Ron Hextall believes in Pittsburgh's ability to win Stanley Cup after deadline moves
The Pittsburgh Penguins made trio of moves over the last week, including two one deadline day. Bringing in depth pieces on forward Mikael Granlund and Nick Bonino, along with 14-year veteran blueliner Dmitry Kulikov.
After the 3 p.m. deadline had passed on Friday, Penguins general manager Ron Hextall told reporters that he believed his team can win the Stanley Cup and that he thinks he found the right pieces to win.
Hextall added, "We've got a proven group. We've got a hungry group. We've got a group of guys that we all think of as winners. You've got to make the playoffs first. Right now, that's our objective. We'll see where we go from there. I feel good about this team."
Going into Saturday's action, the Penguins occupied the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, one point up on the Islanders and five points ahead of the Buffalo Sabres.
While Pittsburgh does have a strong roster with experience and proven winners, it's hard to imagine them coming out of the Eastern Conference and playing for the Stanley Cup in June.
If the playoffs started today, they would face the Carolina Hurricanes, who swept the Penguins in the season series, 4-0. Hypothetically, if the Penguins were to somehow beat the Hurricanes in the first round, that would set up a second round matchup against either the New York Rangers or New Jersey Devils. Pittsburgh has lost all three games so far this season against the Devils, while they've only faced the Rangers once, taking the two points.
Given the moves the teams ahead of them the standings have made, including the Atlantic Division, it's hard to see the Pittsburgh Penguins making it out of the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Source: theScore
| POLL | ||
MARS 4 | 1 ANSWERS Ron Hextall believes in Pittsburgh's ability to win Stanley Cup after deadline moves Do you think the Pittsburgh Penguins can win the Stanley Cup? | ||
| Yes | 0 | 0 % |
| No | 0 | 0 % |
| See Results | 0 | 0 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Kyle Connor | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Alex Tuch | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Owen Power | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Michael Bunting | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Drew Helleson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jirí Kulich | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Isac Lundestrom | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Vladislav Namestnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nino Niederreiter | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Gabriel Vilardi | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ross Johnston | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Evgeni Malkin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Morrissey | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Perfetti | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Bryan Rust | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mark Scheifele | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Trevor Zegras | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 20 | 17 | 3 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||