Don't fear the process these Penguins are about to undertake

Six points now.

Regardless, though, whether they make it or not, these Penguins are bound to be pushing a plunger of some scope once it's done. And I dare say that'd apply even if, against all odds, they'd put together a run through a round or two of Stanley Cup playoffs. Kyle Dubas has made that clear both through word and, in the biggest way conceivable with this particular roster, by trading Jake Guentzel at the NHL deadline few days ago. There's no chance he'd move Guentzel out for primarily future-based pieces without following through further this summer.

But what'll that look like?

How much of the inevitable, immediate damage will be done?

And maybe most pressing for fans of this particular franchise, which hasn't been put through an ordeal like this in two decades, when might it be OK to come out from under the figurative table?

I can't have solid answers on that, and I'm betting Dubas would say the same. Because I'm told there were other veteran players he'd tried to trade and, for whatever reason, couldn't. I'm further told that sure won't stop him from pursuing that type of move between now and the 2024-25 season. From there, add in the unpredictability of free agency and the NHL Draft and ... yeah.

That said, here's what I do know: It won't be that bad.

Because it almost can't be.

I offer this respectfully, but, my goodness, are Pittsburgh fans ever scarred by the Pirates. And Major League Baseball's lack of a salary cap system, for that matter. And on top of that, how the previous time the Penguins were in this position, the NHL didn't have a cap, either.

As such, we'll perceive all rebuilds as being either funded by Bob Nutting or looking like this:

Uh-huh. The 'X Generation' of 2003-04. I covered that team all season, all through their 18-game losing streak, all through their worst-in-the-league finish, all through a defenseman -- the great Dick Tarnstrom -- winding up as their leading scorer. And yet, even I can't identify the dude up there between Guillaume Lefebvre and Ramzi Abid.

(Seriously, help with this. All the rest are Marc-Andre Fleury, Brooks Orpik and Rico Fata, but the third from the left's a big blank for me.)

That was, in so many ways, with all due acknowledgement of what Fleury and Orpik would become, the worst of all worlds. Mario Lemieux had been limited to 10 games by injury, and he wasn't faring all that well as owner, either, with a bare bank account that forced Craig Patrick to sell off pretty much any player of worth, not least of whom were Jaromir Jagr, Alexei Kovalev and ... ugh, nobody wants to hear this again, right?

Well, nobody needs to. Because a sequel isn't remotely possible.

And all the crossover Penguins/Pirates fans might get over this fear in a raging hurry if accepting any or all of the following as fair assessments:

• Money isn't an issue. I don't mean the cap. I mean actual cash money. The Fenway Sports Group's stewardship to date has fallen short, I'd say, but they've spent to the cap, and I've been told they'll continue spending to the cap next season and for the foreseeable future.

• That right there should erase the Pirates from the equation, but I'll take it further and share that the Penguins are healthy financially. That was then, and this is now. The Civic Arena already was a venue in significant decline and, though it took a few years and some casino-wrangling, PPG Paints Arena came along as a state-of-the-art replacement, one that's doing better than ever when it comes to attracting concerts and other programming to Pittsburgh. All of that money is the Penguins' money. And the same applies to all the development that's now -- finally -- occurring across Centre Avenue.

• The core of veteran players will be reduced this summer, for sure. And should be. But Dubas is already on record that Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson, at the least, are staying put. Bryan Rust has a no-trade clause, so he'll be here, as well. As will Marcus Pettersson entering a contract year, though I'd hope he'll receive an extension. That's one-third of the skaters right there. And that's got zip in common with any 2003-like teardown.

• The youth component, while tapping an obvious stick to Fleury and Orpik, could be comparable or better to what was available back then. Drew O'Connor's becoming a hell of a player. Valtteri Puustinen's blossoming into one, as well. The pool isn't deep in Wilkes-Barre, but there's one solid prospect up front in Sam Poulin, another on defense in Jack St. Ivany, and a rookie AHL All-Star in goal in Joel Blomqvist. That team 20 years ago, if a prospect could breathe, they were in Pittsburgh. This one's got a modest group in Wilkes-Barre but also recent first-rounders in Brayden Yager, a Daniel Briere-type shooter, and Owen Pickering, a big, smart presence on the blue line. I count seven more players right there.

• Improvement through free agency was unfathomable back then, but it's a screaming possibility now. No, younger players aren't easy to acquire on the open market, but they can be had via trade and, again, there'll be more of those.

See what I mean?

If not, I'll put forth what happened in Winnipeg this past summer as the NHL's prime example.

The Jets appeared to be bracing for a blow-up and a half, buying out forever-fixture Blake Wheeler and at least weighing trades for the game's best goaltender, Connor Hellebuyck, and one of its better centers, Mark Scheifele. The city was in an uproar. Season tickets and sponsorships plunged, an effect that carried over deep into the ongoing season, to the extent that Gary Bettman flew up there a month ago to vocalize the league's concern.

Funny thing happened: The Jets are atop the Central Division at 43-19-5, a point from being atop the Western Conference, actually far better than they were despite a wave of early injuries.

How?

Without turning this into a dialogue on some other city's team, Kevin Cheveldayoff believed in the younger players the Jets had -- which I'll acknowledge was more promising than the Penguins' current crop -- he convinced Hellebuyck of that, he signed both Hellebuyck and Scheifele to long-term extensions, he traded perpetual loafer Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Kings for an absolute heist that included a breakout gem in Gabe Vilardi, and Rick Bowness instilled a team-wide, defense-first mentality that came with no exceptions no matter a player's status.

Boom.

I'm not predicting that'll happen in Pittsburgh. But I'm putting forth, with plenty of other precedent, that stories akin to this are far more common in the modern NHL than all-out collapses or 'Freak Show' experiments like when the Pirates whacked their payroll to $9 million in 1997 and somehow stayed in a pennant race through the season's final weekend.

A cap system comes with a ceiling and a floor. Any cap system anywhere. That means teams are required to spend into that range. And in the NHL, for this season, the ceiling's at $83.5 million, and the floor's at $61.7 million.

There's only so much even the Coyotes can cut.

Breathe a bit, huh?

• Konstantin Koltsov, a member of that 'X Generation' team, tragically passed away at age 42 yesterday. Easily one of the five fastest players in franchise history. Good kid, when I was covering. RIP.

• Our company's making the investment to cover Duquesne in the NCAA Tournament. Corey Crisan will fly to Nebraska today, cover the Dukes' practice tomorrow, and their game against BYU the following day. From there, he'll stay until Keith Dambrot cuts down more nets. Thanks so much for everyone who reached out with support on this front yesterday.

• I swear, I don't mean to mock Newark with the photo. They're putting money into their urban center, and it's paying off ... but it's still very much a rebuild unto itself. Felt like it fit the headline.

• Bill Mazeroski days till Miami.

• Thanks for reading.

• And for listening: