The team that finished off the Nashville Predators on Sunday night is not, in the larger perspective, a great hockey team. Despite back-to-back Stanley Cups , you cannot make the case that the Pittsburgh Penguins have built a roster that ranks with the best of all time in terms of talent. Moreover, you could pretty much retain your players as long as you wanted, even if they were lodged in the minors. But while Crosby and Malkin lead the way, these Penguins are not defined as a team by skill, but by work ethic and dogged relentlessness. These days, the best you can do is lock in three or four players, and the rest is a blender.

Source: thestar June 12, 2017 22:18 UTC