Mad World
Penguins Must Identify The Problem, Make Needed Changes
By Mark Madden

If the Penguins continue their slide away from playoff contention, some hard decisions must be made.

Two involve deals, namely those which would concern Darius Kasparaitis and Robert Lang, both of whom will be unrestricted free agents as season's end. Both seem certain to be traded.

But, more so than making a couple swaps, the Penguins need to examine the very core of their organization. The Penguins need to evaluate their coaching - in the minors as well as in Pittsburgh – and their scouting department. If changes are necessary, they must be made.

The Penguins' record for developing young talent is heinous. It's too early to evaluate the last three drafts. But it's not too hard to evaluate the previous five. Of the five first-round picks made by the Penguins, only Aleksey Morozov (1995) and Milan Kraft (1998) are serviceable NHL players right now, and it would be accurate to call both of them disappointing. Chris Wells (1994), Craig Hillier (1996) and Robert Dome (1997) all turned out to be utter disasters.

The Penguins have stayed competitive in recent years by relying on a small core of stars while getting a handful of solid trades.

But now Jaromir Jagr is gone and Mario Lemieux is 36. The core of stars has been diminished by trade and by injury. Now the young players must step up. And they're not.

It's easy to blame the young guys for not playing well. In fact, many of the older Penguins do, and it's caused a dressing-room rift between juvenile and elderly.

When one young player doesn't develop, blame the players. When two young players don't develop, blame the players. When nearly all of an organization's young players are underachieving, it's time to look at that organization's scouting department and coaching. Either the wrong players are being selected, or they're not being developed properly once they join the franchise.

Head scout Greg Malone is an easy target. His draft record speaks for itself. The Penguins occasionally make a shrewd pick once the glamour of the first and second rounds has dissipated (like Jan Hrdina in the fifth round in 1995, or Andrew Ference in the eighth round in '97). But overall, the Penguins' drafts are just not producing enough quality NHL players. Period.

Glenn Patrick, the head coach of the Pens' Wilkes-Barre/Scranton farm club, is another easy target, too. He steered the Baby Pens to the American Hockey League finals last season, but the importance of winning at the minor-league level pales next to the importance of teaching at the minor-league level.

Youngsters currently on the Penguins freely whisper that they learned very little from Patrick at W-B/S.

The Penguins' organization in general is kind of an old-boy network, with those hired coming under one of two categories: Friends or family. Many NHL teams are run in similar fashion, and it's not a bad thing as long as it works. But right now, in Pittsburgh, it's not working.

I'm not suggesting that the Penguins fire Malone, or that they fire Patrick. But I am suggesting they identify the problem and solve it. When all of a team's young players underachieve, there's most definitely a problem, and it's a problem that will only get worse if left unattended.

Craig Patrick is one of the best general managers in the NHL. He's obviously not a problem. As for head coach Rick Kehoe, it's too early to truly evaluate his performance. Kehoe was an excellent assistant, but perhaps the Peter Principle - which states that a good employee will rise through the ranks until he finally finds his level of incompetence - has caught up with him. It's worrisome that the Penguins are struggling with scoring goals in general and with the power play in particular, because those are two of Kehoe's areas of expertise. But Kehoe still has the confidence of the players, which is very important.

At any rate, Kehoe can only use the players he's given. If there's a problem with the Penguins franchise, it starts a lot further down the food chain than the head coach.

If the Penguins miss the playoffs this season - which seems a good bet - Lemieux and Craig Patrick might want to consider the overall direction of the team.

The Penguins have some good pieces in place - most notably Johan Hedberg, who seems poised to be the club's franchise goalie for the next six or seven seasons - but something is missing within the organization. They need to identify the problem and solve it.

(Mark Madden hosts a sports talk show 3-7 p.m. weekdays on ESPN Radio 1250.)