A big part of having success in todays NHL relies on center depth down the middle. There’s a reason that two Penguins teams that were running Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Nick Bonino, and Matt Cullen won the Stanley Cup two years in a row.
Jim Rutherford was tasked with work to do for the 2017-18 season, needing to replace Bonino and Cullen, who departed via free agency to Nashville and Minnesota, respectively.
It took him some time to figure it out, as the Penguins started with the season with Greg McKegg taking regular shifts for the Penguins.