Brian Dumoulin among several Penguins players whose future is uncertain

In the annals of rock and roll, a select few individuals have been presented with the honorary title of “fifth Beatle,” recognizing their contributions to the highest-selling musical act of all-time.

For the Pittsburgh Penguins, their hockey equivalent of the “Fab Four” undoubtedly is the trio of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, the franchise’s “Big Three,” whose on-ice partnership has produced three Stanley Cups and 16 consecutive postseason appearances, which days ago came to an end.

With regard to those in Crosby, Malkin and Letang’s orbit who are worthy of acknowledgement on par with that given to drummer Pete Best, producer George Martin and manager Brian Epstein, a couple of names quickly come to mind.

Mike Sullivan certainly is at the forefront of that conversation.

The Penguins’ all-time leader in victories (337), Sullivan has helmed the club since December 2015, guiding it to back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017.

On a more subtle basis, Brian Dumoulin enters the dialogue, as well.

The 31-year-old defenseman is the longest-tenured Penguin other than the aforementioned “Big Three,” having just wrapped his 10th total campaign in Pittsburgh.

In 2015-16, Dumoulin’s first full season in the NHL, he helped lead the Penguins to their first of two straight Stanley Cups, during which time he appeared in 198 of the team’s 213 games, postseason included.

For years, Dumoulin has been a regular and steady presence on the Penguins’ blue line, forging a defensive partnership with Letang that has seen the two share the ice for more than 5,000 minutes in their respective careers, 5,116:05, to be exact, per Natural Stat Trick.

With his game centered around defensive responsibility, Dumoulin proved to be a solid foil over the years to the gunslinging, offensive style of Letang.

The Penguins’ alternate captain offered praise for Dumoulin in the aftermath of the team’s season-ending loss Thursday night against Columbus.

“Obviously, he’s the guy that I’m the most comfortable to play with,” Letang said. “My best years in the league are spent beside him. He’s such a good partner to be paired with. He’s not only that, he’s vocal. He’s a guy that kind of understands the game really well. In the (locker) room, he’s a guy that people want to gravitate around. I just hope he’s with us next year.”

Dumoulin appreciated the sentiment.

“It means a lot,” he said. “It goes by fast, I’ll say that. He’s such a talented player. It’s been a pleasure to play with him every year, and just every opportunity I get to play with him in a game is great.”

Of course, Letang’s praise of Dumoulin ended with the blunt recognition of reality as to the latter’s future: “I just hope he’s with us next year.”

Dumoulin, who will be 32 in September, completed a six-year, $24.6-million contract signed in the summer of 2017.

Along with several of his teammates who soon will become unrestricted free agents, his future in Pittsburgh is uncertain.

Not knowing what the coming weeks and months will hold, Dumoulin was unflinching in laying out his preference for potential outcomes.

“I love this group,” he said. “I love the guys. This is family to me. They’re guys who have gone through a lot, and I know these guys’ personalities, what gets them going, what doesn’t. I’ve spent so much time in this room, I mean, it would be kind of hard to leave.”

This past season was not without adversity for Dumoulin, who absorbed critiques of his play and ultimately was demoted to the Penguins’ third defensive pairing in November.

Offensively, he scored just one goal (Feb. 26 against Tampa Bay) but quietly set career-highs in assists (24) and points (25).

But with time to spare before the end of the season, Dumoulin reclaimed his spot next to Letang on the Penguins’ top defensive pairing.

“I thought in the first half, I wasn’t great,” Dumoulin said. “Could have been a lot better. By the second half I was a lot better, bigger difference-maker, and I thought my game was building.”

The Penguins, short a general manager and key front office hockey operations personnel, have more pressing matters to attend to at the moment than Dumoulin.

Dumoulin might end up being a player whom the yet-to-be-hired new regime ultimately opts to jettison.

But until that prospective day of reckoning arrives, Dumoulin is content not to look too far ahead at what’s to come.

“For me, I just try to focus on what’s in front of me, what tomorrow looks like. I’m a very day-to-day person,” Dumoulin said. “… I know our group is not going to be the same no matter what. It’s, obviously, the end of the year. It’s always a tough time.”