The Pittsburgh Penguins made a small splash during the free agency “frenzy” of 2020 with a few key signings to help the club heading into next season. The Pens, along with the San Jose Sharks, are the only teams officially with all 23 NHL roster spots filled, according to CapFriendly. They have just over $2.5 million in cap space, a comfortable number to be at for the time being, leaving themselves with some wiggle room for moves throughout the season. Jim Rutherford is notorious for Trade Deadline acquisitions prior to a playoff run, so this sets him up perfectly for that.
The pickup of Kasperi Kapanen from the Toronto Maple Leafs bolsters the Penguins projected top line of Jake Guentzel and Sidney Crosby. With Guentzel and Crosby both missing significant time during the 2019-20 shortened season, it will be interesting to see how the new threesome can gel together. Head Coach Mike Sullivan is quick to replace Sid’s other winger, however it’s usually with someone Crosby is comfortable with like a Patrick Hornqvist, who was unfortunately moved to the Florida Panthers this offseason.
The second line of Jason Zucker, Evgeni Malkin, and Bryan Rust will most likely stay the same going into the 2020-21 season. They seemed to have found some chemistry late in the year after the Jason Zucker trade. Malkin and Rust finished first and second on the team in points during the 19-20 season.
Pittsburgh shored up their third line during free agency, adding 6’4 centreman Mark Jankowski from the Calgary Flames and re-signing Evan Rodriquez to go along with the dependable utility forward, Jared McCann. The addition of Jankowski frees up McCann to play the wing, where he can use his speed on the rush to his advantage. Also expect to see recently acquired winger Colton Sceviour, a piece of the Hornqvist trade, in and out of the lineup throughout the year, primarily in a bottom-six role.
The fourth line of the Pens was arguably their saving grace throughout some tough parts of the regular season last year. Teddy Blueger centering Brandon Tanev and Zach Aston-Reese was Sullivan’s go to in tough situations when Pittsburgh needed a spark. Tanev finished fourth in the NHL in hits last season with 244 in 68 games played.
Expect Sam Lafferty to plug into the Pens fourth line after he had a great return to play camp prior to entering the bubble. Aston-Reese is currently out six months after having shoulder surgery this offseason.
Although the Penguins lost some big-name defensemen in the offseason, Justin Shultz to free agency and Jack Johnson’s buy-out, they are in a good position heading into the new season. Prospect and fringe defenseman Juuso Riikola is expected to have a big year and see more minutes in the lineup as opposed to the press box. The Hornqvist trade also sent the Penguins offensive defensemen, Mike Matheson.
Matheson’s skating ability is second to none, and with the addition of assistant coaches Todd Reirden and Mike Vellucci, they hope to get him more sound defensively heading into next season. Projected defensive pairs will likely be along the lines of Brian Dumoulin and Kris Letang, Marcus Pettersson and John Marino and some combination of Matheson, Riikola and Chad Ruhwedel.
As sad as it was to see the two-time Stanley Cup Champion hero Matt Murray depart to Ottawa, the Penguins goaltending situation still looks bright. Tristan Jarry finished the 2019-20 campaign 11th in goals against average and 13th in save percentage and earned himself the starting job heading into the play-in round in the Toronto bubble. The Jarry/Casey DeSmith tandem will be something to watch next season as all eyes will be on them to propel Pittsburgh further into the playoffs than in recent years.
The Penguins have not won a playoff series since 2018. They were swept by the New York Islanders in 2019 and were recently defeated by the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL Qualifiers back in August.
With all the recent additions and subtractions, Pens fans are eager to see how their team pans out on the ice come January. One thing is for certain, the core group of Crosby, Malkin and Letang are still a force to be reckoned with and plan on winning another Stanley Cup sooner rather than later.