30 teams in 30 days: Pittsburgh Penguins
Finished: 4th eastern conference
Playoffs: Stanley Cup champions
Leading scorers: Evgeni Malkin 113, Sidney Crosby 103, Chris Kunitz 53, Jordan Staal 49
Who did they add?: Michael Rupp, Brent Johnson, Jay Mckee
Who did they lose?: Mathieu Garon, Rob Scuderi, Hal Gill
Overview: Last season, the Penguins proved that years of being absolutely horrible finally pays off in the end, as they captured their first Stanley Cup since 1992. It was a good story in particular because they beat the same team that vanquished them in the conference finals the year before in the Detroit Red Wings. On paper, the penguins don’t look like a team that can win the cup. They don’t have many big names outside of Crosby and Malkin, but their guys work hard day in and day out and all know their roles on the team. The forwards are led by Crosby and Malkin, 2 of the premier players in the NHL. These guys produce with whoever they play with, but they still need to find a true scoring winger that Crosby can find some chemistry with. They had a bit of success with Bill Guerin and Chris Kunitz, but still need to find a guy who will put them over the top. If Malkin can also find chemistry with guys such as Ruslan Fedotenko or Tyler Kennedy, then the pens should be set for a long time. The defense is slightly less weaker than it was last season, with the departures of Hal Gill and Rob Scuderi, two very good stay-at-home, shutdown defensemen. They’re still solid though, with Sergei Gonchar and Chris Letang the top 2, with Brooks Orpik, Alex Goligoski, Mark Eaton and Jay Mckee rounding out the top 6. The defense in Pittsburgh isn’t loading with big stars but they can do it all, look for them to be really solid this year. Between the pipes is Marc-Andre Fleury, who, early in his career, had problems with consistency, rectified them and had a fantastic 08 campaign. Backing him up this year is new arrival Brent Johnson, who is a good fit and a veteran who led the Capitals to the playoffs last season. He should be able to make Fleury better with his leadership. The Penguins will make noise this season, but I don’t think they have what it takes to get to finals once again. All of the other teams in their division have taken steps to improve themselves, but Pittsburgh is looking basically the same. They can and whould make the playoffs, but look for an early exit.
Winners or losers?: Losers, so far. They still need a scoring winger to play with Crosby and/or Malkin to give them some support and spread out the offense more. A 50 point gap between 2nd and 3rd place scorers on the team isn’t what we like to see from a team who hopes to repeat.
