What is the best and worst case scenario for the upcoming Pittsburgh Penguins season?
The Pittsburgh Penguins are in a precarious position entering the 2022-23 season. With Stanley Cup aspirations, this team has the experience and successful past to suggest they can be a serious contender. On the other hand, with the aging core, they are an injury or two away from going from contender to pretender.
With that in mind, let's take a look at the best and worst case scenarios for the Penguins upcoming season.
Best Case Scenario
The Penguins may have one of the oldest rosters in the league, but they are still stacked with star power. With extensions given to core players Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Bryan Rust, and Rickard Rakell, all players pay instant dividends. Letang is still the undisputed number one defenseman on the team and should put up similar numbers to last season.
The absolute best situation the Penguins can find themselves in, is having their top offensive weapons all clicking. Between Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel, they have three players with 100 point potential.
Guentzel can easily put up another 40 goal season, and a full healthy season for Malkin should see him continue point per game pace. Crosby is still Crosby, and his game only contains one level: greatness, and he maintains his reign on the NHL.
The Penguins also have reason to believe their goaltender will earn himself a new contract. With starter Tristan Jarry entering his final season of his current deal, he will be looking to earn the net for this season and years to come. Jarry has dazzled in his past two regular seasons and is still desperate to get a real crack at the postseason.
Best case for Jarry and the Penguins is he plays so well that a mid-season contract extension is struck to keep him here for another five years.
Worst Case Scenario
The Penguins should have one specific fear about this season, and it's been the same one plaguing this team for eternity: injuries. The top of their forward and defensive lineups are strong, and can easily contend with the best cores in the league. Beyond that, however, the water becomes murky.
If one of the Penguins' core forwards misses significant time, they are left with few options. There is minimal center depth behind Crosby and Malkin, as Jeff Carter and Teddy Blueger are both firmly set as bottom six centers.
Similarly, should a top winger like Guentzel or Rakell miss time, the drop off is steep. Depth players like Danton Heinen and Kasperi Kapaenen would be called on to play top 6 minutes, which is far from ideal.
On defense, the injury concern continues, but the bigger issue has to be their chemistry. Letang and Brian Dumoulin will anchor the top pair, but after that it is a toss-up.
They have six defensemen vying for four spots, and two of the players in the mix are under 23-years-old. Coach Sullivan has to figure out who will maximize the play of Jeff Petry on the second pairing.
If the pairings don't mesh, the defense and goaltending will undoubtedly suffer. Not only that, the big acquisition of Petry could prove futile if the team can't find a way to utilize him correctly.
The absolute worst case scenario for this team is simple: they miss the playoffs and lose a key player to injury along the way. Crosby and company have appeared in the postseason for 16 straight seasons. Some believe they are a bubble playoff team heading into the new season, and concern for the Penguins' playoff appearance streak is justified. With the lengthy and expensive investments management just dished out, the Penguins cannot afford to fall out of contention.
The Penguins are entering a season with levels of uncertainty not seen before in the Crosby and Malkin Era. They have the makings of a good team, but whether they will perform up to expectations remains unseen. In the meantime, there are lots of great and not-so-great scenarios to imagine the Penguins going through.
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