What can fantasy owners expect for the Penguins and Sens next season?

While four teams remain in the long battle for the Stanley Cup, most of the teams have been eliminated and have begun their offseason. Even though each team will undergo many changes this summer, we can still look at their rosters for an indication of things to come next year.  As we continue our march through the Eastern Conference starting from the bottom, today we will now take a look at the Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators.

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Penguins' campaign was marred by injuries that not only took key players out of the lineup but happened with enough frequency that it caused a lot of lineup changes from game to game. The instability along with a very poor finish led to many disappointing fantasy years throughout the roster. As a result, the Penguins were barely able to clinch a playoff berth and were quickly eliminated by the New York Rangers. The up-and-down play can be seen in the statistics across the board. Many players disappointed but there were some that thrived this year as well.

Starting at the very top, Sidney Crosby, generally considered the best player in the world, had a very ordinary season by his standards despite the fact that he could have won the Art Ross if not for missing five games. Looking into the numbers, he was pretty unlucky, as his shooting percentage was around 2.5 percent lower than his career average despite shooting with the same frequency as usual. At his usual 14.4 percent he would have had six additional goals to give him a total of 34 (and a point total of 90). His assists were also down primarily due to disappointing play from many of his teammates. Case in point, Crosby's most frequent linemates were Chris Kunitz and David Perron who, as we will see shortly, both fell short of expectations. Crosby will need better support in order to get back to the 100-point mark.

Pittsburgh's other elite centerman, Evgeni Malkin, also fell short of the lofty numbers he has put up in past years. However, in his case it was due to injury, as he missed significant time for the third straight year. In fact, had he been healthier he may have been in contention for the scoring title. But from a fantasy perspective the lack of durability is a major red flag. His value is very difficult to assess, because on one hand, if he cannot stay healthy he does not deserve to be one of the first players drafted this fall. On the other hand, a player like Malkin is always in the spotlight and the negative attention (including his poor playoff showing this spring) could make your rivals overreact. Treat it case by case and definitely try to gauge how highly your league's Malkin owner rates the Russian star.