When the puck drops on the Penguins' 2022-23 season on Thursday at PPG Paints Arena against the Coyotes, it'll mark Sidney Crosby's 18th season with the team.
That will make him the longest-tenured player in franchise history, surpassing Mario Lemieux's mark of 17 seasons.
Crosby will be joined by Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, both of whom will be playing their 17th seasons. Last season the three became the longest-serving trio in league history. This season the Penguins' core will tie the record for longest-serving trio in all of North American major professional sports, matching the streak of the Yankees' Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera that ended in 2011.
So it's no surprise that when Crosby was asked to describe the team's identity on Monday, his second word chosen was "experienced," smiling when he added that it's a term that's "been used a little more" to describe this group.
His first word chosen was the same word that Letang chose: Speed.
Crosby and Letang are 35. Malkin is 36. Mike Sullivan has a phrase he's used a handful of times over the past few years to describe this team and this core: “We’re getting a bit older, but we’re not old. There's a big difference."
The Penguins are the oldest team in the league with an average age of 30.24, just narrowly edging out the Capitals by .04 years (or two weeks) for the title. That's not a leaderboard that teams want to sit atop. But the Penguins think that they have the experience most teams don't have, while still having the speed to keep up with the rest of the league.
"There’s still elite play in these guys," Sullivan said this summer. "They’ve shown it year-in and year-out. I believe we have an opportunity to win again, I believe in these guys. They’re that good, they’re that driven, and they’re willing to put the work in, to do what it takes. We understand how hard it is to win."
The Penguins have lost in the first round of the playoffs (or its equivalent) for the past four seasons, and this is largely the same group of players that lost in seven games to the Rangers last spring. John Marino was traded for Ty Smith -- who is now in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton -- and Mike Matheson was swapped for Jeff Petry and Ryan Poehling. Evan Rodrigues and Brian Boyle weren't re-signed, and Josh Archibald and Jan Rutta were added in free agency.
The Penguins nearly upset the Rangers in the first round last season, and surely would have made it out of that series with at least average goaltending. The disappointment of that series is behind them, and they're taking the lessons learned from last season and looking ahead to competing again this year.
"It's a fresh start," Crosby said of the upcoming season. "You think about the things you tried to learn last year and last year's experience, a lot of guys that were part of that. It's an opportunity to chase the Stanley Cup. That's why you play every year. I'm looking forward to it that way. It's just an opportunity again to compete and hopefully play for the Stanley Cup."
As we wait for the puck to drop, here's a look at the projected lineup for opening night, potential X factors this season, and more.
PROJECTED OPENING LINEUP
Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Rickard Rakell
Jason Zucker - Evgeni Malkin - Bryan Rust
Danton Heinen - Jeff Carter - Kasperi Kapanen
Brock McGinn - Ryan Poehling - Josh Archibald
Brian Dumoulin - Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson - Jeff Petry
P.O Joseph - Jan Rutta
Tristan Jarry
Casey DeSmith
With the Penguins only having one practice left until the season opens on Thursday, it seems unlikely that Teddy Blueger will be ready for the first game given that he's yet to practice with contact. Whenever he is ready, I'd anticipate him sliding right back in as fourth line center and Poehling being the 13th forward, though Poehling could be an effective fourth-line center for the time being.
The third defense pairing is a tough one to predict. Throughout camp we have only seen Jan Rutta partnered with Smith. After Smith was sent down to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Sunday, we saw Rutta, Chad Ruhwedel and P.O Joseph rotate on the third pairing.
The rest of the lineup is more straightforward. We've seen these same combinations for most of training camp.
It looks like Rickard Rakell will start the season on Crosby's line and Bryan Rust on Malkin's, bringing some balance to the top six. Regardless of who is fourth-line center to start the season, Brock McGinn and Josh Archibald look to be pieces to a good energy line that can bring speed, physicality, and chip in offensively at times.
If there's a weakness among the forward group it appears to be the third line. Jeff Carter slowed down over the course of last season, and he didn't get any younger over the offseason. Kasperi Kapanen needs to have a bounce-back year. Danton Heinen really did defy expectations last season when it came to his offensive production and I'm just curious as to whether he can maintain that pace this season.
