Dan Bylsma should coach the Penguins next season.

To start it, anyway.

Nothing that happens the rest of these Stanley Cup playoffs should change that.

Bylsma is a very good coach. He has won the Cup. He has won a Jack Adams Award. He has won 200 games faster than anybody in NHL history.

He has won 36 playoff games, too.

Those wins are the hardest to come by, and they should not be discounted.

GM Ray Shero should think long and hard before bowing to any pressure – internally or externally – to find a new bench boss.

No coach can overcome his best players not performing in the biggest moments.

That happened to Bylsma in Round 2 against Montreal in 2011 and it is happening now in Round 3 against Boston. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang – those guys have to step up in those spots, and they did and have not.

Bylsma is not a perfect coach. He is a young coach, one that made adjustments from last postseason.

That penalty kill that was dreadful against Philadelphia in Round 1 last season is now a strength.

That goalie problem last postseason – hey, Bylsma replaced franchise guy Marc-Andre Fleury before a lot of colleagues would have, after two bad games in Round 1.

He can’t score for Crosby, Malkin and Letang.

And the idea that they aren’t scoring because of the attack plan is off-base.

They aren’t playing well. Period.

Stars not playing well will get any coach fired.

Shero shouldn’t fire Bylsma though.

This offseason will see significant changes for the Penguins, who are coming up on some tough decisions about personnel.

There is a lot to do in a short window of time.

Leading a coaching search is not necessary for Shero.

Reconfiguring his squad to become younger, faster, etc. , is necessary.

Get players like that and Bylsma will be the ideal coach for next season.

Or Shero can make the wrong move and let go of Bylsma.

He would regret it.

Think of what Bylsma brought to the Penguins four years ago.

What could he do with, say, the New York Rangers?

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Rob Rossi covers the Penguins and NHL for Trib Total Media and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He is ClearChannel’s Penguins Insider. Follow him on Twitter: @RobRossi_Trib.

The next one will decide this Eastern Conference final.

If the Penguins win Game 3 at Boston on Wednesday, they will play for the Stanley Cup.

Mark that down. Count it.

It is not a prediction based off anything that was witnessed in Games 1 and 2, and the combined score of Bruins 9, Penguins 1.

A year ago, 14 months actually, the Penguins were in this spot.

Two home games lost, facing a Game 3 on the road in a building they play well.

All season, these players who were with the Penguins then said they have learned.

If they have, they win and get back into the series.

Lose, and, well…

What becomes of coach Dan Bylsma, whose clubs would have gone 3-4 in series – all against lower-seeded opponents – since winning the Cup in 2009?

What becomes of defenseman Kris Letang, who will have one season left on a contract that pays him $3.5 million annually?

What becomes of wingers Jarome Iginla and Brenden Morrow and defenseman Douglas Murray – the key three in-season acquisitions, and all unrestricted free agents?

What becomes of Pascal Dupuis, tied for the team lead with seven playoff goals and an impending free agent?

What becomes of goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who has won just one playoff series since that last-second save on Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom that clinched the Cup four years ago?

These are questions that general manager Ray Shero will ask.

He does not need to ask them yet.

If the Penguins win their next game, the guess is he won’t have to ask them at all.

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Rob Rossi covers the Penguins and NHL for Trib Total Media and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He is ClearChannel’s Penguins Insider. Follow him on Twitter: @RobRossi_Trib.

Marc-Andre Fleury does not seem done yet.

That is despite brilliant play, statistically, from Tomas Vokoun.

Vokoun is likely to start Game 1 of the Easter Conference final against Boston at Consol Energy Center on Saturday night.

He does not feel like the starting job is his.

Fleury says he will not be a distraction.

However, this week, he has not been given treatment typical for a backup, which is to say he faced a lot more action when regulars were on the ice.

Fleury, 28, is paid like a franchise goalie at $5 million annually. There are two seasons remaining on his contract.

General manager Ray Shero, who has two compliance buyouts at his disposal this and next season, does not discuss personnel matters during the playoffs.

His previously stated two offseason objectives are long-term extensions for center Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Kris Letang.  With limited salary-cap space, he will also look to retain the services of impending free agents from a group that includes wingers Pascal Dupuis, and possibly Matt Cooke and Jarome Iginla.

All of that – and the continued MVP-like play of Vokoun, 36 but signed for next season – could make Fleury expendable via a buyout or trade.

There remains no indication Fleury, a two time Cup finalist, is finished for this playoff run.

Coach Dan Bylsma has consistently declined to publicly commit to Vokoun, who has gone 6-1-1 on the strength of a .941 save percentage and 1.85 goals-against average.

Earlier this week, Bylsma appeared to plant a seed for The Flower to again bloom for the Penguins.

“He’s been practicing extremely well, and I think he’s ready to go in there and stop the puck when he gets that chance, when he gets that opportunity,” Bylsma said of Fleury on Monday.

Bylsma looks to be preparing both goalies for the short term.

Always check here for Tribune-Review Penguins coverage: http://triblive.com/sports/penguins/

And keep coming back here for your best Penguins inside scoop.

Rob Rossi covers the Penguins and NHL for Trib Total Media and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He is ClearChannel’s Penguins Insider. Follow him on Twitter: @RobRossi_Trib.