5 early favorites to win the 2017 Stanley Cup

3. Pittsburgh Penguins

Why they could win the Stanley Cup

They have one of the most talented rosters in the NHL. Pittsburgh will be returning a majority of their roster next season. Led by Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin, Matt Murray, and Phil Kessel, the Penguins appear to be a serious threat to win back to back Stanley Cups, at least on paper. Elite talent is a valuable currency in the NHL and very few, if any, teams have as much of it as the Penguins. They have a nice blend of expensive contracts and entry-level contracts. Mike Sullivan proved that he is a very good head coach.

Why they won’t repeat

Even with a very talented roster, the Penguins are going to find it extremely difficult to upgrade their team this offseason. According to CapFriendly, the Penguins are going to push the salary cap ceiling even with long-term injured reserve moves. Moving goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury could certainly help with that and allow them to keep either Beau Bennett or Justin Schultz. Perhaps it allows them to hang onto Matt Cullen or Ben Lovejoy. One thing is for sure: the Penguins will have to do some fancy salary cap maneuvering to repeat. That seems to be the price for winning the Stanley Cup. If so, that’s a price that every other team would love to pay.

Next: 2. Washington Capitals