The beginning of the 2014-15 season brought a raft of expectations for Sidney Crosby. He’d start the season with Phil Kessel on his right wing, former coach Mike Johnston said at the Penguins alumni charity golf outing. Things could change, but that was how everyone expected things to shake out.
Whoops.
Crosby and Kessel never became a thing. Neither did Crosby contributing offensively during the first 40 percent of the season. The Penguins captain and top-line center flatlined to the tune of six goals and 22 points in 32 games — a 15-goal, 56-point season extrapolated over 82 games, or essentially the Minnesota Wild’s Mikko Koivu.