Final Cup Thoughts: What the Penguins Can Learn & Changing the Game

It is over. In the coming hours, we will turn the page from “this season” to “last season.” We will begin looking ahead to the 2022 NHL Draft, free agency, and training camp. We’ll begin looking at the 2023 Stanley Cup, and the Colorado Avalanche are already 4/1 favorites. Nathan MacKinnon will be forcing Sidney Crosby to finish the cooler of beer, and it will be MacKinnon who gets to float the Cup in the lakes near Cole Harbour. We will also ask the most crucial question: What can the Pittsburgh Penguins learn from the Stanley Cup Final?

It was a fantastic NHL playoffs. The hockey level was better than the sloppy, interference-filled playoffs last season. Connor McDavid finally established himself on the big stage because officials didn’t allow opponents to water ski behind him or tackle him. The New York Rangers played the bad guy as Jacob Trouba took heads when the referee was always conveniently distracted. The veteran champion eventually put down the bad guy before the new babyface wowed crowds and won the title.

The NHL MUST TAKE HEADSHOTS MORE SERIOUSLY.

The league’s shrug and a wave response to Trouba’s inexplicably unpunished but blatant attempts to hurt opponents was ugliness these beautiful playoffs did not need. In fact, these playoffs may have been the best in decades. The quality of hockey and speed displayed allowed the best players to be the stars they are.

It was a much-needed and welcome change from last year. A team like the slogging 2021 Montreal Canadiens nor the clutch and grab 2021 New York Islanders should never be allowed to prosper with those obstruction tactics.

What Can the Pittsburgh Penguins Learn?

The Tampa Bay Lightning got by with a few things the Penguins have: Talent. Goaltending. Depth.

Well, the Penguins had talent, anyway. Beyond their top line, we’ll see who gets a sweater next year.

We’ll skip the softer Atlantic Division with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers, and lesser Boston Bruins. Tampa Bay does have some weaknesses, which the Avalanche exploited. Speed was the chief difference. As Tampa Bay tried to grind Colorado and win the low battles, Colorado could run Tampa Bay out of the building; they got every loose puck and were in a defensive position to protect their goalie.

The Penguins have speed.

Colorado not only significantly outskated Tampa Bay but showed superior depth, including on the blue line. Look at Colorado’s second line. Nazem Kadri scored 87 points in the middle. Power forward Gabriel Landeskog was on the left and Valeri Nichushkin on the right. Nichushkin had a career resurgence with 21 goals.

Colorado also had a more dynamic offensive output from its third and fourth lines.

In addition to Cale Makar’s 86 points, Devan Toews scored 57 points (13-44-57). Bo Byram had 17 points in 30 games. Even defensive defenseman Erik Johnson had eight goals.

The increased depth of scoring makes all of the difference. Colorado also had enough speed to keep Tampa Bay away from the leaky Darcy Kuemper.

What can the Penguins learn? More offensive talent on the blue line. More goals from the bottom six. As much as PHN appreciated the work of Zach Aston-Reese, Dominik Simon, and others, the Penguins’ bottom six could be better.

Goaltending

The Avalanche won the Stanley Cup with the worst goaltending since… Christobal Huet and Antti Niemi won the 2010 Cup with Chicago?

Certainly, Penguins goalie Matt Murray’s career following the 2017 Cup does not stand out, either.

Colorado’s Darcy Kuemper will be a UFA this summer, and it’s hard to see GMs throwing top-dollar contracts at him despite being the Stanley Cup-winning goalie. He may have done more damage than good to his value.

 Changing the NHL

The NHL took a big step forward by allowing star players to be star players in the playoffs. But the game is changing. It is exploding in so many good ways. The talent and skill of down-line players are greater than they have ever been.

Five years ago, the Penguins won their second-consecutive Stanley Cup. Colorado was fresh from being the worst team in the NHL. They began a rebuild from the ground up, and…look at the results. The team they built is very much in the mold of the 2016 Penguins, which triumphantly ushered in the era of speed.

Everyone was trying to catch the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Credit Mike Sullivan and Jim Rutherford for constructing a Penguins team led by Sidney Crosby that was literally and figuratively a step ahead of the game. In 10 years, we may look back at the dawning era with McDavid, MacKinnon, and Auston Matthews and call it another golden age. But don’t forget who first set the stage and changed the game.

That MacKinnon is a Sidney Crosby disciple only underscores the point.