5 Pittsburgh Penguins Storylines That Won't Go Away in 2014-15

Like every recent season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have been one of the more premier clubs in the NHL. Led by captain Sidney Crosby, the team always finishes in the top of the league standings with bright playoff hopes dangling in front of it by season’s end.

And like every other team in the league, the Penguins have their fair share of ups and downs. This year, the club has fared well again in its fight for the Metropolitan Division crown; however, the Pens have failed to find consistency in many different facets of their game.

Injuries and illness are two of the top reasons head coach Mike Johnston has had to constantly switch up both the offensive lines and the D-pairings throughout the first half of the season, which has been one of the biggest storylines of the Pens’ 2014-15 campaign. Read on to look through some of the other on-going storylines from this season and feel free to discuss them in the comment section below.

5. The Mumps Epidemic

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

No one was safe during the 2014-15 NHL mumps epidemic, not even the Penguins. The club was the fourth team to contract the annoying disease ever since it began popping up on the radar back in October when the St. Louis Blues’ Joakim Lindstrom and Jori Lehtera were first infected.

When it came time for the disease to make its way to Pittsburgh, it was the captain who wa believed to have contracted it first. After the team’s morning skate on Dec. 12, many reporters and members of the media noticed intense swelling on the right side of Crosby’s face.

He told reporters he felt fine and believed he was going to play that night against the Calgary Flames, but in the coming hours, that would not hold true. The 27-year-old phenom would miss the game, and two days later, it was announced that he had officially tested positive for mumps.

Crosby was the first of five Penguins to contract the mumps along with teammates Thomas Greiss, Steve Downie, Beau Bennett and Olli Maatta. 

The mumps were thought to have been eradicated from the league over the past few weeks, but that wasn’t until former Penguins superstar and current New Jersey Devil Jaromir Jagr came down with it, according to Devils beat reporter Tim Gullitti. Now there is no way of telling if this disease has been completely eradicated, so players and team staffs should most definitely stay on high alert in the coming months.  

4. The Paul Martin Trade Talks

Keith Srakocic/Associated Press

Penguins defenseman Paul Martin is a solid, puck-moving defenseman, but his future with the Penguins has gotten a little foggy over the past few months. The 33-year-old is in the last year of his five-year deal with the club, which means he could find his way out of the 'Burgh by the March 2 trade deadline if the Penguins want some added forward depth heading into the playoffs.  

One of the more interesting player-for-player trades that recently sprang up was a deal involving Martin for the Los Angeles Kings’ Justin Williams, which was first speculated by Pittsburgh radio host Mark Madden of 105.9 the X.

The most recent Conn Smythe winner would be a great veteran asset to obtain, especially for the playoffs. For the Kings, they would be getting that solid defenseman they have been lacking, especially with the loss of Slava Voynov.

However, with Maatta out for the rest of the regular season (and probably the playoffs) due to shoulder surgery, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Penguins plan to hold onto Martin for the remainder of the 2014-15 season. A lack of veteran defensemen is never good for a strong playoff push, but if the price is right, anything can happen. 

3. Evgeni Malkin Linemate Situation

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

The Penguins have been decimated with injuries (we’ll get to that later), and the lineup is rarely ever the same night in and night out, but this is especially true with superstar center Evgeni Malkin.

Malkin hasn’t had a pair of consistent teammates on the second line since last season when ex-Pens James Neal and Jussi Jokinen flanked him almost all season long. After Neal and Jokinen parted ways with the team this past summer, Malkin has played with nearly all of the club’s forwards, from Bryan Rust to Beau Bennett.

Position-wise, Johnston hasn’t fooled around too much with the big Russian’s slot in the lineup. At points this year, Malkin has seen time on Crosby’s wing up on the first line, but that was only for a game or two.

Consistency is key to success, especially in the playoffs. With that said, the Pens have a little under half of a season left before crunch time rolls around. They need to work fast to not just find consistency on Malkin’s line but all throughout the lineup as well. Of course, with this team, that will be easier said than done. 

2. Injury Plague

Alex Brandon/Associated Press

Injuries were a constant throughout the first half of the Penguins' 2014-15 campaign. When one man came back, another seemed to fall by the wayside. It started to get ridiculous, with numerous guys getting bit by the injury bug at the same time.

Now the Penguins finally seem to have everything back on track with Evgeni Malkin officially back, but how long do you really think this is going to last?

It seems impossible that no one else will suffer an injury throughout the waning months of the 2014-15 regular season, but expect the players to be taken good care of heading into the postseason. This team needs to be healthy for the wheels to turn properly, because it undoubtedly has the talent to go far in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

1. Playoff Talk

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The great Jim Mora once said to never talk about playoffs. However, the Penguins' future postseason run seems to always be on the minds of their fans. With the amount of talent this team boasts, every facet has been criticized due to the Pens having been unable to return to the Cup Final since 2009.  

Everyone knows the Penguins are a great regular-season hockey team, but that doesn’t get you far in the playoffs—other than the added commodity of home-ice advantage. After last year’s second-round meltdown against the New York Rangers, management went for a complete overhaul. A new general manager in Jim Rutherford and a new head coach in Johnston has so far worked out well this season, as the team now sits in second place in the Metropolitan Division standings.

It would be absurd to say it’s Stanley Cup or bust this season for the Pens, but anything less than an Eastern Conference Final appearance will be very disappointing for the team's following. We still have a ways to go till April rolls around, but this storyline will always be the No. 1 topic until this team wins its fourth Cup.