Pre-Game Talk: How will the Penguins fare this season.

[LOGiK]

Could do a division poll as well.
This is more for the 'will they secure a playoff berth' this year.

Click to read more...

 

[Andy99]

On the edge of playoff irrelevance, maybe even 9th but I put them in 8th. I agree with Dave that new strategies are needed, and I would include alternating b2b off for the old guys and trying to split up PP1…but Sullivan will never do that lol

Molinari: Penguins Need Fresh Approach to Old Issue

The average Age in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Opening Night lineup Thursday figures to fall somewhere between Stone and Bronze. Go to a hockey game at PPG Paints Arena this winter, and you just might see an AARP meeting break out. Indeed, if Ron Hextall would make a deal to acquire Methuselah, his...

pittsburghhockeynow.com

 

[ColePens]

Lose in the first round of the playoffs.

What seed they are will not matter. No matter what that is the final result.

 

[Gurglesons]

See us finishing 2nd in the division if healthy.

 

[Flying Dego]

Around 5th in the East

 

[Shrimper]

NYR
Carolina
Pittsburgh
Washington
Columbus
NJD
NYI
Philadelphia

 

[Pancakes]

NYR
Carolina
Pittsburgh
Washington
Columbus
NJD
NYI
Philadelphia

Yeah I have us third.

I could see us finishing higher than that, or as low as 4th. Don't see us missing the playoffs unless we have a rash of injuries.

NYR and Carolina both have such young rosters that I feel like they might put together a better regular season stretch than us. I expect we'll wear out a bit and pace ourselves a bit in the second half, hence the third place finish.

 

[Peat]

See us finishing 2nd in the division if healthy.

3rd it is then.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

On paper the team should be ~3ish and maybe better.

But my pessimistic heart says they will struggle this year and JUST slide in.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Battle for 2nd/3rd in the division and probably around 5th or 6th in the conference.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

I think they could win the division and finish 2nd or 3rd in the east. They're only one year out from being the reigning division winner. I'm strangely optimistic this season, revamped defense and Malkin/Rakell for the whole season should make a big difference.

 

[Jacob]

I could be way way off but I foresee us having a somewhat uneventful regular season. Middle-of-the-pack kind of. Not too high but not too low.

I think Petry and Rutta, like, it's debatable if they really make us a contender or vastly improve us but I think they are the types that smooth out wrinkles at least. 2 veteran guys on the blueline that aren't super flashy but defend well and add a lot of depth. Push guys into slots where they are going to perform better in. Our forward group is mostly vets that don't get too high or too low and even our younger guys are matured. Even POJ, while technically a rookie, is mature, seasoned and plays a relatively simple game. Lots of depth, more than we've ever had, so when injuries do hit they could, conceivably, have less impact than previous years because of that much improved depth. Not that our depth was ever bad.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

On the edge of playoff irrelevance, maybe even 9th, but I put them in 8th. agree with Dave that new strategies are needed, and I would include alternating b2b off for the old guys and trying to split up PP1…but Sullivan will never do that lol

Molinari: Penguins Need Fresh Approach to Old Issue

The average Age in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Opening Night lineup Thursday figures to fall somewhere between Stone and Bronze. Go to a hockey game at PPG Paints Arena this winter, and you just might see an AARP meeting break out. Indeed, if Ron Hextall would make a deal to acquire Methuselah, his...

pittsburghhockeynow.com

When the chips are down Andy comes back to the light

 

[AuroraBorealis]

I got us 5th in the East. #3 in Metro but Tampa and Toronto finish with more points.
Florida's gonna fall hard and end up just barely behind us.
I think we beat out Boston with their key injuries.

But honestly I could see us being 6th or 7th pretty easily as well.

 

[orby]

Probably 3rd in the division, 5th or 6th in the confererence IMO. A playoff team but not a powerhouse.

 

[lucasjb]

Third in the division. I think the Hurricanes and Rangers are probably better suited to the 82 game grind. Pretty happy with the off-season overall, hope the Penguins can avoid major injuries and we get to see 75+ games each of Crosby, Letang and Malkin.

