McGinn: 'Everything is bright about this organization' taken at PPG Paints Arena (Penguins)

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Brock McGinn.

Penguins players and officials insist that the team's window to seriously contend for another Stanley Cup remains open.

The merits of that argument can be debated, but the sentiment apparently isn't limited to people inside the organization.

Indeed, forward Brock McGinn said Monday that belief is why he signed a four-year, $11 million contract with the Penguins s a free agent last week, despite having attractive proposals from other teams.

"There were definitely other offers, but when it comes down to it, I didn't want to go anywhere that I wasn't going to have a chance to win a Stanley Cup," he said. "Looking at Pittsburgh, everything is bright about this organization. There is nothing bad you can say about it. Every single year, they have a chance."

Just how realistic of a chance the Penguins will have to win a championship in 2022 remains to be seen, but management clearly believes McGinn can enhance their prospects.

McGinn's self-assessment -- "I'm a 200-foot player who's going to bring energy, who's going to play that physical style and can also contribute offensively" -- meshes with how Penguins officials describe him, and those qualities explain why he is seen as a capable replacement for Brandon Tanev, even though their games are not identical.

And while McGinn projects into bottom-six role, at least given the current makeup of the roster, he has shown some offensive ability during his six seasons in Carolina.

He had eight goals and five assists in 37 games last season, and set career-highs in goals (16) and points (30) in 80 games in 2017-18. McGinn's goal output in 2020-21 projects to 18 over an 82-game season.

"A lot of time in Carolina, I never fully got that opportunity to show how offensive i can be," he said. "It was more the defensive side of my game that was focused on. Where I think last year, I really went into it trying to prove how offensive I can actually be in the NHL."

What he didn't have to prove was how committed he is to helping his team win. That was established beyond any reasonable doubt during the 2016-17 season, part of which McGinn played with a partially separated shoulder.

"I don't think I ever want to miss a game," he said. "It's going to take a lot to take me out of the lineup. That's just the way I like to play the game, and it's the way I was brought up."

McGinn did much of his growing in Carolina's organization, and acknowledged the role the Hurricanes played in his development.

"It's tough leaving Raleigh," he said. "That's how I became the player I am today. They gave me that opportunity to play in the NHL."

Although McGinn, 27, was part of that franchise's resurgence, Carolina opted to let him go at a time when he appears to be entering his prime.

"I think I'm at the best stage of my career," McGinn said. "The first couple of years, you're trying to gain your confidence and see where you fit in the league, and on a team. The last couple of years, I really established myself ... Going forward, I want to put higher expectations on myself, and that's the way I'm going to play."

The Penguins will need all of that -- and perhaps a lot more -- if they are to make a meaningful run at the lofty objective they, and McGinn, have set for the season ahead.

Daunting as the challenge might be, however, McGinn sounds genuinely enthused about not only joining the organization, but helping to lift it as high as possible.

"I'm really looking forward to getting down to Pittsburgh and getting things started," he said. "Ever since I've grown up, you've looked at an organization like Pittsburgh and it's just incredible how they run it, the people they have inside the organization. I'm just really looking forward to it."


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