At some point, Pittsburgh Penguins fans can expect general manager Jim Rutherford to overhaul his roster.
The question will now be how long until that happens and at what lengths will the modifications reach?
While the Penguins will remain competitive as long as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are sporting the Pittsburgh black and yellow, a four-game sweep by the hands of the New York Islanders sent a good reality check that the team will undergo some sort of change to endure a longer post-season run going forward.
Speaking with media members on Thursday in Pittsburgh, Rutherford, who's been one of the more active GMs in the league surrounding his core with the necessary talent since taking over the reins in 2016 that led to back-to-back Stanley Cup Championship, didn't hold a poker face about making major changes this summer.
"The window is still open," Rutherford said via NHL.com writer Wes Crosby.
"I think it should be open for more than just one year also. I'll say the obvious based on how things finished, we're not going to do it the way we finished."
"We have a lot of good players, and good players that have good resumes," Rutherford said. "Players that have won Stanley Cups. Players that have contributed big to that. So depending on what changes we plan to make, we have valuable assets to make some of those changes."
Since being eliminated by the Islanders on Wednesday, big names like Phil Kessel, Kris Letang, Olli Maatta have been tossed around in trade speculation.
One of the more honest assessments of Rutherford's meeting with the media was that the GM believes his team got too complacent and comfortable with their identity. Did the back-to-back Stanley Cups impact the team's aspiration to find more playoff success?
"I wonder if it's because there's too many guys content with where they are in their careers now after winning a couple of Stanley Cups," Rutherford said. "Is that a signal where some of that has to be changed, where you've got that eagerness again?"
"In [2016 and 2017], we were a team. We were a very tight-knit team," Rutherford said. "I didn't see that this year almost from Day One. I didn't see a point where guys came together as a team."
With 18 players signed on for next season, the Penguins have just under $80 million committed to their cap and will most certainly need to find to clear contracts out to meet Rutherford's off-season goals.
"It won't be the exact same team."
