Tim Benz: Very different pre-trade deadline atmosphere hangs over PPG Paints Arena during Penguins' win

We’ve experienced that kind of Penguins game at this point on the calendar many times before at PPG Paints Arena. And prior to that, at Mellon Arena.

That type of game a few days before the trade deadline, where the outcome of one contest felt significantly less important than what might transpire very shortly on the trade market.

If they win, great. If they lose, oh well.

But what really matters is, are the Pens getting Jarome Iginla, or is Boston? Is Ray Shero really gonna figure out a way to land Marian Hossa? Are they still gonna be able to swing Bill Guerin? Man, I really hope they get Derick Brassard…

Well, you get the point.

This year, though, that tone was noticeable at Tuesday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, but from a totally different perspective. Who really cared if the seventh-place Penguins beat the eighth-place Blue Jackets or not?

Who are the Penguins going to sell off before Friday’s deadline, and where are those players going? Those were the things most Penguins fans were thinking about Tuesday night.

That’s not something we are used to having as a sidebar to a hockey game in Pittsburgh. It really hasn’t been that way since Sidney Crosby’s rookie year in 2005-06. Every year since then, the quest has been about who the Penguins would add this time of year.

Not who they’ll be shipping out.

Even last year, with the team wobbling in the netherworld of being in between contending for a playoff spot and pretending they actually had a chance to compete if they got there, former general manager Ron Hextall tried to add help at the deadline.

Tried. I guess.

Hextall’s effectiveness in doing so left more than a little to be desired, given that Mikael Granlund was the biggest fish he managed to hook. Not to mention bringing on Dmitry Kulikov and whatever remained of Nick Bonino while moving Brock McGinn and Teddy Blueger.

Now, though, there is little question as to what will be taking place on Friday. Former All-Star and Stanley Cup winner Jake Guentzel is likely to be dealt. Significant contributors Erik Karlsson, Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust, Marcus Pettersson, Reilly Smith, Lars Eller, Tristan Jarry and Ryan Graves are all names that have been thrown around in media conversation at one point or another as general manager Kyle Dubas looks to accomplish his stated goal of getting the roster younger.

Certainly, not all of those players will go, but quite a few could.

Up until their recently concluded 1-3 road trip through the Pacific Northwest, it sounded as if the Penguins were talking themselves into believing such a fire sale wasn’t going to be necessary.

Unfortunately, with the reality of their nosedive through Seattle, Calgary and Edmonton still fresh in their minds, the players admitted to being conscious of the circumstances during what ended up being a spotty 5-3 victory over the Blue Jackets.

“It’s never easy,” Smith said of tuning out the trade-deadline chatter. “You have to do that as a group and lean on each other. I think we’ve had — other than the Edmonton game — some pretty good starts over our last few. Keeping our cool for the full 60 minutes is what we need to work on, and we did a better job of that tonight.”

Even the normally defiant head coach, Mike Sullivan, acknowledged the new reality these Penguins are facing as the deadline looms.

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“There’s a lot of noise around the team right now. Probably more so than there has been for a lot of years,” Sullivan said after the victory. “Part of our job is to focus on the task at hand. That’s the game right in front of us. That’s the challenge. These guys are human.”

Oh, it’s loud, indeed. Fan angst over the Penguins is reaching “Fire Canada” levels of acrimony normally reserved for section 502 at Acrisure Stadium after a three-and-out last fall.

We’re anticipating the first midseason roster purge for the Pens in 18 years. Yet the vast majority of fans seem to be embracing the “everything must go” mentality.

Why shouldn’t they? It’s not about this year. It’s about how the franchise flamed out at the end of 2023 to miss the playoffs and how it has failed to win a postseason series since 2018.

“It’s business,” said forward Jesse Puljujarvi, who had one goal in Tuesday night’s victory. “We have to come here every night to be ready to play. We play hockey. The other guys think other things. We just play.”

The Penguins have one more game to go before the deadline. It’s Thursday night against the Washington Capitals at home. According to a recent report from TSN, Guentzel may not even be a Penguin by that point.

Five years ago, Pens versus Caps in March would be marquee viewing en route to shaping the Eastern Conference playoff bracket. Now, it may be more about which team can stay further away from the Blue Jackets in last place of the Metropolitan Division.

And, from the point of view of local hockey fans, seeing which familiar faces will be skating on Pittsburgh ice as Penguins for the last time.

Listen: On this week’s Gerger Construction “Breakfast With Benz” hockey podcast, Brian Metzer of the Penguins Radio Network joins me to discuss where Jake Guentzel may wind up and who else the Penguins may trade at the deadline.