No easy season is foreseen for the Pittsburgh Penguins. After missing the playoffs for the last two years, and despite the strong performances of Crosby, the season this year started even poorer than was expected.
The Penguins were embarrassed on home ice by the Dallas Stars, who scored six first-period goals for a 6-0 lead after just 20 minutes of hockey. Remarkably, those six goals came on only 12 shots.
At 6-9-2 through 17 games, the Penguins sit seventh in the Metropolitan Division, a mere two points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets, who are three games behind.
Only four teams around the league have a worse win percentage than Pittsburgh's .412, and the cries for change are loud from both the fans and the analysts' perspectives.
In the wake of the 7-1 loss to Dallas, TNT analyst and Spittin' Chiclets podcast co-host Paul Bissonnette took to X to float a stunning trade involving Crosby.
Crosby is close friends with Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon, so the prospect of pairing the legendary player with one of the league's top talents sent fans dreaming.
Not all fans on social media were in agreement with Bissonnette's take, as many posted their disapproval on X of this potential trade.
Ryan Whitney, co-host to Bissonnette and a former pro himself in the NHL, took to the internet to voice his own frustration with the dismal display of the Penguins.
Fans will be keeping a close eye on how this develops to see if Kyle Dubas actually takes Paul Bissonnette's comments to heart.
G | A | PTS | ||
Mikko Rantanen | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
Nathan MacKinnon | - | 3 | 3 | |
Nick Bjugstad | 2 | - | 2 | |
Adrian Kempe | 2 | - | 2 | |
Patrick Kane | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Artturi Lehkonen | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Mitch Marner | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
William Nylander | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Aliaksei Protas | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
John Tavares | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Michael Kesselring | - | 2 | 2 | |
Anze Kopitar | - | 2 | 2 | |
Brett Leason | - | 2 | 2 | |
Trevor Moore | - | 2 | 2 | |
Shea Theodore | - | 2 | 2 | |
Anthony Beauvillier | 1 | - | 1 | |
Jonatan Berggren | 1 | - | 1 | |
Pavel Dorofeyev | 1 | - | 1 | |
Simon Edvinsson | 1 | - | 1 | |
Tomas Hertl | 1 | - | 1 | |
Complete stats |
STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 16 | 15 | 1 | - | 30 | |
Devils | 19 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 24 | |
Wild | 15 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 23 | |
Panthers | 16 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 23 | |
Hurricanes | 15 | 11 | 4 | - | 22 | |
Golden Knights | 16 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 22 | |
Maple Leafs | 18 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 22 | |
Capitals | 15 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 21 | |
Kings | 18 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 21 | |
Rangers | 14 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 19 | |
Conference | Cumulative |