These days, it’s an interesting time for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sidney Crosby has yet to sign an extension and is closer to retiring than scoring 120 points as he did as a teenager.
The lineup around him is one of the oldest in the NHL, and the franchise has missed the playoffs in consecutive campaigns after advancing to the postseason 16 straight seasons.
Despite the negativity that comes with not making the playoffs in two years, the Penguins are coming out of arguably the greatest run in team history and are a piece or two away from contending again.
Even though some fans think this is a tough time to watch the team dwindle into mediocrity, there are two other not-so-successful periods in Pittsburgh history where the club didn’t qualify for the playoffs for more than two seasons.
The Pre-Crosby Era (2002-2006)
In 2000, Hockey Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux came out of retirement. It was an impressive feat, considering that he reunited with Jaromir Jagr, and the pair led the Penguins to the Eastern Conference Final.
However, Pittsburgh would play their final postseason game for five years on May 22, 2001, a 4-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils in Game 5.
Surprisingly, that night was Jagr’s last game with the organization, which traded him to the Washington Capitals that summer.
Without knowing it, the move marked the beginning of a rebuild that saw the Penguins tumble to the bottom of the NHL standings. From 2001-02 to 2005-06, the franchise achieved a 100-178-22-28 record for 250 points, the 30th-best mark in the NHL during this period.
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2001-02 – 28-41-8-5 for 69 points 5th in Atlantic
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2002-03 – 27-44-6-5 for 65 points 5th in Atlantic
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2003-04 – 23-27-8-4 for 58 points 5th in Atlantic
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2005-06 – 22-46-0-14 for 58 points 5th in Atlantic
Ultimately, those finishes gave Pittsburgh a chance to draft several Hall of Fame caliber players like Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Marc-Andre Fleury, as well as top talents like Kris Letang and Jordan Staal.
Those playoff-less seasons gave birth to a new era of Penguins hockey, which includes three Stanley Cup wins in 2009, 2016, and 2017.
As of 2024, this stretch of four seasons is the second-longest playoff drought in team history.
The Lemieux Era Gets Started on the Wrong Foot (1983-1989)
Whether or not you believe in conspiracy theories doesn’t factor into the reality that the Penguins were the worst team in the NHL in 1983 and 1984, with a combined 34-111-15 record and 83 points.
They finished last in 1984 with a 16-58-6 record, edging out the Devils (17-56-7) and earning the opportunity to draft Lemieux, who debuted in October 1984 and changed the hockey landscape.
The rest, they say, is history. Or was it?
Naturally, with an injection of a superstar into the lineup, the club improved but missed the playoffs by nine points. Lemieux won the Calder Trophy and scored 100 points as a 19-year-old.
In 1985-86, the Penguins improved again, finishing 23 points higher than the previous campaign, missing out on the postseason by just two points.
However, it seemed they plateaued. Even with Lemieux scoring 107 points, Pittsburgh missed the playoff cutoff the following year by four points.
Despite a last-place Patrick Division finish in 1987-88, they missed the playoffs by a single point. The Devils snuck in with 82 points and 38 wins, which were better than the New York Rangers’ 82 points and 36 wins and the Penguins’ 81 points and 36 wins.
In 1988, the winds of change swept through Pittsburgh as Paul Coffey joined the team, and Lemieux scored 199 points, with 20-year-old Rob Brown chipping in 115.
The 1988-89 season was the first time Lemieux skated in the Stanley Cup playoffs, a sweep at the hands of the Rangers. Despite missing out again in the following season, the Penguins would toast back-to-back championships in 1991 and 1992.
Further Perspective
Pittsburgh has only failed to reach the playoffs for more than two years twice in franchise history. After those prolonged droughts, the team celebrated a handful of championships.
Considering the talent in today’s lineup, the great Yogi Berra would say, “It’s not over until it’s over,” meaning the Penguins still have a chance to compete, contend, and win.
This two-year hiatus from the playoffs is just the third time it’s happened, and as history shows, anything longer usually results in a Stanley or two.
