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John Marino’s ‘sophomore slump’: Fact and fiction

John Marino is probably one of the more important members of the 2020-21 Pittsburgh Penguins.

Based on the way he played a year ago as a rookie, when he came out of nowhere to become one of the team’s most reliable and impactful defenders, he should be considered one of the best young players in the organization. The Penguins do not really have a lot of young impact players to build around long-term, but you would hope that Marino would be one of them.

He is also one of the many defenders on the roster signed to a long-term contract that carries a sizable salary cap hit for the next several years.