Evgeni Malkin is proving the doubters wrong this season, but Rob Rossi his decision to return boiled down to a loyalty to the Penguins and captain Sidney Crosby. Who could’ve seen this coming? The Pittsburgh Penguins won four straight games heading into the trade deadline to firmly entrench themselves into the “buyers” category. They enter play Friday five points into the clear in the playoff race and sit in the first wild card spot. Wednesday night, the Penguins acquired forward Mikael Granlund and then backed that up with the acquisitions of forward Nick Bonino and defenseman Dmitry Kulikov. Sitting currently at 31-21-9 with 71 points, the Penguins’ doom-and-gloom outlook from just a week-and-a-half ago did a complete 180 and has people believing they can easily coast towards the playoffs now. Pittsburgh would need one heck of a run in March to catch the Rangers in the Metropolitan Division, so the Penguins look to be on a crash course with either the Boston Bruins or the Carolina Hurricanes in the playoffs. That sentence doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence but stranger things have happened. I’ve got some thoughts on the trades and the state of the team as we head down the stretch to what could be the 17th straight playoff appearance for the Penguins. DON’T HATE THE PLAYERS, HATE THE GM Ron Hextall has made some head scratching moves as the general manager, precisely this season in everything he’s done post-signing of Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang. To have the quality of players the Penguins do signed to the team-friendly deals they currently are and still be lacking the depth of a championship contender is quite sad. Hextall undid a lot of his mistakes and it is good on him to see that he made mistakes, admitted them, and moved on. However, it made anything he wanted to do at the deadline hard and he had to get rid of players just to be able to take on these acquisitions. Coming into the Penguins organization are Granlund, Bonino, and Kulikov. Headed to other teams are Teddy Blueger, Brock McGinn, Kasperi Kapanen through waivers, a second and third round draft choice and a few late picks. Without going too in-depth as the trades have been covered aplenty already, I believe Granlund can be an effective presence as long as he can skate. Kulikov doesn’t seem to be much of an upgrade over any left-handed defenseman currently on the roster and probably shouldn’t be a top-six guy but I’m sure he will play. Bonino comes back to the Penguins as an upgrade over Blueger offensively and kills penalties so that trade makes Pittsburgh better in theory. They’re a much different product on the ice than they were just over a week ago. We’ll see if that’s for better or for worse. Ron Hextall’s job may depend on it. DREW O’CONNOR HAS PROVEN ME WRONG I hadn’t seen the hype behind Drew O’Connor like many of the Pens fans had bought into since his debut. He didn’t seem like much of an offensive presence but, in fairness, it is hard to gain any traction when you’re not an every night player and being shuffled back and forth to the minors. I won’t sit here and anoint O’Connor as the next random 30-goal scorer that had little buzz as a legitimate prospect but made a name for themselves in the big leagues. But I certainly now believe O’Connor is a legit NHL player. It was rumored that the Penguins were wanting him to play with more of an edge even though he sees himself as more of a scorer. In a Mike Sullivan system, if you play in the bottom-six then you’re expected to have some snarl. O’Connor will never lead the Penguins in fighting majors but he certainly seems to have taken the coaching staff's desire for him to add that to his game. Oh, and he can score a little too as evidenced by his pretty goal on Thursday night in Tampa. With five goals in 27 games despite a fairly low-ice time role, the Penguins have themselves a player that shouldn’t have to wear a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton jersey ever again. Now that the Penguins have a bit of cap space to work with, they’ll be able to bring some other WBS guys up and give them a look as well. DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO BRING BACK JASON ZUCKER CapFriendly currently has the Penguins at a shade under $21 million in cap space headed into next season. Surely, there are pending free agents they must sign that could eat a lot of that number. One of those players is Jason Zucker. Patric Hornqvist was never the best player on the Penguins but outside of the core three, you could argue he was always the most important. Hornqvist was