Hockey is weird for many reasons, but the most bizarre part may be trying to construct a roster.

Take the Pittsburgh Penguins, for example. They’re bad and old. After missing the postseason the past two years by mere points, the Pens have opened the 2024/2025 campaign with a 6-9-3 record, good enough for seventh place in the Eastern Conference’s eight-team Metropolitan Division; not only that, but Pittsburgh has a goal-differential of minus-22, which is the second-worst in the NHL.

The core three, which consist of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, have all reached their late 30s. It would be understandable if one of those three remained on the roster–most likely Crosby–but all three? Not only are all three still on Pittsburgh’s roster, but they’re still the team’s best players. You can also throw in Erik Karlsson, a 34-year-old offensive-defenseman Pittsburgh acquired in a trade before the 2023/2024 campaign. That’s an old core, and Pittsburgh will be hard-pressed to break it up due to all four veterans having no-movement clauses in their contracts. In case you’re unfamiliar, a no-movement clause means a player cannot be waived, sent to the minors or traded without his consent. In addition to a host of veterans with no-movement clauses (Bryan Rust is also on that list), the Penguins have a large group of players with no-trade clauses–including Noel Acciari, Michael Bunting, Ryan Graves, Tristan Jarry, Marcus Pettersson and Rickard Rakell. A no-trade clause isn’t as limiting as a no-movement clause, but it does narrow the number of organizations a player can be traded to without his approval.

So, an NHL team can’t just shed veterans and salary–not without a lot of imagination, anyway. As for getting younger via free agency? It’s difficult since a player cannot become a free agent until he has seven seasons of NHL service or is 27 years of age–whichever comes first.

So, the Penguins are in a jam and must keep the roster that they have for the next few years. Hell, they just signed Crosby to an extension through the 2026/2027 season, while Malkin has two more years to go on the deal he signed in 2022. Letang’s current contract runs through 2027/2028. Karlsson still has three seasons left on the eight-year, $92 million deal he signed with the San Jose Sharks and will count $11.5 million against the salary cap for all three of those seasons.

The Penguins have too much money invested in their stars to bench them, and they don’t have a bona fide future superstar prospect (another Crosby, Malkin or Letang) waiting in the minors.

The Penguins had a choice to make a couple of years ago when it was apparent that their championship run–one that saw them advance to four Stanley Cup Finals and win three titles between 2008 and 2017–had ended: Break up the core and begin the rebuild or give in to public sentiment and keep things together for nostalgia.

The Penguins chose nostalgia.

The Penguins were going to bottom out eventually, but to have to bottom out with a core of high-priced veterans who are closing in on retirement? That’s a difficult position to be in.

Oh well, at least hardcore and nostalgic Penguins fans will be able to attend many games on the cheap over the next few years.