Will the Pittsburgh Penguins top-six scoring be enough to make them a contender?
The Pittsburgh Penguins will enter the 2023-24 season with one of the most top-heavy rosters in the NHL. In that way, the team is very similar to last season, as the bottom-six additions this offseason have leaned more toward the defensive side of the puck.
However, the top-six of the Penguins will enter this season better prepared to shoulder the burden of the offense.
The primary reason is the addition of Reilly Smith in place of Jason Zucker. Smith's ability to play the penalty kill while also creating shorthanded offense provides a massive upgrade for the Penguins. Smith scored a career-high four shorthanded goals last season with Vegas.
Smith's presence on that unit should also spark more offense for Bryan Rust, whose elevated penalty kill time stifled his offensive productivity last season. Rust scored 20 goals last year despite his lowest shooting percentage (9.5%) since the 2015-16 season.
A positive reversion to his average career shooting percentage (12.3%) and spending more time at 5v5 should allow Rust to return to the 30-goal pace he showed between 2019 and 2022.
Perhaps the most pivotal factor for the Penguins is health. The Penguins' top-six forwards missed a combined nine games last season. Not to mention, this was the longest offseason of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin's careers.
The Penguins' top playmakers enter the season off a summer of rest, and while the bottom six didn't add much firepower, they are better equipped to maintain any momentum created by Crosby and Malkin's lines.
While that isn't the perfect recipe for success in the NHL, it's a vast improvement from last season.
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