No surprises on the defense pairings. Brian Dumoulin is still with Letang on the top pairing. Dumoulin is another player who really struggled as last season went on before completely tearing his MCL in Game 1 of the playoffs. His skating hasn't quite looked up to par in the preseason, and it's hard to say how much of that can be attributed to his knee injury from the spring.
The Marcus Pettersson-Jeff Petry pairing really looks like it could be a strong one from what we saw in the preseason. Petry is someone who can really contribute in the offensive side of things, and Pettersson's game on the defensive side should lead to a pair with real balance.
The last two postseasons were a disappointment for Tristan Jarry. He struggled heavily in the 2021 series against the Islanders, and then a broken foot sidelined him last year until he played in Game 7 despite being far from 100% healthy at that point. Ron Hextall spoke earlier in camp about how he feels Jarry has grown significantly more mature after that adversity, saying that Jarry is in a "much better place to handle things than he was a year and a half ago."
Jarry is back to being fully healthy, spent the summer working on what he called the "bigger things" in his game," and is entering an important contract year for him. I'd expect a big year from him.
X FACTORS?
Two of the Penguins' biggest X factors entering this season are Kapanen and Jason Zucker.
Kapanen is coming off what he admits was a "bad year." His defensive impacts took a measurable leap last season, but his rate of offensive production fell to nearly half of what it was the season before, and he finished with 11 goals and 32 points in 79 games. It wasn't just that the shots weren't going in for him, either. His rate of shot attempts dropped, too. On the Penguins' locker room cleanout day last season Kapanen said that he needed to "get my confidence back - get my swagger I used to have. It wasn't there this year and I think that showed."
Sullivan said during training camp that "we know (Kapanen) is capable of more," and said that he's "got to do a better job coaching him."
If Kapanen can get that "swagger" back and produce more while maintaining his good defensive game, he could have a huge impact on that third line.
Assuming Zucker can stay healthy, he's another player who struggled last season who could potentially have a major impact on this team's season.
Zucker was battling the same core muscle injury for the majority of last season. Even when he was "healthy" throughout the year he usually wasn't really healthy. It was a physical and mental grind -- he was playing through pain and the fear that his injury would flare up again. Still, he managed to put up decent numbers all things considered, with 17 points (8 goals, 9 assists) in 41 games.
Zucker is 100% healthy and has no concerns that his previous injury could flare up again. If he can stay healthy all year and has chemistry with Bryan Rust and Malkin, a season more akin to his 33-goal, 64-point season in 2017-18 isn't out of the question.
WHO GETS CALLED UP?
With the current roster, the Penguins have just over $83,000 in cap space. They're carrying one extra forward and one extra defenseman on the roster, and barring a trade, they don't have room for a single call up unless a circumstance arises that would result in them using long-term injured reserve.
On defense, the picks for first men up are easy. There are nine NHL-ready defensemen in the system, and two of them -- Smith and Mark Friedman -- are down in the AHL. If a defenseman is needed, it's not hard to figure out who gets the call.
Things are a little more interesting at forward, because there are a few players who are right there in terms of being ready. Based on what we saw in the preseason, if the Penguins need a center, I think Sam Poulin has to be the first player up this season. Though he can play both wing and center, Sullivan has been clear about preferring Poulin as a center. His strength on his feet just makes him very effective at protecting the puck and making plays down low, and he's become reliable enough in his decision-making to think that he's ready to take the next step.
Of the players more suited to wing, there are three left-handed options who could conceivably fill bottom-six roles in Filip Hallander, Drew O'Connor and Drake Caggiula. Both Hallander and O'Connor are looking to break into the NHL as regulars, while Caggiula was a victim of the numbers game and finds himself in the AHL for the first time in his seven-year professional career despite a strong training camp.
Among the righties, Valtteri Puustinen is another guy who should see NHL time this season. He didn't look out of place at all on Crosby's wing in training camp, but he's reliable enough defensively that he could potentially slot into a bottom six role too. Alex Nylander is another right-handed shot who could find himself in the conversation, though questions surrounding his defensive game and ability to play with pace might hold him back.
In goal, Dustin Tokarski is the clear No. 3 to start. But if Filip Lindberg is able to pick up from his hot start last year before an ankle injury ended his season in November, he might be the one getting a call if a goaltender is needed later in the season.
PREDICTIONS
Danny Shirey, Dejan Kovacevic and I made our predictions for the team's success, Metropolitan Division winner and Stanley Cup winner, which can be found here.
