Penguins run it back maybe one last time the Big Three after a surprise 2nd-place finish

Pittsburgh Penguins

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Last season: 41-25-16, lost to Philadelphia in opening round of the playoffs.

COACH: Dan Muse (41-25-16, one season).

SEASON OPENER: Sept. 30 at Philadelphia.

DEPARTURES: F Anthony Mantha, D Ryan Shea, D Parker Wotherspoon, F Noel Acciari, F Kevin Hayes, G Stuart Skinner.

ADDITIONS: F Hendrix Lapierre, F Andrei Kuzmenko, F Nick Robertson, D Trevor van Riemsdyk.

GOALIES: Arturs Silovs (19-12-8, 3.07 goals-against average, .887 save percentage), Sergei Murashov (1-1-, 2.56, .897).

What to expect

The Penguins largely stood pat after a somewhat surprising run to a second-place finish in the Metropolitan Division behind Stanley Cup-winning Carolina. General manager Kyle Dubas had money to spend in free agency but instead opted to run it back behind the longtime core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang. Malkin signed a one-year deal to remain in Pittsburgh, and the hope is there’s enough magic left to help put the Penguins in position to win a playoff series for the first time in nearly a decade.

Strengths and weaknesses

The good: Crosby remains seemingly ageless. The now 39-year-old center averaged a point a game for the 21st straight season last year and while Sid is no longer a kid, he is an elite playmaker whose legs still seem to have plenty of life left in them. Defenseman Erik Karlsson is coming off an impressive bounce-back season (15 goals, 51 assists) and his expertise quarterbacking the power play is a big reason why only two teams — Carolina and Colorado — scored more goals than Pittsburgh last year.

The not-so-good: The Penguins were inept in overtime, with16 overtime/shootout losses that were third-highest in the NHL. The Penguins also find themselves in what Karlsson described as a “weird” stage of their rebuild, with a roster dotted with players in their late 30s (or in Malkin’s case, early 40s) and a handful of youngsters like 19-year-old Ben Kindel. Pittsburgh is one of the league’s oldest teams. Any significant dropoff by one of their high-priced stars could put them in a tight spot as they try to prove last year’s success was not a last stand for Crosby and company.

Players to watch

Egor Chinakhov was a revelation after arriving in a December trade with Columbus. The 25-year-old seemed to mesh flawlessly with fellow Russian Malkin, and the three-year contract he signed over the summer is a vote of confidence that he is a vital part of the team’s future. Murashov, just 23, will be given every chance to earn the starting job after a sterling performance in the AHL last season, where he went 24-9-3 with a 2.20 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage. He was even better in the playoffs, a needed development for a club that’s been looking for a franchise goaltender — two-time All-Star Tristan Jarry’s inconsisent run in Pittsburgh doesn’t count — since Matt Murray and Marc-Andre Fleury helped backstop the Penguins to consecutive Cups in 2016 and 2017.

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