Pittsburgh Penguins: The Team of the Future

Ever since the days of Mario Lemieux in the mid-1980s, the Pittsburgh Penguins have been blessed with extraordinary talent.

"Le Magnifique" has rewritten the Penguins record books, and he was aided along the way with such offensive talents as Kevin Stevens, Ron Francis, Bryan Trottier, Mark Recchi, Joe Mullen, and of course, Jaromir Jagr.

As Lemieux’s career wound down, so did the Penguin victories.

By continually obtaining top NHL draft picks due to their ineptitude, top tier talent followed. 

Sidney Crosby, the crown jewel and the new face of the NHL, fell into the Penguins' lap thanks to a fortuitous bounce of a ping-pong ball. With a Ryan Whitney here and a Marc-Andre Fleury there, the team even became stronger.

Now, due to a high ankle sprain to Crosby, Evgeni Malkin has emerged as a strong contender for the Art Ross Trophy as the league's leading scorer. At the time of his draft, Malkin was being touted as becoming an even better player than his fellow countryman, Alexander Ovechkin. 

The hottest topic in the Pittsburgh area is if Malkin is a better all-around player than Crosby. That observation is not out of the realm of possibility.

Jordan Staal, although not as an accomplished goal scorer as his older brother, Eric, will be a force to be reckoned with his thanks to his size and defensive skills. 

With the keen drafting of top line prospects year after year, many of the preseason publications predicted Stanley Cup aspirations for this team of twenty-somethings.

With the youngest captain in league history in Crosby, matched with the next Russian Rocket, long playoff runs will become a staple of these flightless birds.

Any other team...doesn't have a prayer.