One question about every Penguins player going into this year...and in some (edit: most) cases more than one Q....lol
EDIT: it got long so forwards first.
===Forwards===
Sidney Crosby--Can the Captain rebound from a serious injury and lead the team by example and set the tone on and off the ice? Can he be a Selke-level, two-way force on the ice?
Evgeni Malkin--Will Geno be fire again, or regress to a disappointing 2018-19 form? Can he mesh with Zucker on his left, as early indications are 59-87 will start together?
Jake Guentzel--Will his crash into the end boards effect his 40-goal scoring abilities? Does he play with Sid or Geno? Does he finally get some power play time?
Jason Zucker--What will we get from Jason Zucker in his first full season in Pittsburgh? How does he factor in in all areas? Can he hit 30 Goals playing with the best centres he's ever played with?
Kasperi Kapanen--Is he actually a top-6 winger, or will he turn out to be just a good 3rd liner? Will he mesh with Crosby? (not everyone does you know) How can he help the special teams?
Bryan Rust--Do we get the 2019-20, Point-per-game, top-6 winger for Geno, Power Play force, Sniper Bryan Rust??? Or do we get the hot-and-cold, oft-injured, EXTREMELY STREAKY Bryan Rust? Has he turned a page in his career and reached new offensive levels?
Jared McCann-Is "Jare-bear" a C or a LW? Can he turn into the speedy, sniping winger the Pens hope? or will he regress to just an OK player all round. Is he the "on-pace-for-20 goals winger"? or the don't score for the last 25ish games slumping player???
Mark Jankowski--Best Case is he rebounds and puts up 30ish pts, is a good two-way player, wins over 50% FO, and is the best #3C we've had since Bonino. Worst Case--he is a black hole...can't win a FO, can't score, etc...so what else is new? the pens don't have a good #3C... does that count as a question??
Evan Rodrigues--is the only reason he's in The NHL because he was a college teammate of jack Eichel's?? like talk about the definition of a 4A player right now... I sincerely hope he can turn it around but there's just not much track record of hope to go off of...
Brandon Tanev--Can he keep up his "turbo" setting for a whole season?? he cooled off in a big way offensively and the buzzsaw lost a bit of it's sharpness...also can he please hit Tom Wilson into the front row??? like what Pens fan doesn't want to see the WSH-PIT rivalry come back a little? or one of the several Philly players who have the most punchable faces ever???
Teddy Blueger--Why is my instinct always to type "Bleuger"??? (JK, that's not the Q) Can he take another step forward? will he be a career #4C, or can he make a bit of name for himself? Sleeper--could he be the Pens best #3C option?
Zach Aston-Reese--One of the best defensive forwards in The NHL according to advanced stats. I hope he can keep it up, BUT can he stay healthy and can he add a little more offense so the thought of benching him doesn't cross sully's mind?
Colton Sceviour--Can he bring some grit and PK expertise but also contribute on the scoresheet? And what will the 1st Conversation with ZAR be like? CS-"hey man how's the hand?" ZAR-"good, how's the face?" like come on people??? don't forget Kapanen and McCann had the lightweight battle as well... come on PensTV get a hidden cam there!!!
Sam Lafferty--Is he more than a extra forward? He showed flashes with a couple nice goals and of Course has the speed and tenacity to theoretically fit in the bottom-6 but can he put it all together in driving possession and scoring some more goals?
Samuel Poulin--Is there any chance he can make the team out of camp? It's either NHL or QMJHL for him. There are alot of forwards ahead of him on the depth chart but I'd love to see him blow the doors off UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex and make a statement. Why is this kid constantly mentioned and referred to as a RW? He plays LW, people. Can he play RW? I have no idea, but he doesn't right now. (Note: the QMJHL has suspended play as of now. He needs to play.) I'd love for him to make the team but his chances aren't high if he's rusty (no QMJHL) and is asked to play his off wing in a high pressure situation at 19. Keep expectations low..for now...
Nathan Legare--(no I'm not pencilling him into the lineup for this year. don't be ridiculous.) Can he rebound from a down year on a bad team in the Q? Rebounding to 40 goals would be a nice way to graduate from the QMJHL. Also, can he get faster? He has a good shot, but isn't fast.
Drew O'Connor--First, and most importantly, does GMJR care enough about this player to know his name? I have actually heard O'Connor referred to 3 TIMES as O'Sullivan. Guess GMJR needs to brush up on his Irish ancestral names. But seriously, this guy really intrigues me as a power forward who performed quite well in college. The Pens have had some great successes with college players (side note: a surprising number of the pens current players played in college) so they have the track record for success. He's a big guy who can score and I want to see him in camp.
Anthony Angello--How nice would it be if he could make it? Who doesn't like big guys on their team? I don't think he's anything more than a good AHLer who can come up WHEN NOT IF the pens have like 5 injured forwards at this point. He wasn't awful last year but he didn't exactly stand out in a good way. Mediocre at best.
Frederick Gaudreau--I knew this name sounded familiar but I didn't know why...turns out he scored the GWGs for NSH in the 2017 SC Final Games 3/4!!! So he did score a couple clutch goals on a big stage once upon a time. but that was his only year he had any success in the NHL. not a bad low risk signing. Did I ask a question? Gotcha!
Questions about everyone else:
Can anyone else be a factor in the next 2 years???
The pens have a couple OK prospects but not much else...is there anyone else I didn't mention who could contribute soon?
SId:I think his offense is going to drop a bit to more of an 82 PT pace rather than his normal 90-100. With that in mind he's still going to be sharp defensively.
Geno: little more offense than Sid as he won't be asked tolay the defense Sid is, if he and zucker have chemistry he can hit 90.
Jake: I think he's more of a 30-35 goal guy which isn't bad by any means. His ability to close in in 40 depends on the production of Sid and geno.
Tanev: I loved this signing as he's the exact player pens needed. I actually think he could play with Sid and put up 20-25. But his physical play up front is very important to the pens.
Rust: basically dupuis in a sense. He can score when in the top six but also fires beautifully on a third line. Swiss army knife of the team. In an ideal world he's the focal point of a good third line. IF someone else can flank geno that's your perfect world.
McDavid, Connor
$250,000)
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