I am not big on New Year’s resolution or many other superstitious habits, but I will provide a list of things the Pens would like to do better in 2022.
Improve the Power Play
As impressive as the Pens season has been so far, the power play has been abysmal. They have gone long stretches without goals, and a few stretches where they have looked flat. A lot of that can be credited to the revolving lineup, but that excuse tends to wear thin with how well they have played in the other facets. With the extended layoff, and extra practice time, we hope to see some improvements in the coming weeks.
Salary Cap Cleanup
The Pens have a ton of work to do in the coming offseason, and the sooner they start, the better. Obviously, getting the Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin contracts will likely be the priority. It would be prudent to lock Evan Rodrigues before he hits the open market. Determining Kasperi Kapanen’s value in both the short term and long term will prove difficult. They could get some relief, if they can move either Jason Zucker or Mike Matheson.
Playoff Success
Despite all the preseason hot takes every year, the Pens make the playoffs every year. So most of us fans don’t start measuring the team’s success until the second season starts. And since 2018, that has not met our expectations. Listen, no one thinks it’s easy to win the Stanley Cup, but recent success had us clamoring for a few more trophies in the case. With the current makeup of the Pens, they are certainly built to make some noise in the playoffs. This might be the deepest forward group the team has ever had. The defense doesn’t have a glaring weakness. Tristan Jarry has inserted himself into the Vezina conversation. So the fanbase has a right to be optimistic, but we won’t give our final grade until April…or June.