The Pittsburgh Penguins have struggled this year, but Ron Hextall believes the team is capable for championships.

It’s been a troubling season for the Pittsburgh Penguins, but as they ride a four-game winning streak and made some changes at the trade deadline, the general manager likes the spot they’re in.

Ron Hextall said following the NHL trade deadline that he believes the Penguins are not only a better team after some moves, but can contend for a Stanley Cup.

Many fans may say that is some really wishful thinking, but what else is he supposed to say? Hextall is confident in this group and he believes they can win.

“I think that we made our team better today,” Hextall said. “There’s a lot of teams that are capable of winning the Cup, and yes, I’d say we’re one of them.”

Over the last week and some change, the Penguins have subtracted Kasperi Kapanen, Brock McGinn, and Teddy Blueger while adding Nick Bonino, Mikael Granlund, and Dmitry Kulikov.

While the Penguins are an improved team, it’s not by much.

There were bigger fish available for trade in every position Hextall tried to upgrade, but seemed to get the scraps after sitting around and waiting until the last possible moment.

That being said, Hextall is confident in the Penguins and after giving the ‘we like our team’ statement, he talked about how hungry the players are to win.

“We’ve got a proven group,” Hextall said. “We’ve got a hungry group. We’ve got a group of guys we all think of as winners.”

The first step in hoisting the Stanley Cup again, however, is to reach the postseason.

That’s not a guarantee in Pittsburgh this year as a few losing streaks have pushed the Penguins to fight for wild card spots in the Eastern Conference.

Everyone is aware of the position the Penguins are in, and the first goal is to reach to playoffs for the 17^th consecutive season.

“You got to make the playoffs first, and that’s our objective,” Hextall said. “We’ll see where we go from there, but I like this team.”

Every game remaining for the Penguins will be important, and every point will matter.

The Penguins have great math to reach the postseason, but it will still be all hands on deck until the very end.

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