How much time does Penguins' Stanley Cup core have left?

When former Pittsburgh Penguins star Alexei Kovalev retired from the NHL at the age of 39 in March of 2013, current Penguins star Evgeni Malkin spoke glowingly of the fellow Russian whom he played with in international tournaments.

“I remember my first Olympic games, he was captain,” Malkin said. “We had a great team. We beat Canada. It’s unbelievable, ‘Kovy’s’ hands, his (skating). He’s a good player.”

But Kovalev’s time in the NHL had passed.

“He’s an old guy now,” Malkin chortled in jest.

Today, at 34, Malkin’s isn’t exactly an “old guy” but compared to the average age of all NHLers (27.3 at the start of the 2019-20 season), Malkin is definitely on the back nine of his career.

The same could be said for 33-year-old teammates Kris Letang and Sidney Crosby, who had his most recent birthday Friday while suffering a season-ending 2-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 4 of their qualifying-round series in Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena.

That trio composes the core this franchise has built around in pursuing the Stanley Cup. And it’s been thoroughly successful in that pursuit, winning titles in 2009, ’16 and ’17.

But since their most recent title, the team has gotten progressively worse, at least based on postseason results. After falling to the rival Washington Capitals in the second round of the 2018 postseason, the Penguins were humiliated by the New York Islanders and swept in the first round of the 2019 playoffs.

Last week’s 3-1 loss in a best-of-five series came at the hands of a team that had the NHL’s 24th-best regular-season record.

The series offered a somewhat stark contrast in rosters based on age. The Penguins had the third-oldest team in the tournament at an average age of 28.2, a number admittedly skewed by the presence of 40-year-old forward Patrick Marleau. Meanwhile, the Canadiens checked in at 26.4 years, the fifth-youngest of the 24 teams in the tournament.

Assuming the NHL will open its 2020-21 season in early December as planned, the Penguins’ roster stands to get younger. The development of high-end prospects such as forward Sam Poulin (19) and defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph (21) has sated management, and each player is viewed as a candidate to open the season at the NHL level.

But the core isn’t getting any younger.

“We still believe in the core group of this team,” Letang said Friday via video conference from Toronto. “We have a lot in the tank. We’re going to keep playing hard and give everything for the Penguins. We have to be better. This year, we didn’t play good enough to win, but we felt comfortable with the guys that we had.”

Feeling comfortable would be a change for this group, at least from a health standpoint. All three have dealt with significant medical issues.

The trio missed a combined 50 man games because of various ailments this season. The bulk of that total belonged to Crosby, who was sidelined for 28 games throughout November, December and January because of a core muscle which required surgery.

During a training camp in late July to prepare for the NHL’s postseason tournament, Crosby missed several practices and scrimmages because of an undisclosed ailment but participated fully in the tournament.

“Obviously, I would have liked to stay a little bit healthier and play a full season,” Crosby said. “It’s been a tough year and a half not playing a lot of hockey with a long (2019) offseason, then only playing 20 games (before a core muscle injury) and coming back for a short period then having this (hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic).

“It would be nice to get into a rhythm and, obviously, it would have been great to play meaningful games.”

If anyone could avoid the effects of time or age, it figures to be Crosby given his obsessive nature of finding ways to better his body and his overall game.

An authority on the subject, former Penguins forward Matt Cullen, who became the oldest player in franchise history last season before retiring at the age of 42, suggested as much.

“That guy could play for as long as he wants,” Cullen said in January of 2019. “He’s just unique in every way. But also with his mindset, with the intelligence he has. Even if he lost his ability to skate, he could play because he’s so smart.”

It’s probably a smart bet to not rule out the Penguins in 2020-21 given their core. Even if they have a few more gray hairs than some of the teenagers and 20-somethings they’re squaring off with, they will more often than not be the most talented trio in any game they take the ice for, assuming they can stay on the ice.

But, if for no other reason than the business side of the sport, the window might be shutting soon thereafter. Letang and Malkin are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents after the 2021-22 season.

(Crosby’s contract doesn’t expire until after the 2024-25 campaign).

In the immediate sense, management still has faith in this trinity that has brought so much success.

“These guys are still elite players,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “I believe in this core. They’re such character guys. They’re elite hockey players, and I still think there’s elite play left in them. So, that’s just what I believe. Obviously, at some point, everybody’s window closes. So you could argue that with any team in the league. But I strongly believe this group has a lot of elite hockey.”

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