pens won 2 cups bc they have arguably 2 of the 3 best players in the nhl play for them ( top 3 last 10 years...ovi malkin crosby no order ) mcdavid is top 3 now but malkin when playing at his best is about as good as mcdavid

bonino isnt anything special until playoffs and kessel is clutch in playoffs as well

and there is no reason to add both rnh and duchene kuzy is a top 10 center way better then rnh and duchene also the d is reall weak like way worse then pens......and caps need grit go to the net score type guys

Kuznetsov is two years older than RNH with two fewer fifty point seasons in the NHL. Each has one 20 goal season. Possession numbers vary with roles, and either could play left wing on that line. I just didn't want to break up Kuznetsov and Oshie for chemistry.

Duchene has scored thirty goals in a season. Kuznetsov has world-class vision and hockey sense, but I think Duchene actually IS one of those grind-it-out-in-front-of-the-net guys you speak of. And the hockey world seems pretty convinced he's leaving Denver.

But part of my thinking in bringing in enough centers to push Kuznetsov to the wing is: Kuznetsov is already learning a lot from Ovechkin. Maybe he can understudy in th same position for a year or two, and build his understanding of the game even more.

Bowey is supposed to be as good as Carlson or Niskannen, when he's ready, so it doesn't make much sense to bring him up unless he's in a top four role. Gelinas has better stats than Schmidt, although he's only played for lottery teams, so his possession stats look awful. I'm not going to pretend that Djoos is going to come up and immediately understand the defensive game like Alzner, but he put up 55 points in the AHL last year, and he's probably ready to put up 15 in limited minutes, and maybe have a decent plus minus if he starts all in the offensive zone.

Holtby is the #1 guy in WSH. Grubauer isn't anything but a POS or "product of the system." Put him in Philadelphia and see how they do. Welp, you guessed it! Another postseason-less season

mediocre Defensemen? Average goaltending? Is the anyone that would take Holtby over Murray for a game 7? Also Letang,Cole and Schultz are far better than Carlson Orpik,and Orlov

Penguins had 3 great lines their first cup, in their second they had no depth in scoring. Their D was good the first time as well. You can't say they had average goaltending in either cup win. Murray had a 92.3% in the first run, which is easily above average. But it's a joke to say their goaltending was average in the 2017 playoffs. Fleury and Murray are the reason they won the cup. Penguins were outshot in nearly every game against the blue jackets and capitals, but fleury outplayed bobrovsky and holtby. Murray was lights out with a 93.7% SV during he playoffs, and shut out Nashville in their last 2 games. You need offence to win the cup, but goalies also are just as important

Compare caps d to pens
1 tang
2nisk
3 carlson
4 orlov
5 Shultz
6 maatta
7 orpik
8 cole

Djoo and Bowey are unknown

I think Holtby was injured this postseason. The Pens played solid team defense in front of their guys, keeping shots to the outside. Their goalies looked average for playoff teams. People said the same about Niemi when he won, and Pitt signed him to replace Fleury. Even with a very solid team game in front of him on two cup winning teams, Murray's career playoff save percentage is at .928. Holtby's is .932. In 2015 and 2015 he was over .940. https://www.nhl.com/player/braden-holtby-8474651?stats=career-p-nhl&season=20162017

And last year, with Letang injured throughout the playoffs, the Penguins' defense was average, for an NHL playoff team. Crosby and Malkin were incredible. Kessel showed up. Guentzel came out of nowhere to break records. They won with forward depth and a glut of 2nd pair offensive defensemen. The Caps could easily add one or two of those at the deadline, but the odds of picking up a #1 center at the deadline.. haven't seen many in the salary cap era. So why not just start out the season with four great offensive centers, two solid checking centers, and a skeleton crew everywhere else? I mean, if Carlson is going to re-up reasonably in Washington, then it might make more sense to hold him, but Grubauer is solid, and Holtby is someone most teams would want.

Of last year's playoff teams, Ottawa, Montreal, San Jose, Chicago, Minnesota, St. Louis, Washington, and Nashville have at least one star defenseman. With Letang out, Pittsburgh didn't. Their two goalies performed equally well, even though one was so bad they had to throw in a draft pick to get an expansion team to take him for free. Therefore, I'm going way out on a limb, and saying they won based on their forwards. Crosby and Malkin are obviously at a level the Caps can't pick up this summer, but as the Penguins deal with salary constraints, the Caps can compete by adding a couple more solid offensive forwards to try to help them get over the hump. I wouldn't build a team around just RNH and Duchene, but the buzz is they might be available, and in depth roles, they would make Washington even more of an offensive juggernaut than last year.

If the new defensemen don't work out, they can trade a few fifth and sixth round picks for a bottom pair, once they have cap space. But last year they had three star defensemen (Nisk, Carl, Shatt) and four more average playoff defensemen (Orlov, Alzner, Schmidt, Orpik) and after the regular season, it didn't get them anywhere.

Regarding your Holtby NTC comment. Living in Denver is great, playing for the Avs isn't.

Yeah. It might take a three way trade, somewhere competitive, if there's a competitive team he'd like to go to, that wants him more than they want Duchene. So, more likely separate transactions.

I'm guessing he'd want to be in Edmonton, but I'm not sure if Colorado gets as much use out of Carlson. Maybe Carlson and three penalty killers?