Entering the year, the vast majority of hockey pundits—as well as fans—expected little success from the Pittsburgh Penguins. They had missed the playoffs in three-consecutive seasons, hired a first-time head coach in Dan Muse, and were in a very competitive division based on last season. The media pushed for Sidney Crosby to be traded time and again, as had become tradition since the Penguins’ recent failures began. However, 87 insisted that he would not be leaving. 

General manager Kyle Dubas made a series of moves in the offseason that, at first glance, seemed insignificant. He signed forwards Anthony Mantha and Justin Brazeau, two hulking wingers. He traded for young Canucks’ goaltender Artūrs Šilovs to serve in a goalie rotation with the established Tristan Jarry, as the Penguins had parted ways with Alex Nedeljkovic at the last trade deadline. He also drafted 18 year-old Ben Kindel, who would make the team right out of camp and slot into an NHL roster without a need for an adjustment period. 

These additions proved to be quite substantial. Anthony Mantha is the team’s third-leading scorer, having accumulated 40 points (19 goals) in 53 games. Justin Brazeau missed 14 games, but has 25 points in just 39 contests. Ben Kindel’s rookie campaign sees the youngster as a half point-per-game player, with 25 points in 50 games. Artūrs Šilovs has started 24 games in net, winning 10 and gaining points in 18 while maintaining a goals against average slightly below 3.00 and a save percentage a drop below .900. 

Then, there are his transactions during the season. He acquired Egor Chinakhov from Columbus, who has six goals and eight points in only 15 games as a Penguin. He traded Tristan Jarry to Edmonton for Stuart Skinner (8-4-0 in 12 starts with a 2.53 GAA) and Brett Kulak (6 points in 22 games as a Penguin with a +4 rating). 

These moves go hand-in-hand with Dan Muse’s stellar coaching, which includes putting together one of the best fourth lines in the NHL (Connor Dewar, Blake Lizotte, and Noel Acciari are a combined +28 with 55 total points), working with Erik Karlsson to make him significantly less prone to mistakes (he is +3 on the season), while navigating injuries to key players (Evgeni Malkin missed 15 games, Rickard Rakell missed 20, and Bryan Rust will be missing his seventh tonight, albeit three of those are the result of suspension). 

As a result, the Penguins are 13-2-2 since the holiday break, catapulting them into second place in the Metropolitan division, six points ahead of the first team out of the playoffs with a game in hand. They have three games in the next four days before the three-week Olympic break. 

What is the ceiling for this team? I honestly am not sure, considering so little was expected of them leading into October. Is it worth mortgaging a substantial portion of the organization’s future for one last run with Crosby, Malkin, Letang, and crew? With the level at which the first two are playing, I would hesitate to say no—my only concern is that goaltending will, once again, be this team’s downfall, as has been the case since Matt Murray’s Linsanity run in 2016 and 2017.