A big area for the Penguins to address is the talent they have in the 18-23ish range of players. Developing prospect pipelines in hockey can take years to get in place, and Pittsburgh doesn’t have much in the way of promise now, as they’ve traded much away for shots at immediate glory in the late stages of their current window.
The pain is soon to follow, and reversing the trend is going to take a long time. Even in this month’s entry draft, the Pens have one selection in the first 150 picks of the event. And at 58th overall towards the end of the second round, it’s not in a prime position either.