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

Depth-wise the Pens have Jeff Taffe, Bill Thomas, and Paul Brissonnette—all players who’ll play important roles keeping the opposition off the score sheet when the big guns aren’t on the ice for the Penguins.

 

So what's it all mean?

People are going to say that the Penguins lost a lot when Marian Hossa departed for Detroit this offseason. Granted, he was nice, but Hossa was more like the fourth cheese on your pizza.  It’s great to keep clogging up your arteries (or ice time, I guess) with something good, but it’s kind of unnecessary—especially when your first three cheese are Crosby, Malkin, and Staal.

Crosby has done magical things with unproven players (Colby Armstrong anyone?) before, Malkin proved that he wasn’t just a Russian enigma on the second line behind Crosby last season, and people want to sign with Pittsburgh because they want to play with some of the best, most-exciting players in the league.

They’re going to be hurt early on by the loss on the back end to injuries, but nothing that this team can’t overcome as the season wears on.

First in Atlantic

And now with your Community Leader's View from the Pressbox, Pittsburgh Penguins Community Leader Eric Kuzmiak:

 

GOALIES: Dany Sabourin has proved that he can be magnificent at times—as a backup, and a backup only. As you stated, he didn't exactly show the No. 1 goaltender qualties when Fleury went down last season, and in all likelihood, he won't show them again this year if Fleury is sidelined for any length of time.

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins' (AHL) number-one goalie is John Curry. Curry had an impressive training camp, and is still with the team on their Euro-trip. If Sabou falters early on, I wouldn't be surprised to see Curry get the call-up to backup the Flower.

 
DEFENSE: As far as the injuries go, it sucks. There's no two ways around it. Losing your top two offensive defensemen isn't good for any team, at any point in the season. However, if I am forced to find something positive in the situation, it is this—it is much better that these injuries are happening in September rather than February of March. Gonchar is slated to be out six to eight weeks and Whitney is expected to be ready for action sometime during late December or early January.

That being said, Kris Letang is the biggest factor on the blue line. Letang was by far the most unexpectedly impressive player on the Pens' roster last season. He didn't put up big offensive numbers—which Michel Therrien has made a point about him improving—but his play in the defensive zone was great. Letang has the potential to be a legitimate number-two defensemen on the top pairing, alongside Brooks Orpik.

Goligoski might be better offensively than Letang, but I don't expect him to put up any impressive numbers in his first 20 or so NHL games. He is an adequate replacement for Whitney, running the back-door-play on the power play, but he hasn't shown me that he can be a top-six D-man once the rest of the roster is healthy—yet.
 
FORWARDS: Jordan Staal has been moved from his natural center position back to the wing. He has played alongside Malkin and Sykora on the second line during the preseason. While I think this will do wonders for Staal's offensive game, his defensive prowess won't be relied upon as much at even strength when he is on the wing. He will still see a lot of time on the PK, and I think the move to the wing will benefit him overall.
 
The Pens' third line is going to be fun to watch. Cooke-Talbot-Fedotenko was the pairing during the preseason, and they worked extremely well together. All three guys play a gritty game, can work the boards well, and are deceptively quick on the ice.
 
The only question mark in my mind remains with Pascal Dupuis occupying the other wing alongside Crosby and Satan. Dupuis has the speed to keep up with Sid, but he showed last season his inability to put the puck in the net when Sid sets him up.

I think that if Janne Pesonen develops quickly, he could find himself on the top line sometime during the course of the season. Pesonen seems to be adjusting to the North American style of hockey rather easily, and playing on the fourth line (likely alongside Taffe and Kennedy) early in the season should allow him to ease into a bigger role as the season progresses.

 

There you have it folks, one more until the Northeast!

Bryan Thiel is a Senior Writer and an NHL Community Leader for Bleacher Report. If you want to get in contact with Bryan you can do so through his profile, and you can also check out his previous work in his archives.

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