 

[metalan2]

I never think this but I fear they may miss this season.

 

[BusinessGoose]

There is basically no way this team can't make playoffs. The roster is mostly the same, arguably better, and they were NINETEEN points clear of "missing" last year.

 

[Kristopher Letang]

The Penguins will be f***ed and out of the playoffs race by game 8… just like last year lol

 

[HandshakeLine]

I do not care where we finish in the regular season as long as we make the postseason.

 

[HandshakeLine]

To elaborate on my pithy answer, this team is going to have, by sheer virtue of the fact that Crosby and Malkin are all-time greats, streaks of looking great, and by virtue of their ages and the mediocrity of the supporting cast + injuries, stretches of looking f***ing awful. The regular season isn't really proof of how this team will fare in the postseason for a billion different reasons.

What I'd like to see is a more cohesive effort this season, smarter roster moves in general, and I'd like to see how the new blueline moves shape up when put to the test in the stretch. I don't care how we pace or what our GF% or other heatmap bullshit is looking like, I don't care about the seeding, I don't care about how many individual awards we win. If we can see some actual real stylistic changes on the ice that better support where our aging stars are now, then I'll feel hopeful about the postseason. Otherwise, it's just a nice trip to see Geno, Sid, and Letang go down as one of the best trios in Pens history.

 

[Deport Ogie]

Older teams sometimes start slow and the schedule for this month kinda blows. I look forward to them being like, 5-6 or so and the entire place going up in flames before they settle in and go on a bit of a run. Again.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I don't care how they start tbh, I'm going to be really disappointed if we limp into the postseason yet again looking like a bubble team. I mean, I know we are a bubble team, but it'd be nice for us to punch above our weight in the POs for once.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

The Penguins will start meh and be around or slightly behind the wildcard spots in November, with some questioning if this is the year they miss.

Then sustain a rash of injuries to key players all at once around mid-November. Things look dire.

Once-plugs and random skaters will step up the lineup, produce miraculous results and the team will be scorching hot through the new year; with all of us excitedly anticipating how loaded a healthy roster could be. They are in contention for the division.

Key injured players return to much excitement, only to see different healthy key players get immediately injured. Pens are still not icing their full roster but only slow down slightly and still play well into Feb, still in the hunt to win the Metro.

Team finally gets healthy. Said plugs slide back down the line up and are mediocre. Injured top of lineup players cannot find chemistry easily. Sullivan reverts to GCR and heavily uses a BART type 4th line. The secondary middle 6 winger acquired at the TDL is solid but not amazing. Penguins limp into postseason with the 3rd seed in Metro or the WC1. The excitement of the midseason hot streak is gone.

Postseason begins. Penguins look incredible and take Game 1. Injuries and goalie play decimate them over the course of the series and they are eliminated in Round 1 by a division rival because they gave up timely goals in bad moments despite largely outplaying the other team.

That rival makes a deep playoff run and we all lament how close we were if we could have gotten past Round 1.

 

[Andy99]

To elaborate on my pithy answer, this team is going to have, by sheer virtue of the fact that Crosby and Malkin are all-time greats, streaks of looking great, and by virtue of their ages and the mediocrity of the supporting cast + injuries, stretches of looking f***ing awful. The regular season isn't really proof of how this team will fare in the postseason for a billion different reasons.

What I'd like to see is a more cohesive effort this season, smarter roster moves in general, and I'd like to see how the new blueline moves shape up when put to the test in the stretch. I don't care how we pace or what our GF% or other heatmap bullshit is looking like, I don't care about the seeding, I don't care about how many individual awards we win. If we can see some actual real stylistic changes on the ice that better support where our aging stars are now, then I'll feel hopeful about the postseason. Otherwise, it's just a nice trip to see Geno, Sid, and Letang go down as one of the best trios in Pens history.

Uh…good luck with that …lol

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