The 2026 Men’s Olympic Hockey tournament concludes this weekend, which means the 2025-26 NHL season is getting closer to returning from its Olympic break. The Pittsburgh Penguins next game will be on Thursday, February, 26 against the New Jersey Devils. Overall, they have 26 regular season games remaining. So let’s talk about the four things they need the most the rest of the way.

1. Sidney Crosby

This is the biggest concern at the moment given his injury at the Olympics. There has been no official update on what exactly his injury is or the severity of it, and we only know that he tried to skate before Friday’s semifinal game agains Finland and was then ruled out for the game. All of the reporting so far seems to indicate it is not anything season-ending, but it seems likely he is going to miss at least something when the Penguins return from the break.

On one hand, the Penguins have surprisingly strong depth this season and still have enough to stay competitive if Crosby deals with a shorter-term injury.

They have played extremely well without him on the ice this season, and even though him being out of the lineup would move people up the depth chart they should still have enough depth to stay competitive and win games.

If they are going to actually make the playoffs and then have a chance to do anything when they get there, a healthy Crosby is eventually going to be a must.

2. The power play to rediscover its groove

Overall the Penguins power play has been excellent this season and a significant part of their success. For the season as a whole they are converting on 25 percent of their attempts, good enough for the fourth-best mark in the NHL.

Since the start of January, however, that unit has struggled to consistently fill the net.

Since January 1 the Penguins are converting on just 15.9 percent of their power play attempts, a number that drops them to 29th in the NHL over that stretch.

Even more concerning: They are not generating a ton of actual chances on the power play, either.

Over that stretch of games they are averaging just 8.59 expected goals per 60 minutes of power play time. That is 22nd in the NHL during that stretch.

They are generating just 53.6 shots on goal per 60 minutes. That is 15th in the NHL over that stretch.

They are averaging just 59.1 scoring chances per 60 minutes. That is 20th in the NHL in those games.

They are averaging just 28.4 high-danger scoring chances per 60 minutes. That is 16th in the NHL during that stretch.

In other words, it has been a very average to below average unit for a significant chunk of the season. The Penguins are a good enough 5-on-5 team that they do not need a great power play to have a chance to generate offense, but that unit becoming a force again (or at least better than it has been since the start of January) would be a huge help for the offense and the team as a whole.

[Power Play Scoring Chance, Shot Rates And Expected Goal Data via Natural Stat Trick]

3. Defensive upgrade at the trade deadline

It seems very likely that, given their place in the standings, the Penguins are going to be in a position to add something before the March 6 trade deadline. Especially since they only play five games before the deadline. Their forward situation looks pretty settled with plenty of depth. Between their NHL roster and the options ready to go in the AHL (Rutger McGroarty, Ville Koivunen, Avery Hayes, the potential return of Filip Hallander) they are probably 15-16 deep in terms of NHL capable forwards at the moment. The defensive depth is the question.

While the defense has been significantly better than we anticipated at the start of the season, especially as it relates to the left side of the defense, they could still use some help as it relates to the depth.

Kris Letang is 38 years old, missed some time this season, and showed serious signs of decline at times.

Erik Karlsson is 35 years old and just played four extra high-intensity games at the Olympic tournament.

The depth players like Connor Clifton, Jack St. Ivany, Ilya Solovyov and Brett Kulak have held their own, you still might like to see an upgrade for the playoffs or just simply have some extra depth. You probably need at least eight or nine capable NHL defensemen for a playoff run. I am not sure the Penguins have that right now. An upgrade would be nice. It also seems likely. It is just a matter of how big of an upgrade it is and how much the Penguins are willing to pay.

They are almost certainly still looking for any young talent that can help both now and in the future at any position, but if we are talking short-term upgrades the defense should be the focus. This team has raised its expectations for the season through its play and it deserves an addition.

4. Win 14 more games

We talked about this earlier in the week, but given where the Penguins are in the standings, what they have already done, what the teams around them have already done, and what it typically takes to make the playoffs, winning 14 more games, regardless of what they do in the other 12 (overtime loss, regulation loss, shootout loss, whatever the case may be) should be enough to secure a playoff spot.

The schedule is difficult. It is doable. The playoffs are within reach. Hope for the best with Sidney Crosby’s injury, get the power play back on track, keep getting some competent and capable goaltending, and get an upgrade on defense and that should be an attainable goal.