Pittsburgh Penguins ready to make changes to roster

There are questions that remain surrounding the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Entering the 2015-16 NHL season, there were high expectations for the Pittsburgh Penguins after General Manager Jim Rutherford acquired Phil Kessel from the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Things have not gone well for the Penguins’ hockey club as they were projected to be at the top of the standings of the Eastern Conference battling the New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning. Instead, they are in 9th place in the Eastern Conference with 30 points after the first 26 games of the season. They have won four of their last ten games and are eight points away from being the cellar dweller in the entire league.

There should be no issue for concern with this loaded roster. The team has Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin and Kessel, with Marc-Andre Fleury between the pipes. However, to date, there are clearly issues on this team as they are 26th overall in scoring.

One of the bright spots of the franchise is youngster Daniel Sprong. Sprong is an 18 year old, who played on the Canadian junior team a year ago scoring 88 points in 68 games. However, he has not played in a game with the Penguins since November 17 and has two goals scored in 14 games.

The fans, media and GM Rutherford are asking the same question in unison. Why isn’t Sprong playing on this team?

According to Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy, Rutherford wants to see what the team has in their youngster before the 40 game mark as it affects his unrestricted free agency. Rutherford spoke to Josh Yohe of DkonPittsburghSports.com that he would like Johnston to play Sprong more. He is quoted as saying, “We need him in there so we can get a better look at him.”

It is very rare that you see an NHL General Manager openly critique his bench boss, like Rutherford has done with Johnston. These comments came shortly after the team played in Anaheim against the Ducks after losing 2-1 on Sunday night.

“Well, we’re going to have to do something to change things up,” Rutherford said. “We have underachieved. We’ve definitely underachieved. We’re in a position where we shouldn’t be right now, and we know it. I am going to have to take a look at few things. Something needs to change.”

There have been trade rumors surrounding superstars Malkin and Crosby. Now, there appears to be a rift between the head coach and General Manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins that might see one or both out of a job if the fortunes of the team don’t turn around in a hurry.

This is a story that will have a solution sooner rather than later.