Then Pittsburgh won the lottery in 2005 and selected Sidney Crosby.

The only close comparison I can think of is when the Green Bay Packers went from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers, but with more championships and saving a sports franchise.

Crosby, with plenty of help from Evgeni Malkin and company, returned the Penguins to their glory of the early 1990s.

Starting in 2007, for 16 consecutive seasons, the Pittsburgh Penguins made the playoffs and reached the Stanley Cup Final four times with three of those trips ending in a win. That streak ended a year ago and the Penguins went all in with a big trade for the reigning Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson, but even that could not get them back into the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Yager toe drags defender Nathan Laatsch before ripping a shot during the prospect camp last Wednesday. Times Observer Photo by Christian Storms

The attempt at a quick retool into a championship roster again was a complete failure, so much so that the Penguins were even sellers at the trade deadline with the dealing of Jake Guentzel, who could sense the future heading in the wrong direction by not staying long term in the Steel City.

After many years of trading away draft capital and looking to win now, it’s time for Pittsburgh to invest in the future to prevent Crosby’s tenure from ending like Lemieux’s.

With two of the greatest players of all time in Crosby and Malkin, the Penguins never had the urgency to draft elite top-six talent. Despite the two future Hall of Famers producing at a high level, Crosby will be 37 next season and Malkin is turning 38 later this month, meaning that a passing of the torch is coming soon. Pittsburgh needs to start looking for players that can produce offensively at a high level.

The Penguins’ first selection after missing the 2023-24 playoffs was Brayden Yager of the Moose Jaw Warriors in the Western Hockey League, who I had ranked as the 20th best prospect in that draft class. On Wednesday, I took a trip to Cranberry Township and watched the Penguins’ 4-on-4 tournament at the Mario Lemieux Sports Complex to get a live viewing of what’s coming in Pittsburgh’s prospect pipeline.

At the conclusion of the tournament, it is safe to say that selecting Yager was a step in the right direction as he stood out to me as the best talent there. While Yager doesn’t demand the puck to be constantly on his stick, he had no problem holding onto it to make a power move to the net. However, his true strength is his quick release and decision making which resulted in 35 goals in 57 games last season.

Penguins goalie prospect Sergei Murashov stops Caeden Carlisle on a breakaway during the 4-on-4 tournament last Wednesday at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry. Times Observer Photo by Christian Storms

Yager probably could vie for a spot on the NHL roster this season, but it is not paramount he is rushed there with still plenty for him to accomplish this season returning to juniors with the reigning WHL champions. I project that he still will probably at best be a second-line center in the NHL, but that is a start for a team without a lot of young options down the middle.

After Yager there is not much going on down the middle for the Penguins, but Vasili Ponomaryov, acquired in the Guentzel trade, and Pittsburgh’s second-round pick from 2021, Tristan Broz, are capable players that could find themselves in the bottom six in the future.

Replacing Crosby and Malkin will be the hardest thing Pittsburgh does, but something the Penguins have been successful with in the past 20 years has been producing talent on the wing. A pair of Hall of Fame centers have made it easier for wingers to flourish in Pittsburgh, but a little more responsibility will fall on the incoming talent in the future. A couple of guys recently drafted have terrific upside.

Pittsburgh’s second pick in this past draft was Tanner Howe and its second-to-last selection in the draft was Mac Swanson. Both picks were swings for the fences with massive upside as elite playmakers, while coming with the caveat of being undersized and likely taking a couple of years before paying off.

Howe was born just after the 2023 draft cutoff date, so he played most of his draft year as an adult after playing the year prior on the wing of Connor Bedard in Regina. Despite losing the best junior player in a decade in Bedard as a linemate, Howe still scored 28 goals and 49 assists in 68 games for the Pats as their captain. At the prospect camp, he flashed skill that typically goes in the first round, showing off his edgework and even spinning himself out of trouble a few times to dish a nice pass.

