Jason Mackey: We don't know who oversees the Penguins power play. Could that be a good thing?

Based solely on titles, it's unclear who runs the Penguins power play at the moment, though there are a few options. Among them:

— They could assign those duties to Quinn, who has plenty of experience coaching offensively gifted players, Karlsson among them. Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin and Adam Fox are a few Quinn had with the Rangers. Plus, only four teams NHL-wide were better on the power play than New York during Quinn's time there.

— The Penguins could also employ more of a committee approach. Sullivan has always had a hand in the power play. He, Quinn, Ty Hennes and Mike Vellucci could figure it out together. I'd rank this last among the available options.

— They should employ someone like Savard or Glen Gulutzan, Edmonton's power play guru. It's important to note this has also been an area that has helped former players climb the coaching ranks, guys like Jeff Halpern in Tampa, Brett McLean in Minnesota or Alex Tanguay with Detroit.

It's not a perfect comparison, mind you, but the Penguins had a version of this when they won the Stanley Cup in back-to-back seasons with Sergei Gonchar and Rick Tocchet on staff, the two working for Jim Rutherford in Vancouver.

With hockey's offseason finally heating up via the NHL draft later this week, plus the start of free agency on July 1, I'd imagine Dubas will be asked who runs his team's power play. I can't wait to hear the answer.

While I understand Dubas' options are limited due to no-movement clauses and the assets he's peddling, this is something very much in the Penguins' control, the power play re-emerging as a way to grab momentum or create important breathing room.

It certainly wasn't anything available to the Penguins in 2023-24, as they finished with the third-best rate of expected goals ... but were frustratingly bad with actual production.

The new coach will have the benefit of using Michael Bunting in the bumper position, which helped the Penguins. But they still lacked a one-time option from the left circle and a consistent net-front presence, two areas I hope are addressed this offseason.

Dubas was also right in his postseason assessment when it comes to the emotions — good and bad — that the power play can conjure, arguing that the team essentially gets a faceoff and zone entry before the building gets restless.

That happened far too often last season.

Puck management was not what Sullivan and his staff wanted. The power play gifted momentum instead of generating it. With a collection of Hall of Fame-bound talent, the Penguins were league average in zone time.

"Everyone wants the power play to be great and be seen as a separator for the team to help it win games," Dubas said. "I don't think it's deep rooted."

Neither is success on it. And we're talking about more than those familiar screams to shoot the (darn) puck.

Savard, who totaled 197 points with Atlanta and Boston from 2005-07, seems to know a thing or two about what makes a good power play, telling The Athletic a year or so ago, "I don't want to see guys holding on to the puck long."

It obviously won't be Savard — and doesn't have to be. There are plenty of hockey people available with creative minds and conviction. Here's hoping the Penguins empower one of them, mixing a fresh set of eyes with a different approach to fix arguably their biggest flaw from a season ago.