Penguins need changes, and axing Jim Rutherford could be one of them
Just nine days removed from a humiliating playoff exit at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens, the real fallout has begun for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Mike Sullivanās entire coaching staff ā assistants Jacques Martin, Sergei Gonchar and Mark Recchi ā has been shown the door.
General manager Jim Rutherford, clearly fuming after a particularly listless Game 4 performance that saw the Penguins play as if they were involved in a sleepy mid-December matchup, and not a do-or-die game for their postseason lives, promised changes, and the exodus of assistants was the first of what figure to be many.
This franchise has plenty of questions to answer. Whether or not Rutherford deserves to keep his job should be one of them. Most of this teamās problems are his creation.
It was Rutherford, and no one else, who signed Jack Johnson, one of the worst players in the entire league, to an unconscionable five-year, $16.25 million contract, one that was almost universally panned the second the ink was dry.
It was Rutherford who sounded petty and defensive when he trashed defenseman Justin Schultz ā an unrestricted free agent ā on his way out of town, all in service of defending Johnson. Rutherford has gone to bat for Johnson time and again, as yet unable to admit a colossal, expensive mistake. Schultz was bad bordering on terrible against Montreal, but itās here that I remind you that he has more Stanley Cups with the Penguins (two) than Johnson has playoff wins with Pittsburgh (one).
Rutherford built this team, and while he deserves credit for the hits ā John Marino looks like a future number one defenseman, Jason Zucker was the teamās best forward and possibly best player against Montreal, and Phil Kessel was integral to two Cups before things ran their course ā he has to wear the misses.
Patrick Marleau was a complete bust who added nothing. Dominik Kahun ā a nice, solid player acquired for Olli Maatta ā went to Buffalo for Evan Rodrigues and Conor Sheary. Rodrigues never dressed this postseason, and Sheary, an unrestricted free agent, likely will not return.
Derick Brassard was a complete mess during his brief time with the team, but Rutherford appeared to have fixed that problem when he sent Brassard and Riley Sheahan to Florida for Jared McCann and Nick Bjugstad. McCann struggled mightily in this brief playoff run, and might be miscast as a center. Bjugstad has either been injured or only marginally productive during his brief time with the Penguins.
If all that wasnāt enough, he was very public with his opinion that Matt Murray would start Game 1 against Montreal. I had no issue with it at the time, but itās clear in hindsight that Tristan Jarry deserved the net. Regardless, the decision was Mike Sullivanās to make, and Rutherford, whose candor makes him a reporter or talk show hostās dream, should have demurred on the subject, at least in public.
I could go on, but you get the idea.
Rutherford appeared to be a stopgap general manager when he took the job in the summer of 2014. Some of his first comments after accepting the job suggested as much. He deserves all the credit in the world for wheeling and dealing and turning the Penguins into back-to-back champions in the span of three years, and to be fair, he has more than received it.
Every move he made was in service of maxing out Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkinās respective primes. By and large, he did that. But the Penguinsā recent issues arenāt because Crosby and Malkin have fallen off; Malkin is coming off his best season in terms of points per game since his MVP campaign in 2011-12, and Crosby is still, at worst, a top-five player on the planet.
No, the Penguins have hit the skids primarily because their general manager has lost his touch. Rutherford loves to make deals, and thatās great, so long as they work. When they donāt, there are suddenly a lot of bad fits and worse contracts that serve as major obstacles to a successful retooling of the roster.
There is still a path forward for Pittsburgh. If they canāt find a reasonable trade partner for Johnson, they need to buy out his contract. Murray must be traded for whatever they can get; Detroit and Buffalo look like two possible destinations. Then they must try to make tweaks to a roster that still has plenty of talent and promise, and do it all while having to stay several million dollars under the salary cap to start the season, according to a report by The Athleticās Rob Rossi and Josh Yohe.
The loss to Montreal was ugly, and the Penguins are now 1-9 in their last 10 playoff games, but they arenāt done as contenders. To get the most out of whatever is left of the Crosby and Malkin era, they need to make sharp, prudent changes to ensure that their pair of ugly playoff flameouts doesnāt become the wrong kind of three-peat.
Problem is, the more I think about it, Iām not at all convinced that Jim Rutherford should be the one making them.
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