The NHL season will kick off tonight. Pittsburgh’s season will kick off tomorrow. What are some of the variables that can make or break Pittsburgh’s season
The big 3
Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Phil Kessel provide this team options that most other clubs just don’t have. They need to continue to be difference makers. The good news is that even though they are in their 30’s there is not strong evidence that they are going to fall off a cliff for 2018-19. Barring injury these players should all have solid years and be a big part of any potential Penguins success
Matt Murray
I can’t lie, listing the goalie seems lazy. Of course goaltending is a variable that makes or breaks a team. Matt Murray is coming off of a poor season. Regardless of the reasons for it his lack of success hurt the team. The Penguins won the Stanley Cup in 2017 on the back of excellent goaltending from both Murray and Marc-Andre Fleury in the playoffs. This hid a lot of the teams’ warts. Last year Jim Rutherford did a terrible job with forward depth and the goaltending was below average. You aren’t going to exit the second round of the playoffs in the current format with that combination. I have no reservations about Matt Murray being an average goalie or better in the long term. However, goalies are volatile and right now the Penguins backup situation isn’t all that strong. If Murray went down to a season ending injury Casey DeSmith is not going to save the day.
If Murray can stay healthy and be average the Penguins are in a very good spot.
Daniel Sprong
If Daniel Sprong is Derick Pouliot 2.0 the team can survive. Sprong busting is not a make or break for the franchise. If Sprong is not a bust and can play some kind of meaningful minutes contributing in the way that his unique skill set can contribute it makes the Penguins way more dangerous. It’s about that time we figure out which road Sprong is going down. A functional Sprong gives the Penguins excellent depth in the skill department. Something they sorely lacked a year prior. Having a good Sprong will go a long way into making this team more like the 2015-16 version than the ones from the previous two years. Jack Johnson
The signing is what it is. No turning back now. The question will be if his ice time is earned or not. The team looks to be dead set on treating him like a top four player. If he isn’t performing like one are they going to do the right thing or do we have another Scuderi situation on our hands? You can’t play dead weight in bigger roles if you really want to increase your odds of winning a championship. Derick Brassard I think he needs to play center. I think a lot of the criticisms I read about him last year were overblown and didn’t give enough credence to his groin injury. Preseason results are down on my list of things to care about, but the team did play him at center and his line did find success. I would stick with that plan heading into the regular season. If you put Brassard on wing it is not only a position he doesn’t play, but now you are asking Riley Sheahan and Matt Cullen to do too much. You traded for Brassard because he was incredibly cost effective and gives the team a powerful 1-2-3 punch at the center position. One that is probably better than the Bonino version.
Thanks for reading!