Penguins built for three-peat

Rutherford. “Yeah, especially with the pressure on us and with how many guys we had playing hurt. It was certainly more stressful for me this time around. I haven’t been breathing that good for the last two months, but now I can breathe.”

Here are five reasons why the Penguins could pull off the rare three-peat:

Malkin led the playoffs with 28 points, while Crosby, who won his second straight Conn Smythe Trophy, was second with 27 points. There was only one game where both were held off the scoresheet.

“They’re two players of a very select few in the league that single-handedly have an ability to change the outcomes of games,” said head coach Mike Sullivan. “That’s how good they are. But I do believe that just in my time in Pittsburgh with them, I think they’re appreciative of one another.” of the 2006 Carolina Hurricanes, a team that had Rutherford as the GM.

“When Letang went out I said to our guys, ‘Don’t worry. We can do this,’ ” said Rutherford. “You’ve got to get the guys playing the right amount of minutes, you have to have them playing within themselves.”

Letang, who underwent surgery for a herniated disc in his neck before the playoffs began, will be back for next season. With a true No. 1 defenceman in the lineup, Pittsburgh’s one weakness will become a definite strength again. with 13 goals, including five game-winners, Guentzel was in the running as Pittsburgh’s MVP. The question now is whether it was a flash-in-the-pan performance or the start of something special?

Nothing splits up a potential dynasty more than the salary cap. But the Penguins are in decent shape.

If the Penguins trade or lose goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to the expansion draft, they would have an additional US$5.75 million to play with. The team has to re-sign restricted free agents Conor Sheary and Justin Schultz, as well as find a couple of depth centres, but they should still have plenty of money left to sign a second-pairing defenceman such as Kevin Shattenkirk or Karl Alzner.