PITTSBURGH — The next Penguins coach will inherit one of the great players and captains of all-time in Sidney Crosby.

Who wouldn't want that?

Here's the thing, though: While that is obviously a prize, it's also a monumental challenge. The Penguins just fired a coach Crosby adored. The new guy will have to win him over, heart and mind, amid the team's current predicament — and the team's current predicament is not pretty.

The Penguins have fallen on hard times. They are weighted down by bloated contracts and aging veterans and a possibly broken goalie and declining interest in a town that loves hockey, sure, but loves winners more.

Plus, there are obvious questions about the direction of the club and its leadership from above. Fenway Sports Group, which long ago alienated franchise icon Mario Lemieux, comes off to many as a distant, highly corporate entity, not to mention one that must be second-guessing itself on investing in a declining enterprise when it bought the Penguins in 2021.

FSG was looking for minority investors last year. Will it look to get out altogether? I can't help but wonder.

Then there's general manager Kyle Dubas, who has won precisely one playoff series in seven seasons as an NHL GM.

Does he know what he's doing?

Some Penguins followers have pegged Dubas as a future hero. He's been mostly a zero so far, evidenced graphically by sinking $54 million into defenseman Ryan Graves and goalie Tristan Jarry.

I can't be the only one confused by Dubas' plan, either. He uses words such as "patience" and "urgency" only a few sentences apart.

Which is it? Is he in full rebuild mode or half-baked rebound mode? At the trade deadline, after refusing to deal a prized asset in 31-year-old winger Rickard Rakell, Dubas said the goal is "to return the team to contention as urgently as possible."

But this will also require patience, apparently. Dubas spoke at the end of the season about how the idea isn't just to return to the playoffs, but to create a consistent Cup contender. And that could take time.

How much time?

"When I say as urgently as possible," Dubas said, "I try not to put a timeline on it because I don't want this to be a perpetual and evergreen [comment] when we come in and say, 'Ah, we're a year or two or so away.'"

That doesn't exactly clarify things, but it's this kind of murkiness that coaching candidates must confront. Is this a great job or a terrible one — or somewhere in between?

I'd call it somewhere in between as the entire league goes, but especially as compared to the openings in Anaheim, Chicago, Seattle, Boston, New York (Rangers), Vancouver and Philadelphia.

I'd put Chicago and Anaheim at the top, both with an abundance of young talent perhaps ready to jell. The Rangers provide the best chance to win immediately but also to implode in spectacular fashion under bumbling general manager Chris Drury. The Penguins reside in the next group, maybe slightly above.

As with any job interview, one should make a list of pros and cons. And so we shall, as it pertains to the Penguins ...

Pro: Crosby.

Con: The challenge of convincing Crosby that you are the right person for the job.

Pro: Massive resources. The new coach is likely to be well-compensated and well-supported in a first-class operation.

Con: All those bloated contracts and two declining vets in Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, the latter of whom is signed for three more years at $6.1 million per season.

Pro: Great sports town.

Con: Better win soon, or you'll never see what a great sports town it is.

Pro: Low pressure to win immediately (unless there is; I'm still not sure where Dubas stands), plus some good young talent and a bunch of draft picks in the next three years.

Con: It takes time for young players and especially draft picks to ripen, meaning your time could be done by the time it happens.

Pro: Possibly a star goalie in the making in Sergei Murashov.

Con: Erik Karlsson, the two years remaining on his deal and his propensity for creating spectacular scoring chances for both teams. He is not a coach-friendly player. In fact, if one of Dubas' questions at the job interview is, "Where do you see yourself in three years," my answer would go something like this: "Without Erik Karlsson. Could you make it happen sooner than that?"

Bottom line: There are only 32 of these jobs on the planet — and you could do way worse than a chance to coach Crosby in a place with massive resources and a strong desire to win. I'd go for that — but only if I couldn't get Chicago or Anaheim to hire me.

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