Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
NHL Power Rankings #5: Pittsburgh Penguins
The Penguins are a team that is always in contention but always seem to fall just short (except for 2008-2009 which as a Caps fan I refuse to remember). Crosby and Malkin aren’t getting any younger. That’s what the Penguins realized this off-season, as they upgraded their team for another run at the Stanley Cup.
Their biggest move of the summer was trading for one of the NHL’s elite goal scorers, Phil Kessel. It doesn’t matter whether Kessel is with Crosby or Malkin, he’s going to have a huge impact on the Penguins. He gives them the best goal scoring wing that they’ve had in years.
They also traded surplus forward Brandon Sutter for Nick Bonino. Bonino should slot in nicely as either a top six wing or third line center. They also signed forwards Eric Fehr and Matt Cullen to further shore up their bottom two forward lines.
If fully healthy, Pittsburgh’s forwards are probably the best in the NHL, bar none. However, they still have concerns about their blueline. Kris Letang will be relied on heavily to produce and stay healthy. He had severe concussion issues in 2014, so that could be a problem. As talented as Pittsburgh is, they’re relying way too heavily on a guy who might not be able to stay healthy. If Letang gets injured, they could fall down this list or possibly even miss the playoffs.
Next: #4