BT's 2008-09 NHL Season Preview: Pittsburgh Penguins

Do we really need to spend a lot of time on this?

Sidney Crosby is a bona fide star. He’s fast, he’s got hands, he’s got the shot…..what else do you want to say? I may not like him, but damn he’s good.

Evgeni Malkin—well, I hate when people call him "Gino." It just seems kind of lazy to me. I don’t know if he likes it or not, but for me? I’ll never call him "Gino."  He’s a 100-point guy with moves like you wouldn’t believe—you can call him Evgeni.

Jordan Staal is most likely going to recover from a sophomore slump (28 points, minus-5) and recapture his 30-goal, plus-16 form. If it wasn’t for Mike Richards in Philly, Staal could be called the most dangerous two-way forward in the Atlantic—more likely, the game. Then again, when other teams key on Malkin and Crosby, you may get overlooked a bit too.

Then for energy—like they need more—the Pens have Maxime Talbot and Tyler Kennedy down the middle. And if Maxime Talbot grows his beard? Watch out.

Now, who will these guys be feeding on the wings?

Well, let’s start with some replacements.

The replacement for Georges Laraque is Eric Godard. Given the choice, I’d take Laraque because, even as an enforcer, he seems to be more of a quality weapon.  Nut despite what he lacks on offense, Godard does what he’s paid to do—and that’s drop the gloves.

Replacing Marian Hossa will be Miroslav Satan—quite possibly the only player who should be allowed to wear a triple-digit jersey in any sport, ever. Satan has developed into a constant threat to hit the 30-goal mark in a season, but really struggled with the New York Islanders last season. Then again, he’ll playing with any of Staal, Crosby, or Malkin at basically any point in time.

You can call him a wild card, but don’t be surprised if Satan explodes for goals this season.

Matt Cooke is replacing Jarkko Ruutu. Although he’s a very edgy player, Cooke will struggle to find some offensive consistency this season. He’ll be good for energy and opening up room with a bit of speed, and he may look good on a line with Jordan Staal.

Ruslan Fedotenko is in too, and he’ll be helping fill the void left by the departed Ryan Malone. If he’s surrounded by quality offensive threats (which he will be) then Fedotenko can be dangerous.

As far as returning players go—well, Petr Sykora is back. Sykora could be even better this season, as he’s grown into a comfortable role with this Pittsburgh team, and could score 30 goals for the first time since 2002 (with Anaheim), and could also hit 40 assists.

Pascal Dupuis will also be an interesting case to watch. Can Sid the Kid uncover the untapped talent that Dupuis has, or will he just tread water this season?

Janne Pesonen could be an interesting player to watch for the Penguins this season. Brought in on a one-year contract from Finland, Pesonen has developed into a dependable scorer, posting 78 points in his final 56-game season for Karpat Oulu. He’s a smaller player (5’11, 185lbs) so he may run into some trouble at the NHL level, but if he gets the room to be creative, he could be a very interesting weapon in whichever way the Penguins choose to deploy him.

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