Madden Monday: Whose window will stay open longer? The Steelers or Penguins?

If Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford is really trying to keep his core players together, let’s look at what that means.

Sidney Crosby is signed through 2025. Jake Guentzel is locked up until the end of the 2024 playoffs. But Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin both only have two years remaining. So the Pens will be rebuilding with or without Crosby by the start summer of 2022.

As for the Steelers, they’re going to have to deal with some significant salary cap-related subtractions this offseason. And quarterback Ben Roethlisberger only has two years remaining on a contract that’ll end right before he turns 40.

The two franchises have combined for one playoff-round win in their last three seasons.

So whose window has a better chance of staying open longer? Is either team actually in an “open window” era at all?

The first question is probably easier to answer than the second. It’s the Penguins.

Given how big of a variable the quarterback position is, once Roethlisberger retires, the future of the Steelers is completely up in the air.

After 2022, the Penguins will have at least one star remaining in Crosby. Two if you count Guentzel. And they’ll potentially be free of $16.7 million in cap responsibilities in Letang and Malkin alone.

As good as the Steelers defense may still be by the start of 2022, with a potential gaping hole at quarterback, it may not matter.

Mark Madden seems to agree on this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast—a day late comimg off the holiday weekend.

“It’s the Penguins,” Madden said. “That’s because there isn’t a Kansas City Chiefs in the NHL.”

I’d argue that there isn’t a Baltimore Ravens in their division either.

It’s clear the Steelers are still acting as if their window is open. That’s why they re-signed Cameron Heyward this weekend to a $75 million, four-year extension.

“You have to do it,” Madden insisted. “He’s an All-Pro, at a key position. He’s on the field a lot. He’s irreplaceable in the clubhouse.

“And I think he has at least two more real good years left in him. And that’s the two years the Steelers could do something. If they are ever going to. Because when Ben is done, they are done as a contender for a long, long time. So I think it is a good move.”

Madden endorsed the Heyward signing even if it costs the franchise Bud Dupree, JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Conner in free agency next season.

Now, as far as that second question goes? I don’t know. I don’t see the Steelers being much better than 10-6 this year, and I can’t see how the Penguins get out of the Eastern Conference in 2021. So maybe it’s a moot point.

Madden and I also take a look at how the offseason goalie dominoes will fall and how that will affect both Matt Murray and Marc-Andre Fleury. We bemoan the state of affairs surrounding the Pirates. And we delve into the difference between the restart of the NFL versus high school and college football.

Listen: Tim Benz and Mark Madden discuss the outlooks for the Penguins and the Steelers