It’s that time already? Pens to hit the ice
It’s hard to believe, but the Pittsburgh Penguins will be back on the ice on Tuesday with their first exhibition game since winning a second straight Stanley Cup on June 11.
It’s hard to believe that three months have passed since shutting out Nashville 2-0 during Game 6 in Tennessee. Surely, the offseason seemed even briefer for the guys in the black and yellow sweaters.
Even though Pittsburgh won’t play a regular-season game until Oct. 4, it will surely get its cut of the headlines, despite sharing the sports calendar with football at all levels of competition. I have to admit that one of my guilty pleasures is listening to my die-hard football friends argue with the hockey heads about which sport is more exciting to watch and if Pittsburgh is now more of a hockey town than a football city.
But, I digress.
Along with the obvious pursuit of the NHL’s firs three-peat since the powerhouse New York Islanders, who won four-straight from 1981 to 1984, there are several intriguing story lines to follow as the Penguins get ready to lace up the skate for the upcoming season. Here are a few things to keep your eyes on as you patiently await the first puck drop of the upcoming campaign.
Despite winning it all without him this past summer, I don’t think the Pittsburgh Penguins are going to shoo Kris Letang away from practice now that he has been cleared for contact and skating with his teammates following neck surgery in April. However, this doesn’t mean that the 10-plus-year NHL veteran will necessarily be ready to go on Oct. 4 against St. Louis.
Most teams would be ringing their collective hands at the thought of having one of the league’s best players still in limbo. However, Pittsburgh proved during last year’s playoffs that they can not only survive without Letang, but flourish in the pressure of a Stanley Cup run.
Personally, I don’t expect Letang back for at least the first week of the year. Much like other dominant franchises in the NHL, NBA and Major League Baseball, winning every day over the long grind of a marathon regular season is simply not a priority. I’ll take my point a step further and say that at various points this year, Letang’s time on the ice will be limited in an effort to keep him healthy enough for the postseason.
Over the past two seasons, Pittsburgh enjoyed the rare luxury of two world-class goaltenders. With Marc-Andre Fleury looking to get the Vegas Golden Knights off the ground as the league’s newest expansion team, 23-year-old Matt Murray is the unquestioned starter in net. Just how the youngster responds to being the man at one of the most important spots in all of sports may be the biggest deciding factor in the three-peat.
The Penguin brass has taken the precaution of signing veteran Antti Niemi should Murray falter or get bitten by the injury bug. Amazingly, the franchise already has another potential wunderkind waiting in the wings in the form of 22-year-old Tristan Jarry.
Along with its unbelievable depth at goalie over the past two years, one of the most noticeable advantages Pittsburgh has over the competition is a seemingly endless parade of centers to keep the puck moving. Though Crosby and Malkin are back to man their usual spots with the top two lines, uncharacteristic gaps have developed in lines three and four.
The hockey world seemed to wait all offseason for the Penguin brass to use its seemingly infallible judgement to replace the departed Nick Bonino and Matt Cullen. Those moves never came to fruition.
While general manager Jim Rutherford always keeps his eyes and ears open for one of his trademark, well, trades, buzz surrounding any sort of personnel movement has been uncharacteristically quiet.
Reloading at those vitally important spots for a team that prides itself on being able to send out four capable lines should still be a priority. Seeing what solution Rutherford comes up with for the problem will keep the attention of fans everywhere.