Rutherford might look to make 'major trade' if Penguins don't improve

Jim Rutherford isn't pressing the panic button just yet, but he's not opposed to making a significant move if necessary.

"We're good enough to be better than we're doing," the Pittsburgh Penguins general manager told Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Wednesday. "Hopefully, that's the way it goes here in the next little while. If it doesn't, I don't think it's unreasonable to think that a major trade would come out of this."

The Penguins won two of five games on their most recent homestand, losing to the Central Division's last-place Colorado Avalanche on Monday night. They've won only 16 of 32 contests this season, sitting sixth in the Metropolitan Division.

"We're coming into a critical period where we'll make a decision whether we need to shake things up or not," Rutherford said Wednesday, simply replying, "yes," when asked if he'd do something big to get the team's attention.

The GM appears to be mindful of not letting the season slip away for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.

"We are at a point where we're slipping in the wrong direction," he said. "We have to watch that real close."

The Penguins now embark on a brief Western road swing beginning with Thursday's clash against former Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and the surprisingly competitive Vegas Golden Knights.

"We're going to play three games here on the road where we're going to have teams that will outwork us. We have to be prepared for it," Rutherford said. "The homestand needed to be better. The good news is we're not far out of the top of the division. The bad news is we're right around not being in the playoffs."

Pittsburgh has about $1.1 million in cap space and is projected to have around $3.2 million to work with at the trade deadline, according to CapFriendly.