Start with this premise: The Penguins can now win a third consecutive Stanley Cup.
That wasn't always smart to assume, and not just because of the scope of the challenge itself. This group was a slow-ish, sluggish mess for pretty much half of this 2017-18 season. Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and Matt Murray were all late arrivals. There was legit thought that maybe they wouldn't even make the playoffs.
That's changed.
Partly because the core is absolutely ablaze, meaning those three guys plus -- no particularly -- Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel.
Partly because Mike Sullivan's right foot remains stubbornly strapped to the gas pedal, no matter what alternatives might seem attractive in the moment.
And yeah, partly because Jim Rutherford has made very real additions along the way.
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