Pittsburgh’s top defensive prospect, Owen Pickering, right, boxes out Ryan St. Louis going for a puck. Times Observer Photo by Christian Storms

In a record-breaking year for the United States Hockey League with drafted prospects in the first round, the Penguins managed to select the league’s MVP in the seventh round at No. 207 all because he’s undersized as a 5-foot-7, 165-pound forward. Swanson scored 26 goals and 51 assists in 55 games in the regular season, but it didn’t end there as he scored five goals and 12 assists in 12 playoff games en route to winning the Clark Cup and playoff MVP honors. At the prospect camp it was clear as day Swanson is one of the more skilled prospects in the system, but it will take some patience watching him progress through the NCAA with the University of North Dakota and then eventually playing in the AHL before attempting to carve out a top-six spot in Pittsburgh.

Despite not having a first rounder in this year’s draft, Pittsburgh did a good job bringing in talent. Through the Guentzel trade, Cruz Lucius and Ville Koivunen have a lot of promise in making an impact with the Penguins sooner rather than later.

The 20-year-old Lucius is transferring to Arizona State University after recording 34 points in 36 games his sophomore season at Wisconsin and could find himself turning pro after this year in college.

Koivunen is a 21-year-old forward from Finland who just got done producing at a point-per-game rate in the Liiga playoffs after scoring 22 goals and 34 assists for 56 points in 59 games in one of the best men’s leagues in Europe. Lucius was not at the prospect camp, but Koivunen was there and it is evident he will need at least a year in the AHL to get adjusted to the speed of the North American game.

There is still plenty of work to do in retooling the Penguins’ prospect pool at forward, but it needs help everywhere with both Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson aging on defense. Once again, the offensive production of those two will be very difficult to replace overnight and it may never be done, but the Penguins are already on the path of developing a good core at defense with 2022 first-rounder Owen Pickering and 2024 second-rounder Harrison Brunicke.

Pittsburgh's first pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, Harrison Brunicke at No. 44, takes a shot during the prospect tournament last Wednesday. Times Observer Photo by Christian Storms

The Penguins have done a good job of acquiring defensive-minded bruising defenders with considerable size. The 20-year-old Pickering comes in at 6-foot-5, 185 pounds; Brunicke is 6-foot-3, 196 pounds at age 18; Emil Pieniniemi is 6-foot-2, 176 pounds at 19; and Kalle Kangas is 6-foot-4, 198 pounds at 19. Each of those defenders are responsible in their own end and play a hard brand of hockey, but none of them will ever find their name on the scoresheet like Letang and Karlsson.

It is perfectly set up for these defenders to begin fighting for roster spots in the coming seasons, starting first with Pickering who moves very smooth considering his size and he will want to continue adding muscle to his frame in hopes of becoming a dominant two-way defenseman at his potential peak.

However, that still leaves Pittsburgh in search of a young offensive defenseman and at this point it looks like the 2025 NHL draft would be better addressing the forward position as several of them project early as elite future NHL players.

Pittsburgh is not hurting in net for now with Tristan Jarry playing solidly and 22-year-old Finn Joel Blomqvist playing well in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL.

This has also been a position the Penguins have done a great job at developing during the Crosby era and it will be interesting to follow their youngest prospect between the pipes in Russia’s Sergei Murashov.

Pittsburgh General Manager Kyle Dubas, left, talks with Director of Hockey Operations and Legal Affairs Vukie Mpofu during last Wednesday's prospect camp. Times Observer Photo by Christian Storms

Murashov stole the show for Team Black in the 4-on-4 tournament, only giving up one goal, which was scored by Yager on a play very few goalies on the planet were ever stopping. The 6-foot-2 Murashov looked very athletic in between the pipes showing his ability to scramble when needed and then take away angles on shooters very quickly without getting out of position.

His strong performance at camp was just an extension of his spectacular performances in Russia where he posted a .925 save percentage and 1.84 goals against average in the KHL at just 20 years old, while also posting a .930 save percentage and 2.03 goals against average in the Russian junior leagues for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl.

While General Manager Kyle Dubas has not had much time in Pittsburgh, he already has the Penguins on the right path avoiding a collapse in the post-Crosby era.