Rutherford Says Changes Need to Be Made

Like the fanbase, Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford isn't happy with what happened as Pittsburgh was eliminated from playoff contention after the Montreal Canadiens won their best-of-five Qualifying Round series in four games.

"It's very disappointing, and changes need to be made," Rutherford said in a conference call with the media on Tuesday.

Both Rutherford and the Penguins ownership group of Ron Burkle and Mario Lemieux believe that if the right changes are made, this team can still achieve their ultimate goal of winning the Stanley Cup.

"They have very high standards," Rutherford said. "Their standards have not changed, as mine have not changed. We're here to be a contending team and win a Cup. That being said, we recognize that window starts to get smaller and smaller, and it's getting to that point. But we also recognize that it's still open and it's still doable."

When it comes to changes concerning the roster, Rutherford said they need to take a careful approach, because they still feel strongly about the group - particularly the core. Obviously Sidney Crosby isn't going anywhere, and when asked whether Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang are also untouchable, Rutherford said he plans to keep that group intact.

"I plan to move forward with the core," Rutherford said. "These are good players. They still have good hockey left in them. I always have to say, if some amazing trade comes along that makes sense for the Penguins now and in the future, you have to look at it. But I will not be actively trying to trade our core players."

But Rutherford wants to add players who are younger, more determined and more energetic around that core group in a way that makes sense.

"I think going younger, where guys are eager to prove themselves to get to a certain point in their career, but doing it cautiously so we can transition on the fly and still be a contending team," Rutherford said.

Rutherford thinks that those types of players could help take some of the burden off the older veterans, particularly those leaders around Crosby.

"I think we do need a little more out of some of the other guys," Rutherford said. "Are they in a position to still give that leadership, whether it's lead by example on the ice or in the room verbally, or do we need some of the other guys to step up and do more? Maybe it's better to have those younger, more eager guys, that are just so happy to be here and happy to come to the rink for practice every day. That's part of what I'm trying to weigh now."

Rutherford also acknowledged that it will be difficult to keep both Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry and that they won't be able to re-sign all of their current players even if they wanted to because of salary cap constraints.

When it comes to changes concerning the coaching staff, that's something Rutherford is also trying to weigh right now.

"We had a good regular season and dealt with some adversity and were able to get through that," he said. "You have to look at that and give credit in the right places. I also have to review what's happened here at the end of the last two seasons."

As Rutherford sat down to watch Game 4 on Friday, he was expecting to see desperation in the Penguins' game from the drop of the puck with their season on the line. It never came.

"It was so disappointing in Game 4 to see where we were at," Rutherford said. "(The desperation) didn't come in the first period. It didn't come in the second period. And it was even worse in the third period. There's something wrong if you don't have that drive to win at that point in the series."

The Penguins went on to lose the game by a score of 2-0 for their second-straight early playoff exit. What particularly concerns Rutherford is that he saw a similar trend last year when the New York Islanders swept the Penguins in four games in the First Round.

"There's been a pattern in both seasons," Rutherford said. "You go back to the Islanders series, and their goaltending was great. I thought we deserved to win the first two games, but then we started to fizzle out and we didn't have that same determination as we were getting closed out."

Rutherford saw that happen again versus Montreal, with the turning point coming in the second period of Game 3, where the Canadiens turned a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 win to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

"My concern is when things don't go our way, we start to fizzle out," Rutherford said. "We don't have that same drive and determination that we should have and that we need to have. If it only happened this year, we'd say it's an oddity and it was because this was a team that couldn't adjust to playing in August and all those things. You can make all the excuses you want. But you can't make those excuses when it happens two years in a row.

"Based on that, I'm looking at everything now."

The full transcript of Rutherford's media availability can be found here.