2012 Projections: Pittsburgh

How far do the Penguins fly without their number one guy ready to go, as of right now?  Without the Art Ross talents of Evgeni Malkin hanging around these days, the loss of Sidney Crosby to the Penguins does almost put the hopes of some regular season and post-season success on his shoulders and his melon.  It's a scary thought, but it's somewhat true.

The Penguins have been awfully quiet this Summer, only making small changes to their line-up, obviously happy with the output that they received from their group in 2011.  With minor changes in place and injury concerns abound, the Penguins look to be heading for the same kind of winning output that they had after the Winter Classic last season, which was questionable at best, but still good enough to drop them into the playoffs.

Besides a couple of the team's star players, the Penguins are not that deep in scoring, as maybe they should be, which could be their biggest concern and a poolie's biggest concern as well.  Until Crosby makes his return or Malkin reappears as an Art Ross candidate, the Penguins will have to slug out some games, which could be rough on the fan base.

Forwards		Defense		Goalies
Evgeni Malkin	75	Kris Letang	55	Marc-Andre Fleury	70
Jordan Staal	65	Paul Martin	30	Brent Johnson	25
James Neal	60	Zbynek Michalek	20
Chris Kunitz	55	Ben Lovejoy	20
Sidney Crosby	50	Matt Niskanen	15
Tyler Kennedy	50	Brooks Orpik	10
Steve Sullivan	45
Pascal Dupuis	40
Mark Letestu	35
Matt Cooke	25
Craig Adams	15
Arron Asham	10
Eric Tangradi	35	Simon Despres	25
Jason Williams	25	Deryk Engelland	10
Dustin Jeffrey	10	Alexandre Picard	10

Pool Worthy Forwards (Inside the top 160, 40 points)
The Penguins have plenty of firepower left in their tanks, even with the questionable return of Sidney Crosby to their line-up.  The word is that Evgeni Malkin's knee injury is healed and he should be ready to go for training camp, which is great news for the club.  Malkin will be leaned upon, if Crosby cannot go right away and we all know Malkin has been put to this task before and has passed with flying colours, so he could be a great pick this year.

Jordan Staal's start to the 2011 season was also hindered by injury, which shortened his overall numbers last season.  A healthy Staal could mean good things for himself, as he could finally start picking up the points as a second line centre, instead of the lesser third line role.

The signing of Steve Sullivan as an unrestricted free agent during the Summer was a move to help ease the possible burden of a late start from Crosby, as Sullivan is a solid playmaker, who should see some top six minutes with some talented forwards.  I think Sullivan could turn out to be a good pick this year, possibly ending up better than originally projected.

Pool Worthy Defensemen (Inside the top 80, 25 points)
Scoring from the blueline obviously wasn't a concern for the Penguins when they dealt Alex Goligoski to the Stars last season, so when the Penguins are only holding two pool worthy defenders on their roster listing, I get the feeling it's all part of their plan.

Thankfully, the Penguins have two good scoring defensemen in Kris Letang and Paul Martin, both are capable of keeping the team's offense a-float and with this offense, with or without Crosby.  Look for some pretty good power play minutes for each of them, Letang should be an ace again this year, so I would have him on a priority list.

Pool Worthy Goalies (Inside the top 40, 25 points)
I would say the Penguins had the right idea when they tempered Marc-Andre Fleury's minutes in the 2011 season, if everything went according to plan, Fleury would have been in great shape for a good playoff run after a 36-win season.  With the question surrounding some star player injuries abound, it has to be fair to project some lower win totals, although it might not be by too much.  Not everyone in that line-up is hurt after all.

Brent Johnson had a pretty good year in 2011, taking the assigned minutes from the coaching staff and turning them into wins.  He finished in the top 25 among goalies and there's no reason why he shouldn't again.

Pool Worthy Rookies
A big hole in the forward lines means that there is going to be a job for someone open in camp, in theory.  The Penguins have been sitting on Eric Tangradi for a couple of seasons now, but the kid has not been able to stick with the club for various reasons.  He'll have to overcome some more depth this year to get some top six minutes, but if he does, he should be a good late round pick this year.

Young defenseman Simon Despres, if the Penguins should need a little extra offense from the back end, would be a likely candidate to get his hands dirty in the NHL.  Despres is said to be a good puck moving defender, which is all the Penguins would need to start some offense.


Unsigned Players
None.


Key Injuries
Well, if you didn't know that the Penguins are still dealing with concussion concerns with Sidney Crosby, you must be living underneath one comfortable rock.  Yes, the Penguins are proceeding quite cautiously with one of the league's best players and for good reason.  The headaches return when he nears full exertion levels, but he has been close.  I don't think I would be chasing him down in the first round, although I know lots of people will take that gamble, but I would rather wait to hear he is "100%" before taking him, even if that means giving him up to someone else.