytime soon but getting back to a team sniffing the playoffs next season is not a pipe dream.

The reality is there’s a prime opportunity this summer is to get back to a wild card level team, while still building towards the future of being a sustainable Top 3 team in the division long-term. All intel for now is management will be aggressive that aligns with trying to reward Crosby but time will tell if that actually plays out.

TIOPS Plus +Among the Latest Developments:

The Penguins, according to multiple sources, have studied a vast group of teams over what worked and didn’t work. Dubas has often mentioned the New York Rangers, Los Angeles and recently the Washington Capitals. A team not in that group the Penguins have studied is the To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!

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Targeting shorter term, To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”! to try to boost the roster next season to a 90+ point level team, while keeping on the same long-term schedule of targeting younger players via trades and still leaving enough roster space for young players to grow. This is among the prominent discussions inside the organization in outlining a plan of attack this summer. Would you rather go To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”! on a To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”! impact forward in the short-term then To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”! million on a marginal To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”! forward or defenseman? This is all on-going right now.

–Three Straight Games against playoff opponents that included the NHL’s hottest team and a top-flight Stanley Cup contender where the Penguins controlled possession in all three games. What should we make out of it?

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  • Ice time for Philip Tomasino in 3 of his last four games (who was held out of tonight’s game vs Chicago for what team is saying an upper body injury): 7:09 vs DAL, 8:15 vs STL, 8:45 vs BUF. Tommy Novak’s injury has been a disappointment in seeing how a Novak/Tomasino pairing goes but there continues to be a belief in the organization there is a much higher view of Tomasino then To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!

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