Pittsburgh Penguins: Things to Watch for Before the 2024-2025 Season

The Pittsburgh Penguins enter the 2024-2025 season with high expectations. Pittsburgh has not made the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the last two years. The Penguins appear to be on the back nine of Sidney Crosby’s, Evgeni Malkin’s, and Kris Letang’s career.

Mike Sullivan has been the head coach since the 2015-2016 season. Pittsburgh must find a way to get back in the playoffs this season. What are some storylines for the Pittsburgh Penguins entering the 2024-2025 season?

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Power Play

The Pittsburgh Penguins' power play was abysmal last season. They changed behind the bench when it came to running the power play. David Quinn will be the new power play coach for Pittsburgh this season. They have a lot of talent on the power play.

Pittsburgh should score more goals with Crosby, Malkin, Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell, and Kris Letang on the unit. Marcus Pettersson and Erik Karlsson also have power play time with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Rutger McGroarty could see time with the power play this season, depending on how he performs in training camp. McGroarty is a player who could very well do the dirty work in front of the net for the Penguins. One player who could be a dark horse candidate to make the power play effective this season is Michael Bunting. He was acquired in a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes last season for Jake Guentzel.

Goaltending

Goaltending was a major problem for the Pittsburgh Penguins last season. Late in the season, Alex Nedeljkvoic was Pittsburgh's starting goalie over Tristan Jarry. There have been major questions about whether or not Jarry can be the guy moving forward in the net. Tristan Jarry will be under contract for four more seasons, Alex Nedeljkvoic and he may not be the goalie after this season. Some other rookies to watch for this season are Sergei Murashov and Joel Blomqvist.

Sidney Crosby Contract Talks

The final piece to the puzzle for the Pittsburgh Penguins entering the 2024-2025 season is what the deal is with Sidney Crosby. His contract is up at the end of the 2024-2025 season, and many fans are worried that he has not re-signed a new deal yet. He has been with the Pittsburgh Penguins since the 2005-2006 season.

Crosby not signing a contract yet could mean that he may wait until after the season, retire after the season, or want to sign with a new team. It will depend on how the 2024-2025 season goes. If no extension is done before then, the Pittsburgh Penguins could be heading into a rebuild soon if this is Sidney Crosby’s final season with the team.

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Article originally written by Glenn Kaplan