Burning Questions Ahead of the 2014-15 Pittsburgh Penguins Season

The summer of 2014 has been a time of change for the Pittsburgh Penguins, but the goal remains the same.

Not content with being one of the NHL's best regular-season teams, the Penguins replaced general manager Ray Shero and head coach Dan Bylsma with Jim Rutherford and Mike Johnston in an offseason shakeup that's meant to lead to one destination: the Stanley Cup.

The journey begins on Thursday, when the Penguins open their 2014-15 season by hosting the Anaheim Ducks.

Here are five burning questions that surround the team as the new campaign gets underway.

All stats courtesy of NHL.com. Salary information from CapGeek.com.

Will Mike Johnston Make the Penguins Better?

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Though he led his team to division titles in the last two seasons and had a degree of playoff success, coach Dan Bylsma was dismissed during the summer because the goal in Pittsburgh is higher: This team is supposed to be competing for championships.

Enter Mike Johnston, who's stepping in as an NHL head coach for the first time at age 57 and is expected to deliver big things. Superstar Sidney Crosby told Steven Whyno of the Canadian Press (via The Globe and Mail) that he understands why change had to come. 

"Going back [to] different experiences, change hasn’t necessarily been a bad thing," he said. "Sometimes it’s been a really good thing. It doesn’t feel good at the time, but I think when you look at the big picture sometimes it’s something that needs to happen."

Johnston is initiating a puck-possession style that should fit well with the personnel he's deploying, and Crosby approves. "We want the puck as players, and as an offensive player that hopefully means more opportunities if that’s the case." 

Even if Johnston's Penguins are successful during the regular season, he'll be graded by how far he can take the team in the playoffs.

Is the First Line Healthy?

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During preseason, Johnston has been cagey about sharing his prospective line combinations. It seems likely that the team's tried-and-true first line of Chris Kunitz, Sidney Crosby and Pascal Dupuis will take the ice together for the regular-season opener—for the first time in nearly a year.

The big question is whether the three are healthy enough to perform at 100 percent. Here's what we know:

• According to Josh Yohe of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Kunitz suffered an undisclosed injury during training camp, on September 23. He missed a few days of preseason action but said, "It's just being cautious." Kunitz did play in Pittsburgh's last three preseason games.
  
  
• Sidney Crosby got into just one preseason game after nursing a minor injury, then attending his grandmother's funeral. He didn't show any lingering effects from the wrist ailment that had plagued him at the end of last season as he fired seven shots on goal in his appearance against the Detroit Red Wings on October 1, per Josh Yohe.
  
  
• Crosby and right winger Pascal Dupuis haven't been on the ice together since last December, when Dupuis tore the ACL and MCL in his right knee after a chain-reaction collision with Crosby. Dupuis gave a positive prognosis to Yohe after his lone preseason appearance on September 30: "The whole body was a little tight this morning from not playing for so long, but the knee was not an issue this morning, and not on the ice."

Is the Penguins Defense Physical Enough?

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When winger Tanner Glass and defenseman Brooks Orpik left Pittsburgh as free agents this summer, team toughness took a hit. The two were ranked first and second in hits for the Penguins in 2013-14, and Glass led the team in penalties.

Rugged defender Rob Bortuzzo was expected to provide "a fear factor," according to Josh Yohe of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review—"something the Penguins might need with Brooks Orpik's departure."

Bortuzzo is now sidelined for "at least a month because of a lower-body injury," leaving that toughness quotient in question.

Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the short-term solution may lie with Simon Despres, as assistant general manager Bill Guerin told Rorabaugh in that article:

"

Last year, in the [American Hockey League’s Eastern conference final], Simon had multiple big hits and two fights against some of their better players. He had a fight in the preseason here. He’s played physical in every game he’s in. He’s a big body that can skate and defend well. The more that he brings that edge to his game, it’s a great combination.

"

Guerin says he thinks skill defenders like new acquisition Christian Ehrhoff and veteran Kris Letang can also do their part. "We just feel our skill guys bring the right amount of grit at the right time. When [Bortuzzo] comes back and he brings his element, that’s a great thing to have as well."

How Will the Newcomers Fit In?

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Speaking of Ehrhoff, he's the big-name veteran addition to Pittsburgh's roster this fall. He's known as a smooth-skating offensive defenseman who's had success as a power play quarterback, but he's also coming off a compliance buyout from the worst team in the league, the Buffalo Sabres, where he finished with a minus-27 ranking last season.

The Penguins are hoping that the Christian Ehrhoff that they signed to a one-year, $4 million free-agent contract more closely resembles the player who peaked with 50 points in 2010-11 for the Vancouver Canucks. Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says general manager Jim Rutherford called Ehrhoff's signing "the biggest thing that happened this summer."

Up front, the Penguins brought in Patric Hornqvist and Nick Spaling from Nashville in exchange for James Neal. Depth forward Spaling has earned praise from coach Mike Johnston after showing well during preseason on a line with Marcel Goc and Blake Comeau, according to beat writer Josh Yohe. "I really like that group of players," Johnston said.

Last week, I wrote about Hornqvist's role in Pittsburgh. He'll be expected to chip in some goals as a scrappy net-front presence, most likely on a line with Evgeni Malkin.

The Penguins have also made an upgrade in net, where Thomas Greiss replaces Jeff Zatkoff as backup for Marc-Andre Fleury. After spending most of his career with the San Jose Sharks, Greiss put up a solid 2.29 goals-against average and .920 save percentage in 25 games behind Mike Smith with the Phoenix in 2013-14.

Which Prospects Will Step Up?

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Last season, the Penguins blue line got a boost when 19-year-old Olli Maatta made an impressive jump to the NHL level.

Jim Rutherford has a chance to graduate more young players to the big leagues this year.

The Penguins will need to trim their roster from 28 to 23 players on Tuesday. Rob Bortuzzo and Beau Bennett will start the season on injured reserve, so just three cuts will likely be needed.

On the blue line, Taylor Chorney and Scott Harrington have both impressed during preseason, while Mike Johnston knows Derrick Pouliot all too well after having coached him with the Portland Winterhawks for the past four seasons. Any or all could end up sticking with the Penguins.

Up front, 18-year-old Kasperi Kapanen has had a strong training camp but will likely need another year of development. The surprise of training camp has been center Oskar Sundqvist, a 20-year-old who was chosen in the third round back in 2012.

At 6'3" and 209 pounds, Sundqvist is the kind of player who'd fit nicely in the Penguins' bottom six. He's caught the eye of Mike Johnston, as Johnston told Sam Kasan of Penguins.com:

"

He’s a very good prospect. I mentioned the other day, I really thought out of this camp, he’s a guy that took a big step. He’s got size, he’s good both ways, he’s responsible, so he’s going to be a very good player for this organization.

"

It sounds like Sundqvist has done enough to earn a spot in Pittsburgh's opening-night lineup.