A sense in the Penguins organization is a new reality is starting to set in with the older core. They believed over the summer the GM didn’t believe in them but there’s a feeling the wheels are being set in motion there’s nothing they can do to stop a tear down of the roster for this season. It feels real now. If Vancouver calls up today and offers a Second-Round Pick and Nils To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”! Management is prepared for some pain this season with the hopes of building things back up next season, though, 2026/2027 might be more realistic.

At the end of the day, a frustration among players and coaches who have been around for quite a while in Pittsburgh seems to be is how Penguins General Manager Kyle Dubas took one swing in the summer 2023 to try to extend the window, signing low tier players to multi-year deals and then just sat on his hands all last season till he decided to trade Jake Guentzel. There is still some head scratching in the organization on that front………

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Under the Microscope

Mike Sullivan: Everything is complicated with Sullivan from the logistics surrounding him from the close relationship with Sidney Crosby, FSG thinking he’s the Bill Belichick of the NHL, to even the reality in the organization can we really move on from a coach who was recently named head coach to lead Team USA? There are individuals in the organization who felt over the summer this made Sullivan even tougher to move on from and Dubas is said to have thought the lure of the staff on Team USA could be a strong recruiting tool when the Penguins want to be aggressive again. However, there’s certainly a little bit of heat internally on Sullivan for the first time in the Kyle Dubas era. Deliberations are on-going [hide] if he’s truly the right fit for this change in direction that started last spring More so than wins and losses, some of the young guys coming up and how they perform is going to have meaning where this goes. It’s not Sullivan’s fault Sam Poulin likely isn’t a true NHLer but To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!

In what’s starting to be a multi-year trend, another topic of discussion sources say is a number of useful players in their 20’s seeing their games faceplant out of nowhere. Drew O’Connor and Michael Bunting among them so far this season. O’Connor no points and a minus-13 rating in his last 12 games.

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Connor McDavid on Thursday night became the 4th fastest player (659 games) in NHL history to hit the 1,000 point plateau. Still just 27 Years old and primed to dominate the league for years to come, does he have a shot to become the second player ever to hit 2,000 points?

~~~~ Fastest to 1,000 Points ~~~~

Wayne Gretzky – 424 Games

Mario Lemieux – 513 Games

Mike Bossy – 656 Games

1980’s era hockey or not, Gretzky in 424 games remains remarkable as does Lemieux in 513 games, especially considering the team’s Lemieux had around him the first couple years of his career. When you factor in the era McDavid is playing in, under 700 games is quite the feat. Looking at some of the all-time greats of the Sidney Crosby era and McDavid was almost 100 games faster than Crosby, nearly 200 games faster than Malkin and close to 300 games faster than the likes of Steven Stamkos and Patrick Kane; Sidney Crosby 757 games, Evgeni Malkin 848 games, Alex Ovechkin 880 games, Steven Stamkos 945 games, Patrick Kane 953 games.

Then you look at McDavid’s peers right now and its the same story, he’s 200, 300 games above their projections. Auston Matthews 660 points in 575 games, not on pace to hit 1,000 points till around 875 games if he continues on current trajectory; Nathan MacKinnon 932 points in 808 games, has a shot to hit the 1,000 points mark this season but projects to not do so till around the 870 career game mark. McDavid’s Teammate Leon Draisaitl with 872 points in 732 career games has a chance to be the third fastest player since the 2004-2005 lockout to get to 1,000 points. He’s going to be in contention to top Malkin’s 848 games mark.

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