JOE SARGENT / GETTY

Conor Timmins dives to pokecheck the Blackhawks' Ilya Mikheyev on a partial break in the second period Tuesday.

The question required a straight shooter and, being honest, I'd have approached Kevin Hayes for the answer even if he hadn't just executed the following fine shots in the Penguins' 5-0 flattening of the Blackhawks tonight here at PPG Paints Arena:

OK, so those were both way more about Danton Heinen's sweet setups, as I'd jab the eminently jab-able Hayes and to which a nearby Heinen would respond, "Oh, thanks." But I've dug deep enough into this metaphor and, dammit, I'm sticking to it.

The question: Will this team make the Stanley Cup playoffs next year?

"The Pittsburgh Penguins?" Hayes came back, to which he'd receive additional jabbing, as if he'll be playing somewhere else next season. He won't. He's got one more year on his contract, he'd be paid $3.57 million by anyone who employs him and, even with a healthy 13-goal output and other pluses to his ongoing performance, that'd be pricy for a 33-year-old for any potential taker.

He'd proceed regarding this being a playoff team, "I believe it is. You know, it's funny, when we have time on the bus and time on the road, we kind of chit-chat about games that were going our way and obviously got away from us, and we've counted more than a double-digit number of games that we think we kind of screwed ourselves."

No doubt. Especially the stinker in San Jose a few weeks ago. And my God, especially that soul-suck against the Islanders last month. But there were a bunch early, as well.

"We obviously dug too deep of a hole," Hayes would conclude. "But with the leadership on this team and the skill that this team has, I do think it's a playoff team next year.”

I like it. I'll take it.

In fact, I'll take it a lot further by offering five reasons why Hayes will be proven right that the Penguins will end a three-playoff absence and get back to the games that matter.

5. THEY'RE FINISHING STRONG.

I know, I know, these games are easier. No one's sweating bullets ahead of a home-and-home with Chicago with nothing at stake for either side. It's a lesser brand of hockey with lesser intensity, as I'm certain the crowd of 15,029 could've discerned here from the opening faceoff.

That said ... I'm uncomfortable outright discarding the Penguins being 8-4-2 over their past 14 games, in particular because six of those eight wins -- plus one of the overtime losses -- came against teams currently set in playoff positions. That's pretty good. They also include convincing outcomes against the Golden Knights and Stars, two of the NHL's top four teams. That's really good.

What's more, the general level of play's been, with two sickly exceptions in Tampa and Buffalo, consistently high. Moreover, it's been a continuation of the way the Penguins had hoped to function from the outset as opposed to some significant change.

I appreciated how Erik Karlsson worded his view on that, specifically, after this game that saw his 200th NHL goal: "We know that we haven't played the way that we've wanted this year, but it feels like the approach the last few games has been the same as it was throughout the year, which makes it a little bit easier."

He credited the Core -- Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, though I'm increasingly inclined to include Bryan Rust in that collective -- with ensuring there'd be no coasting to the close: "Obviously, it starts with Sid and the big guys. They're preparing the same way every day, and it's easy to do the same, not worrying about what tomorrow is going to bring. I feel like that's been our approach for the most part of the year. It hasn't gone our way for the better part of it, and I think, down the stretch it would be easy to mail it in. But it's something we haven't done."

Not at all. And good for them. It's almost as if they'd prefer to remind themselves that they're a playoff-caliber team. Or close to it.

4. ACTUAL GOALTENDING ANSWERS?

I keep promising I won't take Tristan Jarry's return too seriously, and I'll stand by that. But here again, even though the Penguins dominated the Blackhawks territorially in defiance of the slight 27-26 in shots, he was terrific.

Know how I'm always talking about how strong he'll be if he makes one of those early saves with the lightning-quick legs?

Well, hello to one Philipp Kurashev, thwarted by the right toe in the opening minute:

Jarry's starting to (almost) sound as if believes me on this theory.

"It was good," was all he'd say back this time, albeit with another broad smile. "It felt good."

He'll have to prove himself all over again come training camp. Alex Nedeljković won't be any different in that respect. And the figurative door absolutely must be left ajar for Joel Blomqvist or even baby-faced Sergei Murashov to push through. Or someone wholly new.

3. WHITHER THE CHILDREN?

I can't sufficiently characterize how odd it's been to cover bona fide prospects in Pittsburgh sweaters the past few days, but ... yeah:

Ville Koivunen's 21 years old. He's got no business looking off any established NHL player like that, much less the greatest of the generation, but that's what he does up with that superlative assist there. He sees Sid between the hashes, eyeballs him with a purpose, then smacks Karlsson's blade across the low slot.

I had to ask the kid if he knew that was Sid.

"Yeah," he'd reply with a sheepish grin and justifiably zero elaboration.

As David Quinn, assistant coach, would marvel later, "He has swagger on top of ability. If you're going to be successful in this league, you've got to think you're good, with a little bit of humility. He has all of that."

So cool.

Hated seeing Rutger McGroarty go down hard after admirably blocking a shot with his left foot, and hated all the more seeing him in a walking boot afterward. But he's made his own uplifting -- and confident in his own, much less humble way -- impression to date.

Both have. And it's hardly unreasonable to envision more as soon as the coming camp. Including top defense prospect Harrison Brunicke, who turned 19 on this same day and who performed at his first camp as if he could've been part of this at 18, as well as a still-budding-himself Owen Pickering.

2. THE DEFENSE ... CAN BE FIXED?

Here's another one I can't really stretch, if only because it involves so many unforeseen variables related to what Kyle Dubas can pull off toward repurposing a defense corps that remains parallel to the goaltending among the team's problems.

It's like this: Letang and Karlsson will be back, for far too many reasons to list. Ryan Shea will be back for another year, though he's a depth piece at best. Ryan Graves will be here for all eternity, and I'll just bypass that one. Matt Grzelcyk's a pending free agent and he'll turn 32, but management and the coaching staff have been delighted with his work. Conor Timmins can be a restricted free agent and he'll turn 27, but I'm betting he'll be tendered.

See what I mean?

It's a project and a half, one that won't likely occur within a single summer, no matter the extra cap space Dubas will have. And only Brunicke looms as help from within.

One suggestion would be to cast a wide net for more Timmins types:

Now, ideally, this corps will stop being beaten for breaks so often, and Timmins isn't clear of that charge. But he's got a bigger frame at 6-3, 213 pounds, he can zip around, he's aggressive on the attack, and there's room for that on this roster at this position, even if he's a right-hander stuck on the depth chart behind Letang and Karlsson.

Look, whatever's to come has to be an improvement over this, doesn't it?

1. OH, COME ON!

Understand this plainly, please: The older players in this setting are anything but the liability that the casuals will often attempt to portray. For example, a point-a-game player making $8.7 million a year is a mindboggling plus at any age, especially when he shows no signs of slowing in any capacity:

Same goes for a No. 2 center still capable of eating opponents alive with elite possession while making $6.1 million, as well as a 24-minutes-a-night, all-phases defenseman making the same amount. Both saw production and other peripherals dip this season, but they're both also about a billion miles away from being anybody's burden:

They're not what they once were. None of them, not even Sid. But then, neither was Alexander Ovechkin until Washington management surrounded him with a good group of younger talent that learned how to win in the AHL and still hasn't stopped in the NHL.

I don't see these Penguins becoming these Capitals next season. Not without a near-total transformation on the back end and, to repeat, there can't be a shortcut for that.

But playoffs?

Did someone say playoffs?

Well, yeah, sure, why not?