Could the Penguins Experience a (Big) Turnaround?

A small forenote before I begin. The inspiration for this article came from fellow PPer Caleb Di’Natale, who I believe is planning to write his own article on the subject. Without trying to steal Caleb’s thunder, I thought I’d take a crack at addressing a potential Penguins turnaround from a historical perspective. Here goes:

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Having snapped a seemingly endless postseason drought that spanned six long years the previous spring, the bar was set high for the 1989-90 Penguins.

Fresh off a stunning 85-goal, 199-point season, the incomparable Mario Lemieux seemed destined to shatter Wayne Gretzky’s single-season scoring records. Paul Coffey, the Erik Karlsson of his day, had piled up an equally astounding 30 goals and 113 points from his post on the blue line. Sharpshooters Robbie Brown (49 goals) and Dan Quinn (34 goals) provided scoring depth. Future stars Mark Recchi, Kevin Stevens and John Cullen were poised to make their mark.

Thanks to a savvy trade by GM Tony Esposito, the team boasted a stud between the pipes in Tom Barrasso. Many felt the Pens would be a dark horse challenger for the Stanley Cup.

It was not to be.

Esposito bungled negotiations on a new contract for Mario, alienating the face of the franchise. With the players in near-revolt against head coach Gene Ubriaco for his shabby treatment of popular defenseman Rod Buskas, the DeBartolo family fired both coach and GM on December 5 and hired Craig Patrick.

Still, the run of misfortune continued unabated. Barrasso was granted a leave of absence to care for his daughter Ashley, who was stricken with childhood cancer.

The crowning blow came on St. Valentine’s Day, when Mario was forced to remove himself during an overtime victory over the Rangers due to the crippling effects of a herniated disk, in the process snapping his 46-game point scoring streak and severely jeopardizing the team’s playoff chances.

Predictably, the club nosedived without No. 66. In the midst of an ugly 3-11-3 free fall, the Pens needed at least a point their season-finale against Buffalo to make the playoffs. Despite throbbing pain in his back, Lemieux courageously suited up and factored in on both black-and-gold goals. However, exactly one minute into overtime low-scoring Uwe Krupp beat Barrasso to dash our playoff hopes.

Why the elaborate back story about a season from long ago? As Shakespeare once wrote, the past is prologue.

Heading into the ’22-23 campaign most folks felt good about the Pens’ chances. Franchise icons Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang were re-upped to team-friendly deals, along with key performers Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust. The club possessed plenty of scoring punch, especially on the top two lines. The defense, reinforced by veterans Jeff Petry and Jan Rutta, figured to be improved.

There were other similarities between the teams. Despite its failure to make the playoffs, the ’89-90 squad boasted eight 20-goal scorers, including three 30-goal men and Mario with a team-high 45. Last season’s bunch featured six 20-goal scorers. Only Dallas, Ottawa and Seattle had as many.

Both teams were beset by injuries. Defenders Petry, Rutta, Marcus Pettersson and deadline pickup Dmitry Kulikov combined to miss 41 games down the homestretch, not to mention goalie Tristan Jarry’s ongoing health woes.

Indeed, it seemed what could go wrong frequently did. Leading to the bitter end of our 16-year postseason run and the dual dismissals of Hextall and president of hockey ops Brian Burke. Paving the way for FSG to court and hire heavyweight exec Kyle Dubas.

In the aftermath of the ’89-90 team’s collapse, Patrick responded in a similar fashion. He hired “Badger” Bob Johnson as coach and hockey legend Scotty Bowman to serve as director of player personnel. Personnel-wise, he added veteran leaders and previous Cup winners Joey Mullen and Bryan Trottier and drafted phenom Jaromír Jágr. He continued to retool as the season progressed, acquiring Larry Murphy, Gordie Roberts and Peter Taglianetti. Culminating in his trade deadline blockbuster that netted Ron Francis, Ulf Samuelsson and Grant Jennings.

The result? The Pens captured the first of their back-to-back Stanley Cups.

Had we not missed the playoffs the previous season? Perhaps Patrick doesn’t make such sweeping changes. And maybe we don’t win those Cups.

There’s another more recent example of failure leading directly to a turnaround and a pair of Cups. Although the Pens didn’t miss the playoffs in ’14-15 (they backed in on the last day of the season), then-GM Jim Rutherford reacted as though they did. Determined to restore the team to glory, GMJR acquired Phil Kessel in an off-season blockbuster and added veterans Nick Bonino, Matt Cullen, Trevor Daley and Carl Hagelin to the mix.

The Karlsson trade feels a lot like the Kessel trade, doesn’t it? Not to mention the fact that Dubas has imported no fewer than 11 new players who could have an impact before all is said and done, while erasing most of his predecessor’s lateral moves and bungles.

There’s whole new energy and vibe surrounding the team. Hopefully, reigniting a passion and hunger among the players and coaching staff and a sense, collectively and individually, that they have something to prove. A key factor in those Cup wins.

Could this team make a dramatic turnaround like the ones mentioned and take a run at Lord Stanley’s chalice?

Maybe that’s too much to ask of an aging group that’ll be competing against Father Time as much as other teams.

Then again, as an old friend was fond of saying, you just never know…