A Farewell to Patric Hornqvist: But Why?

I mean consider this, the Penguins haven't missed the playoffs since 2006 (we're gonna put an asterisk for 2020), won three Stanley Cups in that time, and even went back to back in '16 and '17.

Most franchises would kill to have that kind of success. 

Yet, we as spoiled fans still can't seem to fully process or handle a bad year. In five of those aforementioned playoff years, the Pens lost in the first round. Each first round loss brought cries to trade Marc Andre Fleury,  with Yinzers screaming at Redbeards that he wasn't the goalie who would help bring back the cup. 

Then everyone wanted him back when they saw Matt Murray's glovehand disappear.

Sometimes if you listen closely to the Mount Washington Moon you'll hear the cries for Malkin's head after an uninspired game, or Letang's hair.

Or whoever isn't living up to our highest of standards that year.

Penguins fans will always find someone to point the finger at or try to trade them themselves. But there was one name that was pretty consistently left out of that kind of talk.

Patrick Hornqvist. 

Sure, Hornqvist wasn't considered to be the superstar on the team, maybe no one complained because he wasn't to be held in such high regards as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Or maybe it was because he contributed just enough to always keep him in the conversation of being a game-changer, but not enough to place blame when the Penguins were not playing well.

I'm not gonna sit here and say they got rid of the heart of this team or even the most talented member, but we sure as hell are going to miss what he brought to the table, on and off the ice.

Hornqvist always skated with a unique toughness, a net front presence that has been unrivaled on this team for years and one that I don't see on this current roster. I'll acknoweldge his contract may have been a little pricey for his age, and I'm sure you can pull up your advanced data telling me why the squad may be better off without him, or why Kasperi Kapanen is going to make it all better. 

That's all fine and dandy for now -  but I think this is a trend that Penguins fans are going to have a hard time accepting over the next few years.

Crosby isn't getting any younger. Malkin and Defenseman Kris Letang become free agents in '22, and our current cap space is just under five million. All you hear from General Manager Jim Rutherford is that he's now about building a younger team, which has been pretty obvious for the last few years. If the Pens are really going to start making moves to invest in the future, more and more Penguins staples are going to be on the chopping block. 

Unfortunately for Hornqvist, this came sooner rather than later. 

Well for starters, I don't think we're going to see any goals like the cup winner Hornqvist banked off Pekka Rinne's back with 95 second left to clinch the trophy in June 2017. We're also going to see less garbage goals, less of a hard-ass net front presence, and the overall crash the net mentality that Hornqvist was just so damn good at. Not to mention how well he could just annoy the living shit out of the opposing goaltender and defensemen.

That's a fun brand of hockey.

In the next couple of years I think the Pens are likely headed into a strange rebuild phase that isn't fully a rebuild, and its going to be tough for fans to have perspective about it.

They can't get rid of Sid, he is the Penguins and he's entrenched in the DNA of Pittsburgh -  just like Mario Lemieux. 

But how do you rebuild a younger team around him without cutting cost and getting rid of some big names that paved the way for the rebirth of this franchise?

Let's not forget that we almost lost this franchise a few times in the past twenty or so years to expansion when we weren't producing a winner. High draft pick talent such as Crosby, Malkin, Jordan Staal and Marc-Andre Fleury were a handful that kept this franchise in the 'Burgh.

Now only a few remain. 

Hornqvist was just one of ten players left on this current roster from their last cup victory three years ago. With Goalie Matt Murray being an unrestricted free agent, as well as Justin Schultz and Connor Sheary, who aren't expected back next season - there will most likely be even less familiar names on the roster in 2021.

I hope this team can rebuild without struggling like they did against the Canadians in the playoffs - but it's hard to stay optimistic after viewing franchises such as the Red Wings, Blackhawks and Kings who have all struggled to rebuild after their previous success. 

Penguins fans are going to have to realize that without a full tear down there's a chance we see more first round sweeps, and more lineup changes than ever before as GMJR continues to try and re-tweak the supporting cast around his aging stars.

So, much like Hornqvist, the great moral of this story is to appreciate the good whenever you have it. Because unfortunately in sports - it just can't last forever.

We'll miss you Patric. I've heard Florida isn't too bad this time of year.