- Team Outlook from McKeen’s Hockey Guide:
Penguins GM Ray Shero was aggressive on the trade front in 2013, acquiring Jarome Iginla, Brenden Morrow, and Doug Murray to compliment an already loaded roster. Even still, the Penguins were swept by the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference Final and their rental players subsequently scattered.
Even still, Pittsburgh remains a force to be reckoned with. It’s hard not to like a team that features Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, James Neal, Pascal Dupuis, and Chris Kunitz. All five players could end up scoring over 25 goals each this season.
Of course, when people question the Penguins, they aren’t bringing up their ability to score goals, it’s goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury that they typically point to as their weakness. Fleury has struggled in each of the Penguins’ last four playoff campaigns and in 2013 it got to the point where he was replaced by Tomas Vokoun. The Penguins are expected to go back to Fleury for the start of the 2013-14 season, but whether or not he can still perform in big games is a subject of debate.
On a more positive note, their defense looks strong. Kristopher Letang is a serious threat to win the Norris Trophy if he stays healthy and the return of Rob Scuderi should provide them with a boost – and especially once the playoffs start.
And they almost certainly will make the playoffs. The sheer amount of star power makes it hard to envision a scenario where they’re so crippled by injuries or struggling players that they miss the postseason entirely.
- Team Fantasy Outlook from Dobber Hockey’s 2013-14 Fantasy Guide – Over a 150 pages of fantasy goodness:
The lowdown on: Pascal Dupuis – Before you attribute all of his points in his breakout 2012-13 to being Crosby’s linemate, know this: he got 15 of his 38 points without Crosby or Malkin on the ice. When Crosby was injured, Dupuis still posted 12 points in 12 games. At 34, he’s found another level where even on the third line he’s at least a 50-point player. But whatever Crosby time he gets (and that will be pretty much whenever Sid is healthy) he’s a 70-point guy easy. If you go back to the 2011-12 season and include the playoffs, Dupuis has 77 points in his last 86 games.
Projections Bennett’s low salary (thank you entry-level contracts) not only ensures that he’s on the team, but that Coach Bylsma will play him with Malkin. The Penguins blew their budget out trying to keep Malkin, Dupuis and Letang this summer and now there is no room to bring in even the cheapest free agent. Actually, check that, they brought in D’Agostini. But anyway, the team’s hands are tied and this is great news for Bennett owners. No competition for that golden line spot.
Speaking of D’Agostini – an injury to Bennett, Neal, Kunitz or Dupuis will mean that D’Agostini wins the lottery. That’s why he’s on my sleeper chart.
Martin played seven games with Letang out of the lineup, but his production in that span (four points) wasn’t anything special. Martin had his breakout campaign last year with Letang actually in the lineup as he started getting some PP time. Nine of his 23 points were on the power play.
As you would expect, Neal had 28 points in the 28 games that he played with Malkin. When Malkin was hurt, he had eight points in 12 games.
Follow link for more info and stats
Additions: F Chris Conner, F Matt D’Agostini, F Nick Drazenovic, F Andrew Ebbett, F Bobby Farnham, G Eric Hartzell, D Brendan Mikkelson, D Rob Scuderi, F Harry Zolnierczyk.
Subtractions: F Matt Cooke, F Philippe Dupuis, D Mark Eaton, D Alex Grant, F Jarome Iginla, F Tyler Kennedy, F Chad Kolarik-F .. Steve MacIntyre, F Brenden Morrow, F Doug Murray, F Warren Peters, D Dylan Reese, F Trevor Smith, G Brad Thiessen, F Keven Veilleux.
Promotion candidates: D Olli Maatta, D Scott Harrington
Player salaries: $70,810,000
Cap Number: $65,398,333
Bonuses: $0
Cap Space: -$1,098,333
Forwards: $38,466,667 (13)
Defensemen: $19,931,667 (8)
Goalies: $7,000,000 (2)
Source: CapGeek
Forwards
Chris Kunitz – Sidney Crosby – Pascal Dupuis
Jussi Jokinen – Evgeni Malkin – James Neal
Beau Bennett – Brandon Sutter – Matt D’Agostini
Tanner Glass – Joe Vitale – Craig Adams
Dustin Jeffrey
Defensemen
Rob Scuderi – Kris Letang
Paul Martin – Brooks Orpik
Deryk Engelland – Matt Niskanen
Simon Despres – Robert Bortuzzo
Goalies
Marc-Andre Fleury
Jeff Zatkoff
Tomas Vokoun
2013 Pittsburgh Penguins Draft Results
| Rd. | Draft # | Player | Team | Pos. |
| 2 | 44* | Tristan Jarry | Edmonton (WHL) | G |
| 3 | 77* | Jake Guentzel | Sioux City (USHL ) | C |
| 4 | 119 | Ryan Segalla | Salisbury HS (CT) | D |
| 6 | 164* | Dane Birks | Merritt (BCHL ) | D |
| 6 | 179 | Blaine Byron | Smiths Falls (CCHL ) | C |
| 7 | 209 | Troy Josephs | St. Michaels (OJHL ) | C |
Pittsburgh Penguins Top Prospects
