Equipped for Success

Last year, the Penguins were a favorite to win the Cup for much of the year, especially after Sidney Crosby made his second return in March.  As the the trade deadline approached and passed, the Pens' GM Ray Shero did something out of character: nothing.  He made no moves to strengthen the team in any way.  This proved to be a mistake, as Philadelphia would eliminate the Penguins from the playoffs in the first round, embarrassing them defensively.

This year was obviously different.  Shero did a lot to strengthen the team.  In fact, he did far more than any other NHL GM.  Here's a look at the Pens' 5 acquisitions (In chronological order), and how they can help them to a Stanley Cup win.

1. Tomas Vokoun One of the glaring problems in the Pens' playoff loss to Philadelphia was the goaltending.  Marc-Andre Fleury played very poorly (an understatement).  This was in part because of fatigue.  Backup goalie Brent Johnson played so poorly in 2011-12 that he couldn't be trusted to win a game, forcing Fleury to play over 20 games in a row.  He had nothing left by the time the playoffs came around.  So, Shero went out and got a reliable backup who could relieve some of the load.  Enter Vokoun.  While he won't see the ice during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he will give Fleury the rest he needs to play well.

2.  Brenden Morrow Before this season started, in my New Year's Resolutions blog, I pointed out that the Penguins needed to regain their toughness.  The toughness they had in their 2009 Cup win, but totally lacked in 2011-2012.  The bottom line:  The Playoffs are not a scoring-fest, they are a defensive, hard-hitting battle.  The Pens got some of the toughness back with the veteran winger Morrow.  He will play on the third line instead of Tyler Kennedy, making that line more of a traditional third line (hard-hitting, good defensively, hard to play against in general).

3.  Douglas Murray In 2009, as the Penguins were gearing up to eventually win the Stanley Cup, Shero acquired defenseman Hal Gill.  Gill was a great shutdown defenseman, something infinitely valuable in the Playoffs.  Gill left for Montreal after that year.  The Penguins have lacked that solid, veteran presence ever since, especially after Sergei Gonchar left town.  The Pens regained some of that when they got Doug Murray.  He is probably the most underrated hitters in the league.  He adds to the Penguins' toughness and defense, which (not to sound like a broken record) is incredibly important to win a Stanley Cup.

4. Jarome Iginla  This is the one we're all excited about.  Last Wednesday, we all went to bed thinking Iginla went to the Bruins.  To the delight of Pens fans everywhere, Ray Shero swooped in at the last minute and grabbed him.  This is an obviously great addition to this team.  Iginla has a scoring touch which is always a plus, and he can also hit and even fight.  Another player in the "tough to play against" list.

5.  Jussi Jokinen Jokinen is a 3rd-line-at-best center.  He was acquired mainly because Crosby is injured for the time being, and we need depth at center.  Tyler Kennedy wasn't exactly cutting it as a No. 1 center, so Shero pulled the trigger (Jokinen came with a very, very low price tag).  Once Crosby returns, he will be slotted into the fourth line, which desperately needs a spark.  He is a whiz at faceoffs, which the Penguins have lacked this year, even during the 15 game win streak.