Pittsburgh Penguins biggest disappointments, surprises and more at holiday break

Story byAdam GretzWed, December 24, 2025 at 2:44 PM UTC·6 min readThe Pittsburgh Penguins are going into the Holiday and nearing the halfway point of the 2025-26 NHL regular season. They are probably where everybody expected them to be in the standings, but have reached it in a very unexpected manner. So it might be a good time to just check in and look at who has been their best player (no surprise), their biggest disappointment, their biggest surprise and their best offseason addition. Let’s get to it. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBest player: Sidney CrosbyThere are some legitimate concerns with the way the top line has played defensively, and that applies to both Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust.