Pens Head Into Season With Higher Expectations. ( And A Few Questions)

     With just two days left before the Pittsburgh Penguins kick off their season against the Ottawa Senators in Stockholm, Sweden, I thought it was about time to preview the upcoming year. The Pens begin this season with a few question marks. Namely, with top two offensive defensemen Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney out for a sizable portion of the campaign, who can step up and make up for their sizable contributions?

     Second-year  NHLer Kris Letang will get first crack on the number one power play unit opposite C Evgeni Malkin. Letang acquitted himself quite nicely last season after spending the early days of the year with AHL affiliate Wilkes Barre-Scranton,he performed well for the better part of the regular season and playoffs, before fading in the Finals under the relentless forechecking pressure of the eventual champion Detroit Red Wings.

     D Alex Goligoski will attempt to make the jump to the big club and man a point on the second power play unit, most likely paired with veteran Daryl Sydor. Goligoski got a taste of NHL life last year, playing in a handful of games, and led all defensemen in playoff scoring as Wilkes Barre-Scranton made a spirited run to the Calder Cup Finals only to lose to the Chicago Wolves.

     The Penguins will have some other holes to fill going into this year. LWs Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts and C Adam Hall (Tampa Bay); RW, and resident heavyweight champion, Georges Laraque (Montreal); RW Jaarko Ruutu (Ottawa); G Ty Conklin and RW Marian Hossa (Detroit) all left via free agency, and GM Ray Shero has been hard-pressed to find suitable replacements.

     Of all the above mentioned departures, Hossa appears to be the biggest loss. Hossa spurned offers of five years and seven years with the Pens, only to sign a one year, $7.4 million dollar deal with the Wings, much to the chagrin of the Penguins, and more to the point, C Sidney Crosby, who finally thought he had himself a wing to play with who could play and think the game on his level.

     The Penguins wasted little time in retooling their line up. They signed former Islanders LW Ruslan Fedotenko to a 1-year $2.5 million dollar deal. And RW Miroslav Satan to a 1-year $3.5 million dollar deal. Fedotenko led the Tampa Bay Lightning in goals during their 2004 Stanley Cup run. And Satan, who averaged about 25 goals a year through most of his career, slipped to only 16 last year with the low scoring Isles.

     RW Eric Goddard was brought in to replace Laraque. Goddard is a lot more unpredictable and volatile than the departed Laraque, who approaches his duties as THE enforcer in a more cerebral and methodical manner. Finally, Shero brought in RW Matt Cooke to take over for Ruutu as the team's main agitator and pot-stirrer.  But can they replace all the talent, grit, toughness, and leadership that is gone? I guess we shall see.

     While the Penguins lost much of their "heart and soul" players, they don't have to worry about losing most of their young, core talent for quite some time. C Evgeni Malkin joined captain Sidney Crosby as the team's highest payed players, agreeing to a 5-year $43 million dollar extention, exactly the same terms Crosby agreed to a summer before. G Marc-Andre Fleury inked a 7-year $35 million dollar deal, cementing his place as the team's franchise goalie. D Brooks Orpik parlayed a Scott Stevens-like final into a 6-year contract worth about $3.5 million a year. What's most impressive about the above signings is all of the Pens' young talent accepted less than they probably received on the open market and proving that the believe the Penguins can be a force for years to come.

     The only one of the Penguins young guns to not come to terms on an extention is C Jordan Staal. Staal is going into the last year of his entry-level contract and it will be interesting to see how management will approach negotiations as we move into the regular season. Staal, a brilliant, defensive, shutdown-type center and penalty killer is slated to fill Ryan Malone's role as left wing on Malkin's line, as well as Malone's spot on the number one power play unit in front of the net.

     It will be interesting to see in the early games of the season how coach Michel Therrien configures his forward lines and defense pairings. Here's hoping he'll keep the lines together longer than a New York minute in order to develop continuity and chemistry.

     Clearly this Penguins team that takes the ice on October 4 is not as imposing as the one that left the ice that fateful night back in June. But the team is set up to be more than competative and is seen by many to again represent the Eastern Conference in the final. I'm not sure I agree with that as the team is currently constructed. But the team is certainly in position to make another big deal at the trade deadline to push them over the top. (Is it too early to start the Marian Gaborik rumors?)

     Well, that being said, how can you end a season preview column without a prediction? The Pittsburgh Penguins will once again finish second in the east and advance at least two rounds in the playoffs. We'll see how right I am in April or May. And if I'm way off (as I usually am) I'll deny I ever wrote this.