The Penguins are fighting for their playoff lives. Although it looks like they are back on track after a miserable stretch of five losses in six games, they still have work to do. They currently sit in fifth place in the Metro Division and occupy the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
It seems to be pretty clear they probably can’t climb higher than seventh place, which would put them in the first wild card spot. At least that would get them out of a first-round series with the Boston Bruins, who appear to be a juggernaut. It got a little dicey while they were losing games, but my guess is they will begin to put some distance between them and the teams chasing them for the final playoff spot — Buffalo, Florida and Ottawa — will likely be held at arm’s length down the stretch.
That is the most likely scenario for the Penguins barring a total collapse or some unforeseen rash of injuries. That’s especially true with respect to Tristan Jarry, who is the one player they have proven they just aren’t capable of consistently winning without. They need him and they need him to continue to play well. As long as he is healthy, the Penguins should win enough to comfortably make the playoffs.
And that would be the bare minimum required to prove Hextall is the right general manager for the team going forward.
This season has now become a referendum on Hextall and the job he is doing and whether he should continue to be the team’s general manager. Clearly they have to make the playoffs because if they don’t, it is a total disaster and at that point, there would need to be a house cleaning. Actually, a more accurate way to say this is that it should be a referendum on Hextall and that if they don’t make the playoffs, he should be fired.
As we have established, however, the playoffs are almost a lock for the Penguins, so the question then becomes: What would constitute proof that Hextall is doing a good job? The obvious answer is they win a playoff series for the first time in five seasons and then push whoever they would play in the second round. That is the obvious answer, but given they would likely have to play Carolina in the first round and the Hurricanes have been a tough matchup for them, it might not be fair to make a playoff win the only factor.
The more I think about it, though, the more I think it is fair to make it that simple. The Penguins need to win a playoff series or Hextall is not doing his job. This team, because of its core of stars and culture, was always going to be a playoff team regardless of who the general manager is. The three stars, the strong top six, the good (when healthy) goalie combined with a league where 16 teams make the playoff means making the playoffs isn’t impressive or even unexpected.
Hextall was brought to the Penguins in the midst of this final stretch of trying to squeeze one or two more Stanley Cup runs out of their three aging stars. He was hired in February 2021 and made it clear he wasn’t brought to Pittsburgh to tear the team down and start over but rather to try to continue to build a winning team.
That year, the Penguins flamed out in the first round in the playoffs, but it was hardly Hextall’s doing. He was only on the job a few months and had very little to do with building that roster. He has had, however, two offseasons and two trade deadlines since then to try to remake the roster around the stars, and the results of his changes are mixed at best. And the Penguins flamed out in the first round last season again and did so mostly because Hextall has refused to address the backup goalie situation.
And so the Penguins are now in the midst of four consecutive first-round playoff exits, and Hextall has been around for two of them. The question then becomes: What has he done to address the Penguins’ flaws? And the answer is, well, again, complicated. It is clear he needed to address the backup goalie spot — never more clear actually — and didn’t and now the team has to cross their fingers and hope the oft-injured Jarry can stay healthy this year.
Contrary to popular belief, I think Hextall probably had a good trade deadline as he shed some bad salaries, added some depth and probably improved the Penguins’ bottom six, as well as their defensive units. He added Nick Bonino and Mikael Granlund to the fourth and third lines, respectively, and added defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, who should provide another option for Mike Sullivan in the defensive parings. The Penguins are a little bit tougher as this trio brings some grit and they are saavy veterans who have played a lot of hockey.
I liked the moves, to be honest, and think the Penguins are better today than they were before the deadline. But I don’t think we will know if they were the right moves until the playoffs. That’s when Hextall should be judged. Yes, it is a high standard to meet, but the Penguins aren’t getting any younger and aren’t rebuilding, so if Hextall can’t get them over the top and deeper into the playoffs, his tenure as general manager should come to an end.
