3 Reasons to Look Forward to This Penguins Season

The arduous task and tone of analyzing a team that is not a Stanley Cup favorite but desires to be so can begin to lean to the negative. The Pittsburgh Penguins are in transition mode, still giving the past a chance to reclaim its glory while furiously looking for the next chapters, and the team’s two-year slide can give ample kindling for critical assessments.

But not all is lost, and the Penguins are far from being a disaster. Even as the Sidney Crosby contract situation is bordering on becoming an awkward saga, the 2024-25 team has some interesting bright spots that should make for an interesting campaign.

Unlike 12 months ago, the Penguins are coming off an exciting finish to their season. It was unsuccessful, but there was an extraordinary difference in the locker room following the season. While winger Bryan Rust said the late charge made the ending more disappointing than 2022-23, when the Penguins punted away numerous opportunities to grab a playoff spot, we think the overwhelming positive momentum will carry over–just as the negative energy seemed to carry over into the beginning of last season.

And the Crosby story should be interesting, but that may or may not end as a bright spot. However, Crosby is our No. 1 reason to look forward to the NHL season.

Fair warning: fluffy, happy story incoming.

Penguins Bright Spots

1. Sidney Crosby

The Penguins’ on-ice leader and bedrock franchise player is just eight goals short of 600, but a milestone is merely a bit part of why Crosby is a reason to look forward to the season. Whether it is his last season with the Penguins or not, the chance to witness a 37-year-old player with the skills and competitive fire who can change hockey games as he does is still worth the price of admission.

Rumor had it that Crosby was a little confused or a bit unhappy with the local media contingent’s decision to nominate him for the Masterton Trophy last season. PHN selected him, as did others, because he was setting near-historical marks for players 36 and older while keeping pace with current league leaders. He felt there were others more deserving and didn’t feel like his age should factor into our thinking.

The guy is a gem.

Maybe, just maybe, this is our last season to witness an all-time great doing all-time great things. Maybe Crosby can drag his team forward one more time and make a little noise in the postseason. If nothing else, we’ll see a player who genuinely loves the game playing great hockey.

Watching Crosby is reason enough to look forward to any hockey season.

2. Rutger McGroarty

Quick, think of the last time the Penguins had an exciting rookie.

Pittsburgh finally has a rookie worth watching for the first time since Jake Guentzel in 2016-2017. McGroarty is a 6-foot-1, 205-pound playmaking winger who can play a stiff game near the net, too.

There will be ups and downs. Even Guentzel was a healthy scratch in the 2017 playoffs after resting on his laurels just a bit following a playoff hat trick.

We don’t think we’ll see much of McGroarty paired with Crosby, at least in the first half of the season, but we do think he’ll bring energy and excitement to the locker room and on the ice, which is a couple of things the Penguins sorely lacked last season.

The contrast between him and Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang, who are in the final phases of their illustrious careers, will be an interesting storyline, as much as it will be an interesting real-life dynamic.

3. The Surprise

There are a handful of players who could become “the surprise.” They might emerge in training camp or during the regular season, but Penguins president of hockey operations/GM Kyle Dubas has intentionally acquired more talent capable of playing in the NHL than he has spots.

Will it be Drew O’Connor to break free from his fourth-line beginnings and become a bonafide power forward capable of scoring 25 goals?

Will Cody Glass realize the promise that the Vegas Golden Knights saw in him when they made him the sixth overall pick in 2017, or at least the promise the Nashville Predators saw when he posted 44 points in the season before last?

Will one of the draft picks, Tanner Howe or Harrison Brunicke, make a furious training camp charge and force coaches to keep them around for nine games or more?

Has Jesse Puljujarvi had enough with press box nachos and doubt to use all of his physical tools to angrily claim a lineup spot?

PHN has a sneaking suspicion that O’Connor will be the one who comes through. We also think goalie Tristan Jarry will serve a large plate of “told you so” to the amplified critics by posting a stellar first half of the season. After that, the NHL trade chatter or the second half will come calling, and we think Jarry has a chance to be strong in the second half, too.

Given Alex Nedeljkovic’s strong performance, especially in the closing weeks last season, coach Mike Sullivan won’t hesitate to use him–and that’s the reason we think Jarry shines. And if Jarry doesn’t shine, the least surprising result will be Nedeljkovic again taking the pipes.