Key acquisitions Ron Hainsey and Mark Streit more than make up for the loss of Ben Lovejoy. Among the forwards, Jake Guentzel and Conor Sheary have emerged to more than compensate for the loss of Eric Fehr. As assembled, this would be a stronger Pittsburgh Penguins team than last year.
What Could Have Been
Then came the downpour of injuries. If not for all the games missed by key players this season, the champs would easily be the team to beat. A healthy Pens team may have won the top spot in the East, instead of posting up second in the vaunted Metro division.