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Penguins: 5 Biggest Questions Heading into Season
Yinzer Crazy • October 28, 2020
If you haven't already listened - make sure to check out our Penguins Podcast Special with Brian Domoulin and Casey DeSmith.
Now onto the 5 biggest questions coming into next season!
1) Where will Kasperi Kapanen play?
Kapanen was acquired for a large package that included top prospect Filip Hallander and a first-round pick in a deep draft, but where does he fit in the lineup? Bryan Rust had a career year alongside Evgeni Malkin on the second line and there’s a vacancy at right wing on the first line if General Manger Jim Rutherford decides to move on from Conor Sheary. Toronto had Kapanen playing third line minutes, but I see Rutherford and head coach Mike Sullivan giving him more minutes considering the package they gave up for him.
2) Who’s our third line center?
The Penguins have yet to find a match like former Center Nick Bonino on the third line since his departure. The disastrous Derick Brassard trade from two years ago seems to have taught Rutherford a lesson on why you shouldn’t pay a premium for depth players. At least I hope it did. Options for the vacancy include:
Jared McCann: My personal choice for the role. McCann has jumped around the lineup all throughout his tenure with the Penguins. They tried him for a small amount of games at third line center last year, but the results weren’t tremendous. He boasted a 46.4% faceoff rating, which isn’t great, but I expect that to improve.
Mark Jankowski: The former Calgary Flame was run out of town in and is looking for a fresh start. He had a respectable 32 points in 79 games two years ago but had an abysmal 7 points in 56 games last year. He was signed this offseason for league minimum, so that makes this signing a low risk, high reward type deal; who’s complaining?
Teddy Blueger: Fan-favorite Teddy Blueger has the potential to get a promotion within the lineup and can move up to a bigger role. Although he’s not the biggest point producer (just 22 points in 69 games last year), he has excellent defensive numbers and has the potential to grow his game.
3) Our new defense
Over the course of this offseason the Penguins have done a slight overhaul of their defense. The biggest move so far has been the acquisition of Mike Matheson, who arguably was a bottom pair defenseman last year in Florida. Here’s to hoping he can have a bounce back season and become a solid top four option for Pittsburgh.
Another option the Pens have is the signing of Cody Ceci for the right side. He’s projected to play under Letang and Marino, but he’s also looking to bounce back from a rough 2019-2020 campaign.
4) Recovering from injuries
As per usual, the Penguins ran into a ton of injuries last season. Sidney Crosby only played 41 games, Jake Guentzel only played 39, and both Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust played 55. Will the extended offseason do wonders in terms of the rehabilitation of these injuries?
Will we finally have a healthy team throughout the year?
Only time will tell.
5) Where will the team actually play?
Obviously, we’re in for the long haul with this virus, so it appears as if there will be another form of the bubble that we saw during the playoffs. There are talks of multiple bubbles within each division, but that’s all talk for now. Next season is projected to start in January, so I would expect to hear information on this soon.
Make sure once more to check out the podcast.
Story by Noah Von Hofen - Pittsburgh Penguins Feature Contributor
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Story by Yinzer Crazy Contributor Harv Aronson. Contact Harv @ Totalsportsrecall@gmail.com
Story by Yinzer Crazy Contributor Harv Aronson. Contact Harv @ Totalsportsrecall@gmail.com
Story by Yinzer Crazy Contributor Harv Aronson. Contact Harv @ Totalsportsrecall@gmail.com
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