Artemi Panarin (6.0) -
Jordan Staal (6.00) -
Jaromir Jagr (4.0)
Milan Lucic (6.0) -
Patrick Marleau (6.25) -
Elias Lindholm (2.70)
Patrick Maroon (2.0) -
Vladimir Sobotka (3.5) -
Troy Brouwer (4.5)
Drake Caggiula (1.35) -
Nic Dowd (0.64) -
Ryan Reaves (1.125)
McDonagh (4.70) -
Connor Murphy (3.85)
Alexei Emelin (4.1) -
J Schultz (5.50)
Kris Russell (4.0) -
Braydon Coburn (3.7)
Matt Murray (3.75)
Keith Kinkaid (1.25)
Cap Hit: $74,915,000
Cap Space: $85,000
Overall:
Two way balanced team, excellent puck possession team. Puck skills, big size, strength & grit mixed with good speed in the lineup. Also consist of players that are extremely physical which can wear opponents down. Very experienced team with lots of proven veteran players who have won cups and been clutched performers in the playoffs.
Forward group:
Lots of offense while not super flashy always scoring off the rush type but rather score a lot of goals on puck possession from half board towards the middle of the slot, down low cycling, puck battle in front of net, screening and pouncing on rebound opportunities in close. A very balanced 2-way group. Maintain possession, down low cycling, winning board battles, very creative players in the mix and can really lean on the opponents physically
Panarin is an elite forward that can both score and create. A shot scorer with great speed. Both and Jagr have excellent playmaking abilities. This group is also big & strong with tremendous puck possession ability with the likes of Jagr, Lucic, Staal, Maroon, Sobotka & Brouwer. One of the toughest team to win a board battle or down low cycle against. Along with Panarin & Jagr, E Lindholm and Marleau provides playmaking with both of them also great skaters.
Forth line is a pretty fast, good energy and physical line combined for 481 Hits last season.
Faceoff: Among One of the strongest FO team with 4 excellent FO takers on the top 9 so not having to worry about FO matchups.
FO% (2016-2017):
J Staal .591, Lindholm .556, Marleau .535, Sobotka .563 career(just came back from KHL for playoff last season. .534 in playoff), Dowd .478
Defensemen:
Balanced with offense & defense, finesse & physicality. Very experienced as well.
NYR’s captain McDonagh is a true #1 that can generate offense and being very solid defensively.
J Schultz is 7th in points(51) & 6th in plus/minus(+27) for dman in the past regular season. He’s a completely different dman the Oilers fans remembered. He aslo led the Pens offense from the backend in the 2017 Cup win, with the absence of Letang, socring 13pts and being 3rd in points for dmen among all playoff teams.
Connor Murphy has been a great young d man while lesser known because he played for Arizona. He will be Keith’s first pairing d partner in Chicago this season.
Emelin(very physical), Russell(led the NHL in Block shots) and Coburn are all veterans that have and can play on the 2nd pairing. All 3 are also good PKers.
Goaltending:
Elite and clutch goaltending (2 Cups back to back)
As good a goalie as MA Fleury is, Pens likely wouldn’t have won back to back Cups these past 2 seasons. Fleury is good, but Murray is both elite and clutch. It’s been close to impossible in the salary cap era to repeat but the Pens did it mainly due to having these 3 elite pieces being Crosby, Malkin & Murray.
Matt Murray's record:
Reg season (2016-17) SV%: .923(16-17)(tie for 6th in NHL). Playing for the same team, MA Fleury at .908
Playoff (2016-17) SV% .937(1st in NHL) & GAA 1.70 vs Fleury .924 & GAA 2.56
Playoff (2015-16) SV% .923 & GAA 2.08 vs Fleury .875 & GAA 3.03
Backup goalie:
Kinkaid played has a better SV% and GAA than started Schneider. Not saying he’s better than Schneider because Schneider is a proven good starter but this shows that Kinkaid is one of the best backup and has the potential of a good starter.
Power Play: Players suitable to choose from for the first PP unit: Panarin, Jagr, Staal, Lindholm, Lucic, Marleau, McDonagh Schultz
Flexibility:
Team is also built with flexibility in mind. 6 forwards can play center and 4 fwds can play multiple positions effectively. Therefore, many different line combos can be created for the best chemistry or to against opponents for line matching purpose.
For Dmen, Russell and Coburn have frequently and proven to have effectively played both LD/RD.