Todd Cordell: Pittsburgh
I'm going to go with Pittsburgh and they'd be my choice even if they had lost to San Jose.
For my money Sidney Crosby is the best player in the league, Evgeni Malkin is a top-5 forward and Kris Letang is a top-5 defenseman.
Factor in the quality of the Penguins' depth players, and that they put a premium on speed and skill in their bottom-6 as opposed to physical players that generate poor results, and they should continue to be a very good team moving forward.
Jason Lewis: Pittsburgh Younger key pieces. Signed to more cost controlled contracts. Another year of aging will mean way less to some of their older guys than the likes of Marleau/Thornton/Martin.
It is possible San Jose looks a lot different next season.
Ryan Wilson: Pittsburgh The Penguins have all their main pieces under contract and ready to go. They have some other younger players who can compete for roster spots next year in Daniel Sprong and Scott Wilson. The team is set up nicely for the future. They have the best chance to return but as we know it isn't easy to do it once let alone in consecutive years.
James Tanner: Pittsburgh I think the Penguins for sure. They have all their key players under contract and can use MA Fleury's cap-hit to improve even more.
They have three good centres and, tons of scoring on the wings, an excellent group of puck-moving defensemen and a solid young goalie who shouldn't cost too much, and so they should probably enter next season as the favorites.
They aren't that old, they have a good salary cap situation and I see no reason why they should fall off.
The Sharks on the other hand were probably not the best team in the West and they are an old team that will only be older next year. I don't see them making it back.
Peter Tessier: Pittsburgh It's easy to say Pittsburgh because if you look at all the Cup champions since 2010 every one of them has returned to the final. Only two won again though.
The thing about losing the SCF is that you are the team and organization still looking for answers. Look at Philly in 2010 and where they went. What about the descent Vancouver is on? Where did the Devils go after 2012 or and are the Rangers on a slow decline now too? If the Lightning lose Stamkos where is TB heading after their appearance last year?
The odds, based on recent history, suggest that the winner has a better idea of what they need to come back compared to the team that didn't win. The loser is the the one trying to figure out why they didn't win and making over-reactive moves to correct something that might not need correcting. Winning is a slim margin in the NHL and if that's how SJ proceeds, by recognizing this, they will have a chance to return but not as good as Pittsburgh's.
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