Penguins Wrap: All-Region Team; Honest Look at Sid Situation; Issues & Storylines

What many thought would be an important, or at least eventful, date came and went over the past week. Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby turned 37. There was a lot of buzz that he would sign a contract extension on his birthday, but it did not happen. That gave rise to a chance to put some hard analysis to the situation.

It was also a good week to have a little fun with a few topics and take a look at the Penguins through a few different lenses, including analytics. We also heard from a new Penguins player who seems to have the youth, speed and energy the team and its followers have been craving.

Here is a recap of the news and views from the past week, as chronicled by PHN. Click the links to catch up.

Saturday: Pittsburgh and its surrounding region has grown into a place that is capable of producing NHL talent. You know, John Gibson and Vincent Trocheck and Logan Cooley and others. So, in one of those fun stories that offers good reading during a slow part of the offseason, PHN assembled an all-region team.

Sunday: The Penguins, at the very least, hope to get back to the playoffs after two seasons without advancing. Whether they are good enough for that, or how competitive they will be after the team’s offseason moves, are questions that lend themselves to a lot of debate. A PHN blog puts forth three things that must go right for the club to have a level of success.

Monday: Sunday’s story looked at three things that need to go right for the Penguins. As a sort of tag-team to that, PHN, in an analysis piece, looked at — you guessed it — the power play as being among the team’s biggest three issues.

Tuesday: Gearing up for 8/7, otherwise known as a certain superstar captain’s birthday, and possible news that might come with it, PHN offered up a thought-provoking, perhaps even gut-wrenching, look at the situation on the eve of the that day. An honest examination of what might happen with Sidney Crosby.

Wednesday: The need for speed is real. That’s just one of the things PHN found when it did a deep dive on the 2023-24 Penguins team. Based on an examination of analytics, here are five things that helped define the club backed by real numbers and comparisons.

Thursday: The Penguins have some salary cap space to work with. So what will they do with it? In a blog, PHN puts forth some scenarios to consider, taking a stab at what president of hockey operations/general manager Kyle Dubas might do.

How does a player who can bring his Penguins teammates kicking and screaming into games on nights when they just don’t seem to be at the top of their game sound? Someone who brings the youth and speed and energy that everyone around the Penguins seems to crave? Read this account of the first conversation between Pittsburgh reporters and forward Blake Lizotte.

Once intriguing goaltending prospect Serge Murashov signed an entry-level contract with the Penguins, it became clear that the Russian would play in North America this season for the first time. Now we know what the Penguins have in mind in terms of their plans for the promising netminder.

Continuing the theme of three talking points surrounding the Penguins for this season, PHN took a look at the tough task of finding room for prospects in the lineup and a couple other perplexing storylines.