TORONTO — The Pittsburgh Penguins have a decision to make.

Harrison Brunicke made the Penguins’ roster out of training camp and played exceedingly well in his first handful of NHL appearances. Seemingly everyone in the organization believed the 19-year-old rookie defenseman was in the league to stay.

Brunicke’s performance, however, has declined. He had a particularly rough game on Saturday afternoon against Winnipeg.

He has been responsible for several goals against in recent games, been a healthy scratch five times and regularly found himself out of position. Brunicke’s play with the puck hasn’t been the problem. When the puck is on his blade, Brunicke is advanced and among the Penguins’ most gifted players. His skating ability was evident from the moment the Penguins drafted him and has been eye-popping at times during his rookie season. He has quite a future.

His play without the puck, though, has become a legitimate concern.

So, what happens next?

Brunicke is going to play Monday night in Toronto against the Maple Leafs. The game will mark his ninth appearance of the season, which means his entry-level contract will kick in if he plays one more game after Monday.

Many people I’ve spoken with in the organization, including some on the coaching staff, would prefer Brunicke to stay in Pittsburgh all season. He is viewed as a superb talent and a very coachable player, which leads to thinking that he will be better served by staying in Pittsburgh, working with the NHL staff and taking his lumps. The Penguins never planned for Brunicke or fellow rookie Ben Kindel to play in every NHL game this season anyway, so even if Brunicke is a healthy scratch on some nights, he could be better suited to staying in the league instead of returning to junior hockey, where he has little left to accomplish.

Still, Brunicke’s recent struggles have not gone unnoticed. While the Penguins entered this season primarily focused on developing young players, their 8-3-2 start makes it tougher to leave a young player in the lineup if he’s struggling. The Penguins are still trying to win games. If they don’t think Brunicke’s presence will help, they have a problem.

A couple of weeks ago, the Penguins were prepared to keep him in Pittsburgh all season. Then, his play deteriorated, and things changed.

At this point, there is a chance Brunicke will be sent back to the WHL for the remainder of this season. The Penguins have a pretty reasonable amount of depth on the blue line, especially on the right side, which would make that move easier to absorb. Matt Dumba and Connor Clifton are hardly star players and don’t boast Brunicke’s physical talent, but they are respected veterans who don’t figure to hurt the Penguins too much when they’re in the lineup.

The Penguins hoped to keep Brunicke in Pittsburgh all season, and perhaps they still will. But all options are now being considered.

If he wants to stay in Pittsburgh for the season, Brunicke would be well served to have one heck of a game Monday against the Maple Leafs.

Muse drawing rave reviews

Some people in the organization — largely a handful of players — are not always easily impressed by coaches.

The Penguins have a lot of players set in their ways who have won championships with other coaches and who aren’t blown away by anything they’re seeing. Yet, every time I bring up new coach Dan Muse with people throughout the organization, from players on down, they say they’re impressed. I’m not just talking about his work behind the bench, either. Everyone I speak with is eager to note the time he puts in behind the scenes and his one-on-one work with individual players.

They also say he’s a high-character person. Muse introduced himself to fans during training camp. You just don’t see stuff like that in professional sports very often.

Regardless of what happens the rest of this season, there’s an organizational belief that the Penguins have landed a star head coach.

FSG is still here

Something interesting has happened in recent weeks regarding the Penguins and Fenway Sports Group.

It’s no secret that the Penguins are for sale and it’s still very possible that FSG won’t own the team for much longer. Even so, I’ve heard from numerous people within the Penguins organization in the past month who have said that Boston-based FSG deserves credit for remaining involved and, perhaps most importantly, for refusing to cut costs despite low ticket sales.

You might think that Penguins employees would dislike FSG or feel betrayed because of the group’s apparent desire to part ways with the city and the organization. Quite to the contrary. If anything, I detect a pretty significant amount of gratitude among employees.

Speaking of those empty seats …

Are the Penguins concerned about the decrease in attendance? Well, they aren’t thrilled, but they expected it.

The Penguins haven’t sold out a game yet this season. Not the home opener. Not former coach Mike Sullivan’s return to Pittsburgh with the New York Rangers on a Saturday night. Not the Penguins Hall of Fame induction night, also on a Saturday.

The team’s on-ice expectations were low coming into the season, and ticket prices are high. It’s a tough combination, even for first-class organizations.

The Penguins appear to be out of the woods when it comes to the schedule. Consider their November home slate: They have six games at home this month. Two are on Saturday nights, which typically draw well (and one of those is against Toronto, which almost guarantees a sellout, as Maple Leafs fans travel well), one is on a Friday night, and one is on a Sunday afternoon. Weekend games always draw better, and the Penguins are aided by this Sunday afternoon’s game against the Los Angeles Kings taking place on a day when the Steelers play in the evening.

The weeknight games could be big draws, too. On Nov. 26, the Penguins host their annual Thanksgiving eve game, which is always a big draw as most people are off work the next day. The other home game this month comes on Thursday against Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.

A Penguins employee I spoke with said October was expected to be a rough month, and it was. The enticing schedule and the Penguins’ strong start are expected to significantly help ticket sales the rest of the season.

Eye on the AHL

Avery Hayes continues to play at a high level. When I ask people in the organization who is playing well in Wilkes-Barre, the 23-year-old forward’s name is always one of the first mentioned. We will see him in the NHL at some point this season.