Complete Preview for the Pittsburgh Penguins' 2014-15 Season

Stop me if you've heard this one.

The Pittsburgh Penguins were among the best teams in the regular season, rolling over the competition on their way to a 100-point season. But when the playoffs began, the Penguins fell woefully short of a Stanley Cup and even failed to reach the Stanley Cup final.

That was the Penguins' story in 2013-14 and has been the story in every season since they won the Cup in 2009. 

What We Learned in 2013-14

Welcome to the Penguin Galaxy, which is just two stars surrounded by vast, empty nothingness.

Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were both as healthy as they've been in a long time during the same season, combining to play 140 games. Crosby took home the Hart Trophy with 36 goals and 104 points in 80 games while Malkin had 23 goals and 72 points in 60 games.

Beyond that, there wasn't much.

James Neal had 27 goals and 61 points in 59 games, which was mostly a product of playing next to Malkin nearly all season. The same can be said for Chris Kunitz, who practically stowed away in Crosby's luggage to get to the Sochi Olympics, as Crosby carried Kunitz to the tune of 35 goals and 68 points in 78 games.

Even with Crosby and Malkin as the catalysts, the bottom-six forwards were a black hole of sadness once Pascal Dupuis was lost for the season in December.

Brandon Sutter, Joe Vitale, Taylor Pyatt, Tanner Glass…look, I could list all these third- and fourth-line guys, but let's just agree they weren't very good.

One area in which the Penguins were deep and lush was on defense.

Jana Chytilova/Getty Images

At one point, Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik, Rob Scuderi and Paul Martin were all out at the same time with all of them missing big chunks of time individually. Instead of that sinking the team, it led to the emergence of Matt Niskanen, who had a career season operating as a de facto No. 1 for portions of the season.

(Yeah, he left via free agency along with Orpik this summer but was a big reason the Penguins didn't implode defensively.)

But it was the lack of scoring from depth players that sank the Penguins in the playoffs.

After taking a 3-1 series lead in the second round against the Rangers, the Penguins scored one goal in each of the next three games, all losses. It was revealed that Crosby was playing hurt throughout the postseason—he still had nine points in 13 games—and with Sutter and Lee Stempniak as the only bottom-six scorers in the series, the Penguins were toast.

The loss proved to be the end for coach Dan Bylsma and general manager Ray Shero, who were both dispatched from their positions weeks apart during the summer.

Outlook for 2014-15

The Penguins have a rookie coach in Mike Johnston and an experienced, new GM in Jim Rutherford, and the latter did what he could to improve a perennial Cup contender.

His biggest on-ice move was sending Neal to Nashville for Patric Hornqvist and Nick Spaling with the former likely to provide a bigger net-front presence than that of Neal. It's hard to nitpick with a 40-goal scorer like Neal, but he wasn't big on getting to the front of the net, where most goals are scored during the playoffs. Hornqvist, on the other hand, usually has his skates dug into the crease.

Blake Comeau and Steve Downie figure to play on the third and fourth lines, and in what was my favorite tweet of the offseason, Downie will make sure no one hurts Crosby or Malkin through toughness and fear.

So if anyone hits Crosby or Malkin too hard and they suffer injuries, it's Downie's fault. There's a great line from the movie Tommy Boy about guarantees that applies here, but it won't be shared in this space.

So with all the changes, the Penguins forwards could look something like this.

Left wing	Center	Right wing
Chris Kunitz	Sidney Crosby	Pascal Dupuis
Beau Bennett	Evgeni Malkin	Patric Hornqvist
Nick Spaling	Brandon Sutter	Steve Downie
Blake Comeau	Marcel Goc	Craig Adams
Jayson Megna, Zach Sill

There's a lot of potential for fluidity with those lines, as only Crosby, Kunitz and Malkin are locked into those places. Beau Bennett building off last season will go a long way toward improving the overall forward depth, as will a full season of Marcel Goc on the fourth line. It may not be the best bottom six, but it's better than it was last season.

On defense, here is what the Penguins are working with.

Left defense	Right defense	Goaltenders
Christian Ehrhoff	Paul Martin	Marc-Andre Fleury
Olli Maata	Kris Letang	Thomas Greiss
Simon Despres	Rob Scuderi
Robert Bortuzzo

Christian Ehrhoff at one year and $4 million could prove to be the best signing of the summer. He can play the role of No. 1 defenseman, eating minutes, handling tough matchups and playing on special teams. He makes up for the loss of Orpik and Niskanen by being able to play the roles both inhabited last season.

Even with a formidable forward group and a defense that can absorb the loss of two of its best blueliners, if Marc-Andre Fleury continues to wilt in the playoffs, none of it will matter.

The Penguins added Thomas Greiss, a solid backup who may have a future as a starter, but this season will be on Fleury's shoulders. Fleury's save percentage in the postseason last year was .915, which is a vast improvement over his .883, .834, .899 and .891 the past four postseasons. But it still isn't good enough to win a Stanley Cup.

Consider the uneven 2014 postseason of Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick, who had a .911 save percentage when the dust cleared on a championship. It's easy to point to that number and say, "Yeah, so if Fleury does that, the Penguins can win a Cup, too."

Well, not really, because you're living in a magical, perhaps drug-induced fantasy if you think the teams in front of those goaltenders are anywhere close to the same level. If the goaltending is equal, the Kings would win a best of 99 with the Penguins 99-0.

The Penguins look like a team equipped for a great regular season but an inevitable failure in the playoffs, either by a lack of depth scoring or consistent goaltending. A reborn Fleury is probably what the Penguins need the most if they are to win a second title during the Crosby era, and there's nothing that says that will happen this year.

All statistics via NHL.com.

Dave Lozo covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter: @DaveLozo.