NHL Predictions 2011: Penguins Are Stanley Cup Contenders Without Sidney Crosby

Sidney Crosby's concussions are no joke. Neither are the Pittsburgh Penguins' chances of lifting the Stanley Cup at the end of the 2011-12 NHL season, with or without their central star, who's arguably the best player in hockey today.

Don't get me wrong, the Pens will miss Sid the Kid for however long he's absent from the ice. No team can easily withstand losing a player of his caliber and importance.

That being said, if there's any team that can, it's Pittsburgh. This team didn't exactly fall flat on its face and out of the postseason picture after Crosby went down with his head injuries. Nor did the Pens pack it in when Evgeni Malkin tore up his right knee in February.

Rather, they finished up the season with 106 points, the second-most in franchise history, and lost the Atlantic Division in a tiebreaker to the Philadelphia Flyers on the last day of the season.

Granted, regular season success was anything but a guarantor of Cup glory with the team's two stars sidelined for the foreseeable future. Even so, the players who were healthy enough to stay on their skates, among them Tyler Kennedy, Jordan Staal and goalkeeper Marc-Andre Fleury, stepped up their collective game and demonstrated some serious grit in the process. The Pens even sped out to a 3-1 lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the playoffs.

But, in the end, it wasn't meant to be, not without the scary scoring tandem of Crosby and Malkin on the ice. Pittsburgh dropped the last three games of that series, thereby entering the offseason with nothing but shrugged shoulders and "what ifs".

Now that Malkin is back, the Pens will have what it takes to once again contend with the Flyers and the new-and-improved New York Rangers in the division. In related news, Crosby is already back on the ice and skating hard, which bodes well for his return to action sooner than later. Of course, the Pens won't let him cheer from the bench, much less play in a real game, until they are certain that he's 100 percent healed and in the clear.

That may yet take a while, but until Crosby returns, Pittsburgh can lean on Malkin, Staal and a bevy of young goalscorers, including Kris Letang, James Neal and Tyler Kennedy, to not just keep the team afloat, but help it flourish in the loaded Eastern Conference.

So fear not, Pens fans. Sid the Kid will be back, but you needn't avert your eyes until he does. If anything, Crosby's absence will allow his co-stars to absorb the warming glow of the spotlight until he gets back, thereby improving the overall depth of a team that has what it takes to hoist Lord Stanley's Cup once again.