Penguins’ Core Will Need To Be Just as Good in 2023-24
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a better team, but will still need to rely heavily on their veteran core.
Heading into the 2022-23 season, the expectations were high for the veteran core of the Pittsburgh Penguins, but they found a way to exceed expectations.
Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin played in all 82 games together for the first time in their careers, and kept over a point-per-game pace; while Letang was easily the best defenseman on the Penguins despite being derailed by multiple off-ice issues.
Even if all three are on the wrong side of 35-years-old, the core found a way to produce at an outstanding pace.
The rest of the Penguins roster, however, struggled to keep up; there were obvious standouts within the top-six forwards that held their end of the bargin, but it wasn’t enough to push into the postseason.
It was the first time since 2006 the Penguins missed the playoffs and massive changes were needed.
While the depth forwards got their overhaul, and the defense might still see some huge additions, the Penguins only got marginally better.
With that being said, it’ll be up to the leaders like Crosby, Malkin, and Letang to not only remain their consistent selves, but do the best they can to carry the Penguins back to the postseason.
Tristan Jarry is still around as the starting goalie; the bottom-six saw changes; but not much by the way of scoring; and the defense is yet to be fully sculpted.
When looking at the bottom-six, the Penguins added Lars Eller, Noel Acciari, and Matt Nieto.
All three are solid options to fill out the depth forward positions, but they definitely don’t strike many as offensive powerhouses.
The name of their game is defense; it’s great that they’ll be a ton of help for Jarry, it’ll once again be up to the top-six to carry a lot of the scoring.
For Crosby, that shouldn’t be an issue; he’s never gone a season under a point-per-game, and that will likely continue in 2023-24.
Malkin is going to be 37-years-old very soon and it’s not a guarantee he can put up another season of 82 games and at least 82 points.
The addition of Erik Karlsson would take a lot of weight off of Letang’s shoulders, but that move isn’t set in stone, yet.
Letang is coming off of a Masterton Trophy season and regardless of Karlsson, will need to continue to play up to his standard.
The offense will still be there, but it’s possible the Penguins’ defense is just as spotty in the upcoming season.
Marcus Pettersson and Ryan Graves will standout as defensive defensemen, but Karlsson doesn’t offer much in his own end, and Jeff petry seems to be on the decline.
Jan Rutta is fine, but that’s about it; P.O. Joseph and Ty Smith are still growing and only one of them can play at a time.
It’s up to Letang to anchor as much defensive responsibility as he can.
The Penguins are a better team than they once were, but the core will still have to do a lot of the heavy lifting.
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