Penguins' Defense Remains A Major Problem As They Climb Back Into Playoff Picture

The Pittsburgh Penguins have clawed their way back into the playoff mix, but that doesn’t mean things are hunky-dory for that organization.

When you look at their overall metrics, you see a team that is still deeply flawed – and it’s all the design of GM Kyle Dubas, who really should be facing a major amount of heat for what he’s built thus far in his Pens tenure.

The Penguins have gone 10-5-2 since Nov. 24, but take a gander at their goals-allowed average: it’s currently at 3.63, the worst in the league. Worse than Columbus (3.62). Worse than Philadelphia (3.56). Worse than San Jose (3.49), Buffalo (3.41), Montreal (3.41) and Chicago (3.39). That is simply stunning, and in Pittsburgh’s six losses since Nov. 23, they’ve surrendered four goals or more four times.

While the Penguins are currently tied in points with the Ottawa Senators for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, they’ve played two more games than Ottawa and don't have the tiebreaker. There’s also a cluster of teams just ahead of them and just behind them. All it will take is a brief losing skid due to poor defense, and Pittsburgh will have a next-to-impossible road to walk to get into the post-season this year.

The crazy part isn’t that Dubas put most of his competitive marbles behind goalie Tristan Jarry, who currently has a 3.58 goals-against average and a .885 save percentage. (That said, giving Jarry a five-year contract at an average annual value of $5.375 million doesn’t reflect well on Dubas.) It’s the Penguins’ defense corps that’s the real problem here.

Once you get past star blueliners Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang – neither of who are renowned for their shutdown abilities – the rest of Pittsburgh’s defense is a wasteland that is seriously lacking in quality depth. Marcus Pettersson and Ryan Graves are being paid very well – and somehow, both of them have some form of no-trade clause – but they’re not elite performers at their spot in the Pens’ depth chart. And after that, Matt Grzelcyk, Pierre-Oliver Joseph and Owen Pickering make up the rest of the ‘D’ unit. Not exactly an imposing group, are they?

Again, you have to lay some of the blame for Pittsburgh’s turnstile defense at the feet of goalies Jarry and Nedeljkovic. But the defending in front of them definitely aren't making their jobs any easier, and that’s their primary job. And this wasn’t an accident. This was Pittsburgh's blueprint for success. That’s why Dubas deserves criticism for the team he’s built.

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You have to know the Penguins’ defensive woes are slowly wasting the talents of Sidney Crosby, as good of a two-way performer as we’ve seen in the modern-day NHL. He can’t do it all on his own, though, and he certainly can’t bail out Pittsburgh’s back end night after night. If the Pens do wind up missing out on the Stanley Cup playoffs for the third straight season, it won’t be because of anything Crosby did.

When you see how teams like Dubas’ former squad, the Toronto Maple Leafs, have addressed their defense corps with smart signings, including Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Simon Benoit, you see it’s a condemnation of Dubas’ team-building efforts that he either couldn’t or wouldn’t try to add one or more of those players to his back end.

Most, if not all, current playoff teams are where they’re at because they’re balanced groups that play well in all areas of the ice. That’s simply not the case with the Penguins. Until that changes, their chances of making the playoffs will remain decidedly slim.

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