5 moves the Pittsburgh Penguins can make to get back to the playoffs

PITTSBURGH, PA - MAY 07: Members of the Pittsburgh Penguins acknowledge the crowd after a 2-1 overtime lose to the Washington Capitals in Game Six of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at PPG Paints Arena on May 7, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images) /

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PITTSBURGH, PA – MAY 07: Phil Kessel #81 of the Pittsburgh Penguins skates against the Washington Capitals in Game Six of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at PPG Paints Arena on May 7, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /

3. Don’t trade Phil Kessel

There have been some rumors throughout the offseason that the Penguins are potentially shopping Phil Kessel. He has four years left on his contract at $6.8 million per season and he’s coming off the best season of his Penguins tenure. He had 34 goals and 92 points and he finished second on the team in points during the season. In the playoffs, he did struggle a bit as he only had nine points in 12 games but it looked like he was playing hurt, too. There’s just no need to deal Kessel after he’s been a huge part in winning two Stanley Cups and after he had such an outstanding season.

Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford basically shut down the rumors last week when he said he’s not actively shopping him and that he expects Kessel and head coach Mike Sullivan to be fine entering training camp. There have been reports of a rift between the two but Rutherford has said it’s no big deal.

By trading Kessel, it leaves a massive hole in the lineup and they’d have to replace him on the power play, too. It’s so hard to defend against the Penguins power play because teams can’t just focus on Crosby and Malkin like they used to. They’d also have to go out and get a top-six winger somewhere.

They likely wouldn’t get equal value for him anyway and it’s why it’s so hard to pull off superstar trades. The team that trades the star player is usually worse off after the deal. There will be a time to talk about potentially moving on from Kessel but it’s definitely not this season.

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