Mark Madden: Penguins need change at trade deadline, but options are limited

Nobody should be mad about the Pittsburgh Penguins for falling apart. It’s organic and was inevitable.

The Penguins made the playoffs every year from 2007-22. They were legit Stanley Cup contenders every year from 2008-18, winning three times and reaching another final.

Great teams in capped leagues ultimately go splat. Witness the Chicago Blackhawks. They won Cups in 2010, ’13 and ’15, then finished low enough to win last year’s draft lottery and choose phenom Connor Bedard. And the wheel rolls on.

The Penguins could have reloaded younger talent around Sidney Crosby by trading Evgeni Malkin for a big return in 2018 or ’19. (Malkin likely would have waived his no-movement clause to go to Florida.) That would have offered a better chance than the current nostalgia show, but no guarantees.

Kyle Dubas didn’t get a seven-year contract as president of hockey ops/GM to apply a quick fix. Dubas’ job is to pick up the pieces. That duty begins this week, with the NHL trade deadline arriving Friday.

The citizens muster a half-hearted attempt to cast assistant coach Todd Reirden as a pantomime villain in the mold of deposed Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada. Reirden coaches the power play. It stinks, ranking 29th in the NHL with a putrid conversion rate of 14.6%. It is the single biggest reason for the Penguins’ failure.

But that’s on the players, not Reirden. Reirden isn’t coaching them to badly overcomplicate. Firing Reirden would have the same effect as firing Canada: very little. Reirden is just a name you feel comfortable blaming. No fan wears a jersey with Reirden’s name and number on the back.

It would be more appropriate to take a hard look at coach Mike Sullivan. Sullivan continues to force-feed a speed-based style despite lacking the components to do so.

The Penguins’ tactics Sunday at Edmonton were suicidal. The Oilers’ first two goals came off failed pinches by Penguins defensemen that led to odd-man breaks. The Oilers might be the NHL’s fastest team. But the plodding Penguins chose to challenge them at their own game and lost 6-1. It’s not 2017 anymore.

The trade deadline is the current concern, with winger Jake Guentzel likely to depart and bring high return. Guentzel is a free agent at season’s end.

There’s a rumor that Guentzel might lower his asking price to re-up with the Penguins. But he’d be foolish to do so, and the Penguins would be dumb to give Guentzel a contract of five or more years.

Dubas says the Penguins need to get younger. How does giving a 29-year-old a lengthy deal facilitate that?

Dubas should shop goaltender Tristan Jarry. Several teams with Cup aspirations need a legit No. 1 goalie. Jarry is playing well and never will have higher value. The Penguins don’t have many top prospects, but 22-year-old netminder Joel Blomqvist is doing great with their Wilkes-Barre/Scranton farm team and is highly regarded.

Centers Lars Eller and Noel Acciari would be useful to a contender. So might defenseman Chad Ruhwedel, who has hit a decent vein of form and only makes $800,000.

It will be tough for Dubas to ditch wingers Reilly Smith and Rickard Rakell or defenseman Ryan Graves, but he should want to.

Smith was good in Vegas as part of an ensemble cast: depth over star power. But with the Penguins, he jumped into a clear-cut top-six role on Malkin’s wing and hasn’t lived up to expectations. Smith is a journeyman and never wanted to be in Pittsburgh.

Rakell was never that good. Signing him to a six-year, $30 million contract was utter insanity. Rakell hadn’t cracked 20 goals in four seasons when he signed that deal.

Graves was much better in New Jersey where the Devils’ method was more structured. He just isn’t cut out for the Penguins’ style. (Maybe the Penguins should try his.)

Defenseman Marcus Pettersson would be easily moved and for solid return. He’s proven himself an adept defensive defenseman who can cover for an offensive-minded partner. Either Erik Karlsson or Kris Letang does much better when partnering Pettersson.

Karlsson and Letang aren’t going anywhere. So Pettersson is needed. But change is paramount. Pettersson is due for a new contract following next season. He makes $4.025 million per year.

The Penguins need to change. Everything about the team has been stale for years, not least the roster and coaching.

But the Penguins are tethered to Crosby, Malkin, Letang and Karlsson. So not much can really change.