The 2022-23 NHL season is officially underway, and the puck drops for the Penguins on Thursday, when they host the Coyotes at PPG Paints Arena for the start of the franchise's 56th season.
For a full look ahead, check out my season preview.
Here, the hockey staff at DK Pittsburgh Sports will share our predictions for the Penguins' place in the standings and the Metropolitan Division winner at the end of the regular season, and our picks for the Stanley Cup Final matchup and champion:
THE PENGUINS
Taylor Haase: I have no doubt the Penguins will make the playoffs, but I don't see them winning the division. Finishing third is realistic. The Blue Jackets, Flyers, Islanders and Devils don't pose threats. The Penguins should be able to compete with the Hurricanes and Rangers for the top three spots in the division, with the Capitals a step behind but still a potential threat to finish in that top three. Two of the big X factors for the Penguins will be how Jason Zucker and Kasperi Kapanen are able to bounce back from underwhelming seasons, and how Jeff Carter can hold up at third-line center over an 82-game season. Bold predictions? Jake Guentzel hits the 50-goal mark, and we see Sam Poulin get into at least one game before Christmas.
Danny Shirey: It's going to take monumental misfortune on the injury front for the Penguins to miss the playoffs. Improved or not from last season, this team isn't that much better or worse than the Hurricanes or Rangers. It will be vital for Jeff Petry to elevate the secondary offense, as well as giving a needed boost from the back end to Evgeni Malkin, who I'm betting stays at or above a point per game. I'm also betting Rickard Rakell scores 25 goals with only a small chunk on the power play. A long look next to Sidney Crosby only strengthens his chance. Zucker stays healthy and pots 20, and Danton Heinen comes close again. The Penguins won't return to glory, but they'll win their first postseason round since 2018 ... assuming they aren't down both NHL goaltenders.
Dejan Kovacevic: Predicting a season for the Penguins is tantamount to predicting their injuries, maybe more than for any franchise in sports. In particular, if one wrong name winds up on that list, the whole thing goes poof. But, staying within the naive scope that they'll be mostly healthy, I feel like people will be surprised by how defensive their posture will be. No, they aren't about to go the full Jacques Lemaire, but that whole 200-foot, in-your-face style's going to have to apply to everyone on the roster, and that's going to be ... different. I love the skill and smarts. I really like the speed. I mostly like the changes on defense, though Brian Dumoulin's skating needs to be resolved in one form or other. But it'll all come down to Tristan Jarry. Which is fine by me.
THE METRO
Haase: I think the Hurricanes will defend their title despite a fair amount of roster turnover. Out are Vince Trocheck, Nino Niederreiter and Tony DeAngelo, but the Hurricanes have made some pretty significant additions in Max Pacioretty, Ondrej Kase, Paul Stastny and Brent Burns. Pacioretty will still be rehabbing an Achilles' tendon injury for at least the first couple months of the season, but he should be back in time for the stretch run of the season.
Shirey: The Penguins aren't going to win the division. That's not because I'm absolutely certain they don't have the best team, but because I am certain the NHL's most seasoned club with an average age of 30.3 will pace themselves to have plenty of juice for a playoff run. I think this is the Rangers' division to lose. I like the Hurricanes' additions, but Pacioretty's injury is a killer and Kase can never stay healthy. Plus, Burns is due for a colossal drop-off sooner than later, right? Of the Penguins, Rangers and Hurricanes, I like the Rangers' group of skaters the least, but as we saw last season, all you really need is Igor Shesterkin. If Alexis Lafreniere or Kaapo Kakko take the next step, the Rangers could be real trouble.
Kovacevic: No one's winning anything of significance with Frederik Anderson and/or Antti Raanta between the pipes, but a division isn't of significance in the NHL. It sure isn't for the Penguins and never has been. If anything, as Danny just suggested, this is the year to finish third or fourth, but finish healthy. If the Hurricanes do what they should among the skaters, with all that elegance on the blue line, they'll take this. The Rangers overpaid to add Vincent Trocheck, but they'll never get 50 again from Chris Kreider, and they lost Andrew Copp, Ryan Strome and Penguins assailant Frank Vatrano. Don't sleep on the Blue Jackets, by the way. Imperfect, but Johnny Gaudreau's a huge get, and keeping Patrik Laine was almost as important.
THE STANLEY CUP
Taylor Haase: I can't not pick the Avalanche here. Losing Nazem Kadri is significant, and Darcy Kuemper is replaced by a young, unproven goaltender in Alexandar Georgiev. But Colorado was just so dominant last spring that they're still my favorite to win it all again. It took just them 20 games to win the necessary 16 games to take home the Stanley Cup last year. Since the NHL moved to best-of-seven series in 1987, only one other team has gotten it done in fewer games. With players like Conn Smythe and Norris winner Cale Makar, postseason goal-scoring leader Nathan MacKinnon, captain Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen still in the fold, Colorado is poised to make a run at a repeat. I'll take them beating the Hurricanes in the Final.
Danny Shirey: It seems almost a little too obvious that the Avalanche should repeat, which is always a recipe for disappointment. That's why I'm going with the ... Oilers? I have reservations about their D-corps, no doubt, but this is probably the best supporting cast at forward we've seen in the Connor McDavid-Leon Draisaitl era. Evander Kane and Jesse Puljujarvi along with Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins as secondary members is definitely respectable knowing that you'll get some otherworldly performances from the two stars. Jack Campbell will rebound from a disastrous second-half with the Maple Leafs last season and stabilize the Oilers in goal. It feels inevitable that McDavid wills his way to a Cup eventually. Now is the time. Oilers over the Maple Leafs in an all-Canadian Stanley Cup Final. This prediction will either look great or horrendous when it's all said and done, no in-between.
Dejan Kovacevic: Ask anyone -- outside of South Florida, anyway, since no one there cares -- to cite the most talented roster in the NHL, and the Panthers might've come up in the conversation. Now, it's a lot more than that. I know, I know, they never get it done in playoffs, Sasha Barkov's still never had his own breakthrough at that level, and trading Jonathan Huberdeau, even for Matthew Tkachuk, is fraught with risk, and they're still carrying Sergei Bobrovsky's playoff demons. But, uh, they did trade for Tkachuk, and it's mind-blowing to project what he could do in that lineup. The Avalanche will be everyone's favorite, and they'll be back in the Final. If the Hurricanes ever get goaltending, they might ascend to this tier, as well. But this is the year the other team in Florida finally does more than just knock.