The last couple seasons have been pretty frustrating for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Since they last made the playoffs in 2022 (losing in seven games in the first round against their opponents for tonight’s season opener, the New York Rangers), Pittsburgh has gotten full 82 game seasons out of both of their franchise cornerstone centers, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Both players have struggled with injuries and health problems in their nevertheless illustrious careers, so for both players to play every game in the season for not just one year but two in a row is an extraordinary event. However, the Penguins have ironically failed to make the playoffs for the same span of time, and by very narrow margins (three points last season, just one the year before). I am loathe to call this a waste of fortune, with both these legends also still being pretty productive in the end stages of their careers, but to date the issue for Pittsburgh has never been the production of Messrs. Crosby and Malkin; it has been about everyone else.

To that point, one of the less obvious but potentially more critical changes general manager Kyle Dubas made this offseason could be the hiring of David Quinn to replace Todd Reirden as one of the assistant coaches. Reirden’s performance as coach of the defensemen as well as the power play had gotten progressively worse, particularly where it concerns the power play which ended up third-worst in the NHL last season, but not to be dismissed is how bad the defensive effort was as well. The Penguins ranked in the bottom third in the League in the metrics of Corsi-against (all shots), Fenwick-against (all unblocked shots), shots-on-goal against, and expected goals against, at even strength and per 60 minutes. Two seasons ago, they were in the top third for those metrics, so it was pretty evident that it was time for a change. Quinn being defenseman Erik Karlsson’s former head coach with the San Jose Sharks could hopefully also lead to a better performance out of Karlsson, who missed the preseason with some unsaid injury but sounds on track to play tonight.

There were also a few revelations during the preseason, especially where it concerns the third line. The EMP Line of Lars Eller, Rutger McGroarty, and Jesse Puljujarvi played very well together and were often on the positive side of the metrics. One of the things Pittsburgh has been missing has been a productive third line, and it seems like they might have something in that trio. Also making a name for himself in the preseason was 18.5-year-old Harrison Brunicke (note to self: that’s “BREW nick”, not “BREW nicky”).

The South African/Canadian right-handed defenseman which was drafted 44th overall this past summer took Erik Karlsson’s spot for most of the preseason and did not disappoint. In fact, he got head coach Mike Sullivan singing his praises which…if you know anything about Sullivan it takes a lot for him to effusively praise a young guy, but he has done so. With Karlsson being healthy however, Brunicke may not find himself sticking with the Penguins even for the nine-game trial permitted to rookies before their entry-level contract goes into effect. Nevertheless, there are some positive signs that the organizational depth is improving.

I mentioned how close the Penguins have been to making the playoffs for the last couple of seasons. When you are a fringe playoff team like Pittsburgh is, it can often lead some people to take stock in the fallacy that every game is (or isn’t) important. I think what’s more important is how you play games, and that quality is what has been missing from the Penguins for the last few seasons. Whether it has been blowing leads, giving back quick goals, not converting on the power play, not playing for a full 60 minutes every night, etc., Pittsburgh has struggled of late to play quality hockey consistently. I think correcting this inconsistency will go a long way towards putting the Penguins back in the playoffs.

It might be a positive thing to start the season against a division rival, to get an idea of how Pittsburgh will play this season, but few teams are as formidable right now as the New York Rangers. More often than not, teams that make the Conference Finals one year go in one of two directions: either they were like Icarus, flying too close to the sun, then having their wings melt off and crash back to Earth (see: the 2017 Ottawa Senators); or they merely get the taste of greatness and come back looking more confident and hungrier than before. I believe the latter will be the case for the Rangers this season, especially if they get the same (or better) results from their goaltending tandem of Igor Shesterkin and Johnathan Quick.

However, the key thing for the Blueshirts to push further is squeezing a little more offense out of their top six. The only Rangers forward to play at a point-per-game rate last season was Artemi Panarin, who somehow will already be turning 33 at the end of this month. Mika Zibanejad in particular took a step back points-wise last season, but he, Chris Kreider and Vincent Trocheck were all on the cusp of point-per-game production. If they, and particularly Alexis Lafreniere, can get closer to or over that point-per-game mark this season, the Rangers will be a serious challenger for the Stanley Cup in June.