Are the Pittsburgh Penguins Still a Threat?
In the 2010 playoffs, the Pittsburgh Penguins were bounced by the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference semi-finals. The Penguins did not look like the team that won the Stanley Cup only a year earlier. They were weak on defence and could not seem to get any scoring from their wingers. It was clear after their second-round exit that General Manager Ray Shero had some work to do in the offseason.
Departures
It appears as though the Penguins are going to allow veteran Bill Guerin walk, as he still remains a free agent. They have also let Ruslan Fedotenko and defender Jay Mckee head into the free agent pool. In addition, Alexei Ponikarovsky has already signed with the Los Angeles Kings. Most notably however, is defender Sergei Gonchar leaving to sign with the Ottawa Senators.
The departure of Ponikarovsky, Fedotenko, and Guerin leaves an even more noticeable hole on Pittsburgh’s wings.
Arrivals
Shero took the offseason to address the struggles at back-end by locking up Paul Martin, and underrated defender Zbynek Michalek to five-year deals.
Forwards
The same question still remains for the Penguins up front; do they have competent wingers?
Perhaps the league’s best club down the middle, with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Jordan Staal, Pittsburgh has no quarrels at the centre position. However, they still lack first line talent on the wings to play with Crosby and Malkin.
If the Penguins go into October with their line-up as it is, the first line will contain Crosby, Chris Kunitz, and Pascal Dupuis. The second line will house Malkin, Maxime Talbot, and either Matt Cooke or Eric Tangradi.
The third line is uncertain as well, with Staal at centre with either Tangradi or Cooke, and Tyler Kennedy. While the fourth line will hold Eric Godard, Michael Rupp, and Craig Adams.
It is clear that Pittsburgh is missing talent in their forward core outside of the centre position. Shero cannot expect Crosby and Malkin to generate scoring chances on their own for an entire 82 game schedule. With $2 million left to spend, Shero has no choice but to go after one of the remaining free agent wingers.
Defence
The good news for Penguins fans is that they are set on defence for several years.
Expect Kris Letang’s minutes to continue to go up next season, likely starting on the first unit with Martin. The second pairing should house Michalek and Alex Goligoski, while the third pairing will be made up of Brooks Orpik, and whichever rookie makes it out of Penguins camp.
The Penguins have all their defenders signed through the 2011-12 season, with only Goligoski coming up in 2012 as a restricted free agent.
Goaltending
There is no question that Marc-Andre Fleury will be playing near 70 games again in the next campaign. However, he will have to be better than a year ago. Fleury did not have the same presence as he did when the Penguins won the cup. He should benefit from an improved defence-core, but when the playoffs arrive, he will need to be good enough to steal some games.
Can the Penguins get back to the Stanley Cup?
The Penguins are rock-solid on defence and outstanding at centre. Nevertheless, they have to get some wingers to play with Crosby and Malkin. In last year’s playoffs, Montreal was able to shut-down the two snipers and Pittsburgh was left without a legitimate offensive threat.
With that said, the Penguins do have enough talent to secure a good playoff spot. They will have trouble challenging the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers for top spot in the Atlantic, but could be looking at one of the fourth or fifth seeds in the East.
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