Madden Monday: ‘In a perfect world, I would not want Karlsson or Jarry to ever play for the Penguins again’
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A rare Sunday off for the Pittsburgh Steelers gives us a chance to focus on the Penguins in this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast.
Based on how poorly the team is playing, that’s not a good thing.
The Pens are 3-6-1 in the first 10 games of 2024-25. They have lost five in a row. The team got just one point on its four-game road trip through western Canada. The Penguins are allowing 4.20 goals-against per game. Only the San Jose Sharks (4.22) and Philadelphia Flyers (4.44) are worse.
During the podcast, Mark Madden of 105.9 The X and TribLive said the team’s deficiencies are obvious.
“They are in trouble,” Madden said. “Their defense is terrible. Their goaltending is terrible. Their attack is muted, (Sidney) Crosby with just one goal. I just don’t see it getting a lot better.”
One place to start might be trying to find another team willing to take Erik Karlsson off their hands. After a disastrous first year with the Penguins, the hope was the 2024-25 season would be better. But that is certainly not the case so far. Karlsson has just one goal and is a minus-7.
“It used to be that his production made up for his faux pas on defense,” Madden said. “But his production for the Penguins is two-thirds of a point (.673) per game since he got here. And his defense — if it is possible — is even worse than it was with San Jose and Ottawa.”
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As for the goalie trio of Tristan Jarry, Joel Blomqvist and Alex Nedeljkovic, none of them are doing enough to keep the puck out of the net consistently. The club’s save percentage of .885 is 24th in the NHL, and Pittsburgh has allowed more goals (42) than anyone else in the league.
Madden is particularly fed up with Jarry.
“In a perfect world, I would not want Karlsson or Jarry to ever play for the Penguins again,” Madden said. “Jarry is just done. Something happened on that trip that caused Jarry to come back early. Nothing can convince me otherwise. … I said in ’21, when he blew that playoff series against the Islanders, that he should never play for the Penguins again. I think my being correct has been born out.”
But Madden says we shouldn’t let the star players off the hook. Before busting out for three points against Vancouver during Saturday night’s 5-3 loss, Evgeni Malkin had no points and was a minus-4 through the first four games of the losing streak. Kris Letang is turning over the puck too often and hasn’t registered a point in six games.
Even Sidney Crosby is slumping to start the year. He has just one goal on the season. During the five-game losing streak, Crosby has managed just one assist and is a minus-6.
“His first full season without Jake (Guentzel). He looks flustered. Kinda bad body language,” Madden said. “The stars, they want to play the way they want to play. Their desire to stay together is why the Penguins are in this mess.”
Madden says part of the issue facing the Penguins is that Mike Sullivan is simply too stuck in his ways and sees this Penguins team for what it used to be instead of what it has become.
“If you gave Herb (Brooks) muckers and grinders, guess what he would do? He’d muck and grind. And he’d do everything that he could to turn it into an art form. Sully only knows how to coach one way, only wants to coach one way, which is why he is not a very good coach,” Madden said
Also, during the podcast, Madden and I preview the Steelers-Giants game Monday night. We look at Pitt’s win over Syracuse, Penn State’s victory against Wisconsin, the Browns’ comeback over Baltimore, the new Van Halen book and more.