| NHL.com | Hockey Prospectus | Dobber Prospects | Hockeys Future | The Hockey News | |
| 1 | Olli Maata | Olli Maatta | Beau Bennett | Derrick Pouliot | Olli Maatta |
| 2 | Derrick Pouliot | Brian Dumoulin | Derrick Pouliot | Beau Bennett | Derrick Pouliot |
| 3 | Scott Harrington | Derrick Pouliot | Brian Dumoulin | Simon Drepres | Tristan Jarry |
| 4 | Brian Dumoulin | Scott Harrington | Olli Maatta | Olli Maatta | Scott Harrington |
| 5 | Tristan Jarry | Oskar Sundqvist | Tom Kuhnhackl | Brian Dumoulin | Brian Dumoulin |
| 6 | Josh Archibald | Tristan Jarry | Theodor Blueger | Scott Harrington | Teddy Blueger |
| 7 | Scott Wilson | Teodors Blugers | Tristan Jarry | Tristan Jarry | Jayson Megna |
| 8 | Oskar Sundqvist | Anton Zlobin | Scott Harrington | Teddy Blueger | Oskar Sundqvist |
| 9 | Bryan Rust | Eric Hartzell | Simon Despres | Josh Archibald | Jake Guentzel |
| 10 | Theodor Blueger | Josh Archibald | Jake Guentzel | Oskar Sundqvist | Ryan Segalla |
2012-13 Pittsburgh Penguins Player Stats
| Player |
Pos
|
GP
|
G
|
A
|
P
|
+/-
|
PIM
|
PP
|
SH
|
GW
|
OT
|
S
|
S%
|
| Sidney Crosby |
C
|
36
|
15
|
41
|
56
|
26
|
16
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
124
|
12.1
|
| Chris Kunitz |
L
|
48
|
22
|
30
|
52
|
30
|
39
|
9
|
0
|
5
|
0
|
113
|
19.5
|
| Pascal Dupuis |
L
|
48
|
20
|
18
|
38
|
31
|
26
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
140
|
14.3
|
| Kris Letang |
D
|
35
|
5
|
33
|
38
|
16
|
8
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
95
|
5.3
|
| James Neal |
L
|
40
|
21
|
15
|
36
|
5
|
26
|
9
|
0
|
6
|
0
|
136
|
15.4
|
| Evgeni Malkin |
C
|
31
|
9
|
24
|
33
|
5
|
36
|
4
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
99
|
9.1
|
| Paul Martin |
D
|
34
|
6
|
17
|
23
|
14
|
16
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
38
|
15.8
|
| Matt Cooke |
L
|
48
|
8
|
13
|
21
|
-2
|
36
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
61
|
13.1
|
| Brandon Sutter |
C
|
48
|
11
|
8
|
19
|
3
|
4
|
3
|
0
|
5
|
1
|
82
|
13.4
|
| Brenden Morrow |
L
|
15
|
6
|
8
|
14
|
5
|
19
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
24
|
25
|
| Matt Niskanen |
D
|
40
|
4
|
10
|
14
|
4
|
12
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
67
|
6
|
| Beau Bennett |
R
|
26
|
3
|
11
|
14
|
7
|
6
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
30
|
10
|
| Jussi Jokinen |
L
|
10
|
7
|
4
|
11
|
3
|
6
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
13
|
53.8
|
| Tyler Kennedy |
C
|
46
|
6
|
5
|
11
|
-6
|
19
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
100
|
6
|
| Jarome Iginla |
R
|
13
|
5
|
6
|
11
|
2
|
9
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
34
|
14.7
|
| Craig Adams |
R
|
48
|
3
|
6
|
9
|
-1
|
28
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
46
|
6.5
|
| Brooks Orpik |
D
|
46
|
0
|
8
|
8
|
17
|
32
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
32
|
0
|
| Simon Despres |
D
|
33
|
2
|
5
|
7
|
9
|
20
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
33
|
6.1
|
| Dustin Jeffrey |
C
|
24
|
3
|
3
|
6
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
26
|
11.5
|
| Deryk Engelland |
D
|
42
|
0
|
6
|
6
|
5
|
54
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
31
|
0
|
| Joe Vitale |
C
|
33
|
2
|
3
|
5
|
-7
|
17
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
26
|
7.7
|
| Robert Bortuzzo |
D
|
15
|
2
|
2
|
4
|
3
|
27
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
10
|
20
|
| Douglas Murray |
D
|
14
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
-1
|
9
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
14
|
7.1
|
| Tanner Glass |
L
|
48
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
-11
|
62
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
38
|
2.6
|
| Mark Eaton |
D
|
23
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
9
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
8
|
0
|
| Zach Boychuk |
L
|
7
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
-2
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
0
|
| Dylan Reese |
D
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
| Eric Tangradi |
C
|
5
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
| Ben Lovejoy |
D
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
-2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
0
|
| Trevor Smith |
C
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
| Steve MacIntyre |
L
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
12
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
| Player |
GP
|
GS
|
W
|
L
|
OT
|
SA
|
GA
|
GAA
|
Sv
|
Sv%
|
SO
|
G
|
A
|
| Marc-Andre Fleury |
33
|
31
|
23
|
8
|
0
|
881
|
74
|
2.39
|
807
|
0.916
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
| Tomas Vokoun |
20
|
17
|
13
|
4
|
0
|
519
|
42
|
2.45
|
477
|
0.919
|
3
|
0
|
2
|
Some info, stats and video taken from NHL.com’s 30-in-30 series.