6 QUESTIONS FOR A NEW SEASON
It might seem counterintuitive to say this about a team that has only a few new faces and is largely running it back this season, but the Penguins opened training camp Sept. 23 with much more uncertainty than in recent years past. Last May, another season ended prematurely when injuries and inept goaltending loomed large in their first-round playoff loss to the New York Islanders.
Afterward, the masses and media braced for major changes. But in his first summer as general manager, Ron Hextall remained patient, bringing back the head coach and the core of a team that had won its first division title in seven years.
“We all believe in the group that we have and the players we have in our dressing room,” said All-Star and alternate captain Kris Letang. “There’s a lot of faith.”
But there are a lot of questions, too. That was the case even before the news broke last month that Sidney Crosby was joining Evgeni Malkin on the sidelines.
“We need some guys to step up,” Hextall said during training camp. “Just seeing the chemistry of our group last [season], there’s a good feel this year. I think we all know what we are up against. I think our guys are ready for the challenge.”
After the puck drops on the regular season Oct. 12, their forward depth will be tested. Their defense must come together. And Tristan Jarry must regroup.
Let’s dive into six questions the Penguins face entering 2021-22, all of which tie back into the most important one. Does this group have a deep playoff run in it?
1 Can the Penguins withstand the injuries to their two franchise centers?
The Penguins can’t win the Cup in October. But they could potentially lose it.
Crosby will miss a handful of games and Malkin is out at least two months. So the Penguins will be without their two most decorated and highest paid players for at least a chunk of what will be a challenging stretch to start the season.
During October, they will play Florida, Dallas, Toronto and Chicago and twice battle Tampa Bay, the two-time defending champs. Eight of their first 10 games will be at PPG Paints Arena, which will help. But that’s a tricky start.
If Crosby returns sooner than later and Jeff Carter can fill the net like he did in the spring, the Penguins shouldn’t fall too far behind the Metro Division pack.
2 Might the center position become the team’s biggest strength in 2022?
Given that Crosby and Malkin are both in their mid-30s and coming off summer surgeries and that Carter turns 37 in January, there is no guarantee the Penguins will ever be at full strength at any point. But if the team can somehow buck recent trends and get a little injury luck, they should be stacked at center.
Crosby, despite a wrist injury that nagged him for years, still finished fourth in MVP voting last season — an uncommon feat for players 33 and up. Malkin is a wild card but might still be capable of at least periodic greatness. Carter, pictured above, has been a seamless fit. And Teddy Blueger would be a third-line center on many teams.
Again, big if, but how many teams in the East could top that? Two? Three?
3 Is this a top-heavy team or will the supporting cast ease the burden?
The Penguins said goodbye to Jared McCann and Brandon Tanev in the offseason and brought in Brock McGinn, Danton Heinen and a few other cheap veterans to piece together their forward group. Prospects Sam Poulin, Nathan Legare and Drew O’Connor also have been battling for NHL jobs in training camp.
So the bottom six will look a lot different. We will see if that’s a good thing.
As for the rest of the supporting cast, Jason Zucker will be an X-factor. The veteran winger has not met expectations since arriving in 2019 and often looked out of sorts last season. The Penguins, especially early on, need him to pack more scoring punch on their second line. He could be in line for more power-play time, too.
4 Will their bottom two defensive pairs be problematic or a positive?
There is little to fret about with the top pair. In 2021, Letang was one of the league’s best blue-liners and Brian Dumoulin settled back in as his steady sidekick.
Beyond those two are a bunch of question. Will John Marino, pictured, rebound after a disappointing second pro season? Was Mike Matheson’s play a mirage? Will a third pair of Marcus Pettersson and either Mark Friedman or Chad Ruhwedel be good enough? Is the depth up to snuff when the injuries inevitably hit?
T he Penguins believe in this group and can point to their play last season and the presence of top assistant Todd Reirden as reasons for optimism. And that would be reasonable. There is still uncertainty along the blue line nonetheless.
5 Can Jarry bounce back? And what will the Penguins do if he doesn’t?
Publicly, the Penguins continue to express confidence that the goalie will be able to shake off his disastrous postseason and actually come back stronger. The truth is that no one really knows what Tristan Jarry: they will get from Jarry going 3.18 GAA forward. in 2021
Jarry is talented, no postseason doubt. But outside of a sparkling seven weeks in 2019, he has been an average NHL starter who is still prone to concentration lapses. You know, like inexplicably passing the puck to the other team in double overtime.
If he fails to rebound and the Penguins somehow remain in contention, they might look to deal for a veteran, preferably one with playoff experience. In that event, a couple of past Cup winners in Chicago and Los Angeles could tempt them.
6 What will happen if the Penguins finally take a step back this season?
Despite their injuries and that daunting early schedule, the Penguins still have a top coach in Mike Sullivan, talented veterans that include Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust and ownership that remains committed to chasing Cups. Crosby could come back stronger, too. But what happens if they fall out of the playoff picture?
Malkin, Letang and Rust are all scheduled to be free agents after the season. If the Penguins shift into selling mode and don’t plan to re-sign one or more of that aging group, one would think those guys would be attractive to contenders.
Looking to next summer, big changes might await if the Penguins fall short of the Cup. But that has been said around town for a few years now. And this championship core is still together, competing and chuckling at all of the outside chatter.