It seems like things in Pittsburgh are about to change after the club’s play-in round elimination at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens.

General manager Jim Rutherford spoke with reporters as part of his annual end-of-year media availability on Tuesday, and he didn't hold back on the state of his roster.

"It's going to be difficult to keep both [goalies]. Everybody understands that given the cap," Rutherford said.

Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry are set to become restricted free agents on a Penguins team that finished the season with less than $1 million in cap space.

"My assessment is that Tristan had an exceptionally good first half. [Murray] was the better goalie in the second half. Our goalies were good in the playoffs. I can't point the finger at the goalies."

Murray finished the season with a 20-11-5 record, a .899 save percentage and a 2.87 goals-against average, while Jarry went 20-12-1 with a .921 save percentage  and a 2.43 goals-against average.

The Penguins went with Murray to begin the play-in round. He went 1-2 with a .914 SV% and gave up eight goals over three games. Facing elimination, the team turned to Jarry for Game 4. He made 20 saves and gave up two goals in a series-ending 2-0 loss.

When Rutherford was asked about moving veteran star centre Evgeni Malkin he said, "I plan to move forward with the core. These are good players. They still have good hockey left in them. …I always have to say, if some amazing trade comes along you have to look at it, but I will not actively be looking at trying to trade our core players."

"This could be a year where we try to get younger, but in a way that we feel we can still win," Rutherford added. "Bringing some new, young energy in. We're going to have to make some changes because of the cap."

When asked about his third pair on defence, Rutherford said: "I know everybody picks on Jack [Johnson], and they have for a long time, but I think in that pairing, Justin Schultz had a lot more to give.”

Johnson, 33, has another three years left on his contract with an annual cap hit of $3.25 million. In 67 games this season, he had three goals and 11 points. Schultz, 30, is set to become an unrestricted free agent after making $5.5 million this season.

Although Rutherford is assessing his roster, it appears the changes could come off the ice as well.

"We had a good regular season and dealt with adversity and got through that. You look at that and give credit in the right places." Rutherford said about his coaching staff. “You also have to look at what happened here at the end of these last two seasons and there's a pattern here."

The Penguins have gone 1-7 in the playoffs over the past two seasons. Four of those losses came in the first round of the 2019 playoffs when they were swept by the New York Islanders.