The Pittsburgh Penguins finally clawed their way back into the Stanley Cup Playoffs this past 2025-26 season, snapping a three-year drought, but that comeback didn’t last long. They ended up losing to the Philadelphia Flyers in six games, and honestly, that early exit has only cranked up the heat on the biggest question facing the franchise: how do you rebuild when you’ve still got a ‘living legend’ like Sidney Crosby leading an aging core?
The “Semi-Pivot” and the Time Bomb Ticking
This whole debate just blew up again after Josh Yohe from The Athletic laid it all out in a mailbag, getting super blunt about Pittsburgh’s future. Yohe quoted the team saying their plan is to “get younger and become a championship contender as urgently as possible.” And yeah, General Manager Kyle Dubas has actually brought in some promising young talent, names like Egor Chinakhov, Elmer Söderblom, Ben Kindel, Bill Zonnon, Will Horcoff, Harrison Brunicke, Liam Ruck, and Markus Ruck. But Yohe is straight up asking if they’re moving fast enough, and you gotta wonder if he’s right. Because while you’re trying to get younger, Evgeni Malkin is turning 40 this summer, and Sidney Crosby isn’t far behind, hitting 39.
The “Half the Roster” Problem and Crosby’s Unstoppable Numbers
It’s not just Malkin and Crosby, either. Yohe called out Kris Letang, Erik Karlsson, Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Andrei Kuzmenko, and Tommy Novak as other older regulars. Get this: those veterans are expected to make up half of Pittsburgh’s projected opening-night skaters. Half! That’s a huge chunk of experience, but it also means a huge chunk of age. The wild thing is, Crosby is still an absolute beast. Even missing time due to injury, he put up 74 points in 68 regular-season games and added another five points in the playoffs. Plus, he blasted past Mario Lemieux to become Pittsburgh’s all-time points leader with his 1,724th career point, and now sits at 1,761. The man is still elite.
Dubas is stuck in a brutal spot, trying to balance loyalty to Crosby with the long-term success of the whole darn franchise. Yohe believes these tough roster decisions can’t wait. He threw down a rhetorical grenade asking, “Bringing back Malkin is nice for nostalgia, but how does it help build a team for the future?” He’s got similar questions about Letang, Karlsson, Rust, and Rakell, basically saying moving those veterans could seriously fast-track the rebuild. Yohe made it clear, “I respect all of these players, but at some point, if they stay too long, they’re going to slow down the rebuild.” He makes one exception, though: Crosby. “Crosby is different. He wants to play a few more years, and he’s a living legend.” But even then, Yohe isn’t pulling punches, adding, “You can’t rebuild around him. I’m not sure you can reasonably build something with a group of players this age.” Dubas is trying a “semi-pivot” instead of a full teardown, aiming to stay competitive while bringing in younger, NHL-ready talent. It’s a tightrope walk. The real test now is figuring out how long sentiment for legends can outweigh the cold, hard need for roster evolution. Crosby’s still playing at an insane level, but the next chapter for this franchise hinges on some seriously difficult decisions around *everyone else*.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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