Penguins win Stanley Cup: 5 reasons Pittsburgh will three-peat

2. The Penguins won despite big injuries this season

When adding in the youth movement and the solid roster the Penguins have, this may not seem like an important factor for their Stanley Cup success. However, it’s pretty huge how the team can win on the big stages with even bigger injuries plaguing their lineup.

For the team’s postseason run, they had to overcome two of their biggest pieces falling out of their playoff roster, with defenseman Kris Letang out with a herniated disc in his neck before the playoffs even started, and then forward Nick Bonino getting injured in the Stanley Cup final itself.

The Bonino injury wasn’t as huge given the momentum the Penguins already had in the series with a 2-0 lead over the Predators, the Letang injury was a big one. The ability for the Penguins to perform as well as they did throughout the playoffs without their biggest piece of their defense should give the team a lot of faith in their roster. All they have to realize and think about is how much better they could’ve been with Letang playing in the postseason, and that just gets scary.

Another way the injuries help out the Penguins is to see where their talent level is, and who they could possibly get rid of on both offense and defense to keep some of their bigger pieces around. They survived without Letang through the whole postseason, which could have them evaluate how much they need to keep him around for the price they’re paying.

If the Penguins could compete at the high level that they played at with the injuries they overcame, then they’re building up for a real run at a three-peat, and look like they could succeed by throwing anyone out on the ice with their loads of talent.