The most unique aspect about this Pittsburgh Penguins season isn’t what they have done, it’s about what they chose not to do.
After picking up Erik Karlsson and making some additional and significant personnel changes (an additional new top-four defenseman even after Karlsson! a scoring winger fresh off Stanley Cup glory! a new veteran bottom-six!) most expected Pittsburgh would improve from 2022-23 — when they finished only one point out of the playoffs, missing the post-season for the first time since Sidney Crosby’s rookie year.
That didn’t come to pass, and the team is likely going to finish a handful of points below last year’s results.