Mark Madden: New acquisitions make the Penguins better now but weaknesses remain

The Penguins got older but also better. They heightened their chances for winning immediately, but the subsequent plummet will be that much more precipitous.

That’s the plan. A Faustian bargain. Will it work enough? Anything less than playing in the Eastern Conference final seems a letdown. Even that wouldn’t really satisfy.

Jeff Petry is 34. Jan Rutta is 30.

Mike Matheson is 28. John Marino is 25.

The switcheroo on defense exemplifies the emphasis on now. It makes the blue line better, but it’s a gain that won’t hold up for more than a couple of years. (That’s assuming Ty Smith, acquired from New Jersey for Marino, doesn’t live up to his first-round pick potential. But Marino seemed in decline despite his youth.)

Petry is very good. His presence on the right side enables the Penguins to have either Petry or Kris Letang on the ice roughly 70% to 75% of the time. One or the other will almost always be deployed behind Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin.

Petry gains about $600,000 in take-home pay via escaping Canada’s taxation. He also joins a much better team. Petry seems the big winner right now.

Losing Matheson stinks. It’s not something GM Ron Hextall necessarily wanted. Matheson has skating and skill.

But Matheson hadn’t previously played as well as he did this past season. It was the best time to trade him. Sell high.

Marcus Pettersson may yet be ditched to clear salary cap room. But then the Penguins’ left side on defense is Brian Dumoulin, who played poorly last season; P.O Joseph, who has 20 games of NHL experience; and Smith, who has played 114 NHL games.

Pettersson suddenly seems a reliable option. He’s not bad. Just overpriced at a $4.025 million cap hit.

Petry and Rutta are both 6-foot-3. The Penguins’ defense in front of their net has been poor, but neither Petry nor Rutta is a bruiser despite their size.

Related:

• Ty Smith's journey brings him to the Penguins
• New Penguins defenseman Jeff Petry is closer to home and ready to win
• Penguins reassemble their blue line by adding Jeff Petry, Ty Smith
• Penguins acquire defenseman Jeff Petry, forward Ryan Poehling from Canadiens
• Penguins trade defenseman John Marino to Devils

But that’s not how defense is mostly played anymore. You don’t bash guys in front of the net. You keep the puck from getting there.

The Penguins now have 12 players on their roster age 30 and over. They’ve got five who are 35 and over, including all three of the core.

The Penguins have a season or two where, it seems, they’re a definite playoff team. It’s tough to predict postseason success given the past four tries, but the potential is there.

Management blames goaltending and luck for the Penguins’ recent playoff failures. There’s truth in that.

It’s also true that the core’s members don’t often take series over. If you make the most money, do the most. Mario Lemieux said that and lived it.

The future is unforgiving. There’s a draft lottery. Hitting rock bottom no longer guarantees the top pick. The top pick is never a definite franchise player. The Penguins have mined more than their share of luck in that regard.

Enjoy now. At least this team has a chance. It’s better than it was last season.

Maybe.

The Penguins still have lots of weak spots. The left side of defense. They’re still one forward shy of a legit top six because you can’t count on Jason Zucker. He’s too often hurt. The bottom six is in shambles, as evidenced by Hextall singing the praises of recycled free-agent signee Josh Archibald. For heck’s sake.

The fantasyland acquisition of local lad J.T. Miller from Vancouver won’t happen despite fanboy clamor to trade all our bad players for all their good players.

Free-agent wing Nino Niederreiter would be an ideal get, but the Penguins don’t currently have cap space to make that happen.

But with Crosby and Malkin, you always have a chance, right? (Except for these last four seasons.)