As October creeps closer, another NHL season creeps with it.
In the 31st and final edition of a series of team-by-team summer reviews and season previews, here's a glimpse at the best of the best, the ...
Pittsburgh Penguins
Coming off their second Stanley Cup title and third Stanley Cup Final appearance in nine years, the Penguins entered 2016-17 with lofty expectations alongside the defending Presidents' Trophy-winning Washington Capitals. Year 2 of the Mike Sullivan era got off to a good start, too, with the Pens sitting at 25-8-5 through December. By season's end, injuries had taken their toll, downing everyone from Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin to Conor Sheary and Trevor Daley for varying lengths of time, but a deep, fast and experienced offense, with six 40-point scorers and an NHL-leading 44 goals from Hart Trophy finalist Sidney Crosby, helped the Pens outscore the rest of the league on the way to a 111-point finish (50-21-11) and return to the playoffs. There, Pittsburgh all but swept the Columbus Blue Jackets before grinding past a pair of seven-game series and outdoing the underdog story of the year in the Nashville Predators, taking home a second straight championship.
A busy offseason saw the Pens say goodbye to more than a few notable faces, but the team spent as much time trying to fill the holes those departures created as it did talking up focus on a potential three-peat or, as Penguins president David Morehouse put it, the hunt for "a couple more Cups." And winning a historic third title is exactly what Pittsburgh has its sights set on doing in 2017-18.
The moves
Key additions: D Matt Hunwick (Maple Leafs), F Ryan Reaves (trade with Blues), G Antti Niemi (Stars)
Key losses: G Marc-Andre Fleury (Golden Knights), F Nick Bonino (Predators), D Trevor Daley (Red Wings), F Chris Kunitz (Lightning), D Ron Hainsey (Maple Leafs), F Matt Cullen (Wild), D Mark Streit (Canadiens)
It's important not to overstate the loss of certain players merely because their names are more recognizable because of a team's title run, but there's still no doubting that Pittsburgh surrendered a good deal of depth over the summer. Fleury was bound to head elsewhere even before Matt Murray usurped him as the No. 1 goalie, but his abrupt transition to face of the Vegas franchise isn't any less odd, nor temporarily unfortunate for a city that adored him even after his demotion. Even more prominent was the loss of Bonino, who fled for bigger bucks and a bigger role in Nashville and opened up the team's third-line center role. Individually, it's tough to fret too much over Daley, Kunitz, Hainsey and Cullen parting ways, but as a group, they took with them everything from sentimental value to a deep bench presence with knowledge of the system.
Hunwick's numbers aren't overly impressive, but he should fit right in as a post-Hainsey, post-Streit regular to pair with Olli Maatta among the top six D-men. And while Reaves will certainly bring some fight to the Pittsburgh lineup, the Pens curiously overpaid for his services, somehow finding reason to include a first-round pick in a package swap for the 30-year-old enforcer. Niemi, meanwhile, has nowhere near the type of resume that Fleury built, but on a low-risk deal, he could stand to benefit from Pittsburgh's talented roster.
The verdict
Maybe it's a tired prediction to call the Penguins favorites to capture the Cup, but Pittsburgh has done nothing but stomp all over its critics as a modern-day dynasty. There were plenty of valid reasons to nitpick the defending champs when they entered the 2016-17 postseason as a banged-up unit with stars in Crosby and Malkin that weren't getting any younger. But Sullivan's bunch proceeded to embarrass the Blue Jackets before going the distance with both the Capitals and Ottawa Senators, then adapting to conquer Pekka Rinne and the Preds for another title and another showcase of Crosby's NHL dominance. Injuries couldn't stop them, and neither could peak performances from a Presidents' Trophy-winning powerhouse, an overachieving defensive force in the Sens and the energetic underdog that was Nashville.
Now, entering 2017-18, Sullivan's third season behind the bench, there are questions. Pittsburgh lost a lot of depth in recent months. General manager Jim Rutherford didn't rush to fill the vacancy left by Bonino's move to the Predators, and even if an anticipated trade for Detroit Red Wings reserve Riley Sheahan materializes, the team could rely on up-and-comers in house. Defensively, it remains to be seen how Murray, a big reason for the Pens' Cup run after Fleury kicked off the postseason in the net, will respond to handling a full season's worth of starts, not to mention how Letang will do in his full return to the ice. And the departure of assistant coach Rick Tocchet for Arizona could spell more concern than most realize, what with the new Coyotes coach having served as an important mentor for Pens winger Phil Kessel since 2015.
As a whole, however, there isn't a franchise better stocked from top to bottom for another serious shot at the Cup. The Edmonton Oilers could very well challenge the Pens when it comes to speed, and the Metropolitan Division does not lack potential playoff contenders. But you've got everything you need in Pittsburgh: Premier goal scorers at the forefront of an elite offense (Crosby, Malkin), a young but tested No. 1 goalie (Murray), shooting D-men (Letang, Justin Schultz), stars in the making (Jake Guentzel) and a collective postseason experience that bests that of any team in the league. At the very least, this team should not be underestimated coming into a new season, and their core makes them a safe bet to go deep in the playoffs.