the sole of the hockey team and when he was out, the Penguins seemed to lack an identity. There’s just certain guys that are the heart of a team even when they aren’t the most skilled player on that team. Zucker is the closest thing they’ve had to that since Hornqvist’s departure. Zucker makes $5.5 million currently. If he keeps up the pace he’s on, he’s likely going to command a raise. Would the Penguins be willing to pay him north of $6 million and more annually than Malkin and Letang? I don’t know but it feels like it’s a risk worth taking. Zucker just turned 31 in January so he still is a middle-age, effective player. He may decline in skill earlier than most because of his play style but that may not matter by the time that contract ends anyway. Injuries have certainly always been a concern with Zucker but he is a very good player when healthy and played through an injury last postseason that literally had him sitting on a raised stoll on the bench to be out there for his team. The guy is a warrior. Find a fair dollar amount, give him a three-year deal that would expire with the other top guys and let’s see Zucker continue to play at a high-level the next few years in Pittsburgh’s top-six. A HEALTHY TRISTAN JARRY IS AN EFFECTIVE TRISTAN JARRY I am a big proponent of the saying “your best ability is availability”. On the Penguins, there aren’t many players that embody that more than Tristan Jarry. Jarry is an effective goaltender when he’s healthy. He’s 19-7-5 this season. The Penguins’ 12-13-4 record without him is quite pedestrian. That’s a lot of points that were left on the table from sub-par goaltending from Casey DeSmith and, to a lesser extent, Dustin Tokarski. Jarry is tied for 10th in the NHL in save percentage at .916% behind a defense that gives up a lot of shots. Pittsburgh seems to play better with Tristan Jarry in net. Whether it’s the trust factor or whatever it is, the Penguins overall seem to be a better team when Jarry plays and if that’s what it takes for the Penguins to get going again, so be it. Jarry’s injury concerns are what may prevent him from receiving a long-term deal in Pittsburgh. He certainly seems to be the right goalie for the team but do the Penguins want to commit to an injury-riddled goaltender with what is described as a “chronic hip problem” as their core finishes out their careers? If there is one storyline worth following in regards to the Penguins this offseason, it’s how they approach the future in the blue paint. WILL THE PENGUINS MAKE THE PLAYOFFS? Whether the Penguins should’ve been buyers at the deadline or not is a different topic. Some argue that they should’ve sold off as their chances of being better would be enhanced next season as opposed to trying to compete with juggernauts like the Bruins and Hurricanes. Alas, here we are and the Penguins did a bit of both in an effort to find some cap space with the potential for some solid additions. I think the Penguins will make the playoffs as a wild card as I don’t know how much I believe in the teams behind them more so than anything. The Penguins are the league’s oldest team and certainly didn’t shrink that number with any of their moves. They’ve got some experience in that locker room and added another guy who’s won it all before in Bonino. That shouldn’t be taken lightly. The group as a whole seemed tight prior to the past week’s roster shake up. The message seemed to have been sent as the Penguins haven’t lost since Kapanen was waived. That, too, shouldn’t be taken lightly. The Penguins have three games in hand on the Islanders and are currently a point better than them. The Buffalo Sabres are a young team that might still be a step or two away from contending. The Ottawa Senators acquired rumored Penguins trade target Jakob Chychrun so they seem to be inclined to make a run. The Florida Panthers have a solid team and lurks as a threat despite being four points out of the playoffs. The Washington Capitals went into seller mode. And do we really believe in the Detroit Red Wings? History and common sense says the Penguins should make the playoffs. If they do, they’ll be heavy underdogs with a lot to prove and tons of motivation. Do you think Crosby, Malkin, and Letang want to go out in round one for the umpteenth straight season? Jarry wants to prove he can be effective and healthy so he can get his contract. Think that’ll give him any extra juice? I wouldn’t place a mortgage or anything on the Penguins to win much more than a round if they can play spoiler. But are you really inclined to bet against them? 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