Pittsburgh Penguins offseason recap

Sidney Crosby is slightly better than Tyler Bozak, so Phil Kessel is all smiles

Last year: 43-27-12, fourth in the Metro Division. Fell to the Rangers in five games in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

Key additions: Phil Kessel, Sergei Plotnikov, Tyler Biggs, Tim Erixon, Steve Oleksy

Key subtractions: Kasperi Kapanen, Paul Martin, Christian Ehrhoff, Steve Downie, Blake Comeau, Thomas Greiss, Nick Spaling, Daniel Winnik, Craig Adams, Maxim Lapierre, Scott Harrington

Offense: The Penguins finally decided that inserting random wingers alongside Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin might not be the best recipe for success and flipped their salary allocation from the blueline to the flanks. In doing so, they brought in five-time 30-goal scorer Phil Kessel, who could challenge for the Rocket Richard Trophy next season. They also acquired the talented Russian Plotnikov, who figures to get an early chance alongside Malkin. Though this might sometimes be the perception of the Penguins’ forward group, it will be far from the case in 2015-2016. A top-nine including Crosby, Malkin, Kessel, Plotnikov, Patric Hornqvist, Pascal Dupuis, Chris Kunitz, David Perron and Brandon Sutter will be very difficult to match. 

Defense: To upgrade their attack, the Penguins sacrificed experience on defense, allowing Ehrhoff and Martin to depart. In their place, youngsters Olli Maatta and Derrick Pouliot will be expected to step up. Maatta was on the fast track to stardom until his sophomore season was derailed by injury, but if he returns to form, Pittsburgh might not experience much of a drop-off despite the removal of the more recognizable names. A healthy Kris Letang remains the key to this entire lineup, and he will be more crucial than ever this season with Rob Scuderi and Ian Cole the other questionable other veterans to lean on. Pittsburgh is in trouble with the cap, but GM Jim Rutherford may yet have a move for another defender up his sleeve.

Franchise direction: For all their regular season success in the Crosby/Malkin era, the Penguins haven’t seen results in the playoffs. The trade for Kessel represents a major change in approach by second-year GM Jim Rutherford, as the front office and coaching shakeup of last offseason clearly wasn’t enough. The Penguins will remain in win-now mode for as long as Crosby is in his prime, and this is the best weapon they’ve ever given him. But keeping the puck out of the Penguins’ own net could be a problem.