Pittsburgh Penguins Line Combinations To Start the 2015-16 Season

Mar 21, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins center

(87) celebrates with goalie

(29) after beating the Arizona Coyotes 3-1 at Gila River Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

As we all know by now, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced yesterday that there was a trade with the Vancouver Canucks. The Penguins traded Brandon Sutter and a 2016 third round draft pick for Nick Bonino, Adam Clendening and a second round draft pick in the 2016 NHL Draft.

Also, the Pens announced that they had signed free agent Eric Fehr, formerly of the Washington Capitals. It was quite a busy morning for the Pittsburgh Penguins management staff who pulled off another trade, that as of now, seems like a perfect fit for a team looking to bring Lord Stanley back to the Steel City this season.

Eric Fehr and Nick Bonino are great additions to the scoring depth of the Pittsburgh Penguins, which has lacked tremendously in the past few seasons. Both are capable of posting 30+ points during the regular season, which is exactly what you need from bottom-six forwards. The best part about Fehr and Bonino, is that they were both formerly number two centers on their previous teams, which means they are more than capable of logging 20 minutes of ice time, if the opportunity presented itself.

Also, Fehr is a versatile forward, who can be a bottom-six center or even possibly a top-six winger. However, you’ll notice that I don’t have him included in this lineup. With no concrete date on his return, I wanted to stick to the starting lineup expected for opening night.

Throughout the next few slides, I took a line-by-line look at a projected offensive lineup for the start of the upcoming year.

Mar 1, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) skates with the puck alongside left wing

(39) as Columbus Blue Jackets right wing

(13) chases during the first period at the CONSOL Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

First Line: Perron-Crosby-Hornqvist

There is plenty to debate here about who should play with Sidney Crosby and who should not. Let’s look at the facts. Crosby needs wingers on his line who are fast and able to do the dirty work in the corners. Wingers who create havoc in front of the net, opening up space for Sid to do what he does best. Patric Hornqvist and David Perron are the guys he needs.

The combination of Crosby and Hornqvist was great all season, why would Mike Johnston change something that was working? David Perron is very capable of producing points alongside Crosby, just as much as Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis did two seasons ago.

Perron has the speed needed to keep up and be successful on a line with #87, but he needs to be consistent. When he first arrived in Pittsburgh via trade, he was incredible and well worth what we gave up to obtain him. Once the season was coming to a close, he began to slow down and was not productive. If Perron does not start finding the back of the net with Sidney Crosby as his center, he will be pushed down the lineup or traded out of Pittsburgh.

Although the combination of Phil Kessel and Sidney Crosby would work, I see a better fit in this line combination that we saw last season.

Mar 29, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins center

(71) skates with the puck around San Jose Sharks left wing

(89) during the first period at the CONSOL Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Second Line: Plotnikov-Malkin-Kessel

Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel will both be in the top 10 for scoring at the end of the 82 game regular season. That is an incredibly bold statement made by many fans, but definitely not out of the realm of possibilities. Kessel on the same line as Malkin would be deadly. We saw what Evgeni Malkin and James Neal did together not too long ago. Malkin thrives with a sniper on his line and that is exactly what Phil Kessel will bring to this team.

The giant question mark of this line is what in the world will Plotnikov bring to the Pittsburgh Penguins? Is he a younger version of Chris Kunitz? Another Beau Bennett on the roster? All the scouting reports are out there about this guy, but we won’t know how he fits into the team and the NHL until the season starts. For all we know, he could be a bust as a top-9 forward.

Many are in favor of putting Chris Kunitz on this line, while sending the un-proven Plotnikov to the third line, but I disagree. Evgeni Malkin and Chris Kunitz have a history of playing well together while Crosby was injured, but they have not played much together over the past year, which could lead to inconsistency. While that may not seem like a big deal to some, it is with players like Geno, who tend to get very frustrated when things are not going his way. Plotnikov and Kunitz could easily switch.

Dec 31, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Carolina Hurricanes defenseman

(right) knocks Pittsburgh Penguins right wing

(36) off of the puck during the first period at the CONSOL Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Fourth Line:  Rust-Sundqvist-Bennett

The most debated line for the Pittsburgh Penguins is the fourth line. Many young players are waiting for the opportunity to step in and prove that they’re NHL ready. I chose Bryan Rust over guys like Wilson because of his grit and his ability to not shy away from being physical. Of course many guys can step into this role, especially Bobby Farnham who can spark a team with just one big hit or some trash talk.

Oskar Sundqvist might finally get his chance to play in the NHL this year, at least for the start of the season. Eric Fehr who was recently signed by the Penguins, will be out until some time in November, which is the reasoning for an opening at the fourth line center position. Sundqvist is a very responsible two-way player who is known for his size and grit. Not only will he be able to add toughness to the lineup, but he also has good hands that will help him light the lamp a few times.

If all goes as planned, Sundqvist will get some NHL games under his belt, then be sent down to the AHL when Fehr is ready to play. This way, Sundqvist can get better acclimated to hockey in North America and be ready for an increased role down the road.

Beau Bennett is an interesting player. Fans have a love-hate relationship with him. When he is producing numbers, we love him. When he’s hurt 50% of the season and a ghost the other 50% on the ice, we’d rather have him out of Pittsburgh. The Penguins made a mistake in not sending Bennett down to the minors last year to get playing time rather than sitting in the press box. The organization knows they messed up, but they want to fix it. Getting Bennett in the lineup is the only way for him to produce like he was supposed to. If he continues to struggle, there are plenty of other players waiting in Wilkes-Barre that want his spot.

Players who could also see time:

Scott Wilson, Connor Sheary, Bobby Farnham, Ty Loney, Adam Clendening

As always, feel free to leave your comments if you agree or disagree and be sure to follow me on Twitter, @TylerDunton.

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