Projecting the Pittsburgh Penguins' Opening Night Roster

We're now less than one week from the start of the NHL season. Teams are finalizing their rosters and signing their RFAs, and players are deep into their training camps and gearing up for pre-season action. For the Penguins, it has been a disappointing couple of Covid-shortened seasons, with excellent regular season play being capped off by a pair of disappointing playoff exits that made the Pens look like old news in the NHL. That rough streak is slated to continue into this year, as both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are due to miss the start of the regular season. Sid should be back within the first month, but Geno is still a ways away. As such, the Penguins are looking for standouts during preseason who could possibly take over those roles, even for the short term, until their two stars can slot back into the lineup. With that said, let's look at how the roster is shaping up, starting at forward:

Jake Guentzel - Jeff Carter - Bryan Rust

Jason Zucker - Drew O'Connor - Kasperi Kapanen

Danton Heinen - Teddy Bleuger - Brock McGinn

Radim Zohorna - Evan Rodrigues - Dominik Simon

Bryan Boyle

Anthony Angello

Filip Hallander

The Pens are also uncertain about the availability of Zach Aston-Reese, who has been dealing with Covid-related symptoms for the last few days. This lineup presumes he will miss opening night at the very least. Drew O'Connor has had an excellent training camp after not showing much during his call-up last season, and if anyone looks ready to fill in as the 2C, it's him. How long that lasts is anyone's guess, but with any luck, he can hold the fort until Crosby is back in action. Thankfully, the Pens have a first and third line of players they know they can rely on, and that makes the uncertainty of the second and fourth lines less troubling. Bryan Boyle remains on a PTO but has had a good preseason as well. He may push Rodrigues to the RW should he earn himself a contract, and leave Simon as the 13th forward for the time being. 

On defence, the Pens' situation is a lot less uncertain, as most of their blueline from last year remains healthy and available:

Brian Dumoulin - Kris Letang

Mike Matheson - John Marino

Pierre-Oliver Joseph - Marcus Pettersson

Chad Ruhwedel

Juuso Riikola

Mark Friedman

All reports seem to suggest that P.O. Joseph is ready to crack the roster, and there is some room for him on the left side. Whether that comes in a second- or third-pairing role will depend on how he plays out the rest of preseason, but at the moment he seems like a lock for opening night. Unfortunately, that leaves Riikola battling for a roster spot, one which he may not get given the guys ahead of them are showing more at camp. There is a good chance the Penguins are ready to trade one of their higher-salaried defencemen if Joseph pushes his way up the roster, which could potentially bring in some help at forward in exchange.

In net, it's the same two homegrown goalies the Pens ran last season, with a veteran slotting in as the third-string:

Tristan Jarry

Casey DeSmith

Louis Domingue

There is a lot of pressure on Jarry to improve on the season he had last year. He was fine during the regular season, not a game-breaker but serviceable. Once the playoffs got started, Jarry's inexperience got the better of him. He's a good goaltender though, odds are that won't happen again. Meanwhile, the Pens may wish to upgrade from DeSmith as the backup eventually, but as it stands right now they have bigger concerns. If DeSmith falls off, Domingue can come in and give them some solid minutes.

What do you think about this Penguins' roster, and what would you change?

Photo credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports