Defenseman Justin Schultz’s on-ice performance sunk without d-zone help this season

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY SportsWith the offseason coming a little earlier than expected, it’s time for us to take a more in-depth look at the Penguins with an individual lens to figure out what shined and what needs to be improved before October rolls around.

Justin Schultz’s interesting outing came first. Despite the fact that Schultz had one of the better playoff performances for the Penguins, the 29-year-old dealt with a myriad of ebbs and flows this season.

It was capped off by him getting his tibia snapped in the Penguins’ fourth game of the year vs. Montreal, and subsequently, forced him to miss 50-plus games. All the statistics and analysis mentioned from here on out are